Selling a car at auction

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Mon 29 Sep 2003 18:00
Selling a car at auction - Martin Wall
Hi

Has anybody here experience of *selling* a car at auction? I know somebody planning to do this via BCA but as his car is over 5 years old (it's worth about £1500 according to Parkers) I don't think they allow you to set a reserve price - which sounds like a good way to get fleeced to me!

Anybody got any experience of this?

thanks
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Mon 29 Sep 2003 18:36
Selling a car at auction - smokie
I once enquired about it. The expected sale price was about 1/2 what I thought would be a low price to receive, then you take off the fees and really it isn't worth considering...
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Mon 29 Sep 2003 18:56
Selling a car at auction - Hugo {P}
I wouldn't normally bother selling at auction, unless I was leaving the country and couldn't stay around to do the deal myself.

If he needs to get shot of it quick he could take it to several car dealers and get them to give 2 day guaranteed prices for it.

What car is it? Someone in the BR may be interested.

H
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Mon 29 Sep 2003 19:28
Selling a car at auction - cockle {P}
Martin
Not a great deal of experience with auctions but BCA aren't the only auctioneers out there!

Certainly I know of one local auction at Basildon that will take a reserve on virtually any price, others state no reserve on anything over ten years old. Like most things in life you pays your money and takes your choice, what suits one will not suit another.

I would suggest that you take a look at auctioneers in the Directories section and get on the web-sites or the phone, some will even value the car first to give you a guide.
If your friend has somewhere he can hang on to the car for a while he would probably be wiser to try a few local paper ads first but the market is pretty flat, certainly around here, cars are taking months to shift in that price range.

If he does decide to go with the auction route be prepared for a shock, auction prices tend to be around trade book and they can be quite a shock! Went with a mate, who was just looking for a short term workhorse, to one several months back and he bought a nice Cavalier on a K plate for £200 with a years MOT, J plates were going out the door at £150-170. Cheap motoring if you are prepared to take the risk.

Cockle
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Mon 29 Sep 2003 22:45
Selling a car at auction - Martin Wall
Thanks for all the replies - I'll let him know that the auction route isn't the best idea. I think he should think about advertising in his local paper instead....
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Tue 30 Sep 2003 09:08
Selling a car at auction - TrevorH
My experience was not good. As I parked the car up prior to registering the car for that day's auction I was given a number of low offers on the spot. I refused, figuring that the level of interest in the car park would be reflected in the price bid in the hall. Having dropped off the keys and completed the paperwork I returned to find the offside rear tyre neatly skewered by a screwdriver, or some such. I had no time to swap the spare as I was due at work. The car must have looked a million dollars as it trundled through on a flat. Suffice to say the price I got was some way short of a million dollars.
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