Discussion
Have a look to see what time the auction is due to start; most of them start at different times, eg leaseplan Lombard etc.
You can get a rough time of when the car will appear by lot number, on average BCA sell a car a minute.
Remember the buyers premium, depending on the value of the car, I got myself an A4 last week for £8k and the premium was about £400, you also need to pay an admin fee on top of this.
You can get a rough time of when the car will appear by lot number, on average BCA sell a car a minute.
Remember the buyers premium, depending on the value of the car, I got myself an A4 last week for £8k and the premium was about £400, you also need to pay an admin fee on top of this.
V8mate said:
Make sure you've got a handle on the private buyer fees schedule. Can often make the prices entirely unattractive.
+1You need to budget about 5% on top of the hammer price for fees. Plus they will charge you for the V5 logbook, and if its not taxed you'll have to pay to transport the car or pay storage for them to keep it whilst you get it sorted.
Bargains can be had, but I've found with newer cars at the larger manufacturer auctions the prices are so high that its not always worth it.
va1o said:
Bargains can be had, but I've found with newer cars at the larger manufacturer auctions the prices are so high that its not always worth it.
Often because main dealers can pay higher prices than independents because they receive a 'bonus' for bringing the cars into the respective 'approved used' scheme.
When you arrive, stop off at the desk on the 'concourse' and pick up a free copy of the running order. It will tell you in what order each section of cars goes through. If you haven't printed off details of the ones you're interested in you can also buy a set there, too.
I don't know which Hall I'll be driving on until I arrive in the morning.
I don't know which Hall I'll be driving on until I arrive in the morning.
I'm sure you've already done this but first of all have a look on Auto Trader at the prices the cars you fancy are going for, then see what's similar at the auction.
Make a note of them and take them to the auction, you may be surprised at how little there is in it between the prices achieved at auction and some of the ads.
I went looking for a Golf GT TDi a few weeks ago, clearly one of the most sought after cars there as the prices were going silly. Most of the traders thought it was mad too. One car went for £12k in the hall, similar were on AT for £10k -£11k. Once you've taken into account scope for negotiation with these, plus chance of a test drive and buyers premium it looks less attractive.
Don't get me wrong, there were attractively priced cars there too, just that it may not be the mecca for saving money you originally expected.
Make a note of them and take them to the auction, you may be surprised at how little there is in it between the prices achieved at auction and some of the ads.
I went looking for a Golf GT TDi a few weeks ago, clearly one of the most sought after cars there as the prices were going silly. Most of the traders thought it was mad too. One car went for £12k in the hall, similar were on AT for £10k -£11k. Once you've taken into account scope for negotiation with these, plus chance of a test drive and buyers premium it looks less attractive.
Don't get me wrong, there were attractively priced cars there too, just that it may not be the mecca for saving money you originally expected.
got my Audi from a VAG Megasale at BCA.
charges were high, but I still came in about 5k under retail for the same car.
- insured it in the car park over the phone, paid extra for Bell to email me the new cover note
- went to a pronto-print type place and used mobile phone to email them the covernote which they duly printed for 50p
- went to the post office and taxed it
- drove home.
ETA, they were getting through a car on average every 40secs. so you might less than you think.
charges were high, but I still came in about 5k under retail for the same car.
- insured it in the car park over the phone, paid extra for Bell to email me the new cover note
- went to a pronto-print type place and used mobile phone to email them the covernote which they duly printed for 50p
- went to the post office and taxed it
- drove home.
ETA, they were getting through a car on average every 40secs. so you might less than you think.
confused_buyer said:
You might be better to wait 2 or 3 weeks. Stocks are low at auction and prices very high at the moment. The plate change should see some px and end of lease cars coming through the system in increasing numbers.
True enough.Many of us are on short hours at the moment. It should pick up by the middle of the month.
I've found, the last 3 times I've been, that prices aren't low enough to make it worthwhile. Once you've added the fees it's better to search AT or PH classifieds. Not saying there's never a bargain but I've bought my last 10 or so cars (other than the Clubsport) on eBay and never been stung (touch wood). My current daily was an eBay car. 54 plate ML55 with 75k for £4001.23! Granted they're not the fastest selling car due to mpg but it's got to be worth more than that??
falkster said:
I've found, the last 3 times I've been, that prices aren't low enough to make it worthwhile. Once you've added the fees it's better to search AT or PH classifieds. Not saying there's never a bargain but I've bought my last 10 or so cars (other than the Clubsport) on eBay and never been stung (touch wood). My current daily was an eBay car. 54 plate ML55 with 75k for £4001.23! Granted they're not the fastest selling car due to mpg but it's got to be worth more than that??
Obviously at £4001 you only got a burnt out shell after the riots, right? Otherwise, f
k me, that's a bargainAgree with falkster - used to buy fairly regulary from BCA Blackbushe but haven't been for a while as the prices seem to have gone through the roof.
I always take the lastest copy of AT with me for a comparison and go from there. Best bargains i've ever go are when you get the odd car out of sync in the halls - i.e. 10yr car in the prestige hall - its happens rarely but they sometimes go through cheap as the buyer for these aren't in the hall.
Oh, and avoid fridays - seems like all the private punters turn up and inflate the prices....
I always take the lastest copy of AT with me for a comparison and go from there. Best bargains i've ever go are when you get the odd car out of sync in the halls - i.e. 10yr car in the prestige hall - its happens rarely but they sometimes go through cheap as the buyer for these aren't in the hall.
Oh, and avoid fridays - seems like all the private punters turn up and inflate the prices....
CampDavid said:
Obviously at £4001 you only got a burnt out shell after the riots, right? Otherwise, fk me, that's a bargain
Dont forget the 23p!! It's missing the sat nav option but I've seen them for £250-£300 on eBay. It needed a good polish and a couple of bumper scuffs sorting out plus gliptoned the leather to death. It hasn't got one stone chip on the front end either yet only the rear door has seen paint! k me, that's a bargainfalkster said:
CampDavid said:
Obviously at £4001 you only got a burnt out shell after the riots, right? Otherwise, fk me, that's a bargain
Dont forget the 23p!! It's missing the sat nav option but I've seen them for £250-£300 on eBay. It needed a good polish and a couple of bumper scuffs sorting out plus gliptoned the leather to death. It hasn't got one stone chip on the front end either yet only the rear door has seen paint! k me, that's a bargainI must confess, I hate the ML 55AMG in the same way I hate the cayenne turbo and the X5M but for 4k I'd be seriously tempted. That's mental. I'd expect that to be 8k in poor shape all day long. Are you sure it's an ML55amg? It's not some kind of toaster or house appliance? We're on about the car right?
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