Gone in 60 Seconds

Part 4 of PHer V8mate's guide to the auction scene

By V8mate / Tuesday, 16 June 2009 / Loading comments

Higher-mileage cars can make great bargains

When a professional trader weighs up what to bid for a car at auction, they’ll already be subconsciously deciding on their sales-patter for that car. And one of the toughest ‘issues’ to sell to a potential customer is high mileage. The car buying public has a long had a fear of high-mileage cars – and maybe in the past this was justified.

But in these days of precision-engineering and thorough service maintenance, is over-average mileage still such a devil? I’d say not. And I’d add that some careful thought about your driving habits can be a route to a bargain. In other words: what use will the car be put to? If you need a car for long-distance commuting, then maybe a low starting mileage is important. But if you will be doing little more than a few miles a day and the odd family holiday, maybe you’re missing out on a great deal by avoiding higher mileage cars. Also think about how long you plan to keep the car. If it’s 5 years plus, then resale values will start to become far less relevant.

Look at these examples which all went through auction on the same day a couple of weeks ago:

2006 06 BMW 520D SE Auto Saloon with 25k miles sold for £12,900

2006 06 BMW 520D SE Auto Saloon with 71k miles sold for £10,000

2006 06 BMW 520D SE Auto Saloon with 131k miles sold for £8,550

All were in equally good condition, one owner and had full BMW service histories, yet you could save yourself nearly four and a half grand by taking the high mileage over the low mileage. Even in the expectation that there may be a higher than average annual maintenance cost in the pipeline, that’s quite a buffer you’ve built yourself.

So the lesson is: once you’ve defined your motoring needs, don’t then automatically reject the kind of cars which dealers are reticent to sell. They know that they’ll have to persuade some punter to overcome their concerns about high mileage, but they don’t know how long it might take to find that person. If you’ve already persuaded yourself, you can stride in confidently and pocket that saving for yourself.

350Z - sold!

We left last week’s report with you about to enter the bidding fray. You’ve clocked who else is bidding so you know the game is on for real, and the current bid is still below the firm maximum you have set yourself. Your first bid needs to be positive to attract the auctioneer’s attention and confirm that you’re not just scratching your head or having an animated discussion with the person next to you. Once your bid has been accepted, further bids can be made with a nod of the head as the auctioneer will keep coming back to you until you shake your head to indicate that you don’t wish to bid any further.

Auction fever sets in when your heart, which loves the car, overrides your brain, which looks after your bank balance. Do not let this happen! Know your maximum bid. Maybe write it down next to the lot number in your catalogue but do not let yourself get carried away. If you do, the journey home will be more akin to a funeral procession than a summer holiday, as your guilt and ‘what if’ thoughts start to kick in. Having said that, I always think that an additional £50 bid is acceptable if you have reached your maximum and the bids have reached a crawl (after all, every rule has an exception!). If the bids have slowed right down and you want to make the smallest additional bid possible, use your thumb and forefinger to make the same sign to the auctioneer that you would if you wanted to describe ‘a small word’ in Charades. That will prompt him to take a £50 or even £25 bid.

So, the bidding has slowed, the lead bid is with you and the auctioneer is asking for any final bids – once, twice…. One of three things will now happen. Occasionally the highest bid offer is so far away from the reserve that the car will simply be labelled unsold. More often, however, you will either win outright, indicated by the fall of the hammer, or you will be the provisional winning bidder. In both of these instances, you will be required to come to the rostrum, give your details and pay a deposit. This ranges from £200-£500 depending on the auction house. Thankfully, the days of having to attend auctions with huge rolls of cash in your pocket are mostly long gone. In fact, some auction houses now charge you a premium if you pay by cash. Debit cards are the most efficient way of buying your car, but do check beforehand with your local auction house as conditions of purchase vary between them.

Twingo GT - sold!

If you won outright, within 15 minutes or so, you’ll be able to pay the balance at the cash office, collect the keys and take your car. If you were the provisional bidder you need to wait for the auctioneer to contact the vendor and explain what had happened. This will lead to one of three outcomes. The vendor may accept your bid, in which case you are legally bound to buy the car. He may ask for more money; either insisting on the reserve amount or a sum somewhere between what you bid and the reserve. Whether you opt to pay a bit more or stand by your bid is entirely up to you and, if there cannot be a negotiated agreement, you are free to walk away and your deposit is refunded. You don’t

have

to pay any more than your bid.

As an antidote to last week’s monster list of shiny, late-reg Beemers and Mercs, this week I’ve grabbed a selection of ‘bread and butter’ ex-fleet stock with a liberal sprinkling of dealer part-exchange bargains. Plenty of cars to suit dreams on all kinds of budgets!

Previous articles:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three