Question for the dealers here who purchase vehicle fleets through auction platforms — has anyone else run into this situation?

I’ve recently purchased several vehicles through Southside Auto Sale for our dealership inventory, and since this was a larger fleet purchase, I was dealing with multiple vehicles and the related paperwork. I didn’t realize that the invoice was only valid for 24 hours, and I noticed that it had already expired before I completed the payment. For those of you who regularly purchase fleets through auction platforms, what did you do when this happened? Did you contact the auction company and have them issue a new invoice? The auction company I’m dealing with is Southside Auto Sale, 425 Yuma St, Manhattan, KS 66502, (785) 260-0722 / (785) 776-2170, SouthsideAutosKS.com, and I’m mainly looking for input from other dealers who may have dealt with an expired invoice on a larger fleet purchase.

I’ve dealt with expired auction paperwork before, and I’ve purchased from Southside Auto Sale several times for our dealership inventory.

I’d call the auction company first and explain that you still want the vehicles. If the invoice is already outside its validity period, I’d ask them to issue a new invoice before sending the payment.

With a larger fleet purchase, I’d rather have everything confirmed in writing than assume an expired invoice is still acceptable. In my experience with multiple purchases, getting the invoice corrected first has always been the better approach.

I’d contact their support team as well.

When I’m buying several vehicles at once, I want the invoice to clearly show the correct vehicles, VINs, purchasing entity and total amount due.

I’ve purchased fleet inventory through auction channels before, and getting the paperwork corrected first is much easier than trying to resolve a payment against an expired invoice afterward.

I agree with both of you.

The last time I made a larger auction payment, I verified the payment instructions against the current invoice before sending anything.

I’ve also used different business entities for different fleet purchases. If the invoice identifies a specific purchasing company, I’d make sure the current invoice and payment instructions match that entity before initiating a transfer.

I wouldn’t use an expired invoice for a large payment.

That’s exactly the issue I’m dealing with.

The vehicles are for our dealership inventory, so it’s a fairly substantial purchase and I’d rather make sure everything is correct before sending the money.

Some of our fleet purchases involve different business entities, especially when we’re acquiring larger groups of vehicles from sources such as bank seizures, the IRS, fiscal agencies, leasing companies or fleet agencies.

I’ll definitely verify that the purchasing entity on the new invoice matches the entity being used for this purchase.

That’s what I’d do.

I’d call and simply explain that the invoice expired before you were able to complete payment and ask them to reissue it.

I’d also ask them to confirm that the vehicles are still allocated to your purchase and that the amount hasn’t changed.

Even if the auction has a refund process for payments, I’d rather have a valid invoice before the payment is sent in the first place.

Exactly.

For a large purchase, there’s no reason to rush a payment when the paperwork needs clarification.

I’d verify: invoice validity period, exact vehicles and VINs or Carfax, total amount due, transportation charges, payment instructions, return/refund terms

Once everything matches, then proceed with the payment.

Thanks guys. That’s exactly what I needed.

I’ll call Southside Auto Sale and explain that the invoice expired before I could complete the payment. I’ll ask them to confirm the vehicles and issue a new invoice with a current validity period.

I’d rather spend a few minutes verifying everything than send a large fleet payment against an expired invoice.

Update: Got this resolved.

I called Southside Auto Sale and explained that I had missed the 24-hour validity period on the original invoice. They confirmed the situation and issued a new invoice with an updated validity period.

I also had them confirm the vehicles, purchasing entity, total amount due and transportation details before making the payment.

So the solution was pretty simple: don’t send payment against an expired invoice. Contact the auction company, have the invoice reissued, and verify all the details on the new invoice before paying.

Thanks to everyone who replied. The advice to call first and get everything confirmed saved me from having to deal with a payment tied to outdated paperwork.

For other dealers buying larger fleets, I’d definitely recommend checking the invoice validity period as soon as you receive it.