Insurance Auto Auctions Announces Purchase of Shares by Private Investor

    SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Feb. 14 Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.
, a leading provider of automotive salvage and claims processing
services in the United States, today announced approximately 1,667,000 shares
of its common stock were traded in a single, private transaction.
    As a result of the transaction, the purchaser of the shares has asked for
representation on the Company's board of directors.  The Company is in
discussions with this shareholder.
    Until these discussions are resolved, the Company has postponed its
conference call with analysts and investors originally scheduled for today,
February 14, 2001.  The Company will announce a new date for its conference
call at which it will release its fourth quarter 2000 earnings.

    About Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.
    Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc., founded in 1982, a leader in automotive
total loss and specialty salvage services in the United States, provides
insurance companies with cost-effective, turnkey solutions to process and sell
total-loss and recovered-theft vehicles.  The Company currently has 56 auction
sites across the United States.

    This press release contains forward-looking information that is subject to
certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected, expressed, or implied by such
forward-looking information.  In some cases, you can identify forward-looking
statements by our use of words such as "may, will, should, anticipates,
believes, expects, plans, future, intends, could, estimate, predict, potential
or contingent," the negative of these terms or other similar expressions.  The
Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed or
implied herein.  Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences
include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the Company's annual
report, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999 and the
Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2000
and September 30, 2000.  Among these risks are:  conducting business pursuant
to the purchase agreement method of sale; fluctuations in the actual cash
value of salvage vehicles; the ability to successfully renegotiate existing
purchase agreement contracts; the quality and quantity of inventory available
from suppliers; the ability to pass through increased towing costs; that
vehicle processing time will improve; that the Company's towing business will
reach forecasted levels of profitability; legislative or regulatory acts,
changes in the market value of salvage; competition; the availability of
suitable acquisition candidates; the ability to bring new facilities to
expected earnings targets and the dependence on key insurance company
suppliers.

    For additional information regarding Insurance Auto Auctions free of
charge via fax, dial 1-800-PRO-INFO and use the Company's stock symbol,
"IAAI."  Additional information about Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. is
available on the World Wide Web at http://www.iaai.com .