Have you ever requested a car dealership find a model car for you at dealer only auctions?

The subject says it all. Has anyone ever done this successfully? I've had lower end dealerships tell me that they'll keep an eye out for a particular model but I haven't ever had one followup with the sale.

I used to go find those special little gems for customers only to find something wrong with them and refuse to buy. Unless its something fairly common that the dealer just doesnt have at the time that they can sell quickly if you dont buy they will just file 13 your request after you leave honestly

What Ryanty said.

Typically it's a combination of:

1) customer requesting an insanely rare option/color combination (I.E. I want a 5 speed SC300, it has to be purple, it has to be OBDI. Any interior color is fine, except tan...or black)

+

2) Customer's having the attention span of a gnat and buying something completely different in the meantime (I know I saaaiiddd that I wanted an SC300, but I drove by this other dealership and they had this red Range Rover that I just fell in love with.)

meh

I have used a dealership I trusted for this(owner was a family friend). i dont know if I would trust it to a random dealership.

I've asked at a few dealerships. Not a single one called me back with the car i was looking for or anything even near to it.

They DID however, call me daily about every other berkeleying car they got in on the lot for a couple weeks.

There's very little reward (or chance of any reward) if they follow through, there's no guarantee that you'll buy what they bring back.

If they don't know you from a hole-in-the-wall, they're going to assume they'll be on the hook when you never show up to buy the thing.

Dad's done it a few times. Usually they'd see what he wanted on the auction list, then call him and show him the pics. If it looked ok they'd buy it and sell it to him. If it turned out to be a POS, they'd either fix it up, or more likely, send it back. He's a 20+ year regular at that dealer though.

When I had a dealer license, and could go to the auctions, I had a relative "order" a used car. I told him I wanted him with me as a "driver" so he could pick out the car he wanted to buy. He wanted me to buy 5 or 6 similar cars, that I had no market for, and he would pick out the one he wanted, if he liked any of them. That was 20 years ago. He's still waiting, because once you bid, you own it.

I have given the dealer my list of "likes" and then gotten the call from the auction that a car fits the profile. Usually the problem is that I am in court and cannot get to the auction to view the car before it goes across the block. I did buy my wife 20th Anniv Nissan Maxima using this process.

I did this by accident once. Through an odd chain of events involving comments to a mechanic who changed employers, when I was looking for an Audi GT I had a independent VW/Audi dealer call me one day from the auction. He said he was standing next to a car that matched what I was looking for, described it to me, and we agreed on a price range. He bought it, I went and looked at it, and I brought it home.

I owned it for 12 years, and it remains one of my favorite cars of all time. However, I will say that this arrangement was with a truly remarkable dealer, who has a stellar reputation in the area and specializes in only VAG products.

I've thought about trying this again with my recent desire to purchase a used Mustang, but I don't have any 'relationship' with dealers who go to the 'second tier' auctions. The only one I have an 'in' with is a new car dealer, and asking him to find me a 100k+ mile car is probably futile.

Thanks for the input guys. Just wondering if anyone had any success taking that route.