Watch out, this place needs to be audited. These are donated cars that are suppose to be going to junk yards, they patch them so they can start and leave you with bill of thousands of dollars to make car functional. They have their own people bidding to drive prices up on some cars. Save yourself the headache and purchase from a used lot or a private seller.

The Otay Auto Auction used to be fun and exciting. My current attendance to preview the items to be auctioned was rather disturbing. We got registered and got in line to go view. When it got to our turn supposedly the staff had to go to lunch and we were told by the security guard that we had to wait another hour until they got back. After about an hour or so we went back to the point of entry only to be told there were 8 people ahead of us. My partner got a little upset, demanded a refund, and we left without viewing any vehicles. In my opinion the people in the office should have been letting customers know that there is a lunch period ahead of time to prevent an issue like this. Better yet, rotating lunch breaks might be more ideal and convenient for everyone.

Fridays are for viewing Saturdays cars. Good mix of makes and models. Courteous and helpful staff.

Service and quality his going WAY down!! Years ago, I bought a car here for a great price and it lasted me for years! I was very happy with my purchase. I was able to spend unlimted time in the lot inspecting the cars, is why!Now, because of “security reasons”, they escort you in and you have 30 minutes to look at as many cars as you possibly can, that’s it! As a result, this time I bought a car that had a “check engine” turn on, when I drove it out of the lot! Now I don’t know if I can repair it, this is a true nightmare!!If you go here, only look at ONE car and TAKE a MECHANIC!! Or just find another auction or way to buy a used car!

I won a nice 2011 VW Jetta Sport for $3500. It showed 86k miles on the odometer. I had the chance to inspect it for hours before the auction. The vehicle was mistreated by the previous owners; the carpet was covered in dirt and filth; the driver side door handle was snapped off; both the turn signal and windshield wiper levers were snapped off; it had a busted tailight; theres a dent in the trunk; the paint has a few deep scratches; the belt tensioner was loose; it had a spare tire on the front right side. Other than that, the engine starts up quick and idles nicely. Moreover, the transmission shifts smoothly! It had the maintenance log and spare key in the glove box, and the log was stamped for service by a VW dealership at 60k miles. Besides the paint and dent, I fixed/replaced everything else myself with parts from wrecking yards and eBay. I also gave it a tune up myself. Now the car is in good condition, and it came out to much less than the average dealers selling price. Overall, it was a great turnout! I got it for the trade-in price and can make some dough by selling or renting it out, or I can use it as my daily driver. Be sure you know about cars before buying! Dont be afraid of little damages!

My girlfriend bought a car from here, its in really good condition. It was. 2013 ford focus and it looks brand new. Some cars here are in pretty bad shape but they dont try and hide it from you. Honest people I recommend a thousand times instead of going to a dealership

Like any other auction has its risks but the prices leave room so you can fix any inconvenience.... my daughter and I had a great time buying her car luckily we found exactly what she wanted, we share birthday, blood and y cute car ... our mini coopers are awesome!!!

Ive been to this auction a half dozen times. A lot of garbage sold here. A gem comes through now and then... but mostly money pits. You can wander around looking at them. You cant pop the hood or open the doors to get a better look. They run them through so fast you barely have time to see under the hood when they show them. A friend has bought about 3 from them and two were so bad he only broke even.

Great deals great care. Great people that go out of there way to help you

Im hoping I have the right location and this somehow gets back to his team, but Mario picked up my car for a Kars4Kids donation and he was AMAZING. Neither of the cars ran anymore and he was able to get both of them going again, and loaded onto his truck. He also told me about how hed worked over 14 hours the day before, but had no complaints about coming all the way out to anaheim to pick up my cars. He was awesome. Just wanted to give him shoutout if I could!!

The employees are extremely nice.

A friendly and helpful staff, was able to check out any car, open it up and was assisted with jump starting as needed. Previewing the cars is a good idea and having a mechanic friend come with you is as well. I won a great Subaru last week and its now my daily driver.

Alot of nice car. Staff is rude but not bad poeple they are just swamped with customers and they do not seem to have customer training. Guys are very rough around the edges. Be prepared to be straight forward wirh a serious voice and dont ask for too much help with the office. The guys dont care and will laugh at you. So if you have a tough skin and dont get offended easily than this place could be good to buy a car. Just buyer beware.

Excellent. A 2019 525i went for 700!

Its a fun way to buy a car with out paying 10 of thousands dollars.

AMAZING, SIMPLE, CAR AUCTION!! I got a great maxima, clean title, will definitely go again!!

Very friendly, no problems at all, I got a 2007 jeep for 1500...

Best auction in south San Diego

Bought a car for my son, we paid $800 for the car. The auction process was pretty simple and straightforward. I was surprised about not being able to look under the hood prior to paying for the car. We ended up spending almost $1100 on repairs as the car would not pass smog without a catalytic converter being installed. Expect to spend extra on repairs, cars have high mileage and are older vehicles but you may find a diamond in the rough. If I were looking for a cheap car to drive I would buy from them again.

Been here a few times and honestly feel like this is a great place to buy vehicles. We have bought four in the past year and happy to say we have been very impressed with all of them. Plus its for charity, so you feel good about it, giving back is very important. Thanks for being so honest...

If you know how to purchase a car this place is fantastic. You must have a automotive background. I have purchased four cars here and they all have been in great shape. But I cannot stress enough you must have a automotive background.

Why would anyone risk bidding on vehicles you cannot inspect under the hood? Whats the point of having whole hour for inspection when all you can do is just inspect the paint or sit in the car?This is a direct quote from their websites FAQ (picture attached):Q: Can we look & check at the vehicles before auction?A: Yes, The vehicle’s being auctioned are available for you inspection on Saturday morning, from 9:00 AM to 10 AM. We recommend that you bring a mechanic to thoroughly inspect the vehicle(s) you are interested in.That is a BLATANT LIE.As soon as you open a hood youll get at least 2 or 3 monkeys screaming you cant open hoods.The same vague information can be seen in their Privacy Policy (Picture Attached). How can a mechanic inspect a vehicle without opening the hood? Why do you have employees actively keeping people from opening hoods to INSPECT?Its no wonder many feel conned by these people when the cars they buy break down right after auction. They know most of the cars are trash, They do what they can to keep you from figuring that out until its too late.And no, the 15 seconds the car when every guy swarms around it while stands on the auction floor wont qualify as a You did get a chance to look at the engine, you should have known better.For those who are not as knowledgeable about vehicles, please remember that Runs & Drives is subjective and in no way promises you will make it home. Some might Run & Drive out of their lot and all the way to the corner stop light. Some will Run & Drive straight to a mechanic. Only a lucky few will run and drive with no major problems.I completely understand that auctions are always a gamble regardless, however, the way this particular auction place handles the way you can inspect a vehicle during inspection hour is shady.BUYERS BEWARE.

Good place to buy a car. Go early and check the cars over before the auction. I got a good deal and would definately go there again!

Its a good place to get a beater to run around in. I highly advice you to do your homework as some of the vehicles are here because they have issues. If you cant put in your wrench time or know a cheap mechanic that $1000 BMW will take your money. Dont get carried away with auction excitement which I believe some of the people with lower reviews did.

Great chance to pick up nice vehicle for cheap

Very high the service tax and most of the time on occasion are cars resold by private sellers with many mechanical problems AmigosNormally auto auctions in San Diego like- Otay auto Auctionsay that there is another that offered more when it is not like that ... so that the biders can pay more for it, you knowMore than 15 years visiting local autions of southern california and specifically Otay auto Auction scam 80% of the timeI can say that only 20% of the cars sold are ok, the rest is scam

Theyre the best in the area.

It was a great experience there was a lot of cars and my friend bought two of them

Bought a van and it has cockroaches!! they have a lot of camper vehicles so im sure they are everywhere! yuk

Old cars

Nice people! cant say much about the cars.

Nothing but trash here, every car I bought needed something major, blown head gasket, transmission issues ect. Also the prices are ridiculous. Good luck.

I got a 2003 Saturn with 96,000 miles on it for $1,500 just remember to bring cash with you as they dont have an ATM and dont accept debit cards car runs great and Im happy with my experience

Great place to get a cheap vehicle. The prices are very reseanable. You can get a great price if you are willing to come back a few weeks in a row to wait for what you want. These cars are from donations to non-profits, police impounds, etc. Dealer fees rise with winning bid. Doors open at 0900 to about 1400. Auction begins at 1000. An entire acre of cars waiting to be sold. Motorcycles, campers, trailers, etc. Well worth the time. Also on Facebook live.

Plan on replacing the engine after you drive off the lot. I got a newer US Marshall vehicle that drove 5 miles and died! Check the 5 star reviews they are all fake (click the person only 1 review was ever made), this should be rated 1 Star. Con-artists

I purchased couple of vehicles in the past and it is true this thing may cost few hundreds more to fix on top of what you paid at the auction but overall is better then paying 5 years of car payments in the long run you save thousands of dollars.last time i purchased a honda after auction price i invested only couple hundred dollars to fix and ran good for 3 years. then i purchase a toyota pick-up for 400.00 paid 300.00 additional in repairs and ran good for 3 years until it got stolen. so over all is a good deal unless if you are picky go to a dealer ship and sign up for 45k and pay it in 5 years

Nothing but junk. Will con u for fake $50 dealer fee. Cars won’t even start at the preview. U have 15 sec to start biding on a car after u see it running. Seen fake bidders bidding up cars. Then hanging out with the employees the next week and that they have the same cars they bid on there at the next auction date. Bought 2 cars here both cost an arm & leg to keep on the road, sent them both to a wrecking yard. Better off on crigeslist don’t get sucker. BTW HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH U.S MARSHALLS

Cars are ok, Service is questionable, auctioneer is speaking alien.I bought a car and and put a down payment for $500, but the next day I went to pick it up, the lady that was taking care of the money only wrote $300. The office and I ended up having an argument but I did ended up the previous price. I have no idea where the money went? After it rains every thing and everywhere is muddy. If you dont want a headache or for paying unnecessary expenses then dont waste your time here.

August 2018 update: Still runs great! Its a decent place to get something as a 2nd car or beater. I bought an early 90s vehicle in October 2017 with under 100k miles thats in pretty good, running shape. At first, we barely got it home as it was struggling to keep running on idle due to a dead battery and virtually no oil. After a new battery, oil change, and a few filter changes, its pretty strong, the biggest problem right now is that the clutch occasionally slips.Dont expect any vehicle there to be in tip-top shape, just know what youre getting into. Most of the vehicles there have been donated, which could mean that there is something majorly wrong with them, or that the donator just sees it as something old that they dont drive anymore. When the auction says it runs and drives, that means they just drove it around in their dirt lot, up to 2nd gear at most. You could be buying something that needs a lot of work without really knowing because they dont allow you to start them or pop their hoods. (They said people have stolen parts in the past). Everyone working there seems to be bilingual, but it helps if you know Spanish because the auctioneer speaks pretty quickly in both languages. It takes only 1-2 minutes to get through each car, so theyve got the pacing down.Im sure there are some real lemons there every week, but its a risk that can pay off. When most (seemingly decent) cars start at $500 and dont go above $1,500, its hard to complain. Do as much inspection as you can within their limits and dont pay too much.

I been in better auctions gotta know what youre buying.. mechanic skills help

Long wait to enter

The $350 car I bought almost a year ago is still running strong today.

A lot of good deals.

This place is a rip off They filled the oil completly full so when your listening to the engine it sounds great then try and dive it home and you hear a bad knocking and the water leaked out and just stalled had to tow it to the mechanic just to tell me the engine is blown!! wast of money and time. They should be ashamed of them self! My son saved all his money (makes minimum wage took awhile) went to go buy a vehicle and got ripped off what a shame. I feel so bad for him . lesson learned i quess dont make the same mistake !!

Such a waste of money and time!These guys are lies and crooks and wont disclose the real issue with each vehicle. We bought a truck and the rod broke 15 minutes down the road. We also got a van the same day and the radiator blew in almost the same spot on the freeway. My buddy got a vw jetta the same day and the transmission needs to be replaced.It has cost us $3000 in repairs on the truck and is now $1000 over bluebook.Dont waste your time and give yourself huge headaches and unnecessary expenses!Just my experience

Service is good prices are so so

Good deals if you are willing to wait.

This is the spot to get a great donated car

They should let people use engine scanners

If u like junk buy here !!

NOTHING BUT JUNK! Dont even bother wasting your time on going.

Cool i won a 🚗

Got 5 good cars there

Auctioneer talks to fast to many people and bid takers taking fake bids

Really recommend

I went to the auction and ckeck the car and I bought the car I paid off everythingAfter that I am wating someone hit the car Big damage still the car is auction lotWe find out the person he back up on my car its the OWNER COUSIN .I go to security he send me to the office .I go to the office they tell me go to themanager he said to me the car it was like that and the time is passing bye ITS TIME TO CLOSE, THEY DONT WANT TO GIVE ME THE CAR THEY CAN TAKE OFF MOREPARTS FROM THE CARNO SPARE TIRE NO JACKS THEY CHANGE TO DID BAD BATTERY PLUS THE DAMAGE ON THE CAR COST $ 900 THIS ACTION DOES NOT HAVE RULES THE DIDNT PAY ME NO THING I WILL NEVER GO BACK

It auctions a lot of vehicles weekly on Saturdays . You don’t exactly know the condition they’re in though so it’s quite a risk

Went with a friend to pick up a car he bought.. Dirty there

Great cars

Mexicans selling cars on a dirt lot .enough said

Best spot for auto auctions

They have some cheap automobiles but you might end up getting a surprise

Auto auctions with great prices.

I LOVE this place

Lots of cars low prices

All of the vehicles are junk expect to replace motor transmission or do major repairs to these vehicles Ive bought cars 3 times there and all of them were horrible decisions stay away from this place unless you get the car dirt cheap and u are OK with wasting your time and money to fix them

Carisimo

Car blew up on the way home with it

Not recommended to buy a car .

Cars are way too expensive

Most cars are worthless

Not enough parking lot

Great service

Terrible cars

Interesting

Like it

Like to gamble??

It is UN auction .... Of course in what it sells ... they give the documents in order and they are serious people in this type of business ... the important part is to review and look at the origin of each car ... with Carfax .. .bring a scanner ... cars with few miles are the most valuable ... Buying cars with a lot of miles ... is having to repair and spend a lot of money ...

Good place to do good shopping

They only sell garbage there

Good business

Very good car auction, at very affordable prices

Very good place ... 👍👌

Of 200 cars, only 10 are more and those 10 pass them the tip asus known what is is, selos says someone who has already bought in a few words I do not recommend going.

A very good place to buy ... if you know how to buy you get great prices ..

Fast and safe you drive

Excellent place to make a car with the three b

I love it, the options are good (price / product)

As with any auction, prices vary too much. But very easy to buy cars without any problem

Very good auction

Good places

Good place to find the car ke vuskes

If you want to get a cheap car it is here you just have to wait for it to come out

This place is a waste of cars and motorbikes with a motorcycle I got plates that I owed 900 dll and the motorcycle ahy cost me 220 dll is a waste and apart for when I wanted to grab the troubadour a strikethrough I asked you bring this motorcycle and design give me a fair to go by eya a pigman this place go to tijuana goes better

It is true here they sell pure crap that donate xq it is more expensive to fix it and apart you expensive and you win the bet and you are going to pay and they design that they cannot leave it for you because the car is more expensive than what you earned it they design you they want more money and apart you pay more money in the office wow barbaros fill the bugs falcil I won a car of 1800 and they wanted more 2500

If you can get a good car. They go with the super high price.On the street, you grab them at almost the same price.

That of k cannot be ignited. It is for ke do not realize. They dont serve waters is a trick, they scrubbed me

This is what some of you say there is a plot, that cars have mechanical problems and you should say it to some extent is true, 1. they cannot announce it since the law of the United States and of an auction does not oblige them, 2. in all the auctions they give them some time to make a physical revision of the cars, years ago they allowed you to open the chest and start the engine, but many customersThey began to move to make them fail at the time of the auction and thus buy them cheaper, this is no longer allowed, give thanks to the others, 3. Once the auction starts the cars walk by and open the chest for them Approach and check the engine or transmission, anyone who has enough knowledge of mechanics can realize when a car is fine, I have now more than 8 years buying here and I never got a car with a bad engine or transmission, only an alternator, starter, battery, tune-up, water pump, but this is normal since it is part of which cars are used

It was the worst of the worst. I donated 2000 dollars.

Good place to get a good car at a good price