Downside to buying cars from auctions?

[seawitch]

Is there a downside?  Tons of people I know are recommending it but is there some catch?  We can't afford a new car and probably not even a used car.  We don't want to be making payments but have a couple of thousand saved.  The husband is really invested in buying a car through an auction.  I've known people who have done so and said they were pleased with it.  Does anyone here have any thoughts? 

[Denvergirlie]

There is normally an inspection day, in that you can walk around and look at the cars. However, most often there are not keys in the car, thus you can't run the car to trouble shoot or even make sure it works. Normally there is no test drive day, etc, etc.

So be very careful and hopefully the local auction place near you will have a better inspection day than the ones I have gone to in the past. It's a gamble, you can get a great deal, or you can get a lemon that needs lots of work.