• This topic has 11 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 15 years ago by hora.
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  • Car auctions
  • thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    anyone been to one, bought anything?
    Any advice?

    Need something fairly big (focus/accord etsate sized) but with a small ish engine (for economy) as all it’ll ever do is move bikes and possibly small boats.

    dooosuk
    Free Member

    My mate bought a Saab 9-3 from one. Turned out the engine was knackered. He sold the car at a loss of £500 as he couldn’t be bothered to pay for the engine to be replaced and thought it would just end up being a money pit.

    BigButSlimmerBloke
    Free Member

    Go early and try to hear the engine running
    If you’re confident about cars, go yourself and check the likely candidates over yourself, if not get someone who is.
    GO TO AT LEAST TWO ACTIONS WITHOUT THE MEANS TO PAY – I used to wheel and deal second hand stuff and buying at auction was a big part of what I did, You wouldn’t believe the number of people wo got caught up in the frenzy of bidding an ended up buying at ell over the odds, so go to a couple of actions and get a feel for prices etc. Don’t worrry about missing big bargains, there will be more, and rememner that auctions are well covered by dealers anyway.
    Fix a budget, stick to it.

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    sofatester
    Free Member

    Avoid or follow the above. It’s your money!

    steveh
    Full Member

    There are some good tips on http://www.honestjohn.co.uk and he also puts a few prices from every weeks auctions up to maybe give you some ideas. Auctions prices are increasing at the moment and more and more private bidders are using them which pushes prices up further.

    I’ve been to a few bidded on a few things but they’ve always gone over my limit for the car. Not as cheap as you expect and I get better deals from shopping about on ebay/autotrader.

    uplink
    Free Member

    You’ve usually got 1 hrs warranty so make the most of it

    hora
    Free Member

    As BigButSlimmerBloke says. You’ll suffer from ‘buy fever’ otherwise. Some auction houses are better than others and some have a short guarantee so it pays to have a mechanic booked and ready for the day/morning after the sale.
    BCA have a one day guarantee?

    I once bought a knackered motorbike from a bike auction when I was 16. A Trader next to me warned me but I bid anyway as it was clean looking etc. It went back through the auctions the following Monday and I cut my loses.

    todk
    Free Member

    Prices are now going up at auctions after 18 months of them dropping like a stone, so don’t be surprised if you have to pay a bit above book price.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    I visited the BCA one in Enfield when looking for a new car a couple of years ago, and I just found it horrendously confusing.

    Very difficult to work out what’s going on, seems a bit of a closed shop – decided it wasn’t for me.

    Also looked at buying through this guy… http://www.auctioncarbuyer.co.uk/AuctionCarBuyer-Home.htm

    But in the end found the car I wanted from a small trader at a good price on Autotrader.

    duckers
    Free Member

    I’ve had good and bad experiences of auctions, but I would say that (depending on how much your planning to spend) private sellers are a slightly better option.

    Firstly you can take a mechanic (if you know any) and have them take a good look over the car, secondly you can take it for a good test drive (something you cant do at the auctions), thirdly I would bet you can knock a private seller down to not much more than auction price once you start waving some cash at them and they know our serious.

    Have a look through local papers and admags, and the autotrader (although its a bit gash now), but do go to the auction.

    Car prices are like everything else though and are very region dependant, so you may be able to pick up a better deal by looking a little further outside your local area.

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    Car prices at auction are not THAT much lower than private sales, like ebay sometimes you get a bargain but you can pay going rate for something that’s bearly been looked at.

    hora
    Free Member

    Waving cash under someones nose…. I bought my current car off an ex copper. I took the MAX that I considered the car was worth with me but he wouldnt budge. Wanted £30 extra otherwise he would keep the car. He was like an old queen stamping his feet. In the end we ended up driving down to the nearest cashpoint to get his precious 30quid. Tool.

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