Cars bought at auction cheaper in North?

NeverAgain_2

Driving a car away same day from an auction fully road legal - tax, MoT and insurance - is not going to be easy to achieve for a private buyer.

A day return also puts pressure on to buy, which everyone says is when poor decisions are made.

bigjl

My mate just got the car delivered on trade plates and then got the tax and insurance sorted out the next day. But he lived relatively close by.

If I was going up north to buy a car I must admit I would hire a trailer and drive away with it on the day.

You would need to plan it properly as these A frames are3 frowned upon by the old bill these days, especially going a long distance on the motorway.

vikingaero

I would generally say that the further North you go the cheaper the cars are up to a point. Once you go too far North the costs of transport becomes too much of a factor. Look at a copy of Autotrader for London & SE and it's a thick magazine. Look at Autotrader for the North and it borders on a decent telephone book. There are more traders up there and more cars for sale. Most of our family new car purchases through internet brokers have been supplied by Midlands and Northern dealerships.

nullogik

I've went to two BCA auctions.

One was up in Birmingham (Measham) and the hammer prices of everything going through was IMO astronomically high - near what I'd consider to be retail, so quite how the dealers that day could make a profit on those vehicles I don't know. I remember one piece of tat, an early Ford Ka with large visible rust patches, pound-shop wheel covers, no keys, no documents going for £800 :eek: ! Other similar rubbish went through at unbelieveable prices.

The next one I visited was Blackbushe. There the prices, I considered to be fair and reasonable. Junk went through at appropriately low prices (think low hundreds) and nice cars fetched decent money.

Of course you can hardly draw solid conclusions from just two experiences as auctions are highly unpredictable places.

As for buyers fees. Here is an indication of what the large two typically charge. On a hammer price of £2000 you are looking at paying a buyers fee of between £250-300 :eek: , a payment charge of 2% with cash and credit cards (debit cards free) and £25 V5 charge.

I also think they won't release the car to you unless you can show valid insurance for the car, but I could be wrong.

bigjl

I think you will find a lot of the cars at the first Auction never sold.

Just putting bids against the wall hoping for a private buyer with a Parkers guide under his arm to make a bid on some over priced car.

Remember putting bids against the wall is legal and remember the Auction works for the seller, not the buyer.

Most of the time anyway. If you buy ten cars a week they will be less likely to try to mug you off.
Ever noticed the hammer going down quickly sometimes? Then the auctioneer will just say some initials.