Buying a car at auction

Bravehearted_2

1) What are the pitfalls/war stories associated with buying at auction?

2) Are the cars at auction what dealers buy and hike prices?

Looking to buy one (maximum of £1000) for the brother - should I expect it to pack up in a year?

Cheers
B

pitkin2020

Bravehearted wrote: »

1) What are the pitfalls/war stories associated with buying at auction?

2) Are the cars at auction what dealers buy and hike prices?

Looking to buy one (maximum of £1000) for the brother - should I expect it to pack up in a year?

Cheers
B

1) cars at auction could be anything from fleet sales, cars dealers can't sell or don't want to cars from the general public looking for a quick sale. Like buying a car from anywhere some will be good some will be lemons. There is no come back when buying from an auction so the term "buyer beware" couldn't be more important.

2) Dealers will source cars from auctions and other avenues and yes they will add a margin onto the car when they sell it. A dealer has obligations to a buyer though and they are in the business of selling cars so you expect the price to be higher than buying from an auction.

The auction house makes it money usually from the buyer and the seller of the car.

Foxy-Stoat_3

1) What are the pitfalls/war stories associated with buying at auction?

Buyer beware
High commission to pay for private bods
Make sure your 100% legal when you drive it home

2) Are the cars at auction what dealers buy and hike prices?

Main car dealers send a lot of their part exchanges/high mileage cars to auctions where trades buy and add their profit. You can get some cheap jems but you can also get over-price sheds there too

Looking to buy one (maximum of £1000) for the brother - should I expect it to pack up in a year?

YES/NO/POSSIBLY - can really answer that question unless we know what car/age/mileage your buying. Buy with your eyes open and do as many checks as you can.

You can buy cars for under £1000 in the autotrader/ebay/friday-ad/pistionheads and other sites, at least you can test drive them first and ask questions with the seller/owner.



Good luck !

s_b

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Good luck !

perfect answer
can you start monday:D

Notmyrealname

Bravehearted wrote: »

Looking to buy one (maximum of £1000) for the brother - should I expect it to pack up in a year?

Cheers
B

Might not even last that long. At that end of the scale, there's a fair few get put through with blown head gaskets and you can't tell because they'll get an oil change just before they're driven in.

s_b

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Might not even last that long. At that end of the scale, there's a fair few get put through with blown head gaskets and you can't tell because they'll get an oil change just before they're driven in.

its easier to use a pair of mole grips and tighten down all the possible places the buyer might try to unscrew to see the fluids
in the old days it was easy to take the rocker cover off and weld the filler cap on from the inside
i remember once bunging the hoses up on the radiator pipes then filling radiator with water so buyer wouldnt see it rtumbling,obviously this car was parked very near the rostrum and the driver had instructions to turn the engine off while under the hammer
of course the seller might be at the sale and just slip the driver a few quid so that any potential punters arent allowed to get to the bonnet catch because he locks himself in


oh happy days hiding round the corner watching the mug punter and his daughter as they handed over the readies at the cashiers desk:D


moneysaving forum advice?
dont buy at auction unless you know whAT YOU ARE DOING

motorguy

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Might not even last that long. At that end of the scale, there's a fair few get put through with blown head gaskets and you can't tell because they'll get an oil change just before they're driven in.

+1

At the price band the O/P is suggesting there will be a LOT of troublesome cars being disposed of. Knackered turbos, engine management lights on (but removed), head gaskets blown, poor starting problems, airbag problems, gearbox problems, intermittent faults, poor bodywork repairs, oil leaks, etc ALL can be disguised to get through an auction ring without someone spotting it.

scotsbob

The last time I saw someone writing in red was when I was at school. Is this Foxy the forum headmaster ?

Foxy-Stoat_3

scotsbob wrote: »

The last time I saw someone writing in red was when I was at school. Is this Foxy the forum headmaster ?

Fixed it for ya !

colino

I would say that with scrap prices so high and auction fees similar (to non-trade) for a sub-1k car the auction is absolutely the place to avoid. Look in your local free paper, gumtree, supermarket notice boards and the like to hopefully find an old but good banger. Even then you have to take someone along who knows what to look for (not just someone with a back collection of HJ columns) to spot the dross.

wobbley

At one indoor auction the cars were often driven in with all the windows lowered so that buyers could inspect the interior. I bought an Uno on impulse (hadn't checked it over in the lot) only to find that all 4 opening windows had been removed ! Cost me £115 but still managed to sell it for £125 even being honest about the windows.

Another time I got a 2 year old car for about a third of it's value. When it was driven into the auction is sounded like a bag of spanners! Fortunately I knew it was the hydraulic tappets sticking - a few litres of flushing oil to make it purr like a kitten.

The auctions are a big gamble. Hope for the best but bid on the basis that it probably won't be all roses.