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- Buying at auction - Honda jazzer

Hey guys has anybody bought a car at auction and would you have any tips at doing so?

- Buying at auction - nellyjak

Things have changed...I wouldn't go anywhere near a car auction as a private buyer now.

- Buying at auction - paul 1963

Things have changed...I wouldn't go anywhere near a car auction as a private buyer now.

I agree, auctions are effectively closed to the public now due to the ridiculous charges.

- Buying at auction - Honda jazzer

What charges

I thought maybe I could organise a side hassle or at least find a bargain by buying from

There . Some of the prices look ridiculously cheap especially at the lower end of the market

- Buying at auction - Xileno

You will also need to be skilled at filtering out the junk that's there because the dealers don't want to retail it. For a cheaper car you need to buy privately.

- Buying at auction - expat

Things have changed...I wouldn't go anywhere near a car auction as a private buyer now.

Agreed. You don't get a chance to have a test drive so you are buying on a chance. Most of the cars are ones that dealers will not retail as they have faults which are going to cost them warranty repairs. Ten or fifteen years ago you could get an ex fleet car 18 month old with the balance of the makers warranty. If it was something unfashionable like a Mondeo it would be very cheap. Those sort of bargains are no longer around and auction charges are exorbitant. Don't go near them. As said above buy privately.

- Buying at auction - Terry W

To a large extent Ebay has replaced auctions for private buyers:

You can inspect the car only if you are prepared to go there - a disadvantage compared to auction.

If you win the car can be rejected if not as described - a benefit compared to auction

- Buying at auction - daveyK_UK
As with any auction, eBay buyers need to be cautious.

There are a lot of junk cars for sale on eBay.
- Buying at auction - Andrew-T
As with any auction, eBay buyers need to be cautious. There are a lot of junk cars for sale on eBay.

Obviously - it's the only remaining way to hopefully get rid, before going to a scrappy.

- Buying at auction - Honda jazzer

Can the same be said for Auto Trader apologies if that's a newbie question but totally new to buying cars

So am I right in saying that the following hierarchy exists

1. Auto trader

2. EBay gumtree

3. Auction

4. Scrap

- Buying at auction - daveyK_UK
Not all auctions demand ridiculous buyers fees that you will find in the likes of BCA and Mainheim

You may find a local car auction near your home that sells part ex cars under £3k , an old friend lives in north wales and he has one such auction nearby every Friday evening where around 20-30 cars a week get sold and the buyers fees are reasonable.
- Buying at auction - edlithgow

Hey guys has anybody bought a car at auction and would you have any tips at doing so?

Yes, but a long time ago.

At the bottom end of the market (then) I'd speculate that a lot of the stuff had something badly wrong with it that the seller was hoping couldn't be spotted in the very limited inspection allowed, though in this case I wouldn't have spotted it anyway.

The Triumph 1300 (BCA, maybe 150 quid?, but 150 quid was a lot more then than it is now) had a crack in the bottom of the sump causing the engine oil to slowly drain out of the differential housing. Fixed it.

Edited by edlithgow on 23/04/2022 at 05:41

- Buying at auction - Bolt

At the bottom end of the market (then) I'd speculate that a lot of the stuff had something badly wrong with it that the seller was hoping couldn't be spotted in the very limited inspection allowed, though in this case I wouldn't have spotted it anyway.

same applies to most sellers these days, cars are not looked after as well as they used to be, either through ignorance or just couldn`t care less or can`t afford to.

when I was looking at cars 2 odd years ago, people were calling dented and poor paintwork cars, without the mechanical problems (immaculate condition) not many were, which meant you wasted your time looking at those- yet the price was top end- and as another ex salesman here said you are better off buying private which is where I bought my Civic which I still have

even though it had problems like all different tyres on, needed pads and a good clean up, it passed all mots, had all fluids changed before I bought it and had been serviced, none of the other cars I looked at had even seen a bucket of water let alone a service

friend of mine bought and sold cars from the auctions, but gave it up a few year's ago because the prices were astronomical and as he said he didn`t understand how traders made a profit, he now only buys private after talking to the owners whom you get to know.

I recently started looking for a small car for a relation to learn in and was surprised how much worse condition some cars are now compared to a few years ago, no one seems to have time to give them a clean let alone pay for even oil and filter change which for me has always been every 5 - 6k miles or 6 months, pace of life now seems to have put paid to repair costs or time to get things done, and wait for MOT time to get repairs done