Bring a Trailer · Cars & Bids · online enthusiast auctions
Treat the bid as binding. Have the car inspected before you place it.
Listings run about a week and the photos are the seller’s. We send a vetted inspector to the car during the window — on Gold, paint depth on every panel, live fault-code data, and a road test — and you set your maximum bid from a report, not a comments thread. Book the day it lists; check the platform’s own terms for listing length and bid rules.
Why an online auction car needs the inspection before the bid
On a dealer lot you can walk away after the test drive. On an enthusiast auction the decision is made in a browser, against a clock, on photos chosen by the seller.
Treat the bid as binding; the photos are the seller’s
On these platforms a winning bid is treated as a commitment to buy — read the platform’s terms — and the listing is the seller’s presentation: well-lit, well-written, and selected. The comments thread is useful, but it is unlikely anyone in it has put a paint gauge on the car. An inspector will.
The window is short and ends at a set time
Listings run roughly a week and close on a schedule. The inspection has to be booked, scheduled with the seller, performed, and written up before you decide your maximum bid. On day one there is usually room; later in the window it gets tight.
Ask the seller early
Many sellers will allow a visit during the listing if asked early; some will not. Asking in the final 48 hours is where it falls apart even with a willing seller, because there is no time left to schedule.
Many of these cars need more than one layer
Air-cooled Porsches, classic muscle, limited-production exotics — the first-layer inspection documents condition; a marque specialist judges correctness. The report is built so you can hand it to a specialist and decide whether their deeper tests are worth paying for.
Which inspection the car needs
Auction cars span three of our products. Exotics, supercars, and pre-OBD classics need a quote, not the Gold tier — book the wrong one and the checklist will not fit the car.
Gold — $449 flat
Late-model performance cars and trucks with OBD-II that are not exotics or collector classics. Paint depth on every panel, live OBD-II data on the road test, electronics audit, plus the Silver tier’s battery, brake, and A/C measurements.
Book Gold →Classic — from $449
Carbureted and pre-OBD cars, restorations, and survivors. A checklist built for cars without a diagnostic port, quoted by era and scope.
Classic car quote →Exotic — from $449
Supercars, GT cars, and exotic marques, quoted by marque and model. The first layer before a marque specialist’s deeper tests.
Exotic quote →How a pre-bid inspection works
Book the day the listing goes live
Paste the listing URL at booking. The car’s location is in the listing; we match a vetted inspector near it, and the inspector contacts the seller to schedule. For a classic or exotic, request the quote the same day.
The inspector sees the car in the window
On the seller’s driveway, at a storage facility, or at the consigning dealer. You do not travel. On Gold: paint depth on every panel, live OBD-II data, and a road test where it is legal and safe. Classic and exotic products follow their own checklists.
Report within 24–48 hours of the visit
Photo-documented findings and measurements in 24–48 hours from the visit, with a plain go / caution / stop summary you can forward to a specialist or use to set your ceiling.
Set your maximum from the report
Set your maximum from the report. If the car is not what the listing says, you have a dated, independent record before you have committed to anything.
Book when the listing goes live, not when the bidding gets serious
Dispatch typically takes 24 to 72 hours, the seller has to agree a time, and the report follows within 24–48 hours of the visit. On a roughly week-long listing there is usually room if you book on day one, and little or none if you book on day six. Read the platform’s own terms for the exact listing length and bid rules before you rely on either.
What to send us: the listing URL (the car’s location is in it), the seller’s preferred contact if the listing shows one, and the tier or specialty product the car needs. We handle the scheduling.
Common questions
- Can I get a pre-purchase inspection on a Bring a Trailer or Cars & Bids car before I bid?
- Yes, and the time to book it is the day the listing goes live. Listings run roughly a week; the inspection needs to be scheduled with the seller, performed, and reported before you set your maximum bid. A vetted inspector goes to the car wherever it is, you never travel, and the photo-documented report reaches you within 24–48 hours of the visit.
- Will the seller allow an inspector during the auction?
- Many will, when asked early; some will not. The inspector contacts the seller directly to arrange a time. If a seller declines an inspection on a car they are asking you to bid on sight unseen, weigh that as part of the decision.
- Which inspection should I book for an auction car?
- For a modern car — roughly 1996 and newer with OBD-II — book Gold ($449): it adds paint-depth readings on every panel, live OBD-II data on the road test, and a full electronics audit to the instrumented tests. Classic cars (from $449) and exotics (from $449) are quote-based products with their own checklists; book those through their specialty pages rather than the standard form.
- Are your inspectors marque specialists?
- No, and the report is built around that honestly. Inspectors are vetted, experienced generalists who inspect every make. On a collector or exotic car that means a thorough, instrumented first layer — paint depth, undercarriage, fault codes, road test, photos of everything — that tells you whether the car is honest and whether a marque specialist’s deeper tests (compression, over-rev data, numbers-matching verification) are worth paying for.
- What if the auction ends before the report arrives?
- Then you bid without it, which is why early booking matters. Dispatch typically runs 24 to 72 hours from booking depending on the market, and the report follows within 24–48 hours of the visit. Booked on day one of a roughly week-long listing there is usually room for that; booked in the last two days, there may not be.
- Does the inspection cover the car once it arrives, or transport?
- The inspection documents the car as it sits before the auction ends. If you win, the same report is your reference for the condition it should arrive in. For getting it home, see the vehicle transport page — the buyer contracts and pays the carrier directly; Vehicle Inspectors is not a carrier or broker.
Bidding on a classic? The classic car inspection page covers matching numbers and rust. Bidding on a Porsche? The Porsche pre-purchase inspection guide covers what the first layer catches and when to add a specialist. Won the car? See vehicle transport, or read a real Gold report before you bid.
Set your maximum bid from a report.
Vetted inspectors nationwide, dispatch typically 24–72 hours, photo-documented report within 24–48 hours of the visit. Gold $449 flat; classics and exotics quoted. Card saved at booking — never charged until your inspection is completed.