Advice on buying from a car auction

the_gasman_2

I am going to the car auction to look for a 18 month old or less mondeo zetec(petrol or diesel).
First of all what things do i need to look for when buying from auction and do i have same rights as buying from dealer. I know i should get remainder of Ford warranty.
I am basically buying from there just like the dealer does and looking to get a better, newer car for my cash instead of going to dealers to buy it. You can call it cutting out middleman.
I just don't want to get caught out. can anyone advise on what to do and look for.
If you happen to know which is the best one. 1.8/2.0/tdci

many thanks.

vansboy

If you clik http://honestjohn.co.uk in The Backroom, plenty hints there.

Also the link from HJ site to AuctionView lets you check the on line database of British Car Auctions - NOT a free service, but only a small cost, in terms of time/petrol saved.

Best look for the Ford finace sales - then you'll have expired/terminated early lease cars, main dealer maintained, so pretty good vehicles, really.

The first thing to do, before buying in auction, is a few 'dry run' visits, to see how things work - LEAVE YOUR £$£$£$ AT HOME THOUGH!!

VB

burbs_2

the_gasman wrote:

I am going to the car auction to look for a 18 month old or less mondeo zetec(petrol or diesel).
First of all what things do i need to look for when buying from auction and do i have same rights as buying from dealer. I know i should get remainder of Ford warranty.
I am basically buying from there just like the dealer does and looking to get a better, newer car for my cash instead of going to dealers to buy it. You can call it cutting out middleman.
I just don't want to get caught out. can anyone advise on what to do and look for.
If you happen to know which is the best one. 1.8/2.0/tdci

many thanks.

Go to the auction before the actual sale, a couple of days before. You can look over the cars, most auctions let you start them up and the like. If you dont know too much about vehicles then take someone who does.

You are looking for a popular car and therefore you will face competition from the dealers. I spend half my life at the auctions as a dealer myself. This will push the prices up slightly. Dont get carried away, set your limit and stick to it, if the car passes you buy there will be others.

You have a cooling off period once you have purchased the vehicle, this is the case at my auctions anyway. I have been told this is not the case at every auction though so you may want to ask when you arrive. At the majority the cooling off period is 2 hours. You pay, take the car and if you find something wrong that you was not told of when you bought it you can take the vehicle back. Please check though, as i said it is the case at most but not all auctions.

zappahey

vansboy wrote:

The first thing to do, before buying in auction, is a few 'dry run' visits, to see how things work - LEAVE YOUR £$£$£$ AT HOME THOUGH!!

VB

Definitely do this, it gives you an idea of how things work and how prices compare.

You have very little comeback if a problem develops a few days after buying the car, so if you're not happy with that then the auction probably isn't for you. Minor faults (that would have been rectified in a dealer sale) are not cause to return the car. A dealer can repair these at trade costs, you can't (I presume) so, if you want a "perfect" car, the savings may not be that great.

The best prices are on cars that don't really interest the dealers so don't expect to save a fortune on a popular car like the Mondeo.

Exemplar

I have to say that, as a trader, I love watching retail people at auction. A lot of fun can be had!

the_gasman_2

Its a good job i do a lot of trading then. wouldn't want to get laughed at. :rotfl:

Exemplar

you know what i mean!