Hi,
Has anyone brought a car from manhiem in wimbledon or BCA Blackbushe / Paddock Wood.
Looking to buy a diesel, Not having much luck with private / dealers, All have been old , high miles, scruffy.
So thought i'd give the Auctions a go.
What one of the 3 would be the best to go and get a bargain? Oh! and i can only go this thursday and friday!... Need to have a car for start of new job on Monday
I've signed up for the auction view on both and both have cars I would want
(looking at a VW Bora Diesel as No.1 choice but there are others to consider too.)
Also any tips for buying at Auction so i Don't look a fool in front of the traders...
Any traders willing to help be out on the day ( asking a lot I know) ....Any help / advise appliciated.
Thanks
Derek
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Really really shouldn't do this... No previous knowledge of auction buying plus a 'need' to buy something spells disaster. Are there any BRers local to these auctions with good knowledge who could help djt100 out here?
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If it's your first time at an auction and you're going with the intention of definitely buying that day there's a fair chance you'll stick out like a sore thumb and be off-loaded with something the trade don't want. Be very careful, better still, just go and watch for a few times. Or yet better still, use a professional auction buyer.
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Google "Joe Dowd" and use him. His fee is paid for by the lower auctioneer's charge, by and large. His expertise is a million times any retail punter. Well worth it.
The other bidders in the ring won't know if he'd buying for you or the trade, so you'll get a sensible deal.
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I've bought a lot of cars at auction, usually when between contracts and I'm standing next to my mate who has a BCA Platinum card. It makes life a lot easier with mates like that.
OP, you really really don't want to buy at an auction like that. There's several things that could happen. You'll look through all the cars on auction view and tick off four that you're really interested in. ?he rest you decide aren't worth much attention.
You'll get there and find that one of those has been withdrawn from sale so you've got a choice of three, you've done your homework and know how much you're prepared to pay for each one. the first you look at has some horrible dents all down one side and someone has been sick in the passenger footwell. Never mind, all is not lost, there's still two more.
So the third car comes through, it looks good and you end up the highest bidder. The acutioneer announces that its a provisional bid and you still have to hand over a £500 deposit. You won't know until well after the auction whether you've won the car or not but you still need a car.
Its gamble time and you decide to bid on the fourth car coming through as you think its unlikely that you'll get the other. You win the auction but only by paying over the odds for the car, more than you would if you'd have just bought form a good local dealer who'd provide backup and a warrantee.
You win, you buy the car and pay for it. You drive off having phoned your insurance broker to arrange insurance. just as you discover that you're car doesn't have a fourth gear there's blue flashing lights behind you and you're done for no tax and MOT. At least that's only a fine. You end up paying £300 to get the car through an MOT in time for work and just as you've committed to the cost of repairs to put a fourth gear back where it should be then you get a phone call saying you've also bought the car that you'd bought on provisional but you have now run out of funds and you can't pay for it. They'll keep your £500 deposit.
I've painted a bad picture above but its not that unusual if you don't know what you're doing.
Alternatively you could just buy something cheap and cheerful from a small local dealer or privately until you find a decent car that you really want. Ebay is also worthwhile if you don't mind a bit more of a gamble.
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Oh dear all sounds Very Glum.... I should say I may not be auction savvy but i am very car savvy, I've never managed to buy a bad car. I know auctions can be daunting I have been going down to Manheim in wmbledon for a couple of weeks and just hanging about to see whats what but only been going to the 6.30 evening auction that seems thin on the ground for traders and decent cars . A lot of private people about. Like me !...
I don't have to buy a car but it would make my life easier, I have the use of the misses car until i find my own and I'm confident on not coming back with a banger .
Problem is I need something reliable to get me 40 miles to work each way every day so a banger won't cut it.
Looking at autotrader, etc. everything i can afford has 100,000 miles on and are scruffy.
i'm just not seeing any value in stuff for sale at the moment
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Lets put 100k miles in perspective. My current Mondeo has 145k on it. I bought it with 98k on the clock.
As far as not coming away from the auction with a bad car, the best buyers still end up with a real issue on about 1 in 7.
Out of interest, what's your budget?
Edited by spikeyhead {p} on 13/05/2008 at 21:02
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I bought a 3 year old Citroen Xsara diesel for £3,000 from auction (with help from friends that had a lot of auction experience), which turned out to be a complete money pit. It had a full service history, 100,000 miles on the clock but turned out to have loads wrong with it, e.g. Needed a new lighting module, the spare wheel was the wrong one, made a funny sound when driving in second gear, etc.
I got rid of it after a year, as things kept going wrong with it (though the engine never gave me any trouble - it was everything else)
By contrast two colleagues bought cars (A VW Golf and a Pug 307) from the same auction company, and they turned out to be very reliable runners. Luck of the draw I guess.
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I've bought probably 10 cars at auction over a period of about 20 years and it's great fun/scary in equal proportions. Most have been excellent and none have been complete disasters. However, last year I decided to use Joe Dowd as the time spent hanging around in a cold windy shed for the one or two cars you're interested in going through proved too much of a waste of time. Also BCA screw the private buyer now.
Joe Dow provides an excellent service, nothing to pay up front, his bill is very reasonable and he wants you to be happy with what he has found you. Only comment I would make is that I think Joe likes to buy the low mileage stuff rather than the 3yr/100k stuff that the OP may be looking at on his budget. Whilst my favoured second hand car is 2yr/60k, I wanted a C Max and at auction they tend to be very low miles ex Mobility.
Give Joe a call, you may not have a car by this weekend, but you'll almost definately have one by the following one.
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Another happy customer of Joe. I have bought 15+ cars from him over the years, all 80+k miles, ex lease cars. Never had any engine issues. The only problem I have had is his buyer missing a significant dent in a single car. All in all I am happy.
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>> Problem is I need something reliable to get me 40 miles to work each way every day so a banger won't cut it.
Depends on the definition of 'banger' I suppose but I've spent years commuting 65 miles each way in 100,000 mile Cavaliers / omegas / Vectras costing around a grand and I average maybe 1 day per year when the car lets me down. I generally pension them off around the 180-190K mark when lots of things do start to wear out at once.
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Plenty of newish Pandas on Autotrader for £3k or less. Would be just as economical as a larger diesel if you can live with the size?
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