British Car Auctions

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Full review

So you want to but a new car? What do you do? Read the newspaper and magazine ads? Visit a dealer? Import? Or perhaps buy on-line? The options are endless but only one is practical, economical, realistic, no beating about the bush and lots of fun!!

Yes I’m talking about the Car Auctions. Maybe you’re like me and have nightmares of being swallowed up in a sea of mayhem and confusion, seemingly surrounded by aliens speaking a completely incomprehensible language. Well you’re right, it is a sea OF CARS, and it is mayhem OF LOW PRICES, and aliens who are just as unusual as YOU! Now why do I say this? I’m not a sales person (anymore), I don’t run a dealership and before Monday I’d never been in an auction in my life of any description.

If, somehow, you are in possession of a bit of dosh, and you know that you definitely want to spend some of it on a decent car your first instinct might be to peruse your local paper or car magazine for private sales. Which are presumably cheaper than going to a used car dealer, which might be the second choice. BIG MISTAKE, according to recent statistics at least 30% of privately sold cars have something major to hide (What Car? Magazine) which will render the sale void. Mistake number two is going to the used car dealer because your guaranteed a stiff mark-up, in some cases up to 300% of the actual value of the car. I’m not an expert on all the stats (for more information refer to Angusreid’s opinions on ****).

From my own point of view, as your average customer, I would say it makes sense to get the cars at the same place the dealers get them from. Question – would you get your shopping from Tesco if you knew you could buy it direct from the suppliers at no extra charge, in a single location, for a fraction of the cost? Of course not (I hope) because it seems logical to pay wholesale price for high value products if you have the opportunity. That’s what British Car Auctions is all about. I had a maximum budget of £4000 which I was willing to spend on a decent car. I went to my local Vauxhall (Network Q) and Ford dealers and they essentially told me to go away because their prices started from about £4500 upwards. Vauxhall told me it was because their cars were warranted, mark this point, as we shall return to it later. So there I was, £4000 to spend, and being reduced to scavenging through the heaps of private sale ads and scores of used car dealers. Now in this category there is no uniformity, there are practically no standards, people are seeking to make as much as they can OUT OF NOTHING!

Think about it - private sellers have no reason to sell their cars. If their used car was worth anything they would trade it in or sell it to a dealer and get a better one, but logic to them will say a private sale nets more money based on their ignorance of the buyer – WHICH IT DOES. In this wilderness it’s a dog-eat-dog scenario where one blink could cost you many thousands of pounds. It’s lottery in reverse, where you are the one offering the cash prize and spend some time picking a winner. I can not remember how many times someone said to me “you could be lucky”, I think they should really say “who’s the lucky man/woman”. There are so many pitfalls that chances of survival are almost none existent. So what’s the solution?

So my next step was to go to a “recommended” Used Car dealer because in my “wisdom” I felt that it would be “safer” to buy from a dealer a serviced car, with MOT, and a few months warranty. At least I would be mobile for a while before I had to deal with anything myself right? – WRONG! The recommended dealer offered me an L Reg. Rover 620Lsi in immaculate condition, full service history, 100000 miles, long MOT, 6 months warranty and 6 months road tax for £3500. I took it for a test drive and was well impressed, I haggled him down to £3000 to compensate the high mileage and he accepted. Fortunately it was a Friday night so I persuaded him that we would finalise everything on the following Monday. Now it is important to bear in mind that I had waited for a long time to get hold of another car (last one gave up suddenly) I was becoming really frustrated with the shoddy bus service which meant I arrived home later and later as winter crept in. There’s a point at which you become so fed up of searching that you’ll settle for the first “reasonable” offer that comes along – this was it I was going to get this car NO MATTER WHAT. And I would spend the next fortnight trying to convince my wife and myself that I’d made the right decision.

What you need at times like this is good advice. Someone who can draw on their knowledge and expertise to illustrate to you what the choices are and which direction to take. NEVER BE DESPERATE TO BUY – because the dodgy sellers are even more desperate than you!! I received a phone call on the Friday night from Angusreid in response to an email I’d sent earlier. I stated my situation and he promptly informed me that the cars real value was only £1500-£1700. He suggested I try the British Car Auction (BCA) as I was likely to get more for my money. I read the same opinion that he has posted in this category and he offered to give me live assistance via mobile phone if I should require it. I took the day off on Monday and trotted down to the local BCA. I got there early and enquired which cars would be up for sale. I could not get a clear answer from a single person as they all referred to rows of cars in general and then directed me to ask someone else. One got the impression that they are more used to “dealing with dealers” who know the ropes, who were there last week and can identify the new stock. This meant I had enough time to earmark particular cars when they would come up. Angus was kind enough to provide instant figures on maximum amounts I should bid for specific vehicles based on make, model, derivative, reg, mileage etc.

They started off with vans and light commercials and proceeded to the Fleet and Lease vehicles (basically ex-company stock), which were the most popular. These are recommended, as you can be sure that most of them will have been serviced regularly and will not have any hidden info (HP etc). The auctioneers spoke clearly and afforded ample opportunity for bids to be made. Car Dealers were easy to spot as they would buy every third or fourth car at a bargain, to be sold for a fortune to unsuspecting customers. The crowd was thick for the first hour and a half and thinned out as the day wore on. You never know what order they’ll be driven in so its difficult to save your bid for specific cars, I did this a few times and was disappointed because the opening bids started higher than I was willing to pay. This will happen on the really good cars. Cars less than 3 years old will fetch the highest prices so depending on your budget you may wish to consider the next level. The auction had started at 12.15 (started 15 minutes late because the catalogues had not finished printing) by 3.30 there was only a third of the original crowd and the atmosphere had lightened considerably. I understand they would not normally take so long but they had so many cars to get through.

But good things come to those who wait. Remember that there is no pattern of presentation, any car can come at anytime. Because there were fewer bidders the prices dropped as well. When an S reg Mondeo was driven up with 85000 miles, full service history, but no MOT, Sold As Seen, and a slight dent in the side I put my bid in at £2,300 and it was accepted. At first I thought it was a banger because I had not been able to inspect it closely. But today I’ve taken it for an MOT and it sailed through with no problems. I only need to replace a CV joint and remove the dent, which will cost less than £200. So at the end of the day I have a vehicle worth £5000 – and only paid £2600 including auction fee. A dealer would do the same thing!!

The auction floor was laid out in an organised way with most cars for sale inside and a few outside. They came in at one end in a queue and would take turns to enter the arena. There is a stand for customers on the one side, with wooden benches and on the opposite side is the auctioneer with the microphone and famous hammer. They took on average up to one and a half minutes for the cheaper cars (less than £1000) and two and a half minutes for the better quality ones. So things moved along quite quickly. They have a small restaurant for when you’re a little peckish and need a strong cup of coffee to energise you for another attack. Most of the vehicles are quite clean and smart although you can expect some high mileage. It is best to position yourself a few metres before the arena so that you can carry out a quick physical inspection of the cars interior, mileage, engine, boot, exterior etc before it enters. You can therefore assure yourself that you’re getting what you’re paying for. Although you are indemnified if you purchase a car with wrongly advertised specification. Standard deposit is £500 and the balanced should be settled within 24hrs. Payment is strictly through cleared funds ie Switch/Delta, Bankers Draft or Cash. Some bids are accepted provisionally – in other words the owner will have specified a minimum sale amount (a reserve price) below which they will need to be contacted by telephone, within 20minutes after your bid to confirm whether your offer is acceptable.

Next to the auctioneer is a small window clearly marked 'Pay Deposit Here'. This is where you part with your £500 soon after your bid. Make sure you can identify the car i.e make/model, colour and note the reg plate if possible. The cashier is quite good though if you go straight to the window as they deal with vehicles instantly. In a provisional sale you may be asked to wait some 20min before you can finalise the sale. In any event give them about half and hour for your paper work to filter through. There is a neat reception area in the office section away from the 'noise' and engine fumes where you can relax on a sofa for a while.

There is no announcement of which cars have been cleared (although they have airport style TV monitors hanging on the walls which presumably provided up-to-date information on processed transactions in their glorious past). There may be a small queue to negotiate but they seem to work as quickly as possible. Bear in mind that some customers have several vehicles to sort.

Once your paper work is available, you have the option to defer payment till the next day or pay immediately. All the documents pertaining to the vehicle will be handed over to you including an exit pass and CAR KEYS! If you happen to have spotted where they parked your car after the drive-through, you can point it out to one of the drivers and they will clear a route for you. Like me you could spend the half an hour making a closer inspection of the vehicle.

By the way, you can purchase your own warranty from as little as £120. So if ever you need to buy a used car GO TO YOUR NEAREST BCA otherwise you’re walking in the jaws of death..........but if you really 'need' to go to a dealer I hear there's a new one just opened around Poole around called Driven by Choice.

PS This is Nick’s (The Nick part of Gwenick) first opinion so please be nice ;-)