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I am a private buyer in the market for an audi a3, around five years old. Which is going to be better value ebay or auction, bearing in mind i will have to pay auction fees on top of purchase price. I was looking to purchase genuine main dealer part exchange if buying from auction
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I won't buy a car from eBay unless its somewhere near where I live so I could test drive it and inspect it before I bid on it. eBay and auctions both have their own pros and cons so if you know what you're doing I think auction would be your best bet IMO.
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I`ve bought cars from both auction and ebay and agree with comments about test driving ebay cars. I was just curious to know if auction is the cheapest route. I heard that some people buy on ebay and then immediately enter car into auction making at least £500 profit in cars around the £5 -7k, even after taking into account auction fees
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With ebay just make sure it's a condition of the auction that before handing over the money the transaction can be cancelled should the car be misdescribed.
If you play it right you should get a chance to inspect carefully and drive an ebay car even after you've "won" it on collection and before making payment. In that case, an ebay car is "safer" as if a car from auction upon collection turns out to have no clutch, oil or differential it's tough luck; it's yours!
Auctions are not always the cheapest, varies a lot. To buy on ebay and sell at auction you have to keep a close eye on the market - some ebay cars do go well over auction price.
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Why not use an auction buyer? They will source your car at a keen price for a fee of about £250. You will get their experience at knowing what to look for and more than likely avoid a lemon. Do a forum search and see comments on auction buyers like Joe Dowde.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I was just going to say that!
Details here www.auctioncarbuyer.co.uk/ Am on my second car with him now and so far been perfect. Friend has bought quite a few through Joe now (think is about 6 or 7) and would also thoroughly recommend him.
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Thanks for that info, I`ll get in touch with Joe Dowd. I guess his the auction fees he has to pay are a lot less than a private buyer, which helps offset the fee he charges. Also his company has the benefit of visiting lots of auctions which I don`t have the time to do. Ebay may be also worth a look but only bidding on cars I can inspect before auction end added with an HPI check
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I think auctions are a bad place to buy popular or sought after cars like the A3 for what you could consider to be a good price. Auctions are better for either plentiful cars which dont hold their value so well, or large expensive or executive cars which naturally depreciate heavily or have a smaller potential customer base. I think a well considered search on Ebay would be a better option for this particular car.
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one advantage with most auctions is that they provide an insurance cover where if at a later date you find out that your car has HPI history, i.e written of, finance outstanding etc, which was not stated at the time of sale you can get your money back.
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