Hi there guys

Hope you're all well. Just thought i'd say hello to the forum and try and become part of the vast amount of knowledge that is on here and also pick your brains if possible.

A few weeks ago I made a trip from London to Somerset to attend the BCA auction in Bridgwater. On the day I went, the BMW Group was holding an open auction with around 300 cars going under the hammer direct from BMW.

Just to let you guys know, here are a few picks of the day:

LG59 LYR 120d M Sport Convertible, Alpine White, Red Leather, Sat Nav, 33854 Miles - £19300

LG09 TXE Mini Cooper S Convertible, Midnight Blue, Cream Leather, Chili Pack, 11710 Miles - £13400

OY61 GXN X6 xDrive40d, Black on Black, 9341 Miles - £42700

OV59 VXT 530d M Sport Saloon, Grey on Black, Sat Nav, 17973 Miles - £21600

BJ57 WKS M3 Coupe, Silverstone II on Black, 25642 Miles, no Sat Nav - £24200

BV10 OJX M3 Convertible, Alpine White on Black, 16426 Miles - £35500

NB - THESE PRICES ARE EXCLUDING BUYERS FEES, DELIVERY AND ADDITIONAL CHARGES.

Now, just to explain this, I was in the market for both an M3 and a BMW X6, reason being I have moved back here after a few tough but very lucrative years working in Iraq. I have always bought cars from auctions, and never bought a car from either a private individual or a dealer, as my dad used to do the same and I personally have always saved thousands and never had any problems with cars from auction.

As usual, I did a fair bit of research as I had an idea about what I wanted and the catalogue was published online a while before. I checked current prices on CAP and Glass's, but also checked similiar vehicles and their selling prices on Auto Trader.

Having done all this, I set my limits on the cars that I wanted to bid for. Safe to say though, that at the auction, these prices were absolutely blown out of the water. All vehicles that I was interested in buying, and practically all the vehicles at the auction, went for 15-20% more than a comparative vehicle on AT. On a £35k car, thats not small change.

My questions are:

As most of the people buying were dealers, how the hell could they have afforded to buy a car at that much higher than retail prices and still make a profit?

If this is the normal trend for sports and performance auctions at the BCA, does anyone know where sports and performance used dealers get their stock from? I appreciate that they probably do buy a few from desperate private individuals, but they must need to go to a specialist S&P auction for the rest. If you guys do know please let me know!

Sorry for the ramble on!

Edited by MrPAV on 09/05/2012 at 16:26