Certainly a lot of trust required - by both parties.
When I've bought to order, I've never had any problems from my customers, but can well imagine the potential pitfalls. Are you REALLY prepared to hand over all that £$£$£ to someone to go shopping with?(Or never come back!!) Can they provide a warranty? Will the vehicle be fully prepared, as if you were buying from a showroom, or as it was sold at the auction? How fussy will they be on the actual source of it?Will you accept the 'minor' cosmetic rectification required? Will the kids fit in Ok?
& thats BEFORE anything goes wrong!!!
There is a good opportunity for substantial savings, to be made, if the buyer is good at his job & fair in his commission charges to you.Plus the trade buyers premium is lower than the amount you would pay, as a non-account holder, so more money saved.
Regarding payment, the way I've done things, is to have the customer get us a bankers draft for around the budgeted amount, which we won't cash (trust again) until the vehicle has actually been bought. This way, should you change your mind, or find something yourself,you can have your money back straight away, without waiting for any checques to clear, or carrying around lots of cash.
Don't forget, you can check out whats on offer at ALL BCA sites, by clicking Auction View, in the left menu here!
VB
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The lack of warranty, car prepartion does not concern me. I was going to buy the car from auction anyway so I'd not have got any of that. As far as I see it, i'd end up with exactly what I would end up if I was able to attend the auction myself..
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There are subtleties to the auction buying process that Michael (possibly) knows nothing about, but Joe does. Don't ever think that the car is always bought at the rostrum.
HJ
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I bought my last car indirectly at an auction.
A good friend of mine is a car dealer. Therefore he has to be at auctions at least twice a week and I have to spend most of my life tied to my office desk.
I gave him permission to spend up to £15k on a car and a choice of an Imprezza Turbo, Porsche 911, BMW M3 or a decent Caterham 7.
He phoned me as arranged after seeing an Imprezza turbo and before bidding on it. We agreed a top price (about £1k below retail) and he got it for a lot less.
I gave him a very good drink for his efforts so he was happy and so was I for the cheap car that I got. His buyers premium, being in the trade was a couple of hundred less that I would have paid, so more money saved there.
If you don't know someone in the trade well enough to do this then leaving them a bankers draft as previously suggested would get round this.
As HJ suggests, there are things that happen at auctions that only the regulars know about, without this knowledge they are risky places to be and bargains are often missed.
Talk through the process with a few local traders and you could well end up with a bargain.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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Personal experience:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=11...6
Add onto this that a friend of mine used him. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up on the interior colour (my friend had specified dark interior and it came in "pimp cream" in his immortal words) but JT simply agreed it was his mistake, took the car back and sorted out another one. In light of this, I recommend Julian without reservation.
The economics have been proven to me by the palaver in buying a car for my father in law. Three visits resulting in one car with a 2.5% buyer's premium. I'd have been much better off using a buyer.
HTH,
V.
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Agree with HJ. I once went to Nottingham (a Long Way!) to buy an Omega which was listed - seemed the right age mileage etc. When I got there, it was absolute pants.
But in the Special section (BCA recommended I think) there was a beautiful looking Rover Sterling, which I fell in love with. I had no idea of possible value, and the auctioneer started the bidding at a much higher price than I thought sensible, somewhere around £8.5k IIRC.
The hall was empty apart from me, an elderly couple and one dealer type. When the Rover went out of the door the dealer went scurrying after it, so, not having seen a bid happen, I followed and asked him if he'd bid for it.
He said no, he'd made the seller an offer through the provisionals office, somewhere around £6.2k, and had a buyer lined up already at £7k.
So I went to the provisionals office and gazumped him...
It involved a few calls between the office and the seller, with me on ever increasing offers, and with hindsight I paid somewhat over the odds for the car. It was, however, a lovely car in pristine condition and I was very happy for a month or so. But then I realised what a cosdgers car it was, and despite a 2.7 V6 it was gutless, and I regretted my impulse buy until the day I sold it.
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What sort of comission charges would you be looking at on top of, say, a £2000 Mondeo?
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Seem to recall some ads for services like these and the cost on top was around 6%.
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i would anticipate the commision figure for a low value car, such as a 2k mondeo, will be around 10%.
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What sort of comission charges would you be looking at on top of, say, a £2000 Mondeo?
The problem is that the charge is 6% or so with a minimum. IIRC, Julian Trim's was £500 or so, so you have to be looking at a £9K or so car to keep the commission at 6%. On a £2K car , £500 would be 25%; utterly uneconomical.
For £2K, I'd suggest that you go to an auction with a totally open mind as to what you will come back with, create a list of half a dozen or a dozen cars you're prepared to bid on and have a crack. That way, if a car's too high a price, you can let it go and not be tempted into overpaying.
The best purchase I managed at auction was a beautiful Mazda 626 petrol when I'd gone expecting to buy a Diesel Escort. By not being tied to the exact spec of car I'd gone for, I ended up buying a great car at a great price.
Hope this helps,
V
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Thing is, I know exactly what car I want and I don't want to have to compromise even if it means it takes me 6 months to find one. I'd like to keep the car for the next 3-4 years so I want to make sure it's exactly the model I want - I don't want to spend the next few years thinking 'If only I'd have found a..' every time I go for a drive.
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Yes Michael, I know exactly that feeling. I was desparately after an Omega when I bought the Rover mentioned above. Didn't endear me to the Rover at all.
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Well he must be a pretty busy chap - now into the third day since I contacted him via email and I've yet to receive a reply - says private buyers should email first, so...
I suppose its a good sign if he's so busy it must mean that he's pretty good :)
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A friend of mine used Joe Dowd and described the experience as excellent and thoroughly recommends him.
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Thats very encouraging. Seems there isnt a bad word to say about this guy - I think I've found the right way to get my next car. How much did he charge your friend?
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