BCA Auction

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Discussion

Buster73

5,042 posts

152 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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POORCARDEALER said:
All auctions should be trade only
Remember the Ford only closed auctions of the late 80's early 90's ?

They were strictly trade only , and we still managed to buy a 4x4 Scorpio and 4x4 Sierra Estate one day for the price they were knocked down for plus a £200 bung.

Amazing what a touch of folding could do in those days.

northwest monkey

6,370 posts

188 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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Muncher said:
Not too dissimilar to property auctions where lemons seem to fetch top money, because every man and his dog have watched homes under the hammer and think everything is a bargain.
I'd agree 100% with this. I've never bothered to buy a property at auction purely because of numpties. One place we looked at was worth £100k tops in good condition. Needed rewire, windows, doors, heating etc etc. Sold at auction for £103k plus fees. Madness.

Rollcage

11,327 posts

191 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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Brompty said:
I went to BCA at Paddock Wood this morning. First time I had been to an auction.

I was really surprised at the prices: very high and with the buyers' fee attached prohibitive for me. I had my eye on a Nissan 350Z 2006 coupe. When I inspected the car, the front was new, the back was new and the windscreen has been replaced so badly there were shards of glass still in between the new 'sceen and the body; the car had been rear and front ended which may have also smashed the windscreen. I thought this would struggle to get over £1000. Bidding started at £5k and it sold for £6.4k. With fees this would have taken it comfortably north of £7k. I do know who bought it, but if it was a trader how can any money be made on this car? If it was a private bidder, they must have seen a different car to the one I examined in not too much detail.

Prices for small to medium hatchbacks however were not too bad, but a quick look in Autotrade would get better, I think.
Did you really think it would struggle to reach £1k? Really?

Fast Bug

11,597 posts

160 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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Rollcage said:
Did you really think it would struggle to reach £1k? Really?
Because cars are cheap at auction, we all know that biggrin

confused_buyer

6,610 posts

180 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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If cars really were cheaper in Autotrader than auction dealers would buy in Autotrader and sell at auction. Much easier way to make a profit than the other way round!

Pesty

42,655 posts

255 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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POORCARDEALER said:
All auctions should be trade only
I don't.

RDG3000 said:
I went down to the BCA Bridwater last week as VW/Audi were having a disposal sale.
I'd pre-printed the auction brochure and gone through it finding like for like vehicles on Autotrader , what I wasn't expecting were the silly price's. Most vehicles were going through at higher price's than autotrader, add to this the huge buying premium and I do wonder what exactly was going on. Most vehicles' were being picked up by a chap from Audi, but he seemed to be rather carefree with his bidding. I'm sitting there looking at a Audi which I know I can get for £14000.00 at an Audi dealership in Bridgend and he bids well over this and beyond. This seemed to be the pattern for the day - unless you wanted a VW estage or saloon and they were cheap.
I just wondered if these guys get discounts if they buy more than 10 cars, I know there buyers premium is peanuts compared to the average Joe but seriously this chap even one the raffle !!!!
I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this as I know my prices and these price's seemed to be a joke.
I don't know about discounts but as a veteran of quite a few auctions it's always puzzled me. One week a cars I'm after goes for more than private the next week cheap as chips.
Recently went to a vw one myself bca near me. VW CCs were going for lots then peanuts. Did all the money get spent early so the last were cheap? Should you bid on the last cars or will everybody do the same and the last cars go expensive again.

I find car auctions incredibly stressful but fun. Always pisses me off when I'm looking for a car the week I can't go I guarantee a perfect one will go through for peanuts and the week I go prices will be through the roof smile



Edited by Pesty on Wednesday 23 April 23:20

Brompty

153 posts

143 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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Rollcage said:
Did you really think it would struggle to reach £1k? Really?
My conclusion was based on what I - a complete novice - could see with the limited time available for viewing. The front section was brand new and still had the sticker on. It was misaligned and had clearly been done badly. The rear was the same. The windscreen I noticed last minute when I ran my fingers between a noticeable gap and found the glass from the previous windscreen. HPI or no HPI check, this car had been crashed heavily. So yes, bearing in mind that there were mostly car traders at the auction I did not think anyone would touch it.

A quick check on Autotrader found a newer example, with less mileage for £5200. With a bit of negotiation this would work out about £2000 less. However, I do believe that if there were several examples at the same auction prices would come down.

Fast Bug

11,597 posts

160 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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Brompty said:
A quick check on Autotrader found a newer example, with less mileage for £5200. With a bit of negotiation this would work out about £2000 less. However, I do believe that if there were several examples at the same auction prices would come down.
You can haggle a 40% discount? I'm not sure what you do for a career, but with skills like that you needs to be buying and selling for a living eek

Brompty

153 posts

143 months

Friday 25th April 2014
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Fast Bug said:
You can haggle a 40% discount? I'm not sure what you do for a career, but with skills like that you needs to be buying and selling for a living eek
No, but I could probably get a car advertised for £5.2k for £5k, and this is £2000 less than the auctioned crash victimnerd

Pajoblue

1 posts

115 months

Sunday 31st August 2014
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MX7 said:
unrepentant said:
We used to see the same thing in the antiques / art world. You'd watch some schmuck bidding against a dealer on a piece then congratulating himself on outbidding said dealer, believing he got a great deal because he was underbid by a well known dealer who he knows "would have doubled the price". Little did he know it was the dealers own piece he was bidding on. Happens every day.........
But not legal.
I don't think you are right in this! It's not Illegal. Check out the t&c's. For bca- the seller can bid on his own entry or nominate not more than one person to do so. Also the auctioneer can take bids 'off the wall' -I.e. Make them up..... this applies to any auction so it's quite common that you are the only bidder. The auctioneer keeps going til you bid to the reserve or above..

mrdanbartlett

702 posts

216 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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Just bumping this up, interesting topic....

It does seem auctions have gone to retail prices, and with the risks they are unlikely to be worth it. I remember buy a 106GTI many years ago at auction, the price I paid was vergy good compared to retail price, and the car was perfect during my ownership.

I did see an m5 go well priced, 15k, 1 owner 52k miles and mint condition etc - even with the £600 fee that is decent. Internestingly I saw a 335i M sport coupe with 77k, clearly owned by an enthusiast as it had some small touches like black BMW badges on it, was v good condition etc, it sold for £10,500 on a 07 plate......I thought that was high but then I saw it on a dealers site for £14.5k - which placed it right at the highest price for that car compared to others for sale. I guess a dealer is happy to pay the same as a good used price as they can sell the car at a silly high price as many people need finance/P/X at a dealership.

I've been monitoring prices for a while, dealer, private and such, spec and colour seem to really affect the price, but I've found alot of cars simply don't sell quickly, they go months and the dealers rarely seem to reduce them. Ok their advertised price is high but surely they would take a knocked down offer if they car has sat there for months not selling.

I don't think there is any way to get a cheap car now unless say you meet someone who is about to PX their car and you can offer them cash slightly over the trade in price, it's a shame as there must be a big gap now between PX dealer prices and auction/private/dealer prices.

POORCARDEALER

8,523 posts

240 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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mrdanbartlett said:
Just bumping this up, interesting topic....

It does seem auctions have gone to retail prices, and with the risks they are unlikely to be worth it. I remember buy a 106GTI many years ago at auction, the price I paid was vergy good compared to retail price, and the car was perfect during my ownership.

I did see an m5 go well priced, 15k, 1 owner 52k miles and mint condition etc - even with the £600 fee that is decent. Internestingly I saw a 335i M sport coupe with 77k, clearly owned by an enthusiast as it had some small touches like black BMW badges on it, was v good condition etc, it sold for £10,500 on a 07 plate......I thought that was high but then I saw it on a dealers site for £14.5k - which placed it right at the highest price for that car compared to others for sale. I guess a dealer is happy to pay the same as a good used price as they can sell the car at a silly high price as many people need finance/P/X at a dealership.

I've been monitoring prices for a while, dealer, private and such, spec and colour seem to really affect the price, but I've found alot of cars simply don't sell quickly, they go months and the dealers rarely seem to reduce them. Ok their advertised price is high but surely they would take a knocked down offer if they car has sat there for months not selling.

I don't think there is any way to get a cheap car now unless say you meet someone who is about to PX their car and you can offer them cash slightly over the trade in price, it's a shame as there must be a big gap now between PX dealer prices and auction/private/dealer prices.
retail + on some cars.

Watched a 996 C4s 70K miles in black the other day, CAP clean is £16100, car wasnt perfect but did £20400 +premium.

mrdanbartlett

702 posts

216 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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It's ridiculous, I went a couple of times over Xmas and the prices were a bit steep, a couple of good deals on say 07 GOLF GTI's but high end Merc's were going for top money. It's annoying as in my head (from past experience) I thought I could get a car slightly cheaper from Auction, in the market for an S4 if I can squeeze one into budget.

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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Prices can just depend who is there on the day! I was at BCA last August bank holiday and prices were through the roof as it was full of private buyers. Bargains are still to be had if you go on a working day and are interested in a car which doesn't fit the profile of the buyers there.

UK345

441 posts

157 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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I do some work for this auction at the moment and drive the cars through to be sold. I am very surprised the prices they go for and often wonder how a trader can make a profit on the cars. There seems to be a tiny profit margin but these guys still bid on loads of different cars. I have driven some right lemons through which look good on the outside. If someone comes over to speak to me about the car I'll tell them otherwise they can find out the hard way. A lot of the cars are ex lease cars and have been highly maintained. What I have though is that a lot of the cars that come from finance companies only have the one key which is far from ideal.

rich12

3,461 posts

153 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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I bought a car earlier from BCA. Cap is circa £21k and I paid £24900. Luckily it is still worthwhile but some prices of cars (especially in the last few months) are getting ridiculous.

As its been said before, retail customers that are looking for a specific car are what's hurting auctions as obviously they aren't looking to make money so they are getting them cheaper than on ebay/AT etc.

I've started looking at AT/ebay lately just to see comparable prices to see if we can buy them from retail people.

Frankthered

1,619 posts

179 months

Tuesday 28th April 2015
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Back in 1990, I bought an 8 month old Fiat Uno from BCA (or was it ADT back then) in Manchester for £3900. It was a Fiat special sale that day and, IIRC, the only additional fee I had to pay over the hammer price was buyer's indemnity which was £120.

I traded the car in for £3k 3 years later.

It seems you don't get deals like that any more. Most of the times I've been since then, going back as far as 1998, I've often found the prices to be higher than, or at least very close to, main dealer prices. I've bought at auctions a couple of times more, doing ok (on price and car), honestly don't remember the fees being outrageous.

It does seem like the fees are making it less appealing for private buyers at auctions. My most recent visits have seen more examples like those of the OP, lots of cars going for more than I'd be prepared to pay - maybe it is just bad luck, being there on the wrong day.

kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Wednesday 29th April 2015
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Frankthered said:
Back in 1990, I bought an 8 month old Fiat Uno from BCA (or was it ADT back then) in Manchester for £3900. It was a Fiat special sale that day and, IIRC, the only additional fee I had to pay over the hammer price was buyer's indemnity which was £120.

I traded the car in for £3k 3 years later.

It seems you don't get deals like that any more. Most of the times I've been since then, going back as far as 1998, I've often found the prices to be higher than, or at least very close to, main dealer prices. I've bought at auctions a couple of times more, doing ok (on price and car), honestly don't remember the fees being outrageous.

It does seem like the fees are making it less appealing for private buyers at auctions. My most recent visits have seen more examples like those of the OP, lots of cars going for more than I'd be prepared to pay - maybe it is just bad luck, being there on the wrong day.
Bargains can sometimes still be there, a few years ago I got a 3 year old fiesta with 3k miles on the clock for sub £3.9k inc. fees (westbury) for my younger brothers first car, full history, 2 keys and a couple of bumper scuffs

Nearly 3 years and 40k miles later he writes it off, own fault into the back of a pick-up, insurers pay out £3600 after a little haggling...depreciation wasn't too bad on that one!

m3sye

26,231 posts

200 months

Wednesday 14th October 2015
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Anyone been lately ?

UK345

441 posts

157 months

Thursday 15th October 2015
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I worked there for a spell over the summer while I was looking for a proper job. I got to take all the cars through but was also able to drive them down to the compound (2 mile drive). Prices and quality of some vehicles are unreal. I was driving a really desirable polo with the right spec in the right colour but the eml light came on and the passenger window regular didn't work. I also had the pleasure of driving a well presented range rover sport but it was a pup. While driving it the automatic gearbox was playing up and required some attention. The cars that they auction off come from finance companies and we buy any car. There is a few good deals but people like to bid the cars right up so that their competitor make little profit.

I heard a lot of traders saying that there is little money in the game these days and that they were struggling. A fair few told me that colour plays a big part on the price it goes for and 2 keys (a lot of the cars from lease companies only had the one). You need to tread carefully and while working there I used to make potential buyers aware of any faults on the vehicles unless of course if I took a disliken to them.