Frequently Asked Questions

Peachtree Auto Brokers can find you the exact used car you want at unbeatable prices, while offering you service that is unmatched by any traditional dealership. We purchase the majority of our used cars at dealer-only auctions, which is exactly where dealerships purchase their used-car inventory. However, we have none of the high overhead costs associated with the fancy showrooms and huge inventories at traditional dealerships — no inflatable gorillas here. That means that we can offer you the same car that you would find at a dealership, but for a lot less money. Finally, we will meet with you as often as necessary to determine the best car for your current situation, and we won’t pressure you to buy the make or model we might happen to have in our inventory.

Second, you’ll notice that we keep only a small selection of cars in our inventory; that’s our way of keeping costs down, which allows us to pass the savings along to our clients. Car dealerships pay interest and fees on every single car they keep in stock, no matter how long it takes to sell. They have to pass these expenses along to their customers in order to stay in business. On the other hand, the vast majority of our business comes from finding specific vehicles as requested by our clients. Since these cars are essentially sold before we even buy them, we don’t pay exorbitant interest and fees, and you don’t overpay for your car. That’s why we’re able to sell you the car that YOU want, not the one that happens to be sitting on a lot collecting dust like the ones at the dealerships.

That’s absolutely correct. Anyone calling themselves an auto broker must, by law, carry a dealer license in the state of Georgia. The difference is in the structure of the business. Because Peachtree Auto Brokers chooses to cater directly to consumers instead of carrying the high overhead costs associated with a large inventory, we can offer much lower prices. In addition, the low-pressure environment and personalized service makes for a much more pleasant and enjoyable car buying experience. We can do more in 500 square feet than most dealerships can in five acres!

For a complete breakdown of the costs associated with our service, visit the Pricing page. You’ll find that even with our fees built into the price, we’re often able to beat the Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds retail price by thousands of dollars.

Peachtree Auto Brokers can buy and sell any brand of automobile. While we have our specific preferences on makes and models based principally on our experience and on consumer reliability reports, we prefer not to push these preferences on our customers. Instead, we offer unbiased information and advice based on published consumer data and mechanics reports. Of course, if you ask our opinion, we’re always happy to offer it.

Many people run when they hear the words “car auction,” but the key is recognizing the very real difference between public auto auctions and dealer-only wholesale auctions. In order to get a great deal and avoid buying a lemon at a public auction, buyers must be incredibly car-savvy. Wholesale dealer-only auctions are much different. These auctions are the major source of used car inventory for all dealerships, from the huge franchise dealerships to the small auto broker businesses. All the information, including DMV records, is available to dealers, and any mechanical problems are described in the vehicle inspection reports that accompany each car. Furthermore, most auction houses offer a guarantee to their dealers – if any car is found to have mechanical problems not described in the report, the dealer may return it to the auction house for a refund or to have the problem corrected.

Peachtree Auto Brokers has access to roughly 5,000 cars per week at the major dealer-only auctions in the Atlanta area, but our Georgia dealer license permits us to purchase cars from other dealer-only auctions anywhere in the country, meaning our access to inventory is essentially unlimited.

Unfortunately, we are unable to promise access to a car before we purchase it. The dealer-only auctions are understandably strict about keeping retail customers out to protect the wholesale market. In some instances, we will be able to accompany you to the auction one day prior to the sale to view a car, and we will have access to inspection sheets and/or pictures before the sale. We’ll also have the opportunity to closely examine both the interior and exterior of the vehicle on your behalf before purchase — we carry a kit complete with paint meters, on-board diagnostic readers, tire tread depth gauges and undercarriage inspection mirrors to fully check out each car that we’re considering.

Great! Most auction houses offer a short-term (one- to two-week) guarantee on the vehicles they are selling. This means if something is wrong with the car and it has not been addressed in the inspection reports, they will take the car back and return our money. In order to ensure that our purchases are sound, we have all our cars inspected within 24 hours of purchase. We will first ask you if you have a preferred mechanic to perform the inspection – we are glad to use any ASE certified mechanic of your choice. If you have no preference, we will use an independent third-party professional mechanic of our choice.

A retainer is nothing more than an earnest deposit. The reason we collect this retainer is to segregate the casual shoppers from the serious car buyers. We spend, on average, several days on each client’s vehicle search in order to ensure that we’re finding the right car, in the right condition, at the right price. While we’re delighted to perform this service for our clients, we want to know that our client is a serious buyer who is prepared to make a purchase, not someone merely using us as a free research team.

The retainer is fully refundable if you decide within 24 hours of paying it that our service is not for you. After the first 24 hours, the refund is prorated by 50%, and after 48 hours, it’s prorated by 75%. The retainer is non-refundable after 72 hours.

The process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on market conditions and scarcity of the particular car you want. The used car market is currently wildly unpredictable due to an extreme shortage of inventory. After the global economy crashed in 2008, the auto industry sold only half as many cars for the next two years as it had prior to the crash. As a result, the limited number of 2008, 2009 and 2010 models that are now hitting the used-car market are in high demand and buying them at a good price can require some patience.

In many cases, we’re happy to apply a trade-in toward your purchase. If you’d rather not trade in your old car,we’ll gladly give you an estimate of what you can expect to receive for it on the private party market or suggest charities that will accept it as a tax-deductible donation.

We prefer cashier’s checks or cash. We can also accept all major credit cards, but a 3.75% fee applies to these purchases.

We don’t offer in-house financing, but we’re happy to help you evaluate the various financing options available to you in the marketplace. In general, the rates that we’ll be able to get you are higher than what you’d be able to find on your own. Banks have finally started making car loans again after several years of extremely tight credit, so you might be surprised at how many different loan offers you’ll get.