Best go along, leaving ANY £$£$ at home, to get a feel of things, watch n listen! You'll be surprised at how well described some vehicles can be, WITHOUT the auctioneer actually implying the car is a good un!!
As you've mentioned local radio, probably going to be a smaller, independent auction. You won't see as many DIRECT fleet, late cars, but more likely, local dealer trade ins.They might be worth a bid, but beware anything 'tarted up', 'cos that will, more than certainly be a traders car.Might run Ok - might not - but you'll be giving the profit/saving away, by buying one of these!
Do realise you'll need a sizeable deposit - 10% - so best not be too obvious with wads of cash in bulging hanbags/pockets. You can lodge a deposit with the cash office before the sale & get it back, if you don't buy.
Al least you'll have an entertaining day/night out, for free!!
Have fun!
VB
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I've never been, but i have a friend who goes regularly, just so he can have a different car to drive every couple of months and never gets bored.
Hes had about 13-15 cars and no bad ones yet (well what he expects for the prices he pays)
.*********
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erk, what are those stars the bottom half of my message has dissapeared
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i think you might have upset the sweary thing...cheers...keo
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Go to the auction a few times without any money.
You'll see some of the regulars there bidding for cars that they can then sell on. Watch how the bidding 'works' ie the tricks and brinkmanship that people play.
You'll see the sort of prices that dealers pay for their cars. This is what you'll need to aim for depending on what you want from a car.
The term "clocking money" has sprung up here before now. This is the premium price paid for some cars that are high milage but may suit a 'mileage adjustment' shall we say. You'll never do that so you don't want to pay over the odds for a car that is going for clocking money.
When you are comfortable with the process decide which models would suit you then using experience and a copy of glasses if you can, set maximums on the vehiles that you would buy and see how it goes.
A word of warning. If you are the higherst bidder for a car and it does not reach its reserve, the auctioneer will still take your deposit pending a decision from the seller. If the seller then decides not to sell or to sell at the reserve only, you'll get your deposit back but you'll not have it to bid on any other cars going through until that decision is given.
H
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Oh, and one other thing, if you decide you like a certain car, say a Citroen Xantia, then it is worth contacting the franchise dealers to see what they may be putting through. If you are genuinely interested, you can chat up the salesmen and get their feel for how they rate that car. They know it's got to be sold anyway so they have no vested interest in telling you any lies. If you don't buy it then someone else will.
H
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If you upset the sweary thing a bit it removes the word. If you upset the sweary thing a lot, then it trashes anything from a sentence, to a paragraph, up to your whole note.
M.
p.s. "The Sweary Thing" is now the official term.
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When you look at a car try and figure out why it is in the auction?
If the auction is held in an evening / weekend there will be a number of traders cars (bought from other auctions). These will be fully valeted, usually with a new MOT (unless a real dog) and often with a meaningless handwritten notice on it, like "drives very well", "driven 50 miles for sale", "would have sold all good but auction rules won't permit".
Forget anything entered by Joe Public, it's either knackered or has a forecourt price reserve!
You want to go for something which the seller isn't directly trying to make a profit out of, like main dealer px's (You know its in the auction beacuse its too old for the forecourt) or local company fleet cars (changed at certain age).
Of course these cars can still have faults, why did the original owner px it in the first place ...
Also watch for big dealers who only auction 1 or 2 cars, these are the one's none of the traders will take from them. Best look at the ones from the dealer who put in 20 cars, you know he's auctioning all px's he took this week.
Sold with a trial, entitles you to a short test drive after paying, and the chance to reject if major mechanical problems. Don;t be afraid of sold as seen. Very few dealers will warrant the condition of px's.
Find the market price by looking at similar models, usually between parkers poor and parkers trade.
Expect to go for at least 5 weeks before you find the right car at the right price.
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I am almost certain that BMs of this vintage had a free servicing package with them. Check that and get before the time comes up. Make sure that any independant (or the trader) puuts BMW spec oil in it.
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what can you expect? theatre, drama, entertainment. Oh and the most appaling burgers and chips in existence
Another good reason not to take any money the first few times.
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I'd like to add the the food at Nottingham last week made the food at Bedford seem good. I didn't think that that would be possible without poisoning us, but it did.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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Outstanding bacon rolls and large mugs of tea at Blackbushe.
Sould I edit "appaling" to "appealing" or "appalling" ??
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Nice bacon rolls at Prees Heath motor auctions
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Ditto the food at Prees Heath, my favourite bit is the communal sugar bowl with about 2 used plastic teaspoons to go round a couple of hundred traders.
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BCA's burgers generally aren't too bad, perhaps thats why the buyers indemnity is so high?
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worth a note when you go dress down you dont want everyone seeing you bid especially if they know you are new cos they will run you up , i have seen this many a time at auctions , once the auctioneer knows you are bidding keep it discreet raising one finger with arms folded is usually enough or a nod with a shake of the head if it's too high for you . if you want to bid get your self in a position where the auctioneer can see you but not in the front line by the car where everyone else can also see you...cheers...keo
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erk! I think the sweary thing has a screw loose. I definatly don't remember swearing as I wasn't ranting :) It was a long message 'n all
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Thanks for the advice, looks like it will be fun. Not interested in buying anything, our old car went to the auction and I know what state that was in .... Just fancy a look round, plus we still have to sell our mini so auction could be an option.
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