Car Auction

bartman

I'm looking into whether to buy my next car at auction, but I'm not sure this is a good option as my budget is limited to about £2500.
I've been looking at the sale catalogues for BCA, and as I had thought, the majority of cars are only up to 2 or 3 years old - ex lease, etc., so out of my price range.
Am I right in thinking that the older cars, mainly in the "Trade Clearance" category, are likely to be old dogs which, although runners, are going to have serious faults? Or is it simply the case that because they're too old to have on the forecourt they're simply put straight into auction when traded in, without any inspection as to whether they're good or not? In which case I suppose there is a possibility of a bargain.

I'm hoping to get a Mondeo or Focus TDCI. I paticularly like the fact that the Mondeo has a chain cam. There are a few on Fleabay which are within my price range and haven't apparently been 3 times round the world, but there are also loads of jalopies! And yes, I know about the dodgy DMF!

I'll be grateful for any advice re the auction - or alternative choices of car!

EdGasket

Yep, the cheap ones are old dogs. Even the newer ones at BCA are mostly 'sold as seen' so unless you are buying several cars and can afford the odd duff one that needs money spent on it, I would avoid auctions altogether. Auctions used to be Ok in the past but now you can't properly inspect or drive them and as they are mostly 'sold as seen' you have no comeback. Just a gamble really. Add to that the buyers' premium designed to put off private buyers and you are up to the price of a good private one anyway which you can thoroughly inspect and drive.

bartman

EdGasket wrote: »

Yep, the cheap ones are old dogs. Even the newer ones at BCA are mostly 'sold as seen' so unless you are buying several cars and can afford the odd duff one that needs money spent on it, I would avoid auctions altogether. Auctions used to be Ok in the past but now you can't properly inspect or drive them and as they are mostly 'sold as seen' you have no comeback. Just a gamble really. Add to that the buyers' premium designed to put off private buyers and you are up to the price of a good private one anyway which you can thoroughly inspect and drive.

Thanks. I was thinking of going along just to see what prices were being reached, as there's no other way of finding out. I had heard that the buyers premium is now daylight robbery - didn't realise how close it brought the final amount paid to that of a private sale though!

Tom_Pickering

bartman wrote: »

Thanks. I was thinking of going along just to see what prices were being reached, as there's no other way of finding out. I had heard that the buyers premium is now daylight robbery - didn't realise how close it brought the final amount paid to that of a private sale though!

So, how much is the buyers premium?

rodenal

Not all older cars at auction are old dogs - I would stay away from privately entered cars but there are plenty of main dealer direct cars at the likes of central car auctions up here in glasgow that are absolutely fine - I've bought a few and had no major issues.

At the end of the day though you need to go with an open mind and if something doesn't seem right it probably isn't, there are lots of cars with next to no mot or that look too new for the dealer to have punted to auction - if so then there is probably a reason. If you don't have a decent bit of mechanical knowledge then take somebody who does. The buyers premium will add a few hundred on for you.

If I had £2.5k to spend I'd plan to spend £2000 on the car, have £200 or so for the add ons and then you'll have £2-300 for any potential repairs (if you're reasonably handy and can do them yourself). If it doesn't need any then happy days, £200 towards fuel and insurance

colino

Due to the drop off in demand (real sales not provisionals and drive arounds) most auctions have taken the strange step of charging more for just about everything to maintain their income instead of improving their business in other ways. Some are so ludicrous for privateers, even charging for counting the money if you pay by cash, that I think there are few real bargains for non-regulars at the markets when you tot up all of the costs and risks. Find a friendly, local independent trader, recommended by someone you trust, and leave the problems to him.

bartman

The BCA website tells you to ring the auction centre you intend to go to to find out information on the buyer's premium - so I guess that means it varies from place to place even within the same organisation.

Thanks for your thoughts rodenal, I think i will go along to have a look tomorrow....and keep my hands firmly in my pockets! I have a reasonable amount of mechanical knowledge as far as maintenance goes - changing cambelts, brake pads & discs, etc, but being able to assess whether a car is mechanically sound or not in the circumstances of the auction is a different thing altogether.

Anyway, I'll go along and see what goes.

payless

BCA if my memory recalls
£1200 hammer about + £300
£3000 about + £450

EdGasket

A friend of mine bought a Peugeot 307 for around £6K at BCA BlackBushe and thought he'd got a bargain. When we checked the price in Parkers Guide it turns out he had paid the equivalent of the Dealer retail price !

s_b

colino wrote: »

Due to the drop off in demand (real sales not provisionals and drive arounds) most auctions have taken the strange step of charging more for just about everything to maintain their income instead of improving their business in other ways. Some are so ludicrous for privateers, even charging for counting the money if you pay by cash, that I think there are few real bargains for non-regulars at the markets when you tot up all of the costs and risks. Find a friendly, local independent trader, recommended by someone you trust, and leave the problems to him.

as is usual on the internet forums good advice like this is disregarded and is probably the reason ive been around like an old tart
however your post gets the thumbs up from me because it is so correct in that auctions just want to bleed the well dry

blacksta

EdGasket wrote: »

A friend of mine bought a Peugeot 307 for around £6K at BCA BlackBushe and thought he'd got a bargain. When we checked the price in Parkers Guide it turns out he had paid the equivalent of the Dealer retail price !

he failed to do his homework - anyway i dont like auctions even the sellers bid on their product