The banger auction thread.

[Twiggy]

The auction just outside Whitchurch at the junction of the A 49 and the A 41 - no one has mentioned that yet - is it still going ?

[trigger]

Just browsing some of the older stock going through the Manheim auctions in the next week or so, here's some of the high lights.

 

 

1997 Starlet, 126k, Selling Brimingham tomorrow.

 

 

1997 618 Si auto, 95k, last service at 21k. selling Glasgow on 31/10.

 

 

1985 XJ-S 3.6 Cab, 126k, Needs bodywork but good history and mot, selling Saltash, Cornwall, no date.

 

 

1994 Rover 220 Coupe, 92k, No history and tatty but with mot, Selling Wimbledon tomorrow.

 

 

1994 1.8i LX auto, 61k, bit tatty but long mot, Selling Wimbledon tomorrow.

[Lankytim]

The auction just outside Whitchurch at the junction of the A 49 and the A 41 - no one has mentioned that yet - is it still going ?

 

I used to deliver cars there, it's usually newer stuff, trashed motorbility peoplecarriers e.t.c.

[Cavcraft]

I think they have two sales at Whitchurch: the trade sale and the public one. The latter includes a one hour warranty on 'major mechanical faults' but I'm told it's barely worth the paper it's written on.

Sorry for forgetting his name, but one of the lads who come to Chumley with us in 2011 worked at Prees Heath auctions. I'm sure he said due to stupid H&S reasons you're not allowed to open the bonnets on the cars. That must put people off as you're knackered for checking coolant and oil.

[beko1987]

God damn eBay and the scrappage shit

[greengartside]

Has anyone been to the EAMA in Wymondham? I used to go to the old auctions in Norwich at the livestock market with my dad and then the Sandy Lane site which has closed.

[Lord Sterling]

I've been to a couple of car Auctions in the whole of my life. Once when Ma_Sterling and her partner bought a Mk1 Rover 820i and some years back with a mate who was looking for a car. At the last auction I went to with my mate I saw a Red Mk2 Rover 820i going through the auction that didnt get a bid, even at £120, I was penniless then otherwise I might have bid. Oh, I also remember tagging along with my old man in Belgium to an auction there where he bought a 1979 Honda Civic (ala: Trigger) in fetching metallic Green (he said it was a US model aswell) I remember being rather disappointed that he didn't buy the Mk1 Rover 820i similar to the one Ma had back in England which I think would have suited him more.

 

I've never actually bought a car from an Auction so I don't really know how it works. I presume you bid, pay at the counter including charges, fill out paperwork etc... The one thing that's got me stumped is sorting insurance. I know some auction run in the evening or weekends when insurance agencies shut. Do auction houses offer a temp cover so you can get your car home? I'd really like to buy a car (like a ropey old Rover 600 or a Jag or something equally useless) at Auction but I'm not too sure of the actual ins and outs.

[Cavcraft]

Either trade insurance, recovery truck or back in the good bad old days before ANPR, just drive it back at night. This was of course always fool proof as what right minded, bored copper would possibly pull over a Metro that was listing worse than Lloyds shares, had no tax, smoked like Benson & Hedges beagle and was knocking like a Jehova's Witness on a bonus scheme?

[outlaw118]

@ Lord Sterling: If your own insurwance covers you for any vehicle, you should be ok, because until the registration docs are in your name, you don't own it as far as the ANPR thing goes. Always a good idea to get something witha bit of rent in the window though.

 

Edit: And Wot Billy sed.

[Micrashed]

Either trade insurance, recovery truck or back in the good bad old days before ANPR, just drive it back at night. This was of course always fool proof as what right minded, bored copper would possibly pull over a Metro that was listing worse than Lloyds shares, had no tax, smoked like Benson & Hedges beagle and was knocking like a Jehova's Witness on a bonus scheme?

Gawd I nearly crapped myself once driving an alge covered Fiesta home with no tax or insurance (did have MOT) when I pulled in to get a fivers worth of petrol and a police car pulled in behind me - turned out he was just filling up too.

[dave j]

I went to Manheim auctions in Saltash just outside Plymouth a few months ago as I was looking for a runaround, the fees for public buyers were huge! It put me right off. I cant remember how much they were exactly but it made a big difference! I was looking at a P reg 306, i think it sold for about £300 but if I had bought it it would have cost me nearly £500, I left dissapointed and went back to looking at ebay.

[Cavcraft]

Try driving a Snapdragon yellow Mk3 Allegro that'd been stood for 2.5 years up the A55 on a Saturday afternoon with a three year old daughter asking 'Daddy, why is everybody laughing at us'.

[Richard]

Or towing a SAAB 900 on a dolly behind another 900 with a toddler saying "What time is it going to fall off?"

[Vince70]

Many years ago I would go up to Deptford car auctions with a few mates mainly just to grab a burger and go for few pints afterwards.

 

I never bought a car myself but I remember I never saw a single mate of mine buy a decent car.

 

One got caught with an old auto Renault which only had two gears and most motors were bought running on thick commercial oil to hide the rattles and sawdust filled gearboxes with polyfilla and chicken wire sills but it was great experience and a good night out.

 

Back in the day when I would go it was mainly Hillmans or Talbots with quite a bit of old 70's French with a bit of BL chucked in, But for some reason never many Fords.

The average price was around £200 before fees and back in the 80s you could buy quite a decent old banger private for that out of the local news shopper for the same money.

[Bucketeer]

Sorry for forgetting his name, but one of the lads who come to Chumley with us in 2011 worked at Prees Heath auctions. I'm sure he said due to stupid H&S reasons you're not allowed to open the bonnets on the cars. That must put people off as you're knackered for checking coolant and oil.

 

That may have been policy at that particular auction but I've never heard of it anywhere else.

Some unscrupulous traders did used to disconnect the bonnet release to hide any evidence of engine carnage though.

I've also seen one half-wit trying to put black ink in the engine to disguise the custard colour of the oil.

And many would offer us a back-hander to tow their car through the sale pretending it just had a flat battery/no petrol so that the catastrophic noise/biblical smoke that would inevitably spew forth from the fubar engine would be avoided.

GR7 days.

[Cavcraft]

Oh aye, there was some great dodges going around the auctions. We were often slipped a fiver or a tenner not to rev a car up, I developed a knack of locking the doors, keeping the windows up and having the stereo on full go as I sang away and looked at the floor. Keeping the corner of my eye on the auctioneer I'd just ease off the clutch and coast through. Job done I'd get my bribe off the seller and laugh as the trader that bought it suddenly discovered the engine was rattling or knocking its bollocks off.

 

I started writing a short book on my time at the auctions but I've not touched it for a year or so.

[Bucketeer]

Giving them a cheery wave and mouthing 'Hiya', then returning to pedal-gazing, as they banged furiously on the window trying to get you to 'rev her up' was also oddly satisfying.

[Hendry]

I regularly pass 2 auction sites on my way to work in Glasgow, Manheim and BCA in Royston/Blochairn.

 

Also been to Central at Baillieston and Wilsons in Dalry (the Ayrshire one Cort16 mentioned)

 

At Wilsons it was a specific Arnold Clark sale and some of the stuff there was absolutely hanging, a Metro with accident damage, a rotten N reg mk6 Escort and an 02 plate Bmw e46 3 series touring which had an engine so fucked and loud the auctioneer had to ask for it to be switched off whilst bidding was going on.

 

Manheim was where Arnold Clark sent all their properly scruffy part exs, also ropey finance repos and 10+ year old stuff went there. Quite a lot of newer cars but much more fucked than all the older stuff at other auctions. Was tempted by a Y reg 1.8 T Skoda Octavia there though, dark blue, high spec with all the toys but unfortunately beige leather and carpets.

 

SMA at Livingston is where all the decent stuff goes, they hold closed sales of manufacturer ex management cars for dealers to buy, Motability stuff goes there and ex fleet stuff from Lex, Lloyds TSB auto lease etc and this is where Arnie Clark used to buy most of their stock when I worked there, its Also where my current employer sends all their ex credit hire defleets all under a year or 2 old so that's not much fun.

 

Central seems to have the best variety, this is where pretty much all the main dealers in the west of Scotland send cars, many decent ones which are simply too old to retail or too high on the miles, some are cars which are overage stock at main dealers so are immaculate, valeted, serviced and prepped cars some even still with the approved used signs from the main dealers on the window, others are again retail stuff that can't be sold by the dealer who's entered it, e.g. I was there About a year ago and an immaculate white 09 plate Civic Type R went through from Glasgow Audi, only reason it was there was the Audi dealer couldn't sell non Audis. But that same night there was other stuff like a 64,000 mile FSH 1994 M reg Peugeot 405 1.6 which was really tidy and went for £150 the choice was superb.

[Charlie Croker]

Good thread this. I used to drive for the auction at the New St car park in Edinburgh. Words truly fail me at some of the pure shit that went through there like. I remember familiar phrases like "go easy on the clutch" "give it 3 or 4 heats before starting it". The worst one I remember was a G plate 205 which was sold for 80 notes and was the scariest thing ive ever drove and I didn't need to go over 5mph. The dude that bought it was chuffed as fuck with it and happily told me he was going to drive it the 45 miles home to Berwick Upon Tweed. I was so convinced he and his miss's were gonna die I checked the newspapers for days afterwards.

[Pillock]

I remember an MGF coming through Newark, well I say though - it got the front end into the hall, cut out, reeked of burned oil and got pushed back out. Also remember an early Mondeo, fairly run-down with a reserve of £800 or something daft - this was only 18 months ago or so. The auctioneer had a couple of half-hearted attempts and then muttered something about needing to teach the seller what stuff's worth.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I used to go to the car auctions round Newcastle upn tyne all the time, loved it. My favourite was Tyne car Auctions just near 'billy mill roundabout' as it happens. Got my Talbot Alpine from there, still have it and (I think) Still have the piece of paper from the auction house with the car details that was glued in the windscreen! Bought loads of shite from there, including.

 

J-reg Seat Ibiza SXI: Mint and the former Ms_ba11s' transport for many years. J806SPY where are you now!!!!

E-reg scorpio 2.0 Ghia: Nice actually, sold through Autotrader fro a tiny profit after many hours of stress from car-buying twats

E-reg orion: needed a new engine FFS, fitted one on the drive and sold it

E-reg Subaru GL estate: Bought for the in-laws who immediately proclaimed it 'undriveable scrap'. There was F.all wrong with it about from clicky driveshafts on full lock. I cleaned out the CV joints and repacked with fresh grease and told them to get on with it. They were still driving it 4 years later

C-reg Audi GT coupe: Total shit, I legged it without paying

 

etc

[cort16]

Good thread this. I used to drive for the auction at the New St car park in Edinburgh. Words truly fail me at some of the pure shit that went through there like. I remember familiar phrases like "go easy on the clutch" "give it 3 or 4 heats before starting it". The worst one I remember was a G plate 205 which was sold for 80 notes and was the scariest thing ive ever drove and I didn't need to go over 5mph. The dude that bought it was chuffed as fuck with it and happily told me he was going to drive it the 45 miles home to Berwick Upon Tweed. I was so convinced he and his miss's were gonna die I checked the newspapers for days afterwards.

 

I remember that one! It used be deep in the bowls of the car park didn't? Went there a few times but again never had the bottle to buy anything.

 

There used to be one at Ayr race course for years on a thursday night. I must have went about 15 times and never plucked up the courage to buy anything. I suppose the price of scrap going up and ebay must have hurt a lot of these shite auctions. When it used to cost money to scrap your car folk would stick them in the auction just in the general hope someone would take it away.

 

Wilsons in Dalry also do afternoon auctions, which they have a lot of nearly new stuff in. It seems to me the evening auctions at these places tends to be all the crud they don't want to pass of to their trade customers.

[warren t claim]

Mr Bollox has raised an issue, has anyone else had cold feet and done a runner after the hammer has dropped? And more importantly were you caught?

[cort16]

A lot of the ones make you put a deposit of 100 quid down and take a copy of your driving license because of reprobates like mr_bollox legging it.

 

I went to a classic car auction recently and I had to give them either 100 quid in cash or my drivers license to hold before they'd give me a bidding number.

[warren t claim]

Another Pingu issue is the fact that he totally fucking hates cars outside his auction with a for sale sign on. He rings the number on the advert and sends a grunt out to threaten the seller, even if the hapless vendor is inside bidding.

[Barry Cade]

Auctions used to be a big pastime for me- Friday nights most of my mates would be off on the pull, I'd head up to Kinross for a coffee flavoured drink and a horse burger. Before the days of "main dealer trade in" or Ex Motability" there used to be some interesting stuff going through, mostly not met grey or have 4 rings on it. Perth would be better on a Sunday and all my memorable motors came from there. Thainstone was a laugh too, some odd stuff up there, memorable ones include a Santana GX5, a Volvo 265GLE and a Renner 5 which is the only car ever to leave me stranded.

 

There used to be a colour called "Kinross Blue". Sure the paint came from the paper mill or something, but there were usually 2 or 3 cars a week freshly "painted" in this fetching shade. The painter liked the colour so much he even did the door handles and bumpers! Colour coding was all the rage... or maybe he was a lazy fecker.

 

Most memorable night was when I worked for the FSO garage in Alness. I convinced the boss that decent motors were thin on the ground up there so we should do a run down to Kinross to buy some used stock. He thought this was a great idea, and went to the bank to withdraw a roll of cash. We tanked up the Cargo, and 3 of us went down to pick up some crowd pullers to rejuvinate the business.

 

I was an old hand at the auction game by this time, and gave him some pointers, what I thought would sell up there and old Walter said he'd stop him getting carried away. In for the start of the auction and Walter went for a piss, I headed for some brown stuff in a polystyrene cup from the "restaurant" and Arnold ran around giggling, arms waving excitedly.

 

By the time I'd stood behind all the camel coats with Glasses guide's sticking out the pockets, and Walter had emptied his long range bladder, we found Arnold at the deposit desk. Walter and I looked at each other and then asked, "What have you bought?"  "I got three" he said, "I'll show you the now". We waked over to the holding yard, wondering what the hell had just happened, and the Boss said, "there they are- choose which one you're driving"

 

A Mahindra. A rusty off white Montego Vanden Plas and a burgundy Sierra Laser estate. Fuck. 10 minutes in an auction hall and he'd bought the 3 snottiest, shiteyest piles of crap in there. I got the pleasure of driving the Mahindra half way up the A9, 50 MPH was all it'd give, bucket seats and harnesses which held me bolt upright, what was left of the roof was flapping around banging on my head like some sort of Chinese torture, no heater in November and about 4 inches of play in the steering.

 

The boss decided he'd like a shot of the "cool Jeep" so we swopped, and I took over the rancid smelling Sierra which did at least have a heater. about 20 miles further on, the drivers wing fell off... I shit you not. We swopped the sierra on to the truck and the boss had had enough of "that piece of shit Jeep" and I got to steer the Montenogo the rest of the way, with 1 of the cylinders sometimes deciding not to work.

 

We got home about 3 am, parked the quality used cars in the corner, never to be touched again, apart from sticking numbers on the screen, which had at least 1 number too many on them, and went back to selling FSO's to farmers. Much easier!

[Cavcraft]

Another Pingu issue is the fact that he totally fucking hates cars outside his auction with a for sale sign on. He rings the number on the advert and sends a grunt out to threaten the seller, even if the hapless vendor is inside bidding.

 

 

Does he now? That could be fun.

[Jim Bell]

Tif, thats the best story ever. I made laughs at it.

[cort16]

I've been to that Kinross a few times there's some "characters" there. This is the location of the best hair style I've ever seen. The guy was bald but grown it long around the edges then back combed it up over his head then set it in placed with hairspray so he has like a hair hoodie. You could easily have got your hand between his head and the hair without making contact.

We had to leave early as I couldn't stop staring at him.

[Barry Cade]

I've been to that Kinross a few times there's some "characters" there. This is the location of the best hair style I've ever seen. The guy was bald but grown it long around the edges then back combed it up over his head then set it in placed with hairspray so he has like a hair hoodie. You could easily have got your hand between his head and the hair without making contact.

We had to leave early as I couldn't stop staring at him.

I apologise for this, but my hair has always been "problem hair"

Hope you didn't miss any good 'uns.