Auctions - what have you bought and was it good?
Discussion
I hear stories of people buying something nice from an auction for half of a private or trade price and the thing runs forever. 
I've also heard tales of people buying something nice and it exploding in a ball of clutch/gearbox/head gasket/suspension death 50 yards outside the gates...
So what have you bought and how did that pan out for you? I'm tempted but also very afraid...
I've also heard tales of people buying something nice and it exploding in a ball of clutch/gearbox/head gasket/suspension death 50 yards outside the gates...
So what have you bought and how did that pan out for you? I'm tempted but also very afraid...
Sent my wife off to buy a C-Max 2 years ago from the auctions, 3 year old car with 7,000 miles. Since then she's put 20,000 miles on it and in a private sale now it's worth about £500 less than we paid 2 years ago. In that time we've spent about £300 on basic servicing, a tyre, and MOT's and nothings gone wrong. Happy days.
Civic Type R (with aircon)
Perchased for £8000 (private were going for 9500) ran it for 8 months with a service and some new fronts 12000 miles later I sold it for 8500 private just about free motoring
Mazda MX5 Mk2
Perchased for 3000, ran it for 3 years 50k miles later i sold for 2000. Serviced it myself etc
Perchased for £8000 (private were going for 9500) ran it for 8 months with a service and some new fronts 12000 miles later I sold it for 8500 private just about free motoring
Mazda MX5 Mk2
Perchased for 3000, ran it for 3 years 50k miles later i sold for 2000. Serviced it myself etc
Edited by eightseventhree on Friday 15th July 12:01
E30 M3 in mint condition for £5250 when a good private one was around £8-£9k.
54 Plate Mercedes ML 55 AMG with 80k on the clock - repo bought for £4001 2 weeks ago.
Cat D MX5 (4 months old) bought for £4000, repaired for £1200 (at Mazda dealers) and sold 3 years later for £7000
In fact all my recent (last 10 years) cars have all been auctions other than my Club Sport.
54 Plate Mercedes ML 55 AMG with 80k on the clock - repo bought for £4001 2 weeks ago.
Cat D MX5 (4 months old) bought for £4000, repaired for £1200 (at Mazda dealers) and sold 3 years later for £7000
In fact all my recent (last 10 years) cars have all been auctions other than my Club Sport.
Bought a bike from there aged 18 an RD125LC which had been fully restored and looking brand new! Paid £400 
Then bought various little cars Corsa's, 106's etc to sell on and make some £££. Managed to always make a profit, they key is to stay away from expensive stuff with potential wallet busting problems as it's very likely that they will be ready for some attention.
Then bought various little cars Corsa's, 106's etc to sell on and make some £££. Managed to always make a profit, they key is to stay away from expensive stuff with potential wallet busting problems as it's very likely that they will be ready for some attention.Mk II Astra 1.3 a fair while ago. Cheap but after the add-ons and having to go off and tax and insure it and drive back next day to get it and then to find it was a bit of a tarted-up shed, it was no bargain. Tha said, it did the job, went to my then partner who gave it to her sister at the end of her use and it soldiered on for while.
I should have bought the £80 Suzuki Baleno as that might have been worth it...
Personally I'd rather have the test drive and so forth not trust in blind faith.
I should have bought the £80 Suzuki Baleno as that might have been worth it...
Personally I'd rather have the test drive and so forth not trust in blind faith.
JQ said:
Sent my wife off to buy a C-Max 2 years ago from the auctions, 3 year old car with 7,000 miles. Since then she's put 20,000 miles on it and in a private sale now it's worth about £500 less than we paid 2 years ago. In that time we've spent about £300 on basic servicing, a tyre, and MOT's and nothings gone wrong. Happy days.
Well you bought an amazingly cheap car, or you are looking at private sales prices that are higher than dealers prices.Laguna. Had a pretty low budget and hadn't looked at it as it looked ok from the outside. Got a shock at what it was going for and stuck my hand up in the air. Oops!
Thing was on 168k miles, had plenty of evidence of being a taxi and shouldn't have got a second look.
Managed no more than half a mile before it was on the back of a recovery truck. My dad and I changed the radiator, got the heater working and other bits and pieces after a day or two's work and the gearbox went on the way home. Replaced it as we'd spent so much time on it.
It ran for about 6 months to the MOT and was faced with a £700+ bill so got rid.
Thing was on 168k miles, had plenty of evidence of being a taxi and shouldn't have got a second look.
Managed no more than half a mile before it was on the back of a recovery truck. My dad and I changed the radiator, got the heater working and other bits and pieces after a day or two's work and the gearbox went on the way home. Replaced it as we'd spent so much time on it.
It ran for about 6 months to the MOT and was faced with a £700+ bill so got rid.
ex=-MOD Astra 1.7 diesel. Dull As f
k
Still, £1350 + £200 odd fees, £100 in numberplates, registration etc and it was good to go.
Ran it for a year with basic maintainance and sold it, cheap, for £2000
£110 Ford Fiesta. stter. 3 weeks MOT. MOT'd and ran it for a year and 25000 miles. Only broke once and that was our fault but it did about 55 litres of oil. On it's final day of MOT/tax it was saved by some people doing the Mongol rally. It ended up there and is probably still running
£2300 Vauxhall Astra 2.2i SRI - not a bad car but a bad example of one. Written off after about a year, £2290 pay out.
For a mate Renault Laguna - 05 plate in 2008, just over 3 years old. Dent in the rear quarter. £2550. Still running, very reliable and on 110k now. Niiiice
kStill, £1350 + £200 odd fees, £100 in numberplates, registration etc and it was good to go.
Ran it for a year with basic maintainance and sold it, cheap, for £2000
£110 Ford Fiesta. s
tter. 3 weeks MOT. MOT'd and ran it for a year and 25000 miles. Only broke once and that was our fault but it did about 55 litres of oil. On it's final day of MOT/tax it was saved by some people doing the Mongol rally. It ended up there and is probably still running£2300 Vauxhall Astra 2.2i SRI - not a bad car but a bad example of one. Written off after about a year, £2290 pay out.
For a mate Renault Laguna - 05 plate in 2008, just over 3 years old. Dent in the rear quarter. £2550. Still running, very reliable and on 110k now. Niiiice
I got my brothers first car from the auctions 2 1/2 years ago.
At the time it was 3 years old and had 3k miles on the clock, ex motability fiesta 1.25 style with a/c.
Since it has had 20k of faultless miles put on it needing only a tyre and a new headlight (being a new driver he bumped it!)
I paid £3800! a result considering comparable ones on autotrader were going for £5.5 - 6k at the time
At the time it was 3 years old and had 3k miles on the clock, ex motability fiesta 1.25 style with a/c.
Since it has had 20k of faultless miles put on it needing only a tyre and a new headlight (being a new driver he bumped it!)
I paid £3800! a result considering comparable ones on autotrader were going for £5.5 - 6k at the time
brought a rover coupe turbo from a seller on ebay, on the way home it developed a serious misfire, turned out the ht leads were just about to crumble. lots of other minor faults came and were fixed then the big one came. the gearbox went bang, £500 to put that right so i got shot of it. cost me £1k to buy and the same again in repairs for about 9 months and sold it for £700 to someone that wanted the engine
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