KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The City of Kansas City, Missouri, is moving its monthly car auction to an online-only platform in order to practice good social distancing and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Every month, about 300 people show up at the city’s impound lot to bid on cars the city puts up for sale.
They are vehicles people abandon on the side of the road, or the city tows from illegal parking spaces, or cars police seize after making arrests.
“The biggest thing about these auctions and why they're here is they're getting [those cars] off the streets,” explained Nate Pare, the division manager of KCMO’s Tow Services Division. “It’s a safety hazard at some point."
He said many of the cars are wrecked and junkyards buy them. But the auction is open to the public.
There is always an online component to the auction, but this month, online will be the only component.
“We have to be very careful about how we do this,” Pare said. “No one is coming down. No one will have a physical presence on the lot whatsoever. It'll be all online. There will be pictures of every vehicle online so everyone can get an idea of what they're looking at and make decisions from there."
Bidding is open now and ends Wednesday, April 22. Click here to review the vehicles up for auction.
