They're supposed to have abandoned vehicles for auction soon or you can buy a used cop car for hundreds of dollars. "They're practically giving them away."

https://www5.honolulu.gov/webapp/VSSPSRV1/AltSelfService

05/03/17 Unclaimed and abandoned vehicles to be sold via public online auctions

Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Contact: Eddie Oi, Department of Customer Services: 768-349
 
Unclaimed and abandoned vehicles to be sold via public online auctions
 
Honolulu – The City and County of Honolulu will be holding online auctions on May 10 and May 11 to sell unclaimed and abandoned vehicles.
Unclaimed vehicles will be auctioned on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at 8 a.m.
Abandoned vehicles will be auctioned on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at 8 a.m.
The Department of Customer Services administers the city’s vehicle towing contract and manages the abandoned vehicle program. The auction process is managed by the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, and proceeds benefit the city’s general fund.

There will be a minimum bid of $50 for each vehicle sold at auction. The winning bidder is responsible for paying all towing and storage fees to the tow contractor.

A listing of vehicles included as part of these auctions, along with the associated towing and storage fees, can be viewed at the city’s Vendor Self Service system website: http://bit.ly/HonoluluVSS.

Vehicles will be sold “as is” and “where is.” Vehicles may be inspected within five calendar days prior to the day of the auction by appointment with the tow company.

Bidding will be conducted online using the city’s Vendor Self Service system, which allows users to manage their own account information and view the city’s procurement solicitations and surplus auctions. For assistance with the website, please call 768-3962.

The Tow fees range from $500- $1200 , Only a few cars sells, most are not worth the imaginary jacked up tow/storage recovery cost.

The small print...

A college buddy worked at an auto auction in Seattle.  It was my understanding that many of the cars were repos, unclaimed at tow yards, former impound/evidence type cars, etc.  I generally stay away from used cars nowadays, but Hawaii is way too small for buying cars from that kind of "source" pool. 

Funny story though from the Seattle experience.  Just after graduation, another buddy needed a car.  So he spent about $400 or so on an older POS car.  On the drive home, it died on a hill just outside of downtown Seattle.  He ended up abandoning it on the side of the road.  We later joked that that's how the car probably ended up at the auction in the first place and was wondering if the are would make it back to the auction. 

I had a 1991 Ford Tempo with 230k miles that I finally donated. It was starting to develop serious electrical issues. A month later, I saw it on the side of the road in Everett.