# Vehicle "Auction announced as fleet/lease" Question



## jamesbond911 (Nov 21, 2005)

Hiya all..
I'm looking at a BMW 330 with ZHP and needed some advice on the vehicle auto report from www.consumerguide.com. The thing perturbing to me was it had 41000 over a period of only 2 yrs and then in the report it says:

Vehicle History Records 
We have searched the Experian Automotive National Vehicle Database of insurance, DMV, and auto auction information and found the following 7 records for this 2004 BMW 3-SERIES 330I. Note the highlighted rows for potential issues that could affect the value of this vehicle.

Date Location Mileage Description 
2003-12-04 TX registration event/renewal 
2003-12-16 TX 498 title 
2005-01-04 TX registration event/renewal 
2005-11-16 richardson, TX 41342 passed emission inspection 
*2005-11-29 TX 41392 reported at auto auction 
2005-11-30 TX 41392 auction announced as fleet/lease * 
2005-12-06 TX registration event/renewal

Can some1 explain more about when exactly is the vehicle usually announced as fleet/lease and what exactly does it mean? Especially in this case where the vehicle passed the emission inspection on 11/16 and was auctioned as fleet/lease within 2 weeks? Any help or advice would be really appreciated as I was interested in buying this vehicle..
Thanks,
DaBond


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## SARAFIL (Feb 19, 2003)

jamesbond911 said:


> Hiya all..
> I'm looking at a BMW 330 with ZHP and needed some advice on the vehicle auto report from www.consumerguide.com. The thing perturbing to me was it had 41000 over a period of only 2 yrs and then in the report it says:
> 
> Vehicle History Records
> ...


Fleet/lease almost always means that the car belongs to a leasing company and that it is being sold by them at the auction.


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## jamesbond911 (Nov 21, 2005)

Anybody has any advice if I should pursue buying a BMW 330 ZHP originally owned by a leasing company and later sold at an auction. Apart from this, the other consideration is that the car has around $41000 miles in just under 2 years. Any piece of advice would be highly appreciated 
Thanks,
DaBond

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/04-3...oryZ6007QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## 749009 (Nov 3, 2005)

jamesbond911 said:


> Anybody has any advice if I should pursue buying a BMW 330 ZHP originally owned by a leasing company and later sold at an auction. Apart from this, the other consideration is that the car has around $41000 miles in just under 2 years. Any piece of advice would be highly appreciated
> Thanks,
> DaBond
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/04-3...oryZ6007QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


 For those people that for, a variety of reasons, don't wish to own a vehicle, leasing can make sense, although it is generally the most costly form of vehicle ownership. Why do people not pay off their monthly credit card balance in full when they could borrow money from their bank at much, much lower interest rates?...it's easy and convenient. The leasing company retains ownership of the vehicle during the lease term (usually about 3 years, but, any term is possible). Depending on the lease terms, the lessee (the car driver) normally has an option to purchase the vehicle from the lease company at the end of the lease term for a pre-determined price. Generally, many lessees will exercise that right and buy the car if they feel the car is worth more than the purchase price. Those that don't wish to keep the car will simply turn around and resell the car and keep the profit for themselves. It just means they paid monthly payments that were too high during the lease term. Other lessees simply can't be bothered with reselling the car or feel the purchase price is too high to make much profit or even may have concerns about the car and simply return the vehicle to the leasing company at the end of the lease.
The leasing company has a large number of these vehicles coming back all the time and must have a way to get rid of them. Most pure leasing companies make their money on the monthly payments they charge you....the interest rate embedded within the lease, and remember the interest rate noted on the lease is not always the "actual" rate you pay because they can easily alter the stated rate by playing with the capital cost of the new vehicle. Many leasing companies therefore are not in the used car business and the simplest, cheapest method for them to turn their lease returned vehilces back into cash is to sell them every week in the dealer auctions. The used car dealers find them a good source of later model product that is generally reasonably well maintained and they can purchase them for wholesale prices that allows them a reasonable profit by selling them on their retail lots.
So, there may be perfectly innocent and reasonable reasons why a leasing company has taken a vehicle back at the end of its lease term and then resold the car in a dealer auction. In fact, in most cases you'd be getting exactly the same car if you were to buy the car from the original lessee who exercised his right to buy out the car at the end of the lease term and then simply resells it.
The point is that there should be no negative inference directed at the car just because it was sold by a leasing company in a dealer auction. It most likely was a financing decision that had nothing to do with the car itself. As you would have to do buying a used car from any private person or from a used car lot, check out the individual car's background....service history, accident history, any known problems with that specific make of vehicle, etc. to find out if this individual car is a good one or not.


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## govtec (Jul 20, 2005)

749009 said:


> For those people that for, a variety of reasons, don't wish to own a vehicle, leasing can make sense, although it is generally the most costly form of vehicle ownership. Why do people not pay off their monthly credit card balance in full when they could borrow money from their bank at much, much lower interest rates?...it's easy and convenient. The leasing company retains ownership of the vehicle during the lease term (usually about 3 years, but, any term is possible). Depending on the lease terms, the lessee (the car driver) normally has an option to purchase the vehicle from the lease company at the end of the lease term for a pre-determined price. Generally, many lessees will exercise that right and buy the car if they feel the car is worth more than the purchase price. Those that don't wish to keep the car will simply turn around and resell the car and keep the profit for themselves. It just means they paid monthly payments that were too high during the lease term. Other lessees simply can't be bothered with reselling the car or feel the purchase price is too high to make much profit or even may have concerns about the car and simply return the vehicle to the leasing company at the end of the lease.
> The leasing company has a large number of these vehicles coming back all the time and must have a way to get rid of them. Most pure leasing companies make their money on the monthly payments they charge you....the interest rate embedded within the lease, and remember the interest rate noted on the lease is not always the "actual" rate you pay because they can easily alter the stated rate by playing with the capital cost of the new vehicle. Many leasing companies therefore are not in the used car business and the simplest, cheapest method for them to turn their lease returned vehilces back into cash is to sell them every week in the dealer auctions. The used car dealers find them a good source of later model product that is generally reasonably well maintained and they can purchase them for wholesale prices that allows them a reasonable profit by selling them on their retail lots.
> So, there may be perfectly innocent and reasonable reasons why a leasing company has taken a vehicle back at the end of its lease term and then resold the car in a dealer auction. In fact, in most cases you'd be getting exactly the same car if you were to buy the car from the original lessee who exercised his right to buy out the car at the end of the lease term and then simply resells it.
> The point is that there should be no negative inference directed at the car just because it was sold by a leasing company in a dealer auction. It most likely was a financing decision that had nothing to do with the car itself. As you would have to do buying a used car from any private person or from a used car lot, check out the individual car's background....service history, accident history, any known problems with that specific make of vehicle, etc. to find out if this individual car is a good one or not.


i would steer clear of any vehicle not sold by the original owner. my dad who doesn't speak any english has bought numerous used cars since the early 90s and each case it has always needed costly repairs. in the mean time in 3 years i have owned 3 cars, 2 of them used and had minimal repairs since they were from the original owners and 1 of them had all records and receipts of repairs and maintenance. in my view i will never purchase a leased car unless i am the first lessee. the reason for this is a lease car is basically a rental car and most rentals out there are treated like crap, everything from lack of proper maintenance to driving habits is questionable. for the most part if one doesn't own it there's a good chance it's not well taken care of, some have even admit it on this forum. if i ever purchase a used car again it will be through private party, not only is it cheaper but u get to inspect the car first hand.


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## 749009 (Nov 3, 2005)

govtec said:


> i would steer clear of any vehicle not sold by the original owner. my dad who doesn't speak any english has bought numerous used cars since the early 90s and each case it has always needed costly repairs. in the mean time in 3 years i have owned 3 cars, 2 of them used and had minimal repairs since they were from the original owners and 1 of them had all records and receipts of repairs and maintenance. in my view i will never purchase a leased car unless i am the first lessee. the reason for this is a lease car is basically a rental car and most rentals out there are treated like crap, everything from lack of proper maintenance to driving habits is questionable. for the most part if one doesn't own it there's a good chance it's not well taken care of, some have even admit it on this forum. if i ever purchase a used car again it will be through private party, not only is it cheaper but u get to inspect the car first hand.


In this case, there is nothing preventing an examination of the car's service history, accident history, etc. before buying as the car did not sell on Ebay and this potential buyer can negotiate directly with the seller if he chooses and wishes to put the effort into properly checking the car out first. Whether he buys the car from the original lessee or the leasing company makes no difference...it is exactly the same car.

Not everyone abuses their cars, even if they are rentals or long term leases. Not every original owner takes good care of their cars. That is why every car needs to stand on its own merits.

I have met many original owners who were exceptionally untrustworthy. Just recently I did not purchase a late model used Jaguar because of info disclosed to me by the service dept. of the dealership where the seller had taken his car. This info directly contradicted info that was being given me by the seller, which I suspected could be false. I know, they aren't supposed to divulge that info, but, every once in a while you get a honest person, even at a dealership, who objects to someone being scammed, even by one of their own customers. And in turn, I respected the info being given me and didn't disclose to the seller that I knew he was lying and why he was lying. I just walked away. You put in the time and effort to do the proper checks and you can prevent many disasters whether it be from private sellers or leasing companies or used car lots. I've bought from all of them.

If you are buying a car and the deal is simply "too good", then you often can wind up with disasters. You need to do the proper checks first and not overlook those checks because you're in such a hurry for the deal. I have no idea if that happened in your father's case, but, I've seen many situations like that happen simply because it is too much effort for the buyers to check the car out properly. There are many, many unscrupulous sellers who masquerade as private (and even original) sellers to appeal to people with exactly your mindset.

Lastly, in 3 years, you've owned 3 cars. My experience is based on a lot more years than 3, and an extremely high number of vehicles owned, buying from virtually every legal source there is to purchase a car from. The minute you start making generalizations like "all leased cars are bad cars" you sound very foolish to anyone with a strong automotive background. Not even to mention all the leased cars I've purchased that turned out to be excellent cars.

EVERY car has to stand on its own....regardless of who is selling it.


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## govtec (Jul 20, 2005)

749009 said:


> In this case, there is nothing preventing an examination of the car's service history, accident history, etc. before buying as the car did not sell on Ebay and this potential buyer can negotiate directly with the seller if he chooses and wishes to put the effort into properly checking the car out first. Whether he buys the car from the original lessee or the leasing company makes no difference...it is exactly the same car.
> 
> Not everyone abuses their cars, even if they are rentals or long term leases. Not every original owner takes good care of their cars. That is why every car needs to stand on its own merits.
> 
> ...


i didn't say all lessee treat their cars like dirt. i am sure there are people out there with lease vehicle who treat it with respect. in ur case u did exactly what i did in the past, did my homework with paper trails and vehicle inspected inside out. i only differ from u bc i like to deal with the original owner, it cuts down on the source of paperworks and he or she can't blame previous owner for work done on car. i do not trust anyone on their word even when they claim to be original owner, i cross reference with legal and public sources. while it might take awhile to wait for a car that has a record and is from the original owner, it's worth it in my opinion if that's the car u want. it took me almost 2 months to find the exact car i wanted.


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