BID EM IN THE NUT'S! (British Car Auctions (BCA))

Member Name: angusreid

Product:	British Car Auctions (BCA)
Date:	23/11/01 (3726 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: VERY CHEAP MOTORS, USUALY HELPFUL

Disadvantages: CAN GET STITCHED UP, HAVE TO BE FIRM

More tips for cheaper motoring.

If you are fortunate enough to have pots of cash and want more car for your money, get rid of that newspaper, get off the Internet, leave those car dealerships alone and get down to BCA (British Car Auctions).

Now BCA started as Southern Counties Car Auctions back in 1946, and now have some 23-auction houses in the UK, and many more scattered around mainland Europe.

Handling 1 million plus car sales and turning over 2 billion plus, they are certainly not a back street auction house!

Cars sold privately at these auctions account for only a small part of their daily auctions, and the main bulk of their stock comes from main dealers, fleet companies who have upgraded their vehicles, Finance Companies repossessed motors, and even Ministry of Defence vehicles.

Always check their schedules at www.british-car-auctions.co.uk to find exact dates and times of sales.

Normally a large indoor arena with covered display to view the cars at your convenience on the morning of the sale.

I find the staff very helpful if you are at the sale early, they will take the time needed to ensure you fully understand what the procedures are and guide you in the right direction.
I will say that once the sale gets underway, these people run a very tight ship and wont have the time to show you around and explain in detail.

In the selling arena, (some have two or even three arenas, with various cars going through. You will find more information in the brochure, which costs some £2 from their reception.) You will find some bench style seats where you can plant your bum and watch the sale, and you have ample opportunity to view the vehicles while they are being driven in

The auctioneers are clearly spoken, although the bids can race away at times, they settle towards the end, allowing you your chance to get involved.

They have a Cafeteria serving hot and cold food at somewha
t reasonable prices and toilet facilities are clean and well maintained.

I mentioned earlier that they sell a brochure, and you will be lost without one.

All in all, the auctions themselves are very professionally organised and run, and take some three hours plus to complete.

AUCTION TIPS
Here are those handy little tips that stop you doing something daft!

Never be the first to bid!
This makes you look keen and as you are a new face, someone may try and push the price up by bidding against you.

If you have bid and someone bids higher, wait before bidding again.
Same again, when they first start there may be ten or fifteen bids on a car, and at the early stages, everyone wants to get their bid in.
Stand back a bit and wait until it slows down.
You may have already noticed the experts with their little black trade books.
Watch them, if they open the bidding on a car, it is worth having.
When they stop biding, then you don’t want to go much higher than them.

Listen to the car as it ticks over in the arena.
Is the driver is revving the car slightly aggressively; it may be because it has starting problems.
Another tip is when they drive it in, listen for a smooth acceleration and gentle stop.
If they are revving it high to drive in, it may need a new clutch.

If there are three or four of the same vehicle, let the first one go and see how much it makes.
If for instance you see an S registered Mondeo go through for £4000, then the next ones will make roughly the same.
This allows you opportunity to re-evaluate your budget and pick a better car.

Never bid on a car that no one else wants.

Meaning if the bids are slow and very low, there is a reason.
Sometimes cars have already been through “the Block” (trade term for auction!) 3 or 4 times, and their owners want more money than they are worth.
Sometimes these cars have som
e serious faults and the traders know which ones they are, so they don’t bid on them.

Never go over your budget!

BCA do not take credit cards, to my knowledge, although switch/delta are acceptable.
You must leave a deposit on you vehicle straight after the bid has ended, and then you are given a chance to drive the car and make sure it has no problems.

You get an indemnity on the car, meaning if it has been stolen, or written off, or even if it has outstanding finance on it, you may get your money back.

CARS TO BUY

Cars such as Fleet Disposal Cars are my favourite.
Usually with full service history and well maintained.
Normally 3 years old with above average mileage.
Tend to go cheaper than retail dealers sell them for.

Here is an example;

1998 Mondeo LX 1.8 5dr hatchback S plate 50 thousand miles
Retail average price £5999
Auction price £3500

You save £2500

Now I always assume that I will have to spend another £300 to fix the car and take in to account that there are selling charges to pay, usually about 1.5 % of the hammer price.

So therefore a £3500 car would actually be nearer £3600 and then £300 for any little things that need doing to the car.

After all this you have still saved over 2 thousand pounds against main dealer forecourt prices.

Make sure that when budgeting to buy a car that you take this money into account.

Finance repossessions are sometimes good buys, but check them out.
There are genuine cases for repossession, such as unemployment and death. Then there are the idiots who had no intention of paying and have run the car into the ground.

That is why you have to be very careful.

If you know a mechanic, or someone in the trade, it is worth taking them along.
I charge £100 regardless of whether you buy a car or not, and I suggest that you pay no more than that for expert advice.


Direct from Dealer Cars.

I am very, very careful with these vehicles.

Why hasn’t the dealer sold them?

Unless you know the dealership they came from, leave them alone.
Let the traders fight over them, and unless there is a lot of interest from them, leave it.

I used to send cars up there that would cost too much to repair to make them retail cars.

This is the norm, I am afraid.

However, there are dealers, such as Mercedes Direct who have an auction policy for all their part exchanges, which means they don’t sell them form site.

These cars are worth looking at and going over with a toothcomb.

Private Cars

A big no-no.

People only put cars to auction when they need money desperately, or when they cant sell them privately.
Sometime they put cars to auction that are going to cost a lot of money to repair.

Whatever their reasons, I, personally, wont even look at them.

All in all, there is so many different reasons why to buy and why not, that I could write a book about it.
What I will say is watch the experts, they are the ones who look like they know what they are doing and usually have the little trade guides (NOT PARKERS GUIDE!)

UPDATE

As rightly mentioned in the comments by our "Dont miss a thing" guru Sydney (Wasnt that the girl in Scream? ;o) Go and see them start the particular car you are interested in and check it out for warning lights, smoking (could mean head gasket has blown!)difficult gear change, stalling and anything that doesnt look or sound right.

Have fun

Angus Reid

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