Experience guide for buying a car at auction
30 Years of auction tips for private motorists
How much cheaper are cars at auction?
For private motorists, buying at auction is risky.
It’s a hectic environment with experienced dealers and novice private buyers all vying for a bargain or two.
Caution is important, as are a set of firm boundaries that include how much you plan to spend on a car.
If you are a relative beginner to buying from an auction may I encourage you to think twice?
For the risks involved, you may not save as much money as you initially thought.
However, if you are still reading then let me share some industry tips and tricks that will moderately reduce your risk and potentially help you in finding a cheap car that is genuine and reliable.
Some facts on buying cars at auction:
- Car auctions are fast-paced
- You can’t test drive a car before bidding or buying
- A final bid is a buy (unless it’s a provisional bid whereby the car hasn’t reached its reserve)
- There are significant buying fees involved, dependent on the price of the car (check these out in advance on the merchant’s website)
- Some cars have major mechanical faults that are NOT declared prior to bidding
- Some auctioneers may increase the price of the car without your knowledge (known as taking bids from the wall – an auction dealer trick I’ll share more on later)
There’s lots of benefit from visiting your local auctions a few times to see how things work. Just an hour or two will help to adjust and see how it all works.
Let’s look at the good of an auction buy:
- Price – there’s a good chance of finding the car you want for a lower price than you might at a dealer or privately. After all, dealers go to auction to buy and sell for profit.
After price, there are few additional benefits. As you can’t properly test the car before bidding, the risk has increased.
How to buy a genuine car at auction
I’ll assume you know the type of car you want and your maximum budget.
Under £2,000, privately entered vehicles
A lions share of cars priced under the 2k mark are privately entered into an auction. This means they are not fleet owned (Motability or Lease Plan etc).
Dealers use car auctions to sell ‘privately enter cars’ that have mechanical problems. Such vehicles are ‘Sold as Seen’ by the auction house and hold no warranty.
If you buy a car only to encounter a mechanical problem, you can’t return it or expect some kind of financial compensation.
Getting the feel for auction
Auctions can be overwhelming.
On your initial visit, it may be good to just sit in the auction ring and observe. I like to follow the bidding process and see how the prices are fairing on that day.
Watch how quickly prices increase from the opening bid to the final hammer price. Bids zoom up usually in £200 or £100 stages. Near the hammer price buyers tend to drop to £50 per bid.
You will begin to get a feel for bidding and the fast-paced, busy atmosphere.
Viewing some of the cars on sale
After familiarising yourself with the auction ring look around the vehicles on sale that day. There are often thousands of cars parked and the main objective is to know which are going through the auction on that day.
Fleet auction categories
Cars for sale are split into categories depending on the company that has entered them.
Group 1 may be offered by Lizzards, Group 2 Motability, Group 3 Lease Plan
These fleet sales are the auctions prime offerings and will be sold first. Everything after the fleet is privately entered.
Each fleet group can have anything from 20 cars well into the hundreds. Each set of fleet vehicles will be parked in long lines, together. Identify each fleet group by the Vendors Slips that are stuck to the top right corner of vehicle windscreens.
Vendor slips include the Fleet group, lot number, vehicle information and additional information.
Auction programmes
Pick up a free auction programme in reception. It lists the fleet groups that day, the cars for sale and their lot numbers.
Knowing which fleet will be sold first can be a little confusing. If in doubt, ask one of the many staff members who is driving the cars in and out of the auction ring.
A drawback
All vehicles are locked until a few minutes before being sold. It’s a significant drawback to buying cars at auction.
Also, contend with jostling between other buyers that are interested.
Literally, when the car is unlocked prepare to see a bunch of bodies all wanting to look under the bonnet, in the boot and to listen to the engine.
A serious bidder and buyer must be assertive, confident, direct and make full use of the short window of opportunity before the car is sold.
I am giving away my complete car buying guide that includes all the steps to assessing a used car before purchase. This guide is included with every car history check provided by my sister website CarVeto. It’s similar to RAC passport and hpi check but cheaper, and you get my guide included.
After spending a few hours at an auction reflect on your experiences and your feeling of self-confidence in buying a car at auction.
Feeling confident you can snap up a bargain?
If so, it’s time to do a little online research and find the car you want.
Leading auctions in the UK
The big brand auctions are Manheim and BCA (British Car Auctions). The latter are the founders of We Buy Any Car.
You guessed it. We Buy Any Car purchases thousands of cars every month from private motorists and enter them into their auctions for reselling.
Manheim and BCA are national and have houses across the UK. BCA is the biggest of the two.
There are plenty of private, local auctions. Privately owned ones tend to have less choice but are not so busy. So, an independent might be right for you. Run a Google search to find one in your area.
BCA and Manheim have big websites and information about the cars on sale. Both require you to sign up and register a free account.
Once you have found the car of interest download the data and further information directly from the auction website.
Importantly, note the fleet group and lot number of the car. Ensure the vehicle is not privately entered.
Cars that are privately entered for auction
If you find a car as privately entered I strongly advise that you don’t buy it.
Privately entered cars tend to be ignored by the motor trade. Dealers all know that private cars tend to be in an auction due to hidden, mechanical issues. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule but buying a private entered vehicle is a very risky business indeed.
As you can’t test drive an auction car you are severely limited in understanding what you are buying and if there are any mechanical issues.
Here are the benefits of buying a fleet car compared to a privately entered car:
- They are all one company owner from new
- They are all serviced under contract annually
- Any faults are repaired at the main dealer
- Most have spare keys
- Most have full-service printouts together with a stamped service book
- Most have earned their mileage on the motorway
Additional information
Ensure there are no declared faults with the vehicle. Fleet cars tend to disclose if there are a mechanic problem and insurance category losses and outstanding finance will not occur when buying from fleet sales at auction.
Sold as Seen
If you see a ‘sold as seen’ marker on the vendor slip don’t bid on the car unless you are prepared to take the risk.
Double check
- Is the car entered by a company as a fleet vehicle?
- Does the car have a full-service history?
- Is the car one company owner from new?
- Is the car sold without major mechanic faults?
If you can answer YES, it’s safe to view the car on auction day.
Auction Day
Ensure you have your payment method with you for sale day.
If you bid and are the final bidder on a car you will need to pay at least £500 deposit or 20% of the vehicle price (check the terms and conditions of the auction).
Initial payment can be made in cash or debit card. If you plan to use a credit card, ensure the auction accept that form of payment before bidding.
Auction Fees
Buying fees are hefty for private bidders. Calculate the additional auction fees before you bid.
Visual inspection
The car remains locked until a few minutes before the sale. It’s still a good idea to carry out a full visual inspection. Go as far as you can in terms of bodywork checks, corrosion, engine oil leaks under the car, tyre health and windscreen chips.
You can also have a healthy read of the vendor’s slip and confirm the online information matches. It’s good to take a picture of the vendors slip on your phone, just in case.
Price to pay
What is your final, final price for the car?
I advise that you stick to it religiously and not exceed by even £50. Once you bid over your final price it’s easy to keep bidding and before you know it you are a cool £500 off budget.
When the car is unlocked
Once the car is unlocked by a staff member, be bold.
Ignore your counterparts and concentrate on the engine and interior. Also, check for any dashboard lights that don’t go out within a few seconds of starting the engine.
If you see lights staying on the dashboard, consider if you should bid or not.
A washer bottle light is one thing, but an engine management or ABS light is something quite different (£££).
Bidding for your new car
It’s illegal but some auctioneers will take imaginary bids to increase the selling price. It is hard to identify but it happens. Just be mindful and remember your final price at all times.
Listen carefully to the auctioneer, who will read out the details of the vehicle before starting the bidding.
Double check the selling description as one of the categories below:
- No major mechanical faults – the vehicle should not have any major faults in the engine, gearbox, clutch, brakes, steering or transmission.
- Specified faults – the auctioneer reads out defects disclosed by the seller.
- Sold as seen (and with all its faults if any) – the vehicle is for sale as it is, with no warranties whatsoever by the seller. “Without warranty” means the same.
- On an engineer’s report – the vehicle has been examined by an auction engineer and is sold on the description contained in the report, which is placed on the windscreen before the sale.
Once the auctioneer has read out the description of the car it’s on to bidding.
Bidding
Consider sitting high up in the seating area so you have a full view of the auction ring.
My best advice is to bid late. If the car has not reached your final price, make your initial bid at around £200 – £300 under. Hold your hand up and wave using a rolled-up auction programme. Just make sure the auctioneer will spot you.
Bid up to your limit and no further.
If you were the final bidder, head over to the rostrum and pay your deposit. Pay the final balance at the cashier’s desks within reception.
I wish you every success in your car auction adventure.
Marcus Rockey
Used Car Guy
Car check for buying at auction
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