i worked at a car auction site for over 18 years, can i just say to everyone thinking of buying cars through auctions be very careful as to what your buying. if its your first time always look around notice what happens and always try to find out as much info about them as possible. in my time i have seen some lovely cars going through auctions but i have seen some really bad ones as well. remember when buying at auction you dont get warranties with them. alot of the cars are sold as seen. so basically your buying someone elses troubles. always keep your eyes open for the cars that have been painted and tarted up. always keep to your price range as it only takes a few minutes to spend thousands of pounds. also all the traders go to auctions to buy cars to sell from forecourts. they know they can push prices up even higher again. if your thinkin g of selling cars or vehicles through auction it may be worth it to try selling it private first as auctions charges are pretty high.
i know auctions are far cheaper than dealers but dealers give peace of mind with test drives and warranties. it may be worth spending a bit extra to know that if anything goes wrong then you can take it back to get repaired. sorry to say this dont happen in an auction.
heres some advice for first time buyers at auctions.
1 always have someone with you who knows how auctions work if possible
2 look along the side of cars you are interested in if there are slight dents in the body work it could have been in a accident or possible insurance write off.
3 if a car looks really clean check around the windows to see if the car has had paint work.
4 always ask the auction staff about service history
5 on the fall of the hammer you will have to pay 10% at least of the selling price
6 you will never get the road tax on the cars as this is handed back to the seller, so therefore you will have to sort the road tax when you buy the car
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I don't drive, but you have given some good tips there. well done. Joan
DebScriven 31.01.2005 13:55
Great advice. My dad is a mechanic and I'd still be wary of buying at auction. I'd still like to see some Capitals at the beginning of those sentences though - it makes much easier reading. Deb
Dec 22nd, 2004
(Jan 4th, 2005)
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