Buying at Auctions

[anonymous-user]

Hi All

I'm in the market for a new car and considering the auction route. As time is limited for me I would like to get an idea of what I would be looking to pay for a Golf. I appreciate this isn't very specific because I haven't provided age, mileage and engine size etc. I'm looking at the listings on BCA and haven't got access to them at present. I will update the thread with the details ASAP.

For reference I'm considering a 2008 Golf 1.6 match fsi with 67,000 miles which is advertised for £4200.

Any indications would be much appreciated.

[av185]

Good luck buying an 11 year old px cast off car from BCA.

By the time you add in costs you would be better buying privately.

[Wooda80]

Simple answer is just don't!

Especially if you are short of time. You will have to take time out to view and bid and there's no guarantee that you will be the highest bidder, nor even that the seller's reserve was sensible in the first place.

At that age of car there will ALWAYS be something that needs doing to get the car in to a condition where a dealer will be happy it would be acceptable to a customer. Might be a little, might be a lot. You may be able to fix it yourself, but if you are short of time....

The difference between auction hammer price and forecourt price on that kind of car might be £1000 - 1500. Almost all of that could be swallowed up by auction buyer's fees and reconditioning costs. Add to that the cost in time and money of travelling - you almost certainly won't buy the first car that you go to bid on, either by choice or because you were outbid - and the saving is minimal

Plenty of cars like that available to buy this afternoon on sites like Autotrader , Pistonheads, Facebook, Ebay, Gumtree etc .

Edited by Wooda80 on Sunday 19th May 13:38

[anonymous-user]

Sorry I wasn't clear about the car I mentioned. It is advertised with a local independent dealer not an auction.

I want to know whether I would get a better deal going to an auction. The cars I've seen on the auction listings are much newer age wise.

[Edible Roadkill]

Bca auctions not worthwhile unless your a trader by the time all the costs are added.

[anonymous-user]

The Golfs I've seen listed on the BCA website all are Grade 2 or above:

61 Plate 1.6 TDI Match 59,208 miles
14 Plate 1.6 TDI SE 44,988 miles
15 Plate 1.6 TDI Bluemotion 38,431 miles
64 Plate 1.6 TDI 105 Match 39,292 miles

What kind of prices are these likely to go for at auction.

The way I see it is I'm prepared to pay £5 to 6k for a Golf which is older and has more miles buying from a franchise dealer or independent dealer, however if the above cars go for around my budget or even less at auction (fees and VAT included) then I'd be getting a better deal by going to auction.

The issue I have is that I don't have the time to make the research trips to the auctions to establish a price point, which is why I'm asking the question.

I appreciate my initial post wasn't particularly clear so I'm hoping this provides a little more clarity.

[av185]

The grading system for BCA stuff is largely a joke. Often grade 5 cars are better than grade 2. So meaningless.

You don't specify where these Golfs come from.

Ex fleet 1 owner full franchise service history cars should be ok.

Anything else is generally a complete lottery and often have many unseen faults.

[bearman68]

No-one can ever recommend buying unreliable rubbish at auction.

If you want to get a golf (and who in their right mind would), it's gotta be either so cheap you can afford to fix it when it goes wrong, or you have some warranty with it.

If you want to buy at auction, buy something with a decent reputation - a Avensis or a Hyundai or something.

My experience is that Ebay is a better route. Sellers often include a well written description, and you can go and test drive it, and not buy it if it doesn't meet it's description.

Summary - Huge Brave Pill required.

[spikeyhead]

I used to go to Bedford BCA quite often when I was between contracts, stopped me getting bored. Went with a mate who'd buy a few cars each week and he'd been doing it for years. Even with all his experience, about one in seven cars would end up with a real issue. All sorts of things would go wrong, the worst being a snapped cambelt a few miles down the road on an Audi A4.

Add in the auction fees for a private buyer to the risk and it's just not worth it for something that's readily available from lots of other places.

[anonymous-user]

Reviewing the responses, it seems that buying at auction is more of a gamble than I had originally thought and given my circumstances in relation to time, it does not seem a prudent path.

[Shominy]

When I was in a similar position I had looked at going to auctions but the fees and the lack of comeback should something be wrong is too big a risk for the potential reward so I would not bother if I were you. Anything you look at in that price range will be a px that a garage/dealer has deemed not good enough to prep and sell on.

That Golf you mentioned seems tremendously bad value as well. £4200 for a run of the mill 11 year old car. I'd be looking at a mk2.5 Focus or mk8 Civic at that price range. I bought a 2008 mk2.5 1.8 Focus with 90k miles for less than half that earlier this year.

[RazerSauber]

Does seem a bit steep. I suppose it's part of the "Low Mileage Tax" to make the masses think the car is better than a car with high mileage.

Have you considered just putting the same specs into Auto trader and seeing what comes up? A quick search found this:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

which is 4 years newer and roughly the same specs (Golfs aren't my forte). Obviously one of many but buying from a dealer at least gives you some warranty you don't get with an auction.

[PistonTim]

From what I've seen there is little logic to pricing at auctions, people are often prepared to bid WAY above what a car is worth let alone when you take in the extra fees / costs / risks involved.

If you need something quickly on a budget I'd buy private or local.

[GreatGranny]

All these are cheaper

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

If you go for a better car IMO

Auris

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Focus

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Edited by GreatGranny on Tuesday 21st May 11:15

[spikeyhead]

I often stood with my mate at an auction, knowing that he had a very very similar car on his forecourt to the one being bid on, and watched it being bid to more than the sticker price of the one he had for sale. Add in the risk, the buyers premium, the MOT, the lack of warranty and you had to wonder just WTF the buyers were doing.

[Frankthered]

spikeyhead said:

I often stood with my mate at an auction, knowing that he had a very very similar car on his forecourt to the one being bid on, and watched it being bid to more than the sticker price of the one he had for sale. Add in the risk, the buyers premium, the MOT, the lack of warranty and you had to wonder just WTF the buyers were doing.

Crazy isn't it? Several times I've seen prices go above what franchised dealers charge. You can still get lucky on a quite day, but it doesn't seem to be worth the risk any more.