Car auction tips
Discussion
Its worth going to a few before actually going to buy a car.
Remember a few things, the hammer price will not be the final price as you will need to pay a buyers premium on top, sometimes they also charge a admin fee too, BCA do this, however as you said you were going this eve i doubt its a BCA sale as they are normally during the day.
Have a really good luck around the car, when it goes into the auction hall you will only have about 30 seconds to look around the car and also bid on it at the same time.
In my opinion if you are buying a cheap car, eg 1-2k i would not get it form an auction as the likelihood of it being sold with no warranty and it having problems, instead buy privately.
Goodluck and enjoy it
Remember a few things, the hammer price will not be the final price as you will need to pay a buyers premium on top, sometimes they also charge a admin fee too, BCA do this, however as you said you were going this eve i doubt its a BCA sale as they are normally during the day.
Have a really good luck around the car, when it goes into the auction hall you will only have about 30 seconds to look around the car and also bid on it at the same time.
In my opinion if you are buying a cheap car, eg 1-2k i would not get it form an auction as the likelihood of it being sold with no warranty and it having problems, instead buy privately.
Goodluck and enjoy it
Set a budget and stick with it. It's very easy to get into a bidding war on a car you really like.
If you have a budget of around £2000 I'd set a limit at auction of £1400 maybe £1500. Then after the fees you have a few hundred quid to repair the car if it's a bit of a lemon and needs work doing.
I bought a 307 at an auction. Had £3000 and set a limit of £2500. Bought the 307 for £2450 but it did need some work doing but the £550 I had spare was plenty enough to get it sorted.
If you have a budget of around £2000 I'd set a limit at auction of £1400 maybe £1500. Then after the fees you have a few hundred quid to repair the car if it's a bit of a lemon and needs work doing.
I bought a 307 at an auction. Had £3000 and set a limit of £2500. Bought the 307 for £2450 but it did need some work doing but the £550 I had spare was plenty enough to get it sorted.
As a private punter, then don't would be my advice. Certainly not to go and buy tonight.
I bought 4 cars from auction over a period of 4 year. It was straight forward as there were a lot of cars in the same place so it made it easy to look.
I also worked 5 mins from the site so could pop in an view the cars before the auction.
However this was pre Internet, things have changed so much with regard to searching for the car that fits the bill.
I would not buy another from an auction house for the following reasons:
the warranty on a cheap car is worthless, you can't drive them before you pay, it's difficult to tell if there are any other bidders,you could probably buy better privately.
I'd suggest that auctions exist only for traders who do not have the time to visit private sales. You do so that would be my advice.
I bought 4 cars from auction over a period of 4 year. It was straight forward as there were a lot of cars in the same place so it made it easy to look.
I also worked 5 mins from the site so could pop in an view the cars before the auction.
However this was pre Internet, things have changed so much with regard to searching for the car that fits the bill.
I would not buy another from an auction house for the following reasons:
the warranty on a cheap car is worthless, you can't drive them before you pay, it's difficult to tell if there are any other bidders,you could probably buy better privately.
I'd suggest that auctions exist only for traders who do not have the time to visit private sales. You do so that would be my advice.
But on the other hand...my nephew recently bought a 10yr old 1 owner Focus Ghia with full Ford service history and 70k miles for less than £700 from an auction, didn't see anything that came close to it for value for sale privately. It was running rough which might explain why it was thrown into the auction but all it needed was new plugs and leads, so someone elses cluelessness was his gain!
I'd go beforehand and experience it first, just to get a flavour of how it all works, then set a budget and don't go over it, irrespective!
I'd go beforehand and experience it first, just to get a flavour of how it all works, then set a budget and don't go over it, irrespective!
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