Press Release for Immediate Release May 11, 2006 Abandoned Auto Auction Is Now Online (Washington, DC) In March, DPW held its first online auction through Liquidation.com, a Liquidity Services Inc. (LSI) marketplace. LSI also conducts public sales of other city assets such as police vehicles, computer equipment, office furniture and other supplies through its online marketplace. Although potential buyers can still come to the Blue Plains Storage Facility at 5001 Shepherd Parkway, SW, to physically inspect vehicles, there will be no more “live” auctions. A prospective buyer may also view property online prior to the auction day. Additionally, the new system has a link called “Car Fax” that allows buyers to research the history of a vehicle simply by entering the vehicle identification number. The online auction opens the third Tuesday of each month, as it did before. However, bidders now have until Thursday to bid before the virtual auction closes. There are three ways to pay: credit card, wire transfer, and “Pay Pal.”  All payments must be received within two business days of the auction closing. The new online auctions are expected to improve data tracking and financial oversight. As before, the auctioned vehicles are not registered, insured or inspected—nor do they have keys. Therefore, they cannot be driven off the impoundment lot. Owners must arrange to have the vehicle towed to their homes or another location until these requirements are met and the car, truck, motorcycle or van is properly “papered.” To view vehicles eligible for auction, select the link here. Select Advanced Search below the toolbar. Then select Search by Seller/Username, fill in G-DC-DPW, and select Search again. You will see a list of all property. Scroll down until you see the DPW vehicles.