Buying from Auction houses and online

[Jimbo 11]

Never done it myself. Always buy elsewhere but constantly tempted to try auctions. 

Im from the south east. Is there some better than others?

i take it you cant test drive so how do you know it doesnt smoke, misfire, overheat, select all gears, clutch doesnt slip etc?

then there is purely online auctions where you dont even see the car in person. Risky?

 

[Ken 10]

DA is a good source when you get to know the dealers..... You'll get to know the good ones and the bad after a while!

[Jimbo 11]

Yes im interested in dealer auction. Can you drill down to specific areas?

Again, no test drives etc?

Is it basically ebay for traders?

[trade vet 696]

Hi Jimbo

I think for the guys to respond,you need to provide more info.How many do you need to buy per week,what do you sell,do you just buy on price etc.You need to learn how to bid first,because there are some good auctioneers out there . There is so much you need to know,the things that go on.For example when I am bidding against an amateur ( which could be you )and I know the auctioneer is going to help them along.I have sometimes just gone and stood next to them, bid quickly and told them to hurry up and bid which confuses them and you get a quicker knockdown.I could go on and on.

 

[Jimbo 11]

53 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Hi Jimbo

I think for the guys to respond,you need to provide more info.How many do you need to buy per week,what do you sell,do you just buy on price etc.You need to learn how to bid first,because there are some good auctioneers out there . There is so much you need to know,the things that go on.For example when I am bidding against an amateur ( which could be you )and I know the auctioneer is going to help them along.I have sometimes just gone and stood next to them, bid quickly and told them to hurry up and bid which confuses them and you get a quicker knockdown.I could go on and on.

 

Good to know mate

i only need approx 10 cars in stock for now so can be abit picky and certainly wont be bullied into paying over the odds. Prefer to stock the smaller hatches and MVP’s but happily look at most things that have a profit in them! 

Is dealer auction purely web based bidding? Im not sure i like the idea of buying without trying as i spend a lot of time appraising a car and the road test is always key

[justina3 518]

If you spend a lot of time appraising a car test drives like you say then da and auctions don’t fit that module. You for sure wil not be turning up at bca and spending an hour going over anything. 

And da you have to be vat registered I know who are not but have no idea how they got into the system.

[Dan W 57]

We tend to put quite a few part ex vehicles on dealer auction. We are always honest with our descriptions and have never had an issue with collections, people usually pay in advance and just load it up or drive it away. people are welcome to drive them first and spend as long as they want inspecting it.

£300 golf gt tdi went yesterday on a trailer.... no lie he spent about 1 hour looking around the thing.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Dan W

[trade vet 696]

What price range are you in,have you got a pitch or premises,sounds like you only need 3 or 4 each week.What area are you in.

[Dan W 57]

10 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Good to know mate

i only need approx 10 cars in stock for now so can be abit picky and certainly wont be bullied into paying over the odds. Prefer to stock the smaller hatches and MVP’s but happily look at most things that have a profit in them! 

Is dealer auction purely web based bidding? Im not sure i like the idea of buying without trying as i spend a lot of time appraising a car and the road test is always key

Web based yes, you are bidding to buy but obviously if its not as described then you can refuse the car, if you do this too many times you can get reported and chucked off the site.

make sure the cars you are looking at have had good pictures taken and detailed appraisal. we let anyone whos bought our cars test drive no issue so cant see others not doing so.

[Max Branning 149]

14 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Never done it myself. Always buy elsewhere but constantly tempted to try auctions. 

Im from the south east. Is there some better than others?

i take it you cant test drive so how do you know it doesnt smoke, misfire, overheat, select all gears, clutch doesnt slip etc?

then there is purely online auctions where you dont even see the car in person. Risky?

 

Buying at auction has always been a gamble, with experience you will learn which cars to avoid and things to watch out for.

Unfortunately whether buying live or online you will always be taking a bit of a punt, and without doubt you will lose money on some cars. 

 

[Jimbo 11]

4 hours ago, trade vet said:

What price range are you in,have you got a pitch or premises,sounds like you only need 3 or 4 each week.What area are you in.

Hi mate prob up to £4k-£5k max for now. Yes anything between 1-3 a week will do us as we have a small pitch based in the south east near Gatwick/Brighton. 

I do like being able to drive the cars, get a feel for the clutch and engine etc but i guess as long as description is good there shouldnt be any need to worry!

[trade vet 696]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Hi mate prob up to £4k-£5k max for now. Yes anything between 1-3 a week will do us as we have a small pitch based in the south east near Gatwick/Brighton. 

I do like being able to drive the cars, get a feel for the clutch and engine etc but i guess as long as description is good there shouldnt be any need to worry!

From what you say,there is no need for you to buy from auctions.If you are only buying one or two per week,if you put the effort in you can pick them up  from private sellers.Ebay,Gumtree,AT or local newspapers,just speak to the sellers and you will be able to establish who are genuine,you should be able to buy 10% of the cars you go to look at.

[Jimbo 11]

1 hour ago, trade vet said:

From what you say,there is no need for you to buy from auctions.If you are only buying one or two per week,if you put the effort in you can pick them up  from private sellers.Ebay,Gumtree,AT or local newspapers,just speak to the sellers and you will be able to establish who are genuine,you should be able to buy 10% of the cars you go to look at.

Very true and i do a bit of this. But essentially you have to be honest and just low ball someone around a cap ave price and not everyone wants that!! Numbers game though

[trade vet 696]

Jimbo

You have to understand that it is difficult to sell cars privately.Sellers get fed up quite easily.I would just tell them who you are and compliment them on their car and explain you cannot pay them the asking price.Tell them to call you back if they don’t have any luck and if they agree to a price,you will pay them quickly and they will never see you again.....Don’t low ball them from the outset,that is a bad move....It worked for me,but I have to admit,it was some time ago.

[Jimbo 11]

34 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Jimbo

You have to understand that it is difficult to sell cars privately.Sellers get fed up quite easily.I would just tell them who you are and compliment them on their car and explain you cannot pay them the asking price.Tell them to call you back if they don’t have any luck and if they agree to a price,you will pay them quickly and they will never see you again.....Don’t low ball them from the outset,that is a bad move....It worked for me,but I have to admit,it was some time ago.

Good advice. I have been saying who we are and the hassle free and quick part. But also throwing some low ball offers so as not to waste anyones time. I do leave my details with them as a backup tho just incase they have enough of the private stuff

[BHM 994]

11 hours ago, Dan W said:

£300 golf gt tdi went yesterday on a trailer.... no lie he spent about 1 hour looking around the thing.

Although plenty of main dealers are cheeky chancing c***s with rose-tinted spectacles when I read this sort of thing it depresses me - what sort of c*** spends ages inspecting a £300 heap of shit?

[Dan W 57]

13 hours ago, BHM said:

Although plenty of main dealers are cheeky chancing c***s with rose-tinted spectacles when I read this sort of thing it depresses me - what sort of c*** spends ages inspecting a £300 heap of shit?

And this was at 5.00 as well... we were getting ready to lock up and he then tries to say will you take £250.. its not worth the hassle we said just leave it mate.... so he paid loaded up and its being driven from the lake district to Leicester so more costs involved 

[andymc1973 199]

19 hours ago, BHM said:

Although plenty of main dealers are cheeky chancing c***s with rose-tinted spectacles when I read this sort of thing it depresses me - what sort of c*** spends ages inspecting a £300 heap of shit?

do i need to guess at the demographic?