Finding a good repo car can be a long, arduous task with an ultimately disappointing result. When a bank repossesses a car, it usually holds it for 30 to 45 days, then sends it to auction. The holding period would be required by law and allows for redemption were the owner’s circumstances to change. If you know a tow truck driver whose main business is repossessions he could alert you to potential availability; or a friend with a dealer’s license could gain access to auto auctions. In either case the buyer is looking at “a pig in a poke” because access for quality assessment is limited and the presence of a good mechanic indispensable.
But a good repo cars can be had from a local Credit Union, give them a call and ask. For that matter do not be inhibited from contacting your bank for the same reason. Other repossessed vehicles may be found in automobile want ads–often an owner will say that they are “upside down in their car”. If you find one of these it is possible that a deal to pay the outstanding balance would get you the car; the selling point to the owner under stress is that a deal to sell the car is better than being reported to credit agencies as having had a car repossessed and of course it brings that seller some peace of mind, even though their vehicle is gone.
Finding good repo boats is less obvious but the search is narrower as there are far fewer boats than cars sold each year. As is the case with a repo car, the boat comes “as is”, there is no warranty. If you are experienced with boat ownership and it is a significant part of your life, then you have overcome, or at least learned to live with, the sardonic axiom that a boat “is a hole in the water surrounded by wood into which you pour money”. Contact your bank to see if there is a financial institution that does a lot of boat financing–it is likely a specialized area and that lender is the one that may have boats to sell. However, the circumstance will be similar to the effort to buy a repo car. There is likely to be a holding period, then it is put up for sale. There may be local publications that specialize in lake or water related activities, or that caters to lake side communities, that would have want ads from sellers, or display advertising from a boat financing business. Check these sources for leads and then follow up. It is just as likely for a boat owner to “be upside down” in his boat as it is for a car owner.
It is of course possible to find a car or boat repo dealer on the internet. If complaints have been made about an internet merchant, they can be found by Googling the merchant’s name followed by “scam”. However one may approach a repo purchase,the best approach is to move deliberately with your eyes open to pitfalls.
