RE: Auction News: Bargain prestige and sports, anyone?
Thursday 7th April 2011
Last Saturday in Blackbushe, auctioneers BCA shifted a staggering 360 convertible, sports, and prestige motors for a total of - get this - £4.3m on behalf of Lex Autolease and Black Horse. Now that's what we call a pretty good day's business.
In terms of any comeback, well, there isn't any. All cars are simply 'sold as seen', although if you were looking at, say, a 2009 Audi, it would be possible to contact Audi to see if there is still a manufacturer's warranty on the vehicle. Either way, this is an opportunity to buy a car at auction that you might not normally afford.
Auction News: Bargain prestige and sports, anyone?
It's hammer time (and other puns) for drop-tops, sports cars and prestige motors
With 400 cars passing through the hall there was something for all tastes, but to select a couple examples how about a 2007/07 BMW 320i SE Convertible for £13,500 or a 2008/08 Audi TT 2.0 TFSI for £18,000? Both of those cars sold for several thousand pounds less than what the likely retail price would be, but of course it's not quite that simple.
First of all those are 'hammer' prices, which means that the buyer's fee has to be added before you can drive away, and you won't get any warranty from the vendor. The buyer's fees for each car must be added to the hammer price and are published at the auction centres on the day. As a guideline, the fee on the BMW would have been something in the region of £500.
Next Saturday (9th) at BCA in Belle Vue, Manchester, there's another chance to acquire some pretty decent wheels for good money. How decent, you ask? How about a choice of two Aston Martin DB9 Volantes, and Audi R8 Quattro, Bentley Continental GTC, Lotus Elise 134, Maserati Quattroporte, and a ragtop Jaguar XKR for starters?
It's open to the public, but unlike some auctions you'll need to register first when you arrive if you're thinking of bidding. You'll also need to register here if you want to see a full list of the 400 cars going under the hammer in Manchester.
The following cars were some of the strongest sellers from Blackbushe. We'd imagine that there were cars there that didn't fare as well against CAP, so there should still be some scope for even better deals at the Belle Vue sale. We'll be there and will bring you the full story next week.
| 2007/07 BMW 320i SE Convertible | £13,500 (Vs CAP 116%) |
| 2008/08 Jaguar XF 2.7D V6 | £16,000 (107%) |
| 2008/08 Mercedes Benz SLK 180 | £18,000 (109%) |
| 2006/06 Mini Cooper Convertible | £7,200 (109%) |
| 2008/08 Audi A5 1.8 T-FSI | £13,600 (118%) |
| 2007/07 BMW 630i Sport Coupe | £15,900 (109%) |
| 2008/08 Audi TT Coupe 2.0 TFSI | £18,000 (106%) |
| 2005/05 Peugeot 206 CC 1.6 | £3,900 (124%) |
Discussion
Actually, the auctioneers fee at BCA depends entirely on the loyalty card that you hold; silver card, gold card and black card in ascending order of loyalty. The more cars you purchase through BCA, the lower the buyers fee you pay and the lower the storage costs etc.
Beware - if you are private punter and dont hold a loyalty card, then the buyers fee for that £13000 BMW would be in the region of £500-600 from recollection on top of the hammer price. Always check the buyers fee before bidding to avoid a nasty surprise at BCA.
I bought a £325 hammer price Alfa 145QV last year withoout holding a loyalty card and this increased to £485 with the buyers fee. I now hold a silver card (having purchased 4 cars in the last year) and the fee for a £14400 Golf GT I bought last week was £233 + VAT. Over 10 cars in the year will get me a gold card.
Beware - if you are private punter and dont hold a loyalty card, then the buyers fee for that £13000 BMW would be in the region of £500-600 from recollection on top of the hammer price. Always check the buyers fee before bidding to avoid a nasty surprise at BCA.
I bought a £325 hammer price Alfa 145QV last year withoout holding a loyalty card and this increased to £485 with the buyers fee. I now hold a silver card (having purchased 4 cars in the last year) and the fee for a £14400 Golf GT I bought last week was £233 + VAT. Over 10 cars in the year will get me a gold card.
Costs (at full quoted rates) of a £90k hammer price by auction house, and net receipts to theseller (again at full quoted rates)
Hammer Price £90,000
Auction House Buyers Price Sellers Net Price
Barons £100,800 £86,371
BCA £100,800 £85,162
Bonhams £102,600 £77,688
Historics @ £100,800 £83,952
Coys £102,600 £77,688
H&H £100,800 £83,952
RM £102,960 £77,645
Maximum £102,960 £86,371
Minimum £100,800 £77,645
(WELL THAT FORMATTED LESS WELL THAN HOPED/APPEARED IN DRAFT!)
Hammer Price £90,000
Auction House Buyers Price Sellers Net Price
Barons £100,800 £86,371
BCA £100,800 £85,162
Bonhams £102,600 £77,688
Historics @ £100,800 £83,952
Coys £102,600 £77,688
H&H £100,800 £83,952
RM £102,960 £77,645
Maximum £102,960 £86,371
Minimum £100,800 £77,645
(WELL THAT FORMATTED LESS WELL THAN HOPED/APPEARED IN DRAFT!)
Article is wrong, there is no way the fee on a £13,500 car (the BMW 320i convertible) would be £300.
Although BCA do not publish the Buyer's fees, below are some examples of the Standard buyer's fees:
Hammer Price Buyers Fee
£500 £234
£1000 £268
£2000 £292
£3000 £310
£4000 £332
£5000 £360
£6000 £382
£7000 £408
£8000 £450
£9000 £489
£10,000 £534
On top of that you have to pay £25 for the V5 registration document, plus £20+VAT daily storage charges if you are unable to remove the vehicle within 24-hours, or payment for them to deliver the car.
Most will need taxing too and probably a service and some remedial work to reach a 'retail' stadard.
Although bargains can be had, I think now the fees have got so expensive buying from auction no longer yields significant savings for a private buyer.
Although BCA do not publish the Buyer's fees, below are some examples of the Standard buyer's fees:
Hammer Price Buyers Fee
£500 £234
£1000 £268
£2000 £292
£3000 £310
£4000 £332
£5000 £360
£6000 £382
£7000 £408
£8000 £450
£9000 £489
£10,000 £534
On top of that you have to pay £25 for the V5 registration document, plus £20+VAT daily storage charges if you are unable to remove the vehicle within 24-hours, or payment for them to deliver the car.
Most will need taxing too and probably a service and some remedial work to reach a 'retail' stadard.
Although bargains can be had, I think now the fees have got so expensive buying from auction no longer yields significant savings for a private buyer.
Truckosaurus said:
That's a pretty good margin, no wonder there's plenty of full page ads for auctions in all the classic car mags.
It includes VAT. Roughly speaking 20% goes to the auction house, 4% in tax, 76% to vendor. Still not a bad gross margin (you have virtually £nil stock costs but marketing and sourcing aren't cheap) assuming you can sell them all.That's why all these new houses ae emerging with lower fees - Historics & Silverstone being the latest.
Edited by f328nvl on Wednesday 6th April 14:32
As an ex car buyer, I have found BCA incredibly expensive! The vendors reserves are all close to CAP Clean on all cars dispite most missing service history, V5 & damage! I've found Manheim Auctions more resonable. What they also don't tell u, is that with Internet bidding, the hall prices are a lot higher than one will would like to pay.
Jakg said:
Before you drop £15k on a 2 year old car, ask yourself how it ended up "sold as seen" in the first place...
All of these cars are ex lease of finance cars, nothing wrong with them. Just that the finance agreement has ended, the manufacturer has the option to buy the car into dealer stock. But most of the time has too much stock & hence it goes to auction. Any thing under 5 years old, with good service history is ok to buy from auction. Any thing over 5 years old you need to be on your guard! Manheim Auction Wimbledon, is used to get rid of all the "We buy any car" junk that come thro. Most if not all the cars are the worst I have ever seen and the reserves are stupidly low, so it does make you think, what We Buy Any Car has offered the customer to make a profit!!
X5TUU said:
most are finance repo's or where the previous previous financee has decided (for whatever reason) to hand the car back under thirds or halves on their t+c's
That's not always true - a lot of the cars on sale at your local BMW (BMW Sales at BCA & Manheim), Audi (VWFS sales at BCA), Volvo (Volvo UK sales at BCA) etc. franchised dealer will have been bought at auction. In the finance section end of lease, terminated lease or reposessed are all in there together. BCA & Manheim have an ever increasing share of the used car clearing market in the UK and most cars over 4-5 years old will probably have been though their hands at some point. Of course, being basically a duopoloy, they also are increasing prices year on year.
va1o said:
Article is wrong, there is no way the fee on a £13,500 car (the BMW 320i convertible) would be £300.
Although BCA do not publish the Buyer's fees, below are some examples of the Standard buyer's fees:
Hammer Price Buyers Fee
£500 £234
£1000 £268
£2000 £292
£3000 £310
£4000 £332
£5000 £360
£6000 £382
£7000 £408
£8000 £450
£9000 £489
£10,000 £534
On top of that you have to pay £25 for the V5 registration document, plus £20+VAT daily storage charges if you are unable to remove the vehicle within 24-hours, or payment for them to deliver the car.
Most will need taxing too and probably a service and some remedial work to reach a 'retail' stadard.
Although bargains can be had, I think now the fees have got so expensive buying from auction no longer yields significant savings for a private buyer.
The indication of the buying fees was given to us by BCA. Have just checked with them again and it turns out an error was made. The fee on the BMW would actually have been over £500. Although BCA do not publish the Buyer's fees, below are some examples of the Standard buyer's fees:
Hammer Price Buyers Fee
£500 £234
£1000 £268
£2000 £292
£3000 £310
£4000 £332
£5000 £360
£6000 £382
£7000 £408
£8000 £450
£9000 £489
£10,000 £534
On top of that you have to pay £25 for the V5 registration document, plus £20+VAT daily storage charges if you are unable to remove the vehicle within 24-hours, or payment for them to deliver the car.
Most will need taxing too and probably a service and some remedial work to reach a 'retail' stadard.
Although bargains can be had, I think now the fees have got so expensive buying from auction no longer yields significant savings for a private buyer.
va1o said:
Article is wrong, there is no way the fee on a £13,500 car (the BMW 320i convertible) would be £300.
Although BCA do not publish the Buyer's fees, below are some examples of the Standard buyer's fees:
Hammer Price Buyers Fee
£500 £234
£1000 £268
£2000 £292
£3000 £310
£4000 £332
£5000 £360
£6000 £382
£7000 £408
£8000 £450
£9000 £489
£10,000 £534
On top of that you have to pay £25 for the V5 registration document, plus £20+VAT daily storage charges if you are unable to remove the vehicle within 24-hours, or payment for them to deliver the car.
Most will need taxing too and probably a service and some remedial work to reach a 'retail' stadard.
Although bargains can be had, I think now the fees have got so expensive buying from auction no longer yields significant savings for a private buyer.
Don't forget they also have a payment handling charge on anything other than using a Debit CardAlthough BCA do not publish the Buyer's fees, below are some examples of the Standard buyer's fees:
Hammer Price Buyers Fee
£500 £234
£1000 £268
£2000 £292
£3000 £310
£4000 £332
£5000 £360
£6000 £382
£7000 £408
£8000 £450
£9000 £489
£10,000 £534
On top of that you have to pay £25 for the V5 registration document, plus £20+VAT daily storage charges if you are unable to remove the vehicle within 24-hours, or payment for them to deliver the car.
Most will need taxing too and probably a service and some remedial work to reach a 'retail' stadard.
Although bargains can be had, I think now the fees have got so expensive buying from auction no longer yields significant savings for a private buyer.
Not sure the exat amount but they even charge 1 or 2% handling fee for cash!!!!
This is how they make the money,
1) Charge you to even put it in the auction (listing fee)
2) Charge the seller % based on selling price
3) Charge you a buyers fee
4) Charge you to transfer the V5 Doc
5) Charge you to actually pay them for the car, even if it is cash (Debit Card is currently free)
6) Charge you storage if you can't drive it away the same day (no cars come with Road Tax, so unless you have some trade plates, or want to risk driving it home, you will have to leave it there for a few days while your Tax Disc arrives in the post)
I used to buy my cars from here all the time as I live only a few miles away. I used to follow the advise given above. Stick to cars 5 years or less, FSH and MOT and you will be fine. Reckon I bought 10+ cars, and never had an issue with any of them. Used to drive them around for 6 months then sell them, usually for about £500 profit, so in effect, free motoring.
But the fees are so much now, my last few cars I bought there, when I got home, I actually found similar spec cars on Autotrader for the same money. Which have the added benefit of being able to test drive them.
My advice of you are a private buyer, buying from BCA is not for you! You may save a few hundred quid, but it's not worht the risk of perhaps getting a duffer (something simple like needing a new clutch will put you over the cost of buying the same car privately.)
Remember also that if you leave the car there before collection it, it is done so at your risk. Once the hammer falls any subsequent damage is down to you and if you see the way cars get parked at Blackbushe you might like to remove it sooner rather than later....
The downsides to buying there can clearly be seen on any day on the A30 towards Camberley - there is usually at least one broken down car - usually something expensive like a 58-plate BMW with a bunch of sick looking private buyers wondering how much a new turbo costs.....
The downsides to buying there can clearly be seen on any day on the A30 towards Camberley - there is usually at least one broken down car - usually something expensive like a 58-plate BMW with a bunch of sick looking private buyers wondering how much a new turbo costs.....
Jakg said:
Before you drop £15k on a 2 year old car, ask yourself how it ended up "sold as seen" in the first place...
Most if not all 5yr old or less cars are ex-lease or finance repossesesions. Last year when my VW finished its 36 month contract hire with VW financial serv's it was actually inspected and collected by BCA. (It had a full service history and no damage)
confused_buyer said:
In the finance section end of lease, terminated lease or reposessed are all in there together.
silversixx said:
The indication of the buying fees was given to us by BCA. Have just checked with them again and it turns out an error was made. The fee on the BMW would actually have been over £500.
Thats what I thought, thanks for clarifying. Edited by va1o on Wednesday 6th April 17:12
Shirley it's a buyers market at the moment. So either go private and find something that's got FSH with a recent service and MOT or do some haggling at your local dealers. Apart from Jaguar/LandRover, new registrations are down across the board and will continue to go down.
For me, the saving at auctions is offset by the stress, hassle and time spent tracking down it's service history via the dealers.
For me, the saving at auctions is offset by the stress, hassle and time spent tracking down it's service history via the dealers.
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