Car Auctions - Any Good?
Discussion
Does anyone have any experiences of Car Auctions that they'd be prepared to share? Good or bad...
I'm wondering about buying at an auction as an alternative to buying privately.
I realise it'll highly unlikely that I'll get my exact choice of colour, spec or even model, but I might like to introduce an element of chance in that area, within the confines of my short-list.
After all, if I can pick up something that appeals, in peachy condition, for the money I'm spending then I'm on a winner surely?
Just musings really.....
I'm wondering about buying at an auction as an alternative to buying privately.
I realise it'll highly unlikely that I'll get my exact choice of colour, spec or even model, but I might like to introduce an element of chance in that area, within the confines of my short-list.
After all, if I can pick up something that appeals, in peachy condition, for the money I'm spending then I'm on a winner surely?
Just musings really.....
I've not been to a car auction for years, so I don't know what the 'deals' are out there right now.
I used to go along to the Britsh Car Auctions at Enfield and Blackbushe every now and then and managed to snap up a few bargains, mainly sports cars that needed some TLC. After a couple of weeks, some of the regular dealers there knew I was into buying those sort of cars and I started to get offered all sorts of stuff. Even bought a 1973 Stag for £800 and sold it a week later for £2000!
My advice would be to go along to one first, just to get a feel of how it works and see what sort of cars go for what prices.
I used to go along to the Britsh Car Auctions at Enfield and Blackbushe every now and then and managed to snap up a few bargains, mainly sports cars that needed some TLC. After a couple of weeks, some of the regular dealers there knew I was into buying those sort of cars and I started to get offered all sorts of stuff. Even bought a 1973 Stag for £800 and sold it a week later for £2000!
My advice would be to go along to one first, just to get a feel of how it works and see what sort of cars go for what prices.
Bought two of my cars at auction and saved a mint. Both came from BCA at Bamber Bridge Preston. I'd advise wandering along and just watching a few times to get the feel of things. I was mith my dad who has bought dozens of cars from auction so knows his way round. If you want to buy go down to a friendly car dealers and get a copy of the pervious month's Glass's Guide.
Roop
Roop
I used to go to auctions quite alot with a friend who was in the motor trade and their are some good bargains to be had like the chaufeur driven Arab owned Mercedes SL320 sport with full glass sunroof,9000 miles which went for £17000!!even the auctioneer was astounded and tried in vain to raise the price but it had no reserve set!
Then again,another friends wife bought a Ford Escort estate at auction for £2800and it failed its mot shortly afterwards when the mot tech noticed while he was checking the sills that his hammer had knocked a piece of it off which turned out to be concrete!! Infact the whole sill had been filled with it!!
You do get time to return the vehicle and this differs from place to place so my advice would be to make really sure within 24 hours that the vehicle is sound and has no out-standing finances on it.
Great fun car auctions though!
Then again,another friends wife bought a Ford Escort estate at auction for £2800and it failed its mot shortly afterwards when the mot tech noticed while he was checking the sills that his hammer had knocked a piece of it off which turned out to be concrete!! Infact the whole sill had been filled with it!!
You do get time to return the vehicle and this differs from place to place so my advice would be to make really sure within 24 hours that the vehicle is sound and has no out-standing finances on it.
Great fun car auctions though!
I've been over to the salvage ones in Essex a few times, normally a collection of insurance claimed new stuff and old shitters. Watched a guy buy a G reg Granada 2.0 ghia with 100K on it, it looked like a 12 year old 100K car so a bit tatty but it go no bids and he bought it for a tenner and drove it home (at that rate it was a bargin simply for the fuel in the tank)
I've bought a couple of cars at auctions.
You normally save a shed load and as long as you buy an ex-lease car you should have no problems - i.e. just hit three years old, one owner, FSH. I would avoid older cars or private sales at auction like the plague.
The problem for me would be that its impossible to get the car you want - so in real terms it may be worth spending the extra dosh to get the right options/colour etc.
You normally save a shed load and as long as you buy an ex-lease car you should have no problems - i.e. just hit three years old, one owner, FSH. I would avoid older cars or private sales at auction like the plague.
The problem for me would be that its impossible to get the car you want - so in real terms it may be worth spending the extra dosh to get the right options/colour etc.
I quite fancy going to one of the classic car auctions - does anyone have any experience of these? Browsing through some of their websites there looks to be a few really good bargains though obviously you can't tell much about the condition of the cars from the piccy's and descrptions. Two of the websites I keep a regular check on are:
www.classic-auctions.co.uk
www.barons-auctions.com
www.classic-auctions.co.uk
www.barons-auctions.com
I once tried to sell my Alfa Romea Guilia GT Junior at a 'Classic' auction. The poxy thing wouldn't start beforehand, then when they finally got it running it drove through the hall and attracted absolutely no bids whatsoever - 
Waste of £60!!
Alot of the cars going through were ropey as hell from memory - though none quite as ropey as my Alfa.
Waste of £60!! Alot of the cars going through were ropey as hell from memory - though none quite as ropey as my Alfa.
I agree with a lot of the comments on this thread. Back in 1990 I bought an E reg Pug GTi 1.9 from an auction. They were like hen's teeth privately for decent money and I couldn't afford dealer prices so bought at out local BCA site.
Bid £5100 and got it provisionally then paid £5700 after some haggling with the buyer (they do this over the phone). They were going for £7500 on the dealer forecourts. FSH 25,00 had it up to over 95k and it never missed a beat. I did wrap it round a tree once but that's another story as they say. Got £1250 when I traded it in. Broke my heart to give it away.
Have been a few times lately – you get a good selection and sometimes they'll flag up a sale involving just Renaults or just Toyotas or whatever. I remember when ThornEMI laid off hundreds of reps a few years ago – you couldn't move for Peugeot 405s
hence they all went for next to nothing.
I know for a fact that dealers in this area have cars that have been sitting on their forecourts for ridiculous money finally go through the auctions just to get the turnover going (both £££££ and cars) – they are the bargains – cos they've been prepared for sale properly (one hopes) but they are just not going to attract the daft prices the dealers think they are worth. Result - bargains for Joe Public. The 3-year old or less, ex-lease FSH cars are the ones to go for IMO.
A lot of the newer cars come with the balanmce of the manufactureres warranty. A mate of mine got a W reg Audi A8 for £15k with 30,000 miles and full Audi dealer history on it last month. Baragin or what?
Hope you get what you're looking for – you may have to search about and maybe even travel to a different location to get the exact car but it'll be worth it. A lot of the better auction houses can fax you a list the day before (at a £1 a minute or more mind, so do it from the office
).
Mike aka :theforearmsof johnnyadair:
>> Edited by MikeyT on Wednesday 10th July 10:49
Bid £5100 and got it provisionally then paid £5700 after some haggling with the buyer (they do this over the phone). They were going for £7500 on the dealer forecourts. FSH 25,00 had it up to over 95k and it never missed a beat. I did wrap it round a tree once but that's another story as they say. Got £1250 when I traded it in. Broke my heart to give it away.
Have been a few times lately – you get a good selection and sometimes they'll flag up a sale involving just Renaults or just Toyotas or whatever. I remember when ThornEMI laid off hundreds of reps a few years ago – you couldn't move for Peugeot 405s
hence they all went for next to nothing. I know for a fact that dealers in this area have cars that have been sitting on their forecourts for ridiculous money finally go through the auctions just to get the turnover going (both £££££ and cars) – they are the bargains – cos they've been prepared for sale properly (one hopes) but they are just not going to attract the daft prices the dealers think they are worth. Result - bargains for Joe Public. The 3-year old or less, ex-lease FSH cars are the ones to go for IMO.
A lot of the newer cars come with the balanmce of the manufactureres warranty. A mate of mine got a W reg Audi A8 for £15k with 30,000 miles and full Audi dealer history on it last month. Baragin or what?
Hope you get what you're looking for – you may have to search about and maybe even travel to a different location to get the exact car but it'll be worth it. A lot of the better auction houses can fax you a list the day before (at a £1 a minute or more mind, so do it from the office
). Mike aka :theforearmsof johnnyadair:
>> Edited by MikeyT on Wednesday 10th July 10:49
quote:
Right then - I obviously need to scoot along to Blackbush and check it out .. only problem is that it'd mean a day out of the office.
Nothing's ever simple. Bah humbug.
simple, give us the cash and a rough idea of what you're after, and we'll come back empty handed (nothing that took our fancy!) but slightly intoxicated!
d !! 
You can always bid online, to save on the inconvenience on travelling to an auction.
Here's one you might like, CarZee
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1746957277
Here's one you might like, CarZee
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1746957277
There are weekend auctions, BUT they are often attended by the public in a big way, who end up pushing the prices up. They are not as price sensitive as the dealers as they do not have a profit margin to think of. I would avoid all the private and multi sourced crap. The best cars are the nearly new, Bank and other large co. cars, and the ex lease stuff. Be very disciplined when it comes to the price, as the car can have little dents and chips etc that mean once repaired(or compared to "perfect" car) then its the same as buying privately (or even more expensive) and at least you can check the car over properly before buying.
A lot goes on in the auctions as dealers (apparently) run rings etc.
Listen to the auctioneer very carefully. Some cars come with two hours guarantee. No Major Mechanical faults means that you can give the car back within the time if you have it inspected and there is a fault. Some cars are given an engineers report. Blackbushe is very good with a good stock of cars there. Enfield has some good days and some really awful days. Don't know about the others, but they often have special days for various types of sale and cars (i.e. Police car sales every once a month and VW finance repossession cars aswell etc.)
You can get a faxback of all the cars that they have on offer the day before the auction which can be handy and save you a trip, but that can cost quite a bit, so it what I do is just call them early in the morning and ask about the car I am looking for. They can't give full descrptions, but its enough to know whether its worth attending.
Glass's Guide is only available to dealers but I am sure you can get your hands on one Its CarZee we are talking about here. But if you can't let me know and I'll get you a copy (might be a month out of date).
Good Luck.
A lot goes on in the auctions as dealers (apparently) run rings etc.
Listen to the auctioneer very carefully. Some cars come with two hours guarantee. No Major Mechanical faults means that you can give the car back within the time if you have it inspected and there is a fault. Some cars are given an engineers report. Blackbushe is very good with a good stock of cars there. Enfield has some good days and some really awful days. Don't know about the others, but they often have special days for various types of sale and cars (i.e. Police car sales every once a month and VW finance repossession cars aswell etc.)
You can get a faxback of all the cars that they have on offer the day before the auction which can be handy and save you a trip, but that can cost quite a bit, so it what I do is just call them early in the morning and ask about the car I am looking for. They can't give full descrptions, but its enough to know whether its worth attending.
Glass's Guide is only available to dealers but I am sure you can get your hands on one
Its CarZee we are talking about here. But if you can't let me know and I'll get you a copy (might be a month out of date). Good Luck.
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