Buying at auction
- Thread starter monkeyspank
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![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
Soldato
Monkey - Which one are you going too, the one in Boro?
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Advice? Dont get carried away, best advice i can give, well except for any knocking that aint made by the auctioneers hammer is not good 
Soldato
Wow a 1981 Porsche 924 in there I see. You can sometimes swap parts from the 944 over to those.
How about this one.
So with the higher mileage, 2k ?
Ive brought from auction before now and it was about the best deal Ive made out of the 5 cars Ive owned.
In Fox's run down it fitted this description
It was a Honda from a Honda dealership, however it was a discontinued model and not very popular which made it a bargain.
In fact it was a better deal then I realised at the time, the auction staff handling the cars were corrupt and made out the car was breaking down.
They stalled it continually and made out the bonnet wouldnt close due to crash damage, in fact the guy driving was holding onto the bonnet release handle I believe though I didnt spot it at the time.
I bid anyway and it turned out to have a full pristine service history, it had only just come off extended warranty a week before. The previous owner was registered disabled which I presume meant he had not used much of the 7k revs that often. I bid against some traders and they gave way a bit above the parkers book price.
Fees came to an extra 100 on top. You confirm the bid at the stand just after and you can pay cash or switch without a fee, your bank may want to speak to you first though.
Dont buy on your first trip, try not to go for popular types of cars like convertibles especially at this time of year.
Try to have a shortlist of cars you want before you go, you chose the car not the other way round or your likely to find out later why it was cheaper
How about this one.
So with the higher mileage, 2k ?
Ive brought from auction before now and it was about the best deal Ive made out of the 5 cars Ive owned.
In Fox's run down it fitted this description
It was a Honda from a Honda dealership, however it was a discontinued model and not very popular which made it a bargain.
In fact it was a better deal then I realised at the time, the auction staff handling the cars were corrupt and made out the car was breaking down.
They stalled it continually and made out the bonnet wouldnt close due to crash damage, in fact the guy driving was holding onto the bonnet release handle I believe though I didnt spot it at the time.
I bid anyway and it turned out to have a full pristine service history, it had only just come off extended warranty a week before. The previous owner was registered disabled which I presume meant he had not used much of the 7k revs that often. I bid against some traders and they gave way a bit above the parkers book price.
Fees came to an extra 100 on top. You confirm the bid at the stand just after and you can pay cash or switch without a fee, your bank may want to speak to you first though.
Dont buy on your first trip, try not to go for popular types of cars like convertibles especially at this time of year.
Try to have a shortlist of cars you want before you go, you chose the car not the other way round or your likely to find out later why it was cheaper
Rule 1: Don't walk around with a copy of Parkers. You'll look like a plank and everyone will know you are a private punter.
Rule 2: Decide the MAX you want to pay for the car BEFORE it goes in. STOP the instant it gets there. No 'If only I went a bit higher'. Thats when you start paying stupid money for an old nail. It only takes two private muppets, parkers in hand, to pay way over book for a car at auction.
Once a car approaches private sale price there is NO POINT buying it at auction.
Rule 2: Decide the MAX you want to pay for the car BEFORE it goes in. STOP the instant it gets there. No 'If only I went a bit higher'. Thats when you start paying stupid money for an old nail. It only takes two private muppets, parkers in hand, to pay way over book for a car at auction.
Once a car approaches private sale price there is NO POINT buying it at auction.
Soldato
How did it go?
We got there, had a good look around. The only cars of interest were an S2000 and a couple of Celicas. The Celicas were quite tatty and the S2000 had a damaged wing, no documents, no tax or mot. It looked like it was probably a repossession which means that if the owner couldn't keep up the payments then he probably couldn't afford to maintain it properly either.
It was fun really. I know a lot more about it now.
We went round a few garages afterwards and my mate is booked in for a test drive on an XK8 today.
After having been to the auctions and thinking about used cars so much, we certainly felt in a better position to talk down the price on the XK8.
Good experience all in all and I'd like to do it again.
Thanks again for all the help everyone
It was fun really. I know a lot more about it now.
We went round a few garages afterwards and my mate is booked in for a test drive on an XK8 today.
After having been to the auctions and thinking about used cars so much, we certainly felt in a better position to talk down the price on the XK8.
Good experience all in all and I'd like to do it again.
Thanks again for all the help everyone
Soldato
This might have changed since it was a while ago But when my dad last bought a car at auction he found that the midweek sales were much better value then the sauturday sales. Infact he even noticed the odd car that had been sold on the Wednesday pop up again on Saturday at a different auction (usualy selling for more).
Soldato
Yes I was going to say the market will be different on a bank holiday friday. I brought during the week, lots of traders and just a few punters like myself as far as I could tell (thats a good thing). Working shifts has an advantage
I dont know about missing documents but a battered wing panel would be ideal in a way because it'll put a lot of people off the sale. Allowing the possibility of a decent price on a normally popular car. Hondas are quite bullet proof, might have been worth the risk :/
Our local auction barely gives any info on the car prior to sale, you cant do much apart from stick your head against the glass and try to see whats inside, they usually state MOT'd or not and the source of the sale.
Traders always have the advantage on you, they buy cars all day so one bad judgement is ok whereas you have no profit to write a loss against :/
I dont know about missing documents but a battered wing panel would be ideal in a way because it'll put a lot of people off the sale. Allowing the possibility of a decent price on a normally popular car. Hondas are quite bullet proof, might have been worth the risk :/
Our local auction barely gives any info on the car prior to sale, you cant do much apart from stick your head against the glass and try to see whats inside, they usually state MOT'd or not and the source of the sale.
Traders always have the advantage on you, they buy cars all day so one bad judgement is ok whereas you have no profit to write a loss against :/
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