MJG50

Exactly, I've always tried to do as much pre-auction research as possible. It used to be interesting chatting to other traders at physical auctions, some were like me and did a lot of careful research and others didn't seem to pay any attention to the vendor of the car. My gut feeling with this one on a stocking loan and not entered in the auction for over 3 weeks makes me think it was intended for retail and then put in the auction when a fault was discovered. This vendor doesn't usually put this sort of car through the auctions either.

Many thanks for the info, much appreciated. I didn't even realise that main dealers used stocking loans on their PXs until today - it does make sense as a lot of lumpy PXs can add up to a lot of tied-up funds. I agree with Tony F that I originally thought a big dealer group wouldn't need to use stocking loans. I thought they were mainly used by those fairly new to the trade who want to kick start a 20 car+ business. When I had a pitch in the 90s, I don't think stocking loans existed - as far as I'm aware, BCA and Manheim have only been offering them for the last few years. I was a bit shocked at first to find an auction car on a stocking loan as up until today. I'd only ever expect a stocking loan to come up on a retail car advertised at a dealer. Going back to the car, it's a Grade 2 low mileage 2014 Jag worth about £10k so I'd have thought it would fit the stock profile of the vendor (Pendragon who own Stratstone Jag) It has a small scratch on a door but otherwise looks pretty much ready to retail. I noticed that all the revolving air vents are closed in all the auction photos which is pretty odd as normally they open by default when the ignition is on. I'd imagine they work ok though as normally if there's a problem, it's more likely that one doesn't work rather than all 4. The Assured report is all clean, admittedly that doesn't mean there aren't possible niggles. The other thing I do (which probably sounds paranoid!) is to check when the tax expired on all auction cars. While I appreciate that there can be delays, I tend to find most cars go from the part ex yard to the auction remarkably quickly - most cars lotted up in auction were last taxed about 10 days ago. This Jag has never had a private plate and it was last taxed 31st Jan and it was appraised by BCA on 26th Feb so my paranoia wonders if the car was intended for the forecourt, then a fault was found and it was decided to put it in the auction. In the past, I've a Googled a few BCA main dealer PXs and I see that the main dealer has tried to retail them and then after 30 days or so put them in the auction. I quite like these as I tend to think if the dealer was retailing it, in theory there shouldn't be any major faults. As far as I can tell, the main dealer has never tried to retail the one I'm interested in. What I find quite bizarre is that a lot of overage stock cars are snapped up by independent dealers at auction and advertised at a higher price than the main dealer failed to sell it for! Quite often, they sell them fast though - you'd think people would rather buy from a main dealer for the manufacturer backed warranty. Anyway thanks again, I'll be interested to see what that Jag makes tomorrow. I probably over-research them too much. The last few I've seen have made way over clean and they were all UK Car Group cars which I normally tend to avoid.

I've just carried out an HPi check on a BCA car I'm interested in before the sale. I assumed it was a main dealer PX from the line it is in however the HPi has come up with a dealer stocking loan outstanding on it. I've never come across this before when HPi-ing an auction main dealer PX car. Does this mean that the main dealer bought the car in for stock (using the stocking loan) and has now decided to stick it in the auction or is it common for main dealers to use stocking loans to buy their PXs? I just naturally assumed that if the car was a main dealer PX it wouldn't have been bought with a stocking loan. If the main dealer has bought the car in for stock and has now put it in an auction it doesn't bode too well! Update: I've carried out a bit of research since first posting this earlier this afternoon and I can see that stocking loans can be used to fund PXs but I still find it a bit strange as I've never come across it before when I've carried out HPi checks on BCA main dealer PX cars. Greatly appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks in advance

When bidding for a car with Manheim online, do you have to pay for the car online by debit card or bank transfer before collecting it, or is it still possible to pay for the car at the site when collecting it? Thanks in advance

Thanks for the reply - am I correct in assuming the owner of the PX automatically gets a road tax return when the dealer buying the car puts the car in trade online?

To be fair a few years ago, I know I'd have taken the risk. I used to buy stuff with EMLs on and while they usually cost a lot to resolve, I got the car so cheap I still made a reasonable profit. But more recently, I've been paying too much for non assured cars that have an EML that only comes on literally within a few yards of the auction gate! So I definitely won't be bidding on that Merc! As I've mentioned elsewhere before, we seem to get more risk adverse as we get older!

Apologies for asking such a basic question, but in the past I've always sent off the V5 when selling a car in the post and given the buyer the green slip as the receipt. I really should get into the 21st century and register the change of keeper when selling a car online. I imagine this is pretty simple as long as I have the full V5. I just wondered though, what happens then with the paper V5 of the car you've just sold? Do you keep it in your file? Naturally I wouldn't give it to the buyer as they could fill out something different and send it off to the DVLA, potentially generating 2 keeper changes instead of one. Am I right in thinking that if you sell a car and register the new keeper change online, the dealer gives the buyer the green slip and keeps the V5 himself? I seem to remember one of the guys on here (Nick I think?) mentioned how he doesn't actually register the change of ownership for a few days just in case the buyer wants to return the car. That way, if they do return it, there won't be an extra keeper. That's something else I could consider. Also, it's been a very long time since I've taken a part ex - the sort of cars I sold didn't usually generate a PX. So what is the best way to handle the paperwork when taking a PX? Do you register the car in trade online, give the yellow slip to the customer who's traded the car in and keep the rest the of the V5 yourself? Sorry again for such a basic question but I'm hoping to get back into the trade and just wanted to clear up the V5 sale and PX V5 process online as my heyday was before the internet!

Many thanks for all the replies - the strange thing is it's a very low mileage FMBSH Merc so I'd be surprised if there's anything major wrong with it but knowing the luck I've had over the last few years, I'll steer clear of it!

I've just been looking at a BCA Assured Report that shows the engine requires attention to start so I assumed it was a flat battery but the battery state of health is fine on the report. Every single point of the BCA Assured report is fine except for the engine starts. I just wondered if this is still likely to be a flat battery? I've never come across this before. There are no notes on the report. With Manheim, I've seen quite a few reports that state the car needs a boost pack to start. It's such a shame it doesn't look as though physical sales will start again as this sort of thing would be much easier to find out about in person in the halls.

I had a similar experience with BCA although they did reply to my emails. It took a while for them to reply so I sent another couple of emails to other departments. In the end, one quoted me £130, the other £280 (which sounded about right), the other £640 (which is far too much for me!) and then someone else got back to me and quoted 'they only transport a minimum of 3 cars!' So while I'm tempted to bid on anything that appears worth buying at BCA I'm factoring in the point that I may have to collect it myself! I certainly won't be bidding on anything at the other end of the country! I haven't contacted Manheim about delivery but it's great to hear they sound so helpful. Generally speaking, outside of the motor trade, I'm finding that companies that were helpful before the current situation are still helpful and companies and public sector organisations that were useless before are even more useless now!

Totally agree about auction prices being a mixed bag at the moment. Most are making over the odds but a few seem to be pretty good buys on paper. I've noticed that most cars that don't sell the first time are put on a 'Buy it Now' for a few hundred more and they generally get snapped up! I've never been keen on 'Buy it Now' cars myself as it generally means they didn't make the reserve the first time, possibly for a good reason! So I'd rather wait for them to go through the auction again than pay over the odds. Does anyone know if BCA are still sticking to their policy of 3 purchases minimum to qualify for a transporter delivery? I've been potentially interested in the odd Blackbushe and Bridgwater car but didn't bid too high in case I ended up having to collect the car myself - has anyone bought anything from Blackbushe and Bridgwater and had it transported without needing to buy a minimum of 3? Most of the cars I'm looking at these days don't meet the criteria to be driven. I'm quite close to my local Manheim but if I was to bid further afield, does anyone know if Manheim also have a 3 car minimum for a transporter delivery?

I've been considering making in-car driving videos to demonstrate cars and I've just started looking into which are the best DSLR camera mounts so I can attach the camera to the front passenger's side window when driving. Something like the one below looks as though it could be suitable but I was just wondering if anyone on here who does videos with a DSLR camera could recommend a decent camera mount. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A86MMY8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00A86MMY8&linkCode=as2&tag=kalvisuals02-20&linkId=a1685cee159323d8c560064a5fbd95c2&th=1 I expect most people use their phones to video cars but my phone is relatively ancient and the picture quality isn't great so I'd rather use my DSLR. Thanks in advance

Many thanks for the replies. I'm not that surprised it can take 16 weeks to get a new V5 these days! It's a shame as pretty much the only cars I've seen at reasonable prices at auction are repos without any documentation. I don't think it would be possible to get any co-operation from the previous owner with repos to help with the DVLA and it would be tricky to find out who they were as repos rarely come with any previous service receipts etc. It is really is a shame but to avoid any V5 aggro, I think I'll avoid buying anything without a V5. I'd imagine buying without a V5 now is only viable if you can find a customer willing to buy the car without a V5. I'm not surprised a Roller sold to a key worker, judging by how much NHS consultants and some NHS management earn!

I'm considering bidding on a repo with no V5 - in the old days, I used to apply for a new V5 and it came within a few weeks but am I right in assuming that the current situation may mean it could take ages to get a new V5? Ideally, I'd rather sell the car with a V5 as I can imagine some buyers will be wary of buying a car without a V5. I've only ever sold one car whilst awaiting the V5 and bizarrely the V5 came in the post when the buyer was collecting the car! I know in theory I could explain to the buyer that it is a repo with no V5 and register the change of ownership online but I'd much rather sell it with the V5 - just wondering if anyone has applied for a new V5 recently and how long it took to come through? Also, will it be possible to tax the car when applying for a new V5 or will it be ok just to apply for a new V5 and register it SORN? Thanks in advance

Yes I think we all get a bit more risk averse as we get older as we have accumulated bad experiences in the past. In the old days, I used to take my chances and back then, I can't say I ever bought anything with major issues. More recently though, since I've been over analsying things, pretty much everything I've bought at the block has had some hidden mechanical nightmare which would be impossible to check at auction. In the days before we could check MoT histories online, I can't ever recall buying anything with a nasty advisories. I occasionally check out the MoT histories of retail cars on Auto Trader and I'm amazed that quite a few £5k plus cars have a lot of horrid sounding advisories on their new MoTs - I can't imagine ever being able to sell anything with advisories such as oil leaks, leaking cooling system and rusty rear subframes on the new MoT! I've always found that buyers want a totally clean MoT regardless of the price of the car! I've even had people ask about advisories from 5 years ago! It's pretty obvious that an advisory for rear brake pads 20,000 miles ago has been sorted out! I had to have a wry smile at the superglued temp gauge - that's the sort of thing I'd immediately spot at auction when the car is started but online you have no idea what happens when the car starts up! I know over analysing kills things but when I see an auction photo with the temperature gauge in the middle I tend to think does it show warning lights that only go out when the car reaches a certain temperature! That said though, BCA has so many cars to photograph, I doubt they'd faff around waiting for a car to warm up before taking the dash photo. I've checked a few 'last road taxed' dates and most are very recent so it does seem a bit strange this Merc wasn't entered into the auction with a few days of being traded in. It hasn't had a private plate either so it's not as though they were waiting for documents. I always worry about buying a main dealer PX that was traded in with a major fault and the owner decided to upgrade rather than repair their old car so my mad paranoid logic is that if it is traded in with a major fault, it takes a while for the dealer to botch it to get it running to go through the auction. At the end of the day, it's a numbers game and one big snag I have is that I'm only intending to deal in a very low volume now so if I buy a lemon it's gutting, both emotionally and financially. Whereas, if someone is buying a couple of hundred cars a year, the odd headache car isn't going to make much difference.

Yes you are right, as I've got older I definitely over analyse and over research potential auction buys. In a way the internet hasn't helped as there are so many ways to check out cars prior to the sale. The other thing I've started doing is to check when it was last road taxed. If there's a fair old gap I tend to wonder why the car hasn't gone into auction straight away after being traded in. Well unless the dealer has tried to retail it themselves of course but this Merc isn't main dealer stock and was traded in back in June but it didn't get to BCA until this week. Part of me worries that there was something wrong with the car when it was traded in and it's been botched up to get it through the auction but then again even if there was a problem, it would probably still get sent to auction straight away. As you can tell, over analysing definitely isn't the way forward!

I've just been looking at a Merc diesel at BCA and I can see from the dash photo that the temperature needle is at the half way position, around 80 degrees. Am I being paranoid or is this a bad sign? The car is a Mercedes Retail PX car with no assured report. I once got caught buying a Mondeo from BCA at a physical auction that had been deliberately warmed up for a while before being driven through. It sounded awful when cold. I used to be wary of buying anything at auction with over half a tank of fuel as I figured most previous owners would run the tank dry before trading it in unless there was something major wrong with it! I've bought a few with half full tanks though and they were all fine but I'd be interested to know people's thoughts on the Merc with the temp gauge in the middle. I tend to find most auction photos are taken with the temp gauge at zero. Thanks in advance.

Does Motorcheck use the same Mileage Discrepancy Database as HPi? I only ask as I often find that auction cars with warranted mileages flag up mileage discrepancies when I HPI them - it's usually because a previous owner or MoT tester has inputted the wrong mileage but naturally if a buyer HPis a car he always assumes the car has been clocked if a mileage discrepancy comes up. I'd be interested in using Motorcheck as it's cheaper than HPi but only if they use the same mileage discrepancy database. I wouldn't be so keen on Motorcheck if I presented the buyer with a clean Motorcheck report only to find that they'd found a mileage discrepancy on their own HPi report.

Many thanks for the replies. I remember the days before Assured Reports so all cars with MoTs got driven down. That's mad that they refused to drive one with the tpms light on yet delivered cars over 10 years old with no report as there's no report to flag any faults! I've just checked the BCA site again and it states the following: To qualify for the plate driven delivery service purchased cars and LCVs must meet the following criteria - exceptions apply: Vehicles purchased must be under 8 years old Vehicles must have under 100,000 miles on the odometer Valid MOT Clean BCA Assured report Transporter option is available on purchases of 3 or more vehicles from one BCA location. I haven't had anything delivered for a few years. That one had an engine noise on the report but the branch had a look at the car and didn't hear anything amiss so they drove it down. It was absolutely fine, well until it blew up 2 years later! But the fact they drove that one down shows there maybe some flexibility! Thanks for the heads up about the 2 hour wait! I was thinking of collecting it myself but 2 hours is even worse than the queue used to be for paying for cars. I'll call the branch and see what they say. I'm glad I checked the state of play with deliveries before bidding though as I assumed I could bid at any BCA and get it delivered with no hassle. I definitely won't bid on anything at the other end of the country in case I end up needing to collect it myself. I'll check out the Facebook group but I can't imagine delivery drivers being too keen on collecting cars if they have to waste 2 hours at BCA. Does anyone know if it's the same situation with Manheim regarding a minimum of 3 cars to a transporter?

I'm interested in a car at BCA Blackbushe and in the past I've had them delivered by transporter or plated drivers with no problem. However, I've just checked their new terms and if the car is over 8 years old/over 100k/not a clean Assured report, they won't drive it so it has to be put on a transporter and I see that they mention "Transporter option is available on purchases of 3 or more vehicles from one BCA location." Just wondered if anyone else has bought one car from BCA recently and had it delivered by transporter? It just seems a pain as unless it fits their criteria to drive it, I'd only be able to use a BCA transporter if buying at least 3 cars at a time.

Hi Frank, sorry for the delay, I've only just logged on again tonight. That was a bit of a nightmare that I try to forget! I got it tested and the headgasket was shot so I ended up selling it to a mechanic who reckoned he could repair it himself as he'd only have to foot the bill for the parts.

This is really interesting to hear as I went through a similar experience last year. To cut a long story short, I bought a Jag from Manheim which had the 39/39 Sure Check on the website but not on the windscreen and I wasn't charged the Silver Check fee on the invoice. When paying for the car, I was told it wasn't under Sure Check. I had a very good look at the car starting up and as it went through and all looked and sounded fine. As soon as I drove out the gates, the EML came on and there was a misfire. I spent £1k getting the misfire sorted at a main dealer and a further £500 on paintwork. Despite the main dealer assuring me the car was now fine, it just didn't feel right so I contacted the main dealer that entered the car into the auction (not the local one I went to and spent £1k) and I got a copy of an invoice to the previous registered owner diagnosing a head gasket was needed. So the main dealer that entered the car knew it needed a head gasket (at least a £4k job). I have heard of main dealer PX cars being entered into auctions direct from their workshop needing loads of work that wouldn't be noticed at the auction but up until last year I've never bought one. I ended up selling the car to a mechanic who reckoned he could change the head himself. At the time though, I was so depressed with it all that I didn't seriously consider kicking up a fuss to the auction and/or vendor. But having read these forum comments tonight, I probably should have pursued it. Auctions always seem a bit of a grey area though - if you enter a car, you are asked to declare any known faults yet if you buy a car that is 'sold as seen' you seem to have absolutely no comeback! So declaring any faults seems a bit pointless from the vendor's point of view. I was so annoyed with this experience that I haven't bought anything since! I am still intending to go back into the trade but the current situation of not being able to attend auctions in person has delayed my return to buying cars. It seems highly likely to me though that physical auctions to attend will never happen again as BCA and Manheim are doing so well with online only and I'm sure they were aiming to make their sales online only some time ago. I've only ever bought one car online and it arrived with a massive scratch in the middle of the driver's door - possibly put there by a rival bidder when the car was in the compound as it definitely wasn't visible in the photos. I appreciate that a lot of dealers have been buying all their stock online only for years but I've only ever operated in a very small way since closing my pitch many years ago. That's the other thing that put me off complaining to Manheim, I haven't bought many from them so they wouldn't be too concerned if I didn't buy anymore! Being rational though, I think I was very unlucky as I've spoken to a few dealers who claim to have bought literally 100s of main dealer PXs at the block with no major issues. Ideally, I'd prefer to buy ex lease stuff but I tend to do better with unusual rare stuff and naturally ex lease is all mainstream tackle with few if any options. I guess it's the old once bitten, twice shy but ultimately I'd like to start buying and selling again. In the old days if I made a loss, it motivated me to buy something else fast to recoup the loss.

Does anyone know if there is a free check that gives the date of the last keeper change? Many years ago, it was possible to find out for free on the RAC website but this service stopped a while back. It is possible to check the date of the last V5 issued when checking if the car is currently taxed but this date may just refer to a new V5 being issued due to a new address rather than a keeper change. I just checked a friend's car that he has owned from new in 2006 but when checking if taxed it says the last V5 was issued in 2011 so this isn't a reliable guide to the date of ownership change.

I was on Twitter this morning and noticed a tweet from a car seller saying he had sold his car and had received the full amount by bank transfer in advance. However, he cancelled the sale and fully refunded the buyer as the buyer told him a friend would be coming to collect the car. The seller was afraid it was a scam and that the buyer would later claim it wasn't his friend who collected the car and demand his money back! It got me thinking! In the past, I've received bank transfers from buyers in advance but I've never asked to see their ID to check they are the buyer. I naturally assumed no one else would know about the deal so only the genuine buyer would turn up! Does anyone demand ID from all buyers to ensure they are who they say they are and should I do this in future? Talking of buyers paying in advance, I'll never forget the expression on the face of a buyer who I collected from the train station when I was running 5 minutes late and had forgotten to take my phone! I think he was convinced I wasn't going to turn up and was beginning to panic! On the subject of taking ID, I've never done this in the past but I guess I should for test drives in the future.

Some of those Nextgear and BCA PF cars are a real insight into how other dealers operate. I originally thought that they maybe a good source of stock as in theory some will have been dealer prepared - a quick Google revealed some of them previously advertised on forecourts. Having looked at the cars though, several needed a lot of obvious work and had bald tyres and no MoTs. It seems mad to me that some dealers don't do any prep until the car is sold! Quite a few must risk going on test drives without MoTs.