Auction cars on HPi

[hal3210]

In the past when buying cars from auction, I discovered that several were on HPi - usually outstanding finance or mileage discrepancies. It was then a lot of hassle to get them taken off the register and this sometimes delayed selling the cars for weeks and one I had to sell much cheaper with the mileage discrepancy as HPi wouldn't remove it even though the discrepancy was clearly a mistake (an entry of 60,000 miles when the car was a day old!)

I've started HPi checking cars I'm interested in at auction before buying them but this is costing me a fair bit and I've not bid on a few cars because they are coming up on HPi. I'm really interested in a BMW 320d at the moment but it's coming up as having a mileage discrepancy which I'm sure is a mistake. It's also coming up as outstanding finance on a cherished plate but this was taken out on a different car 3 years after the plate was on the car I'm interested in. I don't know why HPi mentions this on the check as the outstanding finance is on a Mercedes - it's nothing to do with the BMW!

I just wondered if other dealers always HPi the cars they buy from auction and then do all the frustrating work with HPi to get them HPi clear or whether most dealers just advertise them and hope the buyer doesn't HPi them! I've never come across any other dealers moaning about this but I'd say about 1 in 6 cars at auction are on HPi and you can imagine the reaction of a retail customer if they ran a check and found a mileage discrepancy - they'd immediately assume the car is clocked!

I've contacted HPi about the 320d and they say they need proof before they'll remove it from the register but I can't get that until I buy the car! And if I buy it and they won't remove the discrepancy I'll have to sell it a lot cheaper. In a nutshell I probably won't go for the 320d now, I just wish that the auctions would run checks on the car before they through the auction.

Just curious if anyone else has this problem when buying from the large auctions - I used to think all cars are HPi checked by the auction before the sale but very clearly they aren't.

It seems to be me though that HPi likes to have as many supposed mileage discrepancies as possible as they can use the 1 in X amount of cars is clocked in their marketing when in reality probably 75% of cars with mileage discrepancies are just because someone inputted the wrong mileage.

[va1o]

You shouldn't need to, particularly if its from BCA. Last time I looked you were guaranteed 'good title' to the car and they don't sell write-offs. Mileage should be correct if its warranted otherwise assume its wrong.

[hal3210]

The car is at BCA - in the past if I've bought a warranted mileage car with a mileage discrepancy they've just said it was probably an error by someone who serviced or MoT'd the car. Which is true but it still makes the car almost impossible to sell at the normal price as most buyers assume that a mileage discrepancy means it's been clocked. I can definitely confirm that the cars aren't HPi'd before as quite a few come up as still having outstanding finance and mileage discrepancies. It's only a case of getting the finance taken off the register but it still can be a pain as HPi usually take a while to sort it all out. It is a pain HPi'ing cars in advance but it makes auction purchases less stressful.

[va1o]

Must have changed since I last bought from them. I think it's possibly a bit over the top to HPI before bidding if you are buying in volume. You'd save some money doing it after winning the auction but before paying, majority of cars should be fine

[SluffMcDuff]

In general you should be covered by the buyer's indemnity fee you pay, so the auction should take the car back if the finance can't be cleared or the mileage turns out to be false. One rogue mileage reading in the past wouldn't count though as the mileage would still be correct.

If the vendor is a leasing or finance company then it is likely just a timing issue removing the finance flag from HPi, there's no real risk. If you have no idea who the vendor is then this might be more difficult

[hal3210]

Many thanks for the replies. I totally agree that any finance or mileage discrepancies aren't real issues in the sense that there will actually be finance outstanding or a false mileage reading but it can still take a while for HPi to remove the finance marker and in one case I wasn't ever able to remove the marker against a mileage discrepancy even though I repeatedly proved to HPi that the mileage was correct!

I guess it must sound really over the top to HPi everything I'm interested in but if I'm really interested in 2 or 3 cars it can be a bit of a confidence booster knowing that they are HPi clear. Many years ago, I made the mistake of assuming all cars at auction would be HPi clear and when I tried to sell my own car 18 months after buying it at auction, it still showed up as having outstanding finance - even though the finance was removed 18 months before, it was never taken off HPi so I lost a sale. I just wondered if any dealers on here had ever had hassle with buying cars from auction that need a lot of emails and phone calls to HPi to get them clear and ready for sale.