As I am sure you realize, buying a vehicle (especially one that has an unknown history) without even being able to hear it run is a gamble at best... Reposessed vehicles are in general extremely poorly maintained; would you invest lots of money in a vehicle if you knew you were going to lose it?

There are few things you can do to check these cars out with any reliablility; the best you can do is look for obvious ones to stay away from and gamble on what looks like the best ones. <smile> If there were really great bargiaiins to be had, especially with all of the advertising these auctions get, you *know* that every knowledgeable used car dealer and salvage operation is there bidding too; especially if they are after sheet metal and body components and dont care if tehy even run or not.

If You are determined to buy one of these, some obvious things to look for are:

(1) Look carefully for leaks of any kind. Brake fluid, Coolant, Oil, Transmission fluid. Crawl under the car, carry a penlight when you go buying and look at intake manifold gaskets on V6 engines for signs of coolant leakage. Check coolant in the radiators; if teh level is very low, chances are it was driven like that and may have been overheated. Look at engine oil; it should *look* like oil; not tar or milky (whiteness indicates internal coolant leakage into the oil). Remove the oil fill cap and look for milky deposits clinging to it or inside the engine which might indicate an internal coolant or head gasket leak. Look for traces of dried coolant or engine oil leaking from the head gasket area. Look at the trans fluid; avoid any which have black colored fluid, silvery metallic tint in the sunlight from microscopic metal particles, or which have fluid that smells burned or like varnish indicating an internal overheating or slipping condition.

(2) Stand hard on the brake pedal, make sure it is high and firm, and does not sink.

(3) Look for obviously broken things like window mechanisms, doors that dont open, broken controls, light lenses, and such; all of these things cost money to fix; often more than you might count on.

(4) Look at the tires, look for uneven wear that might indicate an alignment problem or worn front end parts.

(5) If you a re buying for resale, make sure you will not be getting a reconstructed title. An R-titled vehicle may look and drive well, but for resale purposes will have probably about half the book value of a clean titled vehicle.

(6) Look carefully at the frame or unibody sections of teh vehicle for bent, rusted, or damaged spots that might indicate a previous accident. When metal bends in a collision and is straightened, it will often show stretch marks much like a pregnant woman does after childbirth. Collision damage kills resale value. Look at body panel alignment; all gaps should be even and all body lines should line up perfectly. Look for mismatched paint colors on a panel, indicating it has been repainted.

(7) Look for missing components, such as catalytic converters or smog pumps. These items are required in most areas to be legal on the road, or for inspection. On some vehicles, such as ford products, there may be 4 Cats costing upwards of $1600 to replace if they have been removed. Avoid any vehicle which looks at all altered (wrong size tires, lowered or raised suspension, etc). Usually, this is a sure indication of problems ahead for the next owner, and may not be legal to drive on the road in your state.

I hope this is helpful; if so, clicking on my accept button would be most appreciated. Thanks!