California Dealer Auctions Directory

How dealer auctions work

The gate is the license

Wholesale auctions exist to move vehicles between businesses: dealers consign their trade-ins, fleets and rental companies sell their retired units, and insurers sell their total losses. At a dealer-only auction, nobody from the public raises a hand — buyers register with a dealer license, and many wholesale houses verify that credential through AuctionACCESS, the industry's shared dealer-registration system: one registration recognized across participating auctions, Manheim and ADESA among them. Copart and IAA run their own registrations, and Copart lets the public bid on vehicles marked “No License Required” — everything else in its inventory requires a license.

Both California license types buy here: the retail license, which also lets you sell cars to the public, and the wholesale-only license, which buys and sells dealer-to-dealer — many full-time auction buyers operate exactly that way. Every vehicle in these yards sells as-is; the buyer owns the condition they inspected. That is why the order works: license first, auction registration second, disciplined buying third.

This directory is free and stays free. We are a dealer school, not an auction; our part starts before your first bid — the course, the exam, the packet. Start with the free practice test.