Where to buy cheap cars

[freenote]

Hi all

I used to be able to find cheap interesting cars on auto trader or eBay. I heard Facebook is a place a lot of things get advertised now but I refuse to be on social media.

Any suggestions?

Thanks Alex

[donkmeister]

Keighley. Absolutely zero chance of buying something there that has been clocked, crashed, ragged as a "wedding car" and so on.

Reality is, if a car is cheap there's usually some uncertainty about its condition (or it's clearly in bad shape). Bargains can be had but you need to be prepared to fix things. Auctions are the outlet for WBAC stock and random trade-ins.

Edit: I might have misread your post - sounds like you might have done this before

I'm finding eBay a little sparse for interesting cars at the mo. I've found interesting ones on carandclassic in the past but more often than not when I rung the seller to enquire, they'd sold it months before and were sure they'd taken down the ad. So don't get your hopes up when you find that unicorn you're after.

Edited by donkmeister on Thursday 29th April 16:24

[freenote]

Thanks. I don’t mind fixing them. In fact I get a lot of enjoyment out of anything mechanical (cosmetic forget it). Can I buy from auction without being in the trade?

Thanks for the edit. Yes apart from my Lexus all my cars have had issues up front and I’m happy to take them on. Got the tools and computers. I just seem to see insanely priced cars if they’re remotely interesting and in questionable condition. Don’t get it and wondering if I’m missing somewhere. Yes car and classic I just find the site a pain to use

Edited by freenote on Thursday 29th April 16:28

[donkmeister]

freenote said:

Thanks. I don’t mind fixing them. In fact I get a lot of enjoyment out of anything mechanical (cosmetic forget it). Can I buy from auction without being in the trade?

You don't have to be trade but I know for BCA you need to register.

[Pedal_Loud]

Most of the older interesting stuff all seems to go via auction these days:

Online:

Trade Classics
The Market
Collecting Cars

Physical but with online bidding:

Historics
Brightwells
Anglia
H&H
SWVA
Hobbs Parker
Barons
Charterhouse
Morris Leslie

[Turkish91]

Facebook marketplace can be a goldmine if you're prepared to sift through the dogst

[freenote]

Pedal_Loud said:

Most of the older interesting stuff all seems to go via auction these days:

Online:

Trade Classics
The Market
Collecting Cars

Physical but with online bidding:

Historics
Brightwells
Anglia
H&H
SWVA
Hobbs Parker
Barons
Charterhouse
Morris Leslie

Are we talking big money on these? I just want something interesting for about £5k to mess about with and get back into top nick.

[freenote]

Turkish91 said:

Facebook marketplace can be a goldmine if you're prepared to sift through the dogst

Might be a silly question but do I need a Facebook account for this?

[Turkish91]

freenote said:

Might be a silly question but do I need a Facebook account for this?

More than likely. Just set up a mickey mouse name and no picture and don't add anyone. You'll then have access to marketplace

[mikeyr]

Just googled facebook marketplace and let me straight in to look at cars and filter. don't know if you can contact them without account. but maybe knock up a hotmail email account and create account just for marketplace?

[Bemmer]

donkmeister said:

You don't have to be trade but I know for BCA you need to register.

BCA is online only at the moment and has been for a while and you do have to be a VAT registered trader with a account to be able to bid.

[Pedal_Loud]

freenote said:

Pedal_Loud said:

Most of the older interesting stuff all seems to go via auction these days:

Online:

Trade Classics
The Market
Collecting Cars

Physical but with online bidding:

Historics
Brightwells
Anglia
H&H
SWVA
Hobbs Parker
Barons
Charterhouse
Morris Leslie

Are we talking big money on these? I just want something interesting for about £5k to mess about with and get back into top nick.

Some more high end than others. Anglia can see some cheaper ones. Worth a browse of their results pages to see.

[freenote]

Yeah saw a previous gen xkr went for £20k!!!

[ACCYSTAN]

Bemmer said:

BCA is online only at the moment and has been for a while and you do have to be a VAT registered trader with a account to be able to bid.

Not to mention BCA monster outs buyers fees and additional fees

BCA like Manheim is a rip off for the public and arguably the trade unless you buying over 200 cars a year

[jjr1]

Maybe some people need to pull the pin

Sold a car today for £600 over cap clean. No interest from the general public !

Bought by a trader and he had already sold it to his customer with pre approved finance.

Edited by jjr1 on Friday 30th April 10:10

[rotaryjam]

You can still sell gems on autotrader but be quick!

I found an E46 M3 manual, 88k miles, 2 owners listed for £13,500!

Unfortunately they had over 50 enquiries in two days and offers well in excess of their asking price..

[andburg]

just create a facebook profile with a random name for browsing classifieds?

[freenote]

rotaryjam said:

You can still sell gems on autotrader but be quick!

I found an E46 M3 manual, 88k miles, 2 owners listed for £13,500!

Unfortunately they had over 50 enquiries in two days and offers well in excess of their asking price..

Offers over!! It’s becoming like the housing market!

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Anywhere prior to March 2020. I was looking for an R53 Cooper S pre-Covid and you could pick up one that needed a bit of work for £1k. Those projects are now well over £1.5k. Same with mk1 TTs. They seem to be going for £500 > £1000 more than they were 18 months ago...

[Jonstar]

rotaryjam said:

You can still sell gems on autotrader but be quick!

I found an E46 M3 manual, 88k miles, 2 owners listed for £13,500!

Unfortunately they had over 50 enquiries in two days and offers well in excess of their asking price..

I'm surprised that's seen as cheap, the market for cars has gone mad!