FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Global Auto Auctions is a global vehicle re-marketer with the largest selection of inventory compared to other competing sites in the market of all types of vehicles. Our website helps Auto Insurance Companies (among other sellers) find buyers for salvage vehicles, clean, or flood vehicles. We do neither own nor possess the cars listed on our website. We offer ALL types of vehicles directly from different insurance auctions and insurance companies located in North America.
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NO, Global Auto Auctions is NOT A LIVE auction. Our users place offers on vehicles and Global Auto Auctions in turn, presents the highest winning offer directly to that vehicle's affiliated Insurance Company. **The Insurance Company makes the final decision on whether or not to accept an offer at the presented amount.
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• A majority of Insurance Auctions, Salvage Auctions, and Auction Pool companies can sell only to a limited number of licensed and registered Salvage Dismantlers and Dealers. We possess all proper licenses and registrations and hence can acquire any vehicle for you anywhere in the country.
• The actual live auction for these vehicles are not open to public, so unfortunately there is no way for you to participate. But you can participate in Preliminary Bidding. We will collect your bids and then present them during the live auction if you are the in-house high bidder. Many of our auctions are for bulk purchases and through agents and brokers so the auction price on an individual vehicle is not the same as or in any way identical to the highest in-house bid.

Bid Submission

Our model is COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT. You should enter your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM bid/offer. You are submitting a PROXY bid/offer. When we bid with the insurance company or at the live auction, we will try to buy the vehicle as inexpensively as possible, and will only bid incrementally against other buyers up to your maximum amount. Sometimes even though we are the highest bidder, insurance auctions and companies have a RESERVE price. This means they have the right to reject a bid even though it is the highest offer. They have the option of re- auctioning the vehicle or we have the option of increasing the bid. We also work out bulk package deals to acquire other vehicles at lower costs.

• Your total purchase price will consist, in part, of the actual sale price at the auction, as well as all applicable auction fees and IAI service fees. Please use our "Fee Calculator" to obtain a cost estimate. Your bid represents your total liability before addition of fees as above. Because of our special relationships in the industry, there is no warranty or guarantee that your final bid will be equal to the winning auction amount. We often are required to pay administrative fees, broker fees, bulk sales fees, and agent costs in order to obtain the best prices. We do insure, however, that you will never pay more than your approved maximum bid before the addition of auction and service fees.
• Most Insurance Auctions have the preliminary bidding option available to its buyers. Our system will automatically poll them and update the current auction price on our site. However, during the live auction the bidding usually goes much higher. Please don't rely heavily on the current auction price and place your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM bid, because once the auction ends, we will not be able to increase your bid.
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If you do not tender full payment after your offer has been finalized and your vehicle has been acquired, your 10% deposit will be forfeited and your account will be closed. There is also a $100 processing fee for this transaction. In other words, by winning a vehicle and then defaulting on payment, you will be charged $600 dollars or 10% of your bid, whichever is greater. If you are placing bids on vehicles with the stock number "i" or "m" in front of them we are accepting $1000 deposits or 33% whichever is greater. Please do not bid on "i" or "m" vehicles if you do not have funds readily available or are unsure. The insurance companies tend to be very strict with these particular vehicles and do not allow us to retract our offers. WE STRONGLY SUGGEST NOT TO FUND YOUR ACCOUNT, PLACE OFFERS, AND THEN DEFAULT ON PAYMENT OF A VEHICLE. Our company does not have the liberty to place offers with the insurance companies and then back out without incurring any penalties. We have 48 hours to pay for a vehicle.
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Unfortunately, with such a continually evolving inventory of vehicles, we are unable to alert potential customers of a specifically requested vehicle's availability. We do make it simple for you to filter vehicles by listing type, region, make, model, and year. By regularly checking the web site, you are certain to find the vehicle you desire.
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At this moment, most of our vehicles must be acquired through placing offers. Direct purchases have now been made available through our BUY IT NOW OPTION. Buy Now Vehicles are subject to change within minutes. We DO NOT CLICK THE BUY NOW OPTION with the auctions unless we have received payment in full. When customers do not read the Terms and default on their Buy It Now purchases, our company is still obligated to ALL BUY NOW purchases once the option is clicked with the insurance companies. Our agents will contact you immediately, once a Buy It Now vehicle has noticeable interest. We can arrange to have a vehicle guaranteed for you. Please contact us for details.
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Yes! You can visit our location and meet our staff. Most vehicles marked as "inventory items" have already been purchased and are available for inspection at our authorized affiliate holding facilities. All other vehicles are located at insurance auction premises and are not available for inspection and purchase to the general public.
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If a customer has the highest offer at the end of the Global Auto Auctions offer acceptance period, the status of the offer will be determined and updated at 10:00 AM (EST)(2 hours after auction closing). It is the customer's responsibility to check his e-mail and invoice by selecting the "My Account" menu and then the "My Offers" option. The customer must then guarantee his offer with a security deposit of $600.00 or 10% of their highest offer, whichever is greater. In some case it might be $1000 or 33% if the vehicle begins with the inventory number that has the letter "i" in front of it.

Next, one of our authorized affiliate dealers, on your behalf, presents the offer to the Insurance Company (closed to the general public). If the offer is accepted by the Insurance Company, our authorized affiliate dealer acquires the vehicle for the customer.

Up until the Global Auto Auctions acceptance period expires, we notify customers when they have been outbid. We recommend customers to regularly check their offer's status in the "My Offers" (or their e-mail) page before the acceptance period expires.
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If an offer is received within the last 5 minutes (7:55AM - 8:00AM EST) of the listing deadline on our site, the offer end time is automatically extended for an additional 5 minutes. This feature has been implemented to allow the customer previously with the highest offer to submit a counter-offer. This counter-offer will extend each time a bid is made until the final closing time (9:00AM) is reached.

We encourage each of our customers to submit his highest offer from the beginning. Doing so will increase the affiliated dealer's chances of acquiring the vehicle for the customer and will help mitigate further last-minute offer increases.
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First, place an offer on a vehicle before the specified deadline. The customer with the highest eligible offer is notified shortly after the deadline and then guarantees his offer with a security deposit of $600.00 or 10% of the offer price, whichever is greater. The same day, one of our authorized affiliate dealers, on your behalf, presents the offer to the Insurance Company (closed to the general public).

If the offer is accepted by the Insurance Company, our authorized affiliate dealer acquires the vehicle for the customer, who is required to pay the balance within 24 hours (every day after the customer accrues a $50 late fee - per day). If the authorized affiliate dealer does not acquire the item, the deposit is refunded to the customer upon request. Alternatively, the deposit can be applied toward an offer on another vehicle.

For more information, please read our Global Auto Auctions Quickstart Guide.
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All customers for whom Global Auto Auctions is able to acquire vehicles for, will receive notification by telephone before 5:30PM (EST) the next business day after the auction has ended. Customers whose offers have been rejected by the Insurance Company will receive notification via e-mail.
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Even though a customer may hold the highest eligible offer on our site, the Insurance Company may have received and accepted a higher offer from another authorized party. Our system automatically checks for these types of statuses. As soon as we learn the customer's offer is not the highest at the Insurance Company, we alert the customer via e-mail. The customer has the opportunity to increase his offer by going to "My Account", then selecting "My Offers", and submitting a new offer by selecting "Send Offer". Once the offer is presented to Insurance Company by one of our affiliated dealers, the offer cannot be changed or withdrawn.
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Some international customers are charged a wire transfer fee by an intermediary bank, in addition to the wire transfer fee charged by the originating bank. Please keep this fact in mind when wiring funds.
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All items on our site are subject to a $85 document fee, which covers the costs to our company for preparing and processing all necessary paperwork for that particular vehicle. The document fee is in addition to your offer amount.
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All vehicles that are successfully acquired from the Insurance Company are subject to a respective acquisition fee of $199 through $999. We also do make profits on bulk purchases. We risk buying vehicles that we may lose profits, in order to obtain certain vehicles at lesser prices. There will be an additional $85 paperwork fee for these bulk purchases as well. Please refer to our Fees & Refund Policy for more information.
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Yes, our affiliated dealers can accept loan checks. Please make sure that you secure financing for the vehicle prior to purchase (obtain a "blank check" or pre-approval prior to placing any offers).
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Balance Due: The customer must pay the balance due in full no later than 24 hours from sale confirmation notification (invoice). If the balance is not paid within 24 hours, a late fee of $50 per day will be added to your invoice. Once an offer is accepted by the Insurance Company, you will receive a call/invoice from one of our customer service representatives.

Payment Terms: Balances Due may be paid by Bank Wire Transfer, Cashier's Check or Money Order only. We do not accept balance on Credit Cards or  Personal Checks and Western Union. If you reside outside the United States and/or cannot make payment on time, either arrange to prepay the full amount before submitting your offer, or be prepared to acquire daily late fees.

Pay at Insurance Auction Holding Facility Terms: You may exercise this option if you are local and would like to pick up the vehicle yourself. Please follow instructions on your invoice as well to make sure the correct stock number, VIN number, and the Broker's account number that we advise you to place on the "BANK CHECKS ONLY". Holding Facilities will not accept cash whatsoever.

Fees: Please refer to our Fees & Refund Policy for more information.

Additional Fees & Services: If required (usually for inoperable vehicles), the customer will be charged a $25 forklift loading fee.

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Security Deposit is refundable ONLY when a vehicle is not acquired by one of our affiliate dealers (i.e. the item sells for more at Insurance Auction than your offer at Global Auto Auctions, or the Insurance Auction does not approve/accept the offer). If the item has been acquired from the Insurance Company by one of our affiliated dealers and the buyer forfeits the sale, the Security Deposit is kept (forfeited by the customer).

The method of deposit refund is at the affiliate dealer's discretion. Please note fees for incoming and outgoing wires will be deducted from the amount of deposit. If the refund is remitted by check, the amount of refund will be $15 less ($25 incoming wire fee) than the deposit. If the refund is remitted by wire to a US customer, the amount of refund will be $25 less ($15 incoming wire fee + $25 outgoing wire fee) than the deposit. All refunds remitted by wire to an international customer will be $35 less (incoming plus international outgoing fees) than the deposit. All credit card refunds will be issued a surcharge of 10%.
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All refunds are remitted in U.S. dollars only (with the exception of Canadian Customers)!
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Refunds are processed within 5-7 business days.
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Security Deposits are typically $600.00 or 10% of the offer price, whichever is greater. A Deposit is required for every highest eligible offer, and is due by 8:30 AM, same day on the Offer End Date. Deposits are accepted via Bank Wire Transfer (all values), (up to $2000.00, i.e. two thousand dollars). International customers, please make sure necessary funds are transferred to a specified affiliated dealer's account via Bank Wire Transfer prior to submitting an offer.

Please note the customer's account will be suspended for non-payment if the customer fails to send the deposit on time. Suspended customers may be reinstated only by sending a deposit via wire transfer or other approved method, which will be applicable to his/her next purchase. Please plan accordingly to submit your payment in advance.

*Please note if a customer submits an offer with Global Auto Auctions and has an available credit, the available credit will be used toward the bid deposit.
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Once you are the highest bidder at the end of an offer period and your account is funded our system will submit your offer as a preliminary bid to the Insurance Auction. You will be notified the following morning via the My Offers section if your offer was rejected.

If it is rejected, one of our associates will contact you via telephone to offer you the chance to submit a higher offer. Your offer will be accepted verbally. However you must email our office a revised offer for the item number for Global Auto Auctions to submit once again. If one of our associates does not contact you, please call our office or email us via the contact us section of the site. We cannot submit offers after 12 PM (EST), so it important we discuss your outbid offer before this allotted time.
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Yes, all CANADIAN customers must pay the HST tax. If you are exporting the vehicles, you can submit proof to the tax department. Once the vehicle is exported, they will then issue you a refund.
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Registration is FREE at Global Auto Auctions unlike other sites, and we have the largest selection on any other single platform in the world. We allow you to place offers without making a deposit. Once you are the high bidder, we then require a $600 minimum. Global Auto Auctions and its IAU has implemented this to have our customers, try to place multiple offers and bids, before losing hope of purchasing a vehicle. We want to DETER customers from leaving a $600 deposit, then requesting a refund the next day or even the same day. We work for YOU. It is not in our best interest not to purchase a vehicle for YOU. Keep in mind you might have to place offers on ten or fifteen different vehicles before we can get one for you.
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Your funds remain in your account for any future offers you wish to submit. There is no penalty for submitting offers on Global Auto Auctions. If at any time you wish to remove your funds from your Global Auto Auctions account, you must request a refund via our website only. The request form is located in the About Us section of the website. Refunds can take up to 5-7 days to reflect back into  your credit card online statement.
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Insurance Companies do not provide a damage report and/or full description of their vehicles. However, very brief descriptions for Loss Type and Damage Type are normally offered under the Vehicle Description section of each listing. All information provided by the Insurance Companies to our authorized affiliate dealers is displayed on the site but we are not responsible for accuracy and all sales are “As-Is.”
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Unfortunately, we are unable to determine how damages occur, how long a vehicle has been sitting in its current condition, and if repairs have been done. The Insurance Company does not provide us or our affiliate dealers with damage reports and/or full descriptions and histories of their vehicles. However, very brief descriptions for Loss Type and Damage Type are normally offered under the Vehicle Description section of each listing. All information provided by the Insurance Company to our authorized affiliate dealers is displayed on the site. All vehicles are sold "AS-IS".
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Because loose parts can be lost/misplaced/detached at Insurance Auctions and/or in transit, we do not guarantee loose parts' availability, even if they are visible in the photographs. We try our best to ensure that our transporters pickup every available piece that is supposed to come with the specified vehicle.
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Most vehicles displayed on our website are located on Insurance Company premises and are neither available for nor subject to inspection and testing. Therefore, the Insurance Company lets us know if the item runs or not, (if it does) we include this information in the listing but are not responsible for accuracy of the information. Although a vehicle is listed and runs and drives there is no guarantee, representation or warranty the vehicle will start, drive and move forward on its own power. Runs and drives means that the vehicle started at the time it came into the auction facility and was able to move back and forth in the auction yard. For example: Water Damaged vehicles may start at the time they come into a facility but due to water corrossion they may not start upon leaving our storage facilities. WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT ANY VEHICLE WILL RUN OR DRIVE THAT HAS BEEN SALVAGED.
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Insurance Auctions provide only the first 11 digits of the VIN for decoding purposes. The winner will receive the complete VIN once balance is paid on the vehicle.
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All vehicles displayed on our website are sold "as-is", therefore there is no recourse. We understand undercarriage and other latent defects are not visible in the photographs. Customers must understand that salvage vehicles may have latent defects (e.g. undercarriage damage, under hood damage, etc.). Global Auto Auctions and its affiliate dealers are NOT aware of latent defects of any vehicle. The Insurance Company does not provide us or our affiliate dealers with damage reports and/or full descriptions and histories of their vehicles. All information provided by the Insurance Company to our authorized affiliate dealers is displayed on the site.

Vehicles might also have been previously repaired. Global Auto Auctions and its affiliate dealers 1) are NOT aware of repairs performed, and 2) cannot comment on or warrant the craftsmanship of repairs, it performed, on any vehicle. Please place your offers with care!
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Global Auto Auctions does not repair vehicles and, for legal reasons, does not provide repair estimates. Prices for new parts can be obtained from a local authorized dealer (of your vehicle make). Prices for used parts can be obtained from a local salvage yard or an on-line auction site.
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The reconstruction process is simple and straight forward, but varies somewhat from state to state. In overview, you will first have the vehicle repaired (i.e. "reconstruction process") per your state's guidelines, have the vehicle inspected, and complete and submit the proper DMV forms. In return, the DMV will issue you a title. The last step is to register and insure the vehicle to be driven on the roads.
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In some cases, Insurance Auction personnel are able to verify a vehicle's Engine Start capability and Run and Drive condition. Global Auto Auctions does not perform these verifications. We also have no knowledge of how the Insurance Auction determines Engine Start capability (e.g. booster box, wires spliced/bypassed, etc.), or of how well the engine runs and/or car drives. Global Auto Auctions can NOT be held responsible for the verification results, running/driving quality and associated problems on any vehicle including water damaged vehicles and or collission vehicles. If Auction Verification is not published for a particular vehicle, this information is not available. It is the buyers responsibility to ascertain, confirm, research and investigate the vehicles history prior to bidding on it. Once a vehicle is removed from the auction premises or storage facility, the buyer accepts the vehicle "As Is". Water Damaged vehicles may start at the time they come into the facilities but may not start after they have been sitting for a while do to corrosion. Extensive repairs may be needed.
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Please confirm Global Auto Auctions has received your original paperwork and there is a zero balance on all invoiced items. After all paperwork is received, we will forward your vehicle location to our licensed and bonded Shipping/ Transportation company Easy Haul Transport Inc. An agent will then contact you for quotes and further details. Global Auto Auctions does not handle transport nor does it allow other transport companies who are not licensed and bonded to pick up vehicles. All transport shall be arranged with Easy Haul Transport Inc. Global Auto Auctions does not disclose smaller insurance companies it has contracts with. We permit you to use your own dispatch company at your own discretion with a service fee of $75.
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A salvage vehicle CANNOT be driven legally on the roads until it is "reconstructed". Typically, the vehicle must be towed (towing is provided by Global Auto Auctions) from the affiliate dealer's storage facility to your designated location. Next, the vehicle undergoes the "reconstruction" process per your state's guidelines. Finally, once the "reconstruction" process is complete, you can register and insure the vehicle to be driven on the roads.

Salvage vehicles are released by our affiliate dealers to designated storage locations, which usually are not accessible to the public for insurance reasons. Only a Global Auto Auctions affiliated shipping/transportation company can enter these storage yards to load/unload the vehicle.
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At the time the vehicle arrived at the Insurance Company facility, it was verified that the vehicle (i) started, (ii) could be put into gear, and (iii) was capable of moving forward under its own power. There is NO guarantee, representation, or warranty that the vehicle is in roadworthy condition or can be driven lawfully upon the highways of any state.

There is no guarantee, representation, or warranty that the vehicle will (i) start, (ii) drive, or (iii) move forward under its own power at the time the vehicle is picked up at the Insurance Company facility.
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A CDS vehicle is a vehicle that most likely has been traded in by a consumer to a dealership and the dealership is now selling the vehicle. It can also be a dealer vehicle that is now up for sale. Dealer vehicles are also now readily available due to many dealerships closing throughout the USA.
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Yes, the name displayed on the driver's license must match your account information! Otherwise, per DMV regulations, the title cannot be tranferred to you.

NOTE: If the title will be in a company's name, please provide us a letter (on company letterhead) stating that the customer (i.e. purchase of the vehicle) is the owner or an authorized employee of that company.
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Yes, but any requests for changes to the address/name have to be done in advance by either phone or email. Otherwise the title WILL BE ISSUED IN THE NAME OF THE PERSON ON THE ACCOUNT and it will be mailed to the address on the account. Please make sure all information is accurate upon registration. Also, if you want us to mail the title to your shipping company, please request that in advance by calling our offices!
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As a courtesy, Global Auto Auctions processes titles for vehicles purchased by our affiliate dealers on behalf of our customers. We are unable to provide an estimated time frame for delivery of the title to the customer due to many factors, e.g. submission of title by auctions, volume of title processing, delivery of processed titles, etc. Please plan any transfer of title and/or shipping of vehicle with these potential delays in mind. Global Auto Auctions utilizes USPS Certified/ Registered Mail for title delivery.

NOTE: Global Auto Auctions reserves the right to choose the appropriate delivery service. All titles are processed in the order they are received.
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Per the Purchase Order Agreement, Global Auto Auctions does not guarantee title types. That being said, the customer may receive an equivalent title type to the one displayed in the online item description.

Differences between title Types and Designations are minor, for example "Arizona Salvage Certificate" is displayed in the online description, but the customer receives "Nevada Salvage Title". Local/Regional laws and regulations sometimes require our affiliate dealers and/or insurance companies to transfer the title to the state in question. Differences in title Type/Designation bear no change in equivalence.
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When a vehicle is involved in an accident, and salvaged by an insurance company, it has to be reconstructed before being placed back on the road. After the vehicle is repaired, it's inspected by an authorized mechanic and certified by the DMV as reconstructed to manufacturer specifications. The DMV issues a "reconstructed" title, which is treated the same way as a "clean" title regarding registration and insurance purposes. Please note Global Auto Auctions does not guarantee that all title denominations can be reconstructed in any particular state or country. Please refer any title questions to your local DMV.
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No. Paypal is NO LONGER ACCEPTED. Check with your representative for other options.