Thinking of buying at the auction.

[mak]

I tuck a trip out to the auctions the other day and to be honest wasn't expecting to much in the way of bargains, last time i went many moons ago it seemed to me the prices were not to far off private with a good haggle . This time though there where a few cars that caught my eye and of the same ilk i have been checking out in the classifieds . There is a fair bit of a price difference from the private classified stuff to the cars that actually sold at auction making me think i may have a bid next time i go. All i no about buying at auction is i need the money to back me up and a few urban myths about having an hour or so to take a duff en back but what are the facts about buying from auction and where do you stand if you buy a dog

[confused_buyer]

mak said:

k but what are the facts about buying from auction and where do you stand if you buy a dog

Scratching your head at the side of the road. With very few exceptions all cars at auctions are sold as seen and are yours faults and all the second the hammer comes down. In practice there are no comebacks.

[mak]

confused_buyer said:

Scratching your head at the side of the road. With very few exceptions all cars at auctions are sold as seen and are yours faults and all the second the hammer comes down. In practice there are no comebacks.

Lol I dont tend to scratch my head much so probbably my ass would work better for me . I will give it ago when the next interesting auction comes round and see how i do.

[va1o]

Stick to cars within manufacturers warranty and with a FSH to stay on the safe side, and don't expect it to be that cheap either. Once you've taken into the account the buyers fees, logbook cost and any storage fees for most models you end up at the same price it would cost to buy privately.

Auctions are very fast paced so its worth attending one before you buy.

This blog is worth a read - http://carauctiontruth.blogspot.com/

[va1o]

Its also worth budgeting for any remedial work that might need doing, e.g. if the air conditioning has gone you can't check that sort of stuff before buying.

[deeen]

va1o said:

Auctions are very fast paced so its worth attending one before you buy.

This blog is worth a read - http://carauctiontruth.blogspot.com/

First line of original post? "I tuck a trip out to the auctions the other day..."

[geeteeaye]

Beware second hand car dealers trying to put private buyers off going

[dave144]

I've bought at auctions loads of times, only last month bought a yaris with 6 stamps in the book for 900 quid with no problems at all. Prices vary from auction to auction and auction time also. When im on the hunt I go mid week to an early sale as they are always cheaper than an evening or weekend sale which will be full of private buyers without profit margins to worry about.

Loads of people think only dodgy cars go to auction but what's dodgy about a 3 year old 80 thousand mile ex fleet audi A4 that the lease company needs to move on?

Spend a grand on a car private or auction and there will always be a gamble involved.

[va1o]

dave144 said:

Spend a grand on a car private or auction and there will always be a gamble involved.

Well you can test drive a car for sale privately, go over all the documents, check everything inside works and look under the bonnet etc.

At auction you get a quick visual inspection before the car is driven through the hall, that's it.

[POORCARDEALER]

geeteeaye said:

Beware second hand car dealers trying to put private buyers off going

If I tell you I dont buy cars from there and I need to buy a thousand a year that should tell you plenty

[dave144]

I think it also depends how picky you are on what car you want. When I got my 330i msport I didn't even bother going to the auction because the spec I wanted would have never turned up at an auction, but for a second car which only has to be economical and cheap you cannot go wrong.

[geeteeaye]

POORCARDEALER said:

geeteeaye said:

Beware second hand car dealers trying to put private buyers off going

If I tell you I dont buy cars from there and I need to buy a thousand a year that should tell you plenty

To be fair it tells me very little at all, just that you have a good alternative supply stream already set up and don't need to use auctions any more? Many of the independent car dealers round here buy most of the auction stock, give it a valet and stick it on the forecourt + 15>20% (or more if they were lucky), these will all be much smaller businesses than you though (probably more like 100 a year than 1000).

[mak]

There where a lot of cars there that were main dealer fore court fodda, year old 911's with 3000k on the clock and bmws galore, i guess its just a way of moving money around and making the books balance, i have to say the one car that i was really tempted to bid on was an rs4 convertible 07 plate with 48k miles and very nice, this thing sold at £21800, plus costs, would have been worth a punt but i needed to grow a pair hence my 1st practice run

Edited by mak on Saturday 23 April 21:19

[POORCARDEALER]

geeteeaye said:

POORCARDEALER said:

geeteeaye said:

Beware second hand car dealers trying to put private buyers off going

If I tell you I dont buy cars from there and I need to buy a thousand a year that should tell you plenty

To be fair it tells me very little at all, just that you have a good alternative supply stream already set up and don't need to use auctions any more? Many of the independent car dealers round here buy most of the auction stock, give it a valet and stick it on the forecourt + 15>20% (or more if they were lucky), these will all be much smaller businesses than you though (probably more like 100 a year than 1000).

Ask all the indis would they rather be buying direct from main agents of from auctions, 99% would say the former.

We dispose of plenty of decent looking cars through the auctions, they ALL have underlying hidden faults, thats why they are in the auction. If they are decent but dont meet our profile, we either trade them directly to other garages or we ebay them.

The other things is they aint that cheap anymore...our local auction will charge a private man £200 +VAT premium on a £2500 car + £25 to send the log book off, add in a few faults to fix and it doesnt seem so rosey.

The quality of stock going through the sales isnt what it used to be...many of the bigger garages now retail the decent swoppers they have taken.

By all means buy at auction but go in with your eyes wide open

[confused_buyer]

The key thing to remember is that the auction house does not sell the cars. They are just a 3rd party agent and you are not buying from them.

Some vendors only sell rubbish at auctions, some sell everything, some actually try and avoid putting in cars with major faults. This is why an identical car on the same day can fetch much more in one section than another.

[AndrewW-G]

POORCARDEALER said:

geeteeaye said:

POORCARDEALER said:

geeteeaye said:

Beware second hand car dealers trying to put private buyers off going

If I tell you I dont buy cars from there and I need to buy a thousand a year that should tell you plenty

To be fair it tells me very little at all, just that you have a good alternative supply stream already set up and don't need to use auctions any more? Many of the independent car dealers round here buy most of the auction stock, give it a valet and stick it on the forecourt + 15>20% (or more if they were lucky), these will all be much smaller businesses than you though (probably more like 100 a year than 1000).

Ask all the indis would they rather be buying direct from main agents of from auctions, 99% would say the former.

We dispose of plenty of decent looking cars through the auctions, they ALL have underlying hidden faults, thats why they are in the auction. If they are decent but dont meet our profile, we either trade them directly to other garages or we ebay them.

The other things is they aint that cheap anymore...our local auction will charge a private man £200 +VAT premium on a £2500 car + £25 to send the log book off, add in a few faults to fix and it doesnt seem so rosey.

The quality of stock going through the sales isnt what it used to be...many of the bigger garages now retail the decent swoppers they have taken.

By all means buy at auction but go in with your eyes wide open

Also worth bearing in mind that if Tesco's used car operation goes well, there will be even less choice at the big auctions as they are selling lease cars direct . . . . .previously many would simply have been chucked into one fo the big auctions like BCA

[6potdave]

I've bought a few cars from auctions and only one had problems. This was a sensor which I fixed for £50. However you have to be extremely careful, put yourself in the situation of a seller - you have a car to get rid of with numerous problems which you know a test drive will highlight. You're not that bothered about getting top dollar for it you just want rid, so off to the auction you go where no one will drive it and spot that awful knocking noise over 30mph, the ECU light coming on intermittently and the major oil leak which you have no idea where it is!

I know many people that have done this and I know car dealers that have too, so a good proportion of cars you are looking at will have some issues. I used to buy and sell cheap simple cars for this reason such as Corsa's, 106's, Fiesta's etc. Make a few hundred quid on each one after giving it a good valet and move onto the next. I would be very nervous about buying something more complicated. Some auctions will allow you to return the car within an hour if there are any major issues with it. If this is the case get it off to a trusted garage for a quick inspection, plug it into the diagnostics machine and identify any issues.