Why would a good car end up at an insurance auto auction?

Looking to buy a used 2009 vehicle right now with 9,000 miles. Seller states it was purchased at an insurance auction with a clear title. Autocheck confirms this info - single owner, no accidents, no thefts, no repossessions, clear title, etc. What might be the reason this car was at the auction in the first place?|||I work for such an auction service.





Just because it is at an "insurance auction" that does not mean it was an insurance-loss car. We get cars all teh time from dealers and private parties looking to sell. These would be clean, clear title cars. They use our service because of our enormous buyer base, and the better likelihood of selling for them.





That said, beware of one thing. Just because Autocheck comes back clean, and hte title is clean, that does NOT give the car a clean bill of health. It happens all the time that we get a car that has been in an accident, rebuilt, and sent through on a clean title. Lets say I buy a car, but I have no insurane. I go out and run into a telephone pole. Since I have no insurance, Im not calling the police. I can't file a loss claim either. So I take it to a body shop who offers to buy my car as-is. I sell it and walk away. Guess what? Clean title, no accident history. This happens more than you realize.





Before buying this car, take it to a mehcanic for a thorough inspection. Look for telltale signs yourself: Overspray on the trim, fender bolts that are the wrong color, poor wheel aligment, doors that have irregular body gaps, look down inside the engine compartment for scratches on frame components, bent mounting hrdware, pulleys that wobble. Even after that, get it to a mechanic who can put it up on a lift and really check it over.





It could be scenario #1, Scenario #2 or a third, worse case, where the accident claim has not had time to show up on Carfax/Autocheck yet.|||not to sound like an a** but as long as you see its a clear title with no thefts or repossessions then don't worry about where he got it from, as long as all that info is good to go then it shouldn't matter where it got it from, as to the insurance auction i haven't heard of one of those, maybe when an insurance company auctions off a lot of vehicles that they purchased after being "totaled", so does sound like the seller is lying but like i said it shouldn't really matter since you know everything is clear with no repo or theft|||Owner may have failed to pay off some bills, which means repossession of the car, which can then be legally auctioned off to pay for bills... like say if said person had to declare bankrupt.|||They are lying to you.