Auctions · Updated May 15, 2026

How IAAI auctions work: a buyer primer on IAAI salvage auctions

IAAI — Insurance Auto Auctions — is one of the two largest salvage and total-loss vehicle auction operators in North America, alongside Copart. This page explains how an IAAI auction actually works, who can buy from IAAI, what the IAAI fees look like, and how to research any IAAI lot with a free VIN check on vinfax before you bid.

What IAAI is

Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. The company traded as IAA (NYSE: IAA) until March 2023, when Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers closed its acquisition and IAAI became a Ritchie Bros. subsidiary. IAAI operates roughly 200 branches across the US, Canada and the UK, with heavy density through the Midwest, Northeast and Gulf states, and the wider group moves two to three million vehicles a year. Functionally, IAAI is the wholesale layer between insurance carriers (the sellers) and licensed buyers, with a public-buyer channel via brokers. IAAI earns on buyer and seller fees and rarely takes title to inventory itself.

Where IAAI inventory comes from

Insurance total-loss vehicles — the bulk of the lane. The threshold math is in the salvage title guide.
Rental and fleet end-of-life — Hertz, Avis, Enterprise and corporate fleet returns, usually clean titles.
Charity and donation vehicles — public-radio and nonprofit programs route inventory through IAAI.
Bank repossessions — lender-recovered vehicles sold to recoup loan balances.
Government and police seizures — surplus fleet, impound and seized-asset disposal.
Lease-end returns and dealer trade-ins — IAAI's wholesale (non-salvage) channel.

The mix matches Copart; the regional skew is that IAAI's Midwest, Northeast and Gulf coverage means it absorbs a larger share of hurricane-aftermath flood-damage inventory.

Vehicle conditions you will find

Every IAAI lot carries a run/drive flag describing what the yard observed at intake — it is not a road-worthiness certificate.

Runs & Drives — yard staff verified the engine starts, the car moves under its own power, and brakes engage. Read narrowly: "drives" means rolled across a flat yard, not road-legal.
Engine Start / Starts — the engine cranks; driving was not verified.
Stationary — no movement was attempted; treat as a non-runner.
No Key — paperwork issue or genuine missing key. Smart-key replacement on a modern car runs $300-$800.

The run/drive flag is independent of the primary damage code and the title brand — read all three together. A "Runs & Drives" lot can still carry a salvage title and undisclosed frame damage.

How an IAAI auction works

Each IAAI branch runs scheduled IAAI auctions on a published weekly calendar. The buyer-facing flow:

Pre-bid period — the lot is listed for several days with photos, run/drive status, damage codes and a starting bid. Bidders submit proxy bids; the system raises in increments only as needed, up to your declared maximum. Listings show a running "current high bid" through the pre-bid window.
Live auction — on sale day, lots open in sequence in their branch's auction. The pre-bid high seeds the live round and bidders raise in real time.
Proxy bid caps — every IAAI account has a daily spending capacity governed by the security deposit on file.
Reserve pricing — many lots carry a hidden reserve (the insurer's minimum). If bidding doesn't clear it the lot does not sell; the seller may later approve the high bid or relist.
Buy-It-Now — some lots are listed at a fixed Buy-It-Now price without an auction round. First clean offer takes the lot.
Payment and pickup — payment due within two business days; pickup within three to seven. After the grace period, storage accrues at $30-$50 per day.

Who can buy from IAAI

Registered Buyer accounts (licensed dealers) — full access to every IAAI lot, no annual cap, lowest fees. A state dealer licence is required.
Public buyers via broker — public buyers without a dealer licence reach IAAI lots through third-party brokers (SalvageBid, AutoBidMaster, A Better Bid, BidGoDrive). The broker bids on its own account and adds 5-15% on top.
Limited direct public access at some branches — typically for "Public Buyer Eligible" non-salvage lots only. Access is narrower than the dealer tier.
International / export buyers — IAAI supports export buyers via licensed shipping and broker partners.

State dealer-licensing rules vary widely — California, Texas and New York require a bonded address, lot inspection and a written exam; Florida has a lighter regime.

IAAI fees and total cost

The winning bid is not what you pay. Typical IAAI fees stacked on top of a winning bid:

Buyer fee — scaled by sale price. Roughly $100 on cheap lots, $300-$500 on mid-range, $700+ above $15k.
Internet bid fee — $59 to $129 depending on lot value and member tier.
Service / processing fee — $59 to $199, varies by sale-price band.
Gate fee — flat $59 per lot at pickup.
Environmental fee — $15 to $30 per lot.
Title / documentation fee — destination-state dependent.
Broker fee — public buyers add another 5-15% of the sale price.
Storage — roughly $30-$50 per day after a three-day grace period.
State sales tax and title transfer — vary by the state where you'll register the car.

A $5,000 winning bid commonly lands at $6,200+ delivered before any repair budget. Model the all-in cost — sale price plus IAAI fees plus broker plus transport plus expected repair — before pushing your maximum.

Reading an IAAI lot listing

The fields that matter most before you bid on any IAAI lot:

IAAI Stock # / Lot ID — the unique 8-digit identifier on this sale. Search our archive by IAAI lot ID to compare prior appearances of the same car.
VIN — verify 17 characters and a valid check digit. Paste it into our free VIN check to pull prior auction history; see what a VIN is for the structure.
Primary and secondary damage — IAAI's verdict on what is wrong. See the damage types catalogue.
Title brand — Clean, Salvage, Rebuilt, Junk, Non-repairable, Certificate of Destruction. See the salvage title guide and title rules by state.
Odometer reading and brand — Actual, Exempt or Not Actual. "Not Actual" means tampering history is on record.
Keys — Yes or No. No-key lots cost $300+ to replace on modern cars.
Run/drive flag — Runs & Drives vs Engine Starts vs Stationary.
Branch code — the yard. Critical for the transport quote and a useful flood-damage signal on Gulf-coast branches.
Photos — typically 6 to 20+. Missing engine-bay or interior-carpet shots on a "minor damage" lot is a red flag.

How to research an IAAI lot before bidding

Run the VIN on vinfax — our free VIN check surfaces prior auction appearances, prior damage codes and the previous winning bid. A car that sold at IAAI eighteen months ago for $1,800 and is now relisted with new damage tells a story.
Cross-reference the auction archive — every IAAI lot we've recorded is in our auction archive, searchable by VIN and IAAI lot ID.
Verify title history independently — the listing shows the title brand only at the moment of sale. Older history needs a state DMV search, Carfax or AutoCheck.
Read every photo — repeated angles or missing engine-bay shots mean the yard didn't want you to see something. Inspect interior carpet, undercarriage and frame.
Check the branch location — IAAI lots from Houston, New Orleans, Tampa and other Gulf branches deserve extra scrutiny for flood damage signals.
Estimate repair cost early — send the photos and IAAI damage codes to a body shop and get an honest quote before bidding.

Common IAAI buyer mistakes

Bidding without modelling the all-in delivered cost (winning bid + IAAI fees + broker + transport + state tax).
Trusting the "Runs & Drives" flag as proof of road-worthiness — it just means the car moved across a flat yard.
Skipping the title-history check and ending up with a title-washed car previously branded in another state.
Overlooking flood-damage signals on a "front end" lot from a Gulf-coast branch.
Bidding from out-of-state without a transport quote. Transcontinental transport on a non-runner adds $1,500-$3,000.
Underestimating IAAI yard storage — three days of grace, then $30-$50 per day.
Comparing the wrong auction. The same insurer's vehicles often appear on both lanes; see Copart vs IAAI and how Copart auctions work.

Browse IAAI lots on vinfax

vinfax indexes every IAAI and Copart listing since 2024 — over a million vehicles. Two places to start:

Run a free VIN check → Browse the auction archive →

Or browse by body or damage class via the categories index.