hi,
I am currently thinking about buying a car at auction, but mt main concern is about buying a stolen or not paid for car, and losing it! Do you have any legal rights if you get it checked (theft and credit check) as soon as you have bought it?
Has anyone had experiences, good or bad of buying at auction, or any advice. I would be grateful for any info!
cheers
Sonya
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Sonya,
Your main worries are easily sorted with the HPI checks. You should have other serious worries though about the actual car condition.
You must go with someone who really knows cars, not someone who has just driven a few. The sort of guy or girl who can tell a wrong un just walking past it.
HJ will tell you some prices are driven above top money and then there are the sudden bargains...the ones you didn't notice before going for £500 under book. You have about 10 seconds to decide on the car and bid.
Exciting if you get it right.
David
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cheers david,
my real concern is that if considering several vehicles, with HPI checks costing approx £20+, it is expensive to have several carried out before the bidding.. Therefore i am concerned that if a car is "sold as seen" or without 1 hr trial period, if i bid succesfully and then HPI it, and it turns out dodgy, whats the deal..??
ta
Sonya
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Sonya,
It's really important you understand what the auction house you visit has in the terms and conditions.
But have a look at one of the typical bits from BCA......
Buyer's Premium
On top of the hammer price, you will have to pay a Buyer's Fee which is VAT inclusive. This Buyer's Fee provides the buyer with an undertaking against the vehicle:-
a) proving to be stolen property, or
b) being found to be the subject of outstanding hire purchase or similar, or
c) having been the subject of an insurance company's total loss settlement prior to the date of auction sale and this fact was not disclosed, or
d) having an odometer reading warranted as accurate and which is subsequently proved to be false.
For full info have a look at their site www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/
and check out the buying/selling guide.
David
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Read up HJ's D.Tel book of motoring answers, as well as the link on the left "how to buy & sell cars" - (go to buying used - buying at auction section, if you are not confident, employ an auction buyer - see names listed by HJ in the same section).
Since 1989, I have bought all my cars at auction at BCA Blackbushe - all of them 6 to 9 months old ex-rental fleet cars. They have all turned out to be excellent.
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Sonya
There are car auctions and car auctions, stick to the reputable ones like BCA (British Car Auctions) and as David W explains the buyers premium should cover HPI checks. Once at a reputable auction site I would stick to cars which are direct from a known fleet/lease company. I have bought cars at auction with no problems but I have always bought cars:
i) direct from a known fleet/lease company (eg PHH, GE Capital Bank etc)
ii) with a warranted mileage
iii) sold either on an 'engineers report' or with 'no major mechanical faults' which means you usually have some comeback up to shortly after the end of the sale (with BCA at least)
iv) one owner with a full service history and preferably with an MOT if the car is over 3 years old - if the presence of a history is not apparent on the auction windscreen sticker then often you have to wait for the auctioneer to rattle through the details to confirm how much service history there is.
hope this helps
Ian
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