Buying cheap cars at auction?

[stripped fred]

I'm considering buying my next cheapish car at auction, say £500ish or a bit more. Is thus worthwhile for the shiter or does the commission make it uneconomical? I know traders pay a lot less making it more viable for them. I know the risks with buying this way but I'm happy to take that on the chin. Any experiences good/bad appreciated from you worldly lot.

[NorthernMonkey]

It depends on what auction you were thinking of. If it's one of the big boys ie BCA or Measham, then forget it. On a £500 hammer price, you'll end up shelling out nearer to £700 or even more and for that money, you'd get the same car through eBay for less with the added benefits of time to give it a good going over and the chance to form an opinion of the seller.

Some of the smaller, more autoshitey type of auctions aren't quite as bad (yet) for the add-ons but if the car is really worth having, you've little chance of getting your mitts on it in a hall full of seasoned buyers.

As an example when I had my used car lot, my local auctioneer knew what I was interested in before it even went through the ring and many is the time bids were run up before it was knocked down to me, occasionally at a lower price than it had reached in the hall. Why? Because I was buying between 15-25 cars a week so it made sense for them to let me have the odd minter at a sensible price. If ever the seller of the car saw it apparently fetch more in the ring than he actually received, he was simply told that the auctioneer had been making invisible bids in order to try and generate a better price for him...

[Junkman]

At auction buyage must be done during the Autoshite In The Community events at Cannock for ultimate heroism.

Unsolicited biased buying advice available free of charge.

[bub2006]

I need to come to cannock when I'm after a new motor

[NorthernMonkey]

I really need to tag along one of these days. Can't believe I used to live just down the A5 by Tamworth yet never ventured into the place. Next time there's a session taking place, I'll bring the truckshite transporter down from Lancy land and buy something crap to amuse everyone. May even make it a Volvo then when it comes to raffle time, CMS won't feel too nervous of winning it.....

[Junkman]

That's the spirit!

[oldcars]

I so want to go to the Cannock auctions since a shuma went thru at £200 

[Alan_Green]

With auctions, information is everything. If it's a dealer disposing of 20 trade-ins then the car is probably worth a punt. If it's a private entrant then there is probably a very good reason it's been sent to auction (which you will find out 10 mins after getting the keys).  

[Sloth in a bowl]

At Cannock then for a sub £500 shitter you will pay £30 as the buyer.

A catalog* (4 bits of stapled A4) will set you back £2 and is worth it for the info that should be stuck on the cars but has been rained/peeled/pissed off

There will be a  steady flow of dealer trade in's with 12 month MOTs of great* providence

 

They will have about 120 to 140 motors typically from £150 to £1500 with the odd higher priced dodgy history piece.

Get in the ring for the first 5 and last 10 cars as they are the bargains of the day especially at the end when everybody else has walked out having got their stock.

 

On a cold winter Tuesday evening the auctioneer is almost in tears, the prices are so low.

If you picked the right day then you could have bought both the shitter and the Iveco transport wagon with only 380k on the clock to get it home on.

[sierraman]

I'd give the 'back woods' type Auctions like Bawtry Motor Auctions and the like a miss. As people say once you add fees in, you are buying it with such a small margin to cover the (certain) repairs. A lot of the stuff in there is sub prime crap part ex from these dodgy 'CCJ's no problem!' outfits. Which is likely a fucked Picasso that's been owned by some mouth breathing idiot that's run it on a shoestring. The private entries? Last chance saloon before the scrapyard. I used to go for the laugh really, watching tin pot 'have a go' car sales men and itinerant Slovakians picking up a 'bargain'

[Bren]

Bear in mind anything lowish mileage and in good nick, even if it is a bit "old" is capable of making more than you think.

 

A reflection of how many tired old knackers there are.

[twitcherman]

Is Newark still going? Used to get a lot of crap through there. Ropey little hatchbacks - Fiestas etc would come through for sub-£100, reappearing 2 weeks later with suspiciously nice paintwork, usually bought by mum & dad for a teenage offspring, bid off the wall for £600.

[Station]

Ellesmere Port auctions have pretty much the same cars going through every week. I could leave it three months and half the stock will be the same. At one point they could've just drove one car through on a loop for two hours. They had a mk2 Supra go through, but that's the best I've seen £250 it was.

[cort16]

There's an auction near me that's had an Alfa gt for at least 6 months that got a really nasty throttle motor control error on the dash . Are folk just using it as free storage.

[Pillock]

Importantly, if you buy at Cannock during an Official* AS Midlands Massive Gathering, you win the game.

 

THE GAME.

[Cavcraft]

Ellesmere Port auctions have pretty much the same cars going through every week. I could leave it three months and half the stock will be the same. At one point they could've just drove one car through on a loop for two hours. They had a mk2 Supra go through, but that's the best I've seen £250 it was.

 

 

There's a reason for that, and it's the reason I give that place a very wide berth.

 

As regards other comments about shit cars going through, that's (usually) why they're cheap, it's a gamble.

[Pillock]

Oh aye, if I had a car with an impending mechanical catastrophe I'd be wanging it right down the auctions. Can't really see why you'd sell a fully working vehicle that way if I'm honest since buyers will also spend catastrophe-cash and no more.

[sierraman]

Probably best way to go would be a main dealer p/x you might drop on with something half decent. At the general entry auctions you will likely get your fingers burnt.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Cannock is a bit posh

 

Leominster Car auctions is the true Autoshite auction ( NOT Brightwells, this one if a few miles out of town )

 

You will not  come here and be disappointed. Unless you buy something. Then you may well be. Very low commission

[stripped fred]

So it's a bit of a gamble then! I used to have a contact at a large auction who got me trade commission price and I could also have a good drive round in it but not anymore. I would be completely at their mercy and public commission charges. Sounds like there are better places to look. I do like the atmosphere of an auction though. Only thing is if I go 'to have a look round' I know I would come away with something. I suppose the big auction places, BCA and Manheim etc, would focus on the newer end of the market although there might be a few part ex's as mentioned above.

[sierraman]

Seriously my advice would be look at a private sale, one where the guys been offered a derisory sum for his car in part ex, have a good look round and a drive then weigh in with the size 10's with some cash in your hand. You might be surprised, generally people don't like haggling, come in with a fair but low offer with cash and a promise to take the car now will often win out. I wouldn't fuck about buying clapped out rubbish at the auction unless you are buying something late ex fleet or possibly main dealer pxs that are too old to punt on the forecourt.

[D Spares & Tyres]

As above....

 

Cars are too expensive at auction, usually make not far off what I can sell them for. I just enter broken stuff. Don`t bid on a tidy 307 in red at Leominster next week. The gearbox should make it through the ring, fingers crossed

[New POD]

Where my current paid contract is based, in Derby, there is a BCA site, right across the dual carriage way, and ALBERT LOOOMS  scrap yard about a mile away. I've never been to either. Maybe I should.

[Junkman]

So it's a bit of a gamble then!

 

Yeah, it's a bit like dogs. Just with cars and that you have to keep the dog you bet on.

[D Spares & Tyres]

no, you just put it in next weeks auction and ii makes a fraction of the price..................

[NorthernMonkey]

It's very rare I used to put anything through the block myself but on one occasion, I took a 220GSi rover in px that was knocking it's nuts off at anything over 1200rpm.

I was going to the sale the following day so I thought I may as well limp it to the auctions, throw it in and bring something else back with me. Outside this particular auction (Valley road, Bradford innit?) there was always plenty of street trading going on and today was no exception. I was approached by several members of the local community all desperate to snap up this particular piece of cow skin shod shite. There was no way I wanted any comeback so I just feigned ignorance and told them I was just a garage employee under instructions to deliver this trade in from local garage chain D.C.Cook and there was no way I could sell it on the street. This was met with much indignation...nontheless, I stuck to my guns and entered the compound at very low revs.

After bribing the auction driver to let it drag itself through on tick-over and under no circumstances to pull the bonnet release, this lump of Longbridge goodness went under the hammer. Sure enough, the guys from outside were bidding merrily away against the fire extinguisher and a half dead rubber plant in the corner of the hall. Upon the fall of the hammer at £425 (plus fees) there was much grinning and one proceeded to remind me as he hustled past that he had indeed offered £500 outside. 'Oh well' I replied, 'It's DC Cooks loss, not mine' whilst shrugging my shoulders nonchantly and wandering off to buy the auctioneer another coffee...

[Charlie Croker]

I worked as a driver at the New Street auction in Edinburgh (now long gone....closed in 05 I think.).

What a laugh that was the dodgy (but good to me) traders made me laugh and cry at the same time.lol.

 

I remember a Mreg Cavalier with hardly any clutch left and being asked to go really easy on the revs and numerous dizzlers that needed a "discreet few heats". I really cant remember anything worth having in 2 years there.

 

The auctioneer Billy took bids off babies in prams and Pit Bull Terriers who just wanted to take a dump in piece.

 

One memorable moment was when a seriously kippered Sierra was bid up to 190 and Billy started screaming at everyone "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS UP WITH YOU?? ITS A J REG CAR AND YOU WANT IT FOR £190??......FUCKS SAKE!!! I must stress that this was in 2004 so said kipperd Sierra was 13 years old so hardly the "new" car he was insinuating.lol.

[cort16]

Is that the one that was in the car park next to the train station? I went to that a few times it was dodgy as fuck.

[twosmoke300]

If I buy at auction it's usually a non runner , high mileage or a bit of damage/ shit colour . With main dealer trade ins in particular you then know the reason that it's on the block . Better to buy a non runner cheap than pay top money for a car that looks perfect but is fucked.

[sofarsogood]

Where my current paid contract is based, in Derby, there is a BCA site, right across the dual carriage way, and ALBERT LOOOMS  scrap yard about a mile away. I've never been to either. Maybe I should.

Albert Looms is excellent. I have never been to BCA either. Rolls Royce Marine Power is an interesting site too