Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 18:26
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - charliechaplin

Hi guys, just joined the forum for a bit of advice if possible.

My wifes after a newer Zafira, has anyone bought one from BCA? probably ex mobility or 2 or 3 year old, money is tight at present, I know it may not be a massive saving but are there any pit falls buying at auction as opposed to say Car Giant where bought are present zafira, we like the zafira as we can just bung everything in them and go for weekends away, my wifes only using the car for short commuting, shopping that sort of thing.

Thanks

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 18:57
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - Collos25

One big one its called the Buyers Premium unless you know what your doing a one of prchase can be very dangerous to the wallet.

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 19:12
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - charliechaplin

Hi thanks for the reply, being honest I know zilch about cars, but ive a mechanic friend that does, I asked the question as our current car was bought from Car giant and was ex mobility, 3 year old 22k miles for £6k ish we just changed the tax disc/log book to a normal one!

I have been looking at BCA ex mobility stock, I know some have been hammered but others look ok, is there much of a saving buying at say BCA rather than a place like Car giant?

were looking to spend £5/6k ish again, im not thinking of buying at auction to sell on, just a family car that maybe a little cheaper than Car giant or the like.

thanks

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 20:02
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - bathtub tom

Buying from a dealer gives you some protection under SOGA, you won't get that from an auction.

As you say you know zilch about cars, that should swing it.

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 20:15
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - daveyK_UK

If you can get a zafira less than 3 years old/less than 60,000 miles it will have some warranty should you find any nasties.

Not everything is covered, but if your after a petrol zafira, there is very little that should or could have gone wrong in the first 2 years of ownership, they are reliable as vauxhalls go.

BCA charge a high buyers fee and some other add ons such as paying £26 to send your V5 to the DVLA.

But, you van make a serious saving compared to a dealer.

If you can find a 2 year old petrol zafira going through the auction, i would go for it.

If the car has lots of damamged exterior (a number of chips or scrapes or dents), you can expect it to have been treated harsh and it may be worth walking away.

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 20:44
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - charliechaplin

Hi thanks for the reply,

Thats pretty much what i wanted to do, go there with a mechanic friend, although i dont know how well he can check the cars out beforehand to be fair, worth a go to try and get a cheaper car at auction wit full service history and ex motobility with low miles on clock. obviously the casr giants of the world have massive buying power but thought it maybe worth getting some thoughts from you guys.

Are there any other major auction sites like BCA?

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 20:34
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - charliechaplin

Yes I thought of that, is there no protection what so ever when buying 2/3 year old cars at BCA? or is it buyer beware....?

Thanks for the reply btw

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 20:50
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - RT

As the auction house, BCA in this case, has no knowledge or control over the "provenance" of any car in the auction it's simply unworkable to place any SoGA obligations on them.

They're cheap because YOU have to take the risk - if you want someone else to take the risk, that puts the price up to dealer levels because they have to take the risk.

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 21:30
Vauxhall Zafira - Buying at auction or car giant - charliechaplin

Thanks, maybe better going to dealership, wont make the mistake of trading our car in again, lol think we will sell it private and then buy, just passed its MOT!

Thanks for the replys

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