About AuctionLot Research
A flexible system to research, compare, and decide on the right vehicle from auction listings
Modern vehicle research
How this site works
Auction-sourced data
VIN, mileage, damage type, and sale data pulled from public auction records, not guessed
Plain-language damage notes
What a damage code actually means for repair cost and risk
Cost transparency
Buyer fees, transport, and title costs beyond the winning bid
Copart and IAAI coverage
Listings and guides across both major US salvage auctions
No sales pitch
We don't sell cars or take a cut of your bid; this is research, not a storefront
Written for buyers
Guides written for first-time and repeat salvage buyers alike
Built for hands-on buyers
Why we started this
AuctionLot Research started as a personal spreadsheet. Copart and IAAI listings are thorough on paper — VIN, damage code, photos, a start code — but none of it tells you what actually matters: whether that 'front end' code means a $400 bumper or a bent frame rail, whether the odometer reading makes sense for the car's age, or what a rebuilt title actually costs to get street-legal in your state. We kept researching the same handful of questions on every lot, so we built a place to answer them properly instead of guessing from photos each time.
We don't sell cars, and we're not a broker — there's no commission riding on whether you bid or not. Every lot listing here pulls from the public auction record (VIN, mileage, damage type, auction house, lot number, sale date, final bid), and every guide is written by someone who's actually bought and rebuilt salvage vehicles, not summarized from other articles. When a damage code or start code needs context, we explain what it means in practice, including the times it's misled us. When a state's rebuild rules matter, we say so instead of leaving it vague. If a piece of research would take you an afternoon to verify manually, that's exactly what we're trying to save you.
We don't sell cars, and we're not a broker — there's no commission riding on whether you bid or not. Every lot listing here pulls from the public auction record (VIN, mileage, damage type, auction house, lot number, sale date, final bid), and every guide is written by someone who's actually bought and rebuilt salvage vehicles, not summarized from other articles. When a damage code or start code needs context, we explain what it means in practice, including the times it's misled us. When a state's rebuild rules matter, we say so instead of leaving it vague. If a piece of research would take you an afternoon to verify manually, that's exactly what we're trying to save you.
About the site
A few things people usually ask
Who runs this site?
AuctionLot Research is written and maintained independently, with lot data pulled from public auction records and guides written by someone with hands-on salvage-buying experience.
Do you sell cars or take a commission?
No. We don't broker sales, and we don't get paid based on whether you bid. This is a research resource, not a storefront.
How often is lot data updated?
Listings are pulled from public auction records as they're posted or updated. Once a lot sells, its page keeps the final sale details for reference.
Should I still get an independent inspection?
Yes. Our research helps you evaluate a listing, but it doesn't replace a physical inspection or a professional VIN history report before you bid on anything significant.
Anything else? Reach out through the contact page.
Start researching your next lot
Built for hands-on buyers
Why buy from a US auto auction
About 13 million vehicles come off US roads every year after accidents, and roughly 4 million of those flow into salvage auctions rather than a scrapyard — mostly through Copart (~53% of the market) and IAAI (~40%), which together handle something like 90% of that volume. That's the core reason salvage auctions exist as a real buying channel: a huge, steady supply of vehicles insurers have already written off, sold directly to whoever wants to take on the repair instead of going through a dealer lot first.
The trade-off is real, not hidden: you're buying a car the insurance industry already decided wasn't worth fixing, which means more research responsibility lands on you, not a dealer's reconditioning team. That's the entire reason this site exists — to move some of that research burden off the auction preview page and onto something you can actually plan a bid around before you're in the final thirty seconds of a live auction. See our Copart vs IAAI guide for the full platform breakdown.
The trade-off is real, not hidden: you're buying a car the insurance industry already decided wasn't worth fixing, which means more research responsibility lands on you, not a dealer's reconditioning team. That's the entire reason this site exists — to move some of that research burden off the auction preview page and onto something you can actually plan a bid around before you're in the final thirty seconds of a live auction. See our Copart vs IAAI guide for the full platform breakdown.