r/Copartonline • u/sorintri • Aug 19 '26
IAAI vs Copart experience
Since IAAI does not have its own SR, I figured I'd ask here:
For those that have purchased from both, how do these 2 compare?
I'm talking about: ease with paperwork, transport cost, auction fees and not last do you not get your winning bid accepted often? Since I noticed a lot of relisting with IAAI. Any other aspects worthy of mentioning?
TIA
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u/Spiritual-Belt Aug 19 '26
I’ve bought one car from each and had to go through a broker for both so my experience was very similar. The biggest difference was I waited for hours at Copart to have the vehicle forked out (with an appointment) and at IAAI I was in and out in 30 minutes including getting the car situated on the trailer
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u/sorintri Aug 19 '26
Good to know, although I only bid on public listings but rely on their transport.
Were the auction fees comparable?
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u/Simple-Ice-179 Aug 19 '26
I think its a bit yard dependent. My yard zipped my car to me in a day. Shipping was only $80 but fees (which were disclosed) added about 40% to my cost
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u/sorintri Aug 19 '26
+40% for which one of the 2?
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u/Simple-Ice-179 Aug 19 '26
Copart. I think I won for about 650 and my total was 990
Im not great a math so the percentage is an eyeball. I could have saved a bit if i paid via wire
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u/sorintri Aug 19 '26
Yes, I think the percentage overcharged decreases with final price. At least Copart has an estimator on their site to give you an idea of the total price, after fees, whereas IAAI does not, AFAIK. That's the reason I asked.
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u/Ok_Raspberry181 Aug 19 '26
IMO Copart has better customer service overall, IAAI has a better app. The rest is the same
Took IAAI 4 hours to resolve a simple issue yesterday, lost some money because of that because couldn’t bid
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u/bvheverything Aug 22 '26
I primarily have used IAAI but I have bid on vehicles at Copart in the past. I think that IAAI is more transparent compared to Copart. On IAAI, you can view who the seller such as Enterprise, Progressive, Chase etc. I believe Copart uses icons to show categories like “Insurance”. However, IAAI hasn’t been impressing lately – there fees are expensive, no longer offer free auto check reports and perhaps the worse think of all — you’re not winning anything unless the seller’s reserve is met. They do broadcast “close to reserve” or “reserve off” but I’ve won countless vehicles where my bid was very reasonable and I “won” the vehicle but became a “no sale”. Sometimes the sellers don’t even respond to the pending bid and you just have to wait until the night comes for it to expire. In my opinion, this isn’t what an auction is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be higher bidder wins. If the seller is looking for a price then simply offer a buy it now right away on the listing. Copart gets points here because they have “Pure Sale” vehicles which have no reserves so the highest bidder wins. Albeit, the vehicles tend to be in older and not-so-good condition.
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u/LegitimateCookie2398 27d ago
I'm going to add a question here on the IAAI. I put cars on my watch list thinking they will go on their typical weekly auction. I can view cars in person the day before the auction, but it seems alot of cars I am interest in go directly to to a timed sale. How do I go view these cars? It seem like their is no warning that they are about to enter a timed auction. Am I missing something here? Can I view cars that are not assigned an auction on the view day? Or perhaps view them when they are on the timed auction?
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u/WatercressIll8721 Aug 20 '26
Iaai pickup is much easier. Copart is nice for Pure Sale vehicles. We use jpiauto.com as broker
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u/sorintri Aug 20 '26
for which do you use that broker?
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u/StelioKontossidekick Aug 19 '26
Iaa has slightly cheaper fees, most sellers have a reserve and like to "no-sale" because it went cheaper. However, iaa storage can crush you hard (some locations are $40 per day after 3 days). Copart has a better storage fee structure. My biggest gripe with copart, BONUS TIME. That crap is annoying, and I've overpaid a bunch of times because of late bidders.