Commission charges at car auctions

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 23 Nov 2014 21:38
Commission charges at car auctions - EDW2000

I have been looking at the BCA website, they have a nice selection of cars but the commision prices are very high unless you are a regular buyer (dealer).

Any other acutioneers that dont charge so much? I am looking for a Kia Ceed Diesel (new shape 2012 -).

BCA has lots of Motobility cars, are they a good bet?

Cheers chaps.

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Sun 23 Nov 2014 22:08
Commission charges at car auctions - grimep

I've walked up and down rows of Motability cars at BCA Blackbushe and they've all had cosmetic damage, even saw a badly dented roof on one. Having said that my current car is ex-Motability but wasn't auction.

Even the trade finds BCA too expensive, its just for the big boys. I figured I'd have to add at least £700 in fees, tax, service, MOT, etc and even then I'd have no comeback if the car went wrong. I figured it was cheaper to buy off a small local trader.

As for other auctions, depends where in the country you are. If you're on the South East coast I've heard Shoreham Vehicle Auctions are worth a look, if not there might be something similar to you.

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 09:15
Commission charges at car auctions - daveyK_UK

BCA have been going down hill for years, mainheim have gone the same way

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 13:57
Commission charges at car auctions - John Boy

My current car is also ex-Mobility (returned after 2 years, rather than 3) and also not auction. I was told that Mobility dealers can bid for them before they go to auction. It was low mileage and pretty much spotless.

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 14:01
Commission charges at car auctions - RobJP

I'd have to agree with grimep's post. The charges that BCA and others make mean that a 'cheap' car at auction is suddenly nearly as expensive as 'retail' price at an independent dealer, but without any of the consumer protections.

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 14:35
Commission charges at car auctions - daveyK_UK

From memory of the hammer price was 500, you would pay an additional 292 buyers fee , 26 dvla registration fee and a 35 bca assured check fee.

It makes a 500 bargain with risks become a expensive suicidal move

Edited by daveyK_UK on 24/11/2014 at 14:37

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 10:17
Commission charges at car auctions - slkfanboy

My current car is also ex-Mobility (returned after 2 years, rather than 3) and also not auction. I was told that Mobility dealers can bid for them before they go to auction. It was low mileage and pretty much spotless.

That is my understanding too

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 19:40
Commission charges at car auctions - sparky100

Hi, yes i usually buy my cars from auction but just recently every time i go to have a look at various cars ,the commision charges seem to keep going up. Aston Barclay used to be reasonable but they have gone the same way. To charge close on £500 on a £10000 car is stupid, no wonder they can afford fancy auction rooms. Best to buy private now and pay for hpi check. Sparky100.

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 19:49
Commission charges at car auctions - sparky100

Hi, yes i usually buy my cars from auctions, but every time i go to view various cars, the commission charges have gone up. Aston Barclay used to be reasonable but they have gone the same way. How can they charge close on £500 on a £10000 car, no wonder they can afford fancy auction sites. Best to buy private now and pay for HPI check. Same protection as at auction. They used to warrant most cars for a certain time after hammer falls but they don't do that any more. They can't go wrong, licence to print money really. Sparky100.

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Mon 24 Nov 2014 22:33
Commission charges at car auctions - gordonbennet

I used to collect ex motability from dealers in my past work, there were some peaches but boy were there some neglected and abused tat too, i suspect the cream might well not be at the auction.

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 01:52
Commission charges at car auctions - daveyK_UK

www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/Global/UK/Buyers%20...f

BCAs latest fees, does anyone have a link to Mainheims or aston barclays?

anyone ever used CD auction group?

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 10:09
Commission charges at car auctions - RobJP

www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/Global/UK/Buyers%20...f

BCAs latest fees, does anyone have a link to Mainheims or aston barclays?

anyone ever used CD auction group?

Thanks for posting the link to that. BCA used to be very coy about their fees, putting them up on display in the centres, but not having anything online.

I notice that on this page : www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/buy/Useful-informat.../ they have the difference between 'Blue' (up to 3 cars per annum) and 'Gold' (12-99 cars a year) listed. For a £10k car, respective fees are £609 and £279.

Really don't want private buyers, do they !

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 10:53
Commission charges at car auctions - gordonbennet
Really don't want private buyers, do they !

No they don't, feels like the whole nearly new car industry is bordering on a cartel.

Then you have the other extreme, the typical car supermarket one of which is 12 miles from us where the finance package is the first thing to be discussed, and the car merely a sideshow to the production line experience from the second you drive into stalag 15, i expect most here would be like us, one visit more than enough nothing bought never again.

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 14:15
Commission charges at car auctions - Gibbo_Wirral

Really don't want private buyers, do they !

Maybe that's a good thing? I've lost count at the number of lemons I've heard people buy at auctions, then whinge and whine at anyone who will listen because they decided to be cheap and have ended up with a massive bill, or they bizarrely blame the marque!

Perhaps the auction houses have been on the receiving end too?

Personally, no amount of discount an auction offers would tempt me to risk buying something I can't test drive or run a diagnostic on.

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 17:10
Commission charges at car auctions - TheBroker

Agree re running a diagnostic check, we do this wherever possible in the few minutes before we bid (or we dont bid unless warranted) - we just plug in an OBDII reader hooked to iphone to read off any faults. Takes about 60 seconds.

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 21:56
Commission charges at car auctions - bathtub tom

Agree re running a diagnostic check, we do this wherever possible in the few minutes before we bid (or we dont bid unless warranted) - we just plug in an OBDII reader hooked to iphone to read off any faults. Takes about 60 seconds.

They let you do that?

What about private buyers?

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Wed 13 Jul 2016 00:37
Commission charges at car auctions - TheBroker
Not been stopped yet but we are subtle about it.
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Tue 12 Jul 2016 14:12
Commission charges at car auctions - TheBroker

Hi, we have sourced vehicles through BCA for our customers on occasion (only to order mind as we are primarily finance brokers for new cars and vans) and the charges we incur are far less than Joe Public.

If you are near to us (Cambridge) and are looking at an Auction nearby (Enfield/Peterborough/Bedford) get in touch and we might be able to help you.

I actually sourced a Cee'd SW for my brother-in-law from Blackbushe and it was excellent (actually came from one of our supplers as well).

Or, looking at such a new car, you could consider leasing one...

Either way let me know if we can help

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Tue 12 Jul 2016 18:07
Commission charges at car auctions - daveyK_UK
Be grateful if anyone has recent experience or a link to Mainheim, Aston Barclays or brightwells
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Mon 25 Jul 2016 22:37
Commission charges at car auctions - daveyK_UK
manheim fees

www.manheim.co.uk/campaigns/buyer%20benefits

At least manheim dont hide their fees on their website like BCA do

there is no direct link on the BCA website to their buyers fees


so if you purchased a car from manheim for a hammer price of £6000
you can expect to hand over
buyers fee £471.60
silver car check fee £42
they do not seem to charge for sending off the V5
total of - £513.60
percentage of £6,000 is 8.5% extra

where at BCA a £6000 hammer price
you can expect to hand over
buyers fee £511
bca assured car check £35
sending off V5 £26
total of - £572
percentage of £6,000 is 9.53% extra


imo, they are both a rip off
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Tue 26 Jul 2016 09:46
Commission charges at car auctions - oldroverboy.
so if you purchased a car from manheim for a hammer price of £6000 you can expect to hand over buyers fee £471.60 silver car check fee £42 they do not seem to charge for sending off the V5 total of - £513.60 percentage of £6,000 is 8.5% extra where at BCA a £6000 hammer price you can expect to hand over buyers fee £511 bca assured car check £35 sending off V5 £26 total of - £572 percentage of £6,000 is 9.53% extra imo, they are both a rip off

Why? A business exists to make a profit. There are overheads, and shareholders to reward. For a business seller/purchaser the fees are lower. If you don;t like it, dom't buy. :>)
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Tue 26 Jul 2016 22:09
Commission charges at car auctions - pd
Note that you need to add VAT to the Manheim figures after which they are basically the same as BCA's.

Manheim did have the very good Assured scheme which they have just dropped in favour of the rubbish SureCheck.

The Assured scheme used to warrant something like the whole gearbox so if your manual car turned out not to have a 5th gear or an auto starting banging about through the gears or wouldn't change when warm you could take it back.

All SureCheck warrants is that it will go into first and reverse - nothing else. If the Autobox is knackered or the bearings whine hard luck.

Basically, SureCheck doesn't cover anything which wouldn't be apparent when it drives through.
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