Hi guys, I need a new car and I'm skint. Has anyone ever bought a car at auction in the Southampton area? How does it work? Is it much cheaper?

Cheers,
Jon.

i only buy a dealers trade in, most private sales that go through are there because you wouldnt be able to sell in the paper, normally under a £1000 buyer beware

Totally buyer beware but as above try to buy dealer trade ins.

I go every week and there are some bargains to be had for sure.

I aint got the balls to do it but the lads i go with dont give a toss and they buy pug 205's, citroen AX's fiestas and the like with no MOT, and fix them up and MOT them and sell them on.

Many a story has been told where they have bought one of the above for £150 and thought it looked good enough to get an MOT, put it in, got a ticket on it and sold it in the paper for £400.

You just need to take the plunge and do it.

I keep telling myself that i should do so!

Just remember your indemnity fee, what the hammer goes down on is NOT your buying price, most auctions have a sliding scale indemnity depending upon the hammer price.

There are more and more individuals going to auction now and this is scuppering the chances for genuine bargains to be had by dealers or those looking to sell it on.

also remember that you will need to go a few weeks in a row to get a feel for what kind of cars are popular at your local auction and whats not.

Good luck and be carefull

Edited to say, the cops hang around my local auction to catch all those buying and driving away cars that have no Tax, MOT and are not insured.

Also take a mate as i have heard and seen a few guys get done over on the way from the carpark to the auction and vice versa because an awful lot of cash is floating around on auction night.

[Edited on 19/2/08 by locoboy]

On the other side of the coin I've seen some days where the auction prices are more than private sales !

I'm going tomorrow to an ex-Motability auction, but all the traders will be there for stock

Forgot to add, when I've sold shagged cars, guess where I've sold them to ?

Yep, through the auctions.

Thanks guys - I'll stick to the normal channels then!

Jon.

You can request - some are free othere not a list of cars sold each month at your chosen auction and this details all the info that was on the screen and the hammer price it went to.

My local auction also lists in this publication what percentage of the CAP (car aution price - a national benchmark for a given car dependent upon condition, age, mileage etc etc) price it made.

Some are as low as 40% other make 170%, it all depends who is there on the night.

My auction starts at 6pm and the last cars usually go through about 11.30pm, the crowds tail off about 10.00 and there are only maybe 2 dozen people there come closing time, the cars still cary on selling though, some of them for £50-100 because there is no interest.

Its worth making a night of it and sticking it out till the end.

bear in mind that auctioneers make up a lot of their bids - they are allowed to when its below reserve. Dont be caught out bidding against yourself!

I used to buy lots of ex fleet cars, like 5 year old mondeos and 406s etc. Never had any trouble with them, and they were cheap. Bought a private sale 300zx (and another time a 200sx) once, rolled both back through within weeks as they were shafted. Did once get a nice 300zx though, which puzzled me - it was fine and i made a killing on it!

After my wife's last car packed in last year, we tried the auctions for the first time to see if we could get a replacement. After a little looking we found this superb (genuine) low mileage Renault Laguna with all the toys which had just had an MOT.
I knew Lagunas are a bit flaky, but it was worth hanging around to see what it went for. When the bidding tailed off at a very low price I couldn't help myself and put my hand up
Drove it away thinking this is too good to be true .... and it broke down on the way home
Moral is; newish low mileage cars at auctions are duff, hence why they are there. Go for the ones that have been to the moon and back. And if you do get a duff one, just put it back in as is and you may even make some money

I did, however, have the last laugh here. The fault was with the throttle body, and there was a recipt in the glove box for a throttle body fitted less than a year previously by a Renault main stealer. Went to them and they fitted a new one for free as it was still guarenteed
Car's been great ever since

i used to buy and sell alot years ago in the auctions.

not the same now, to many crap cars and crapier sellers. very iffy place to buy unless you know what you are doing...............
so prob best to sick to the normal ways. unless you have a dealer/trader/mechanic etc to come hold ya hand.............

buyer beware is a min advice!!!!!