buying from auctions.

[carld]

Good afternoon all,

I currently have a rx300 on a 04 plate with 78k on the clock,  over the past couple of months ive been toying with the idea of upgrading to a rx450 as my friend has the f-sport but i cant go that far. I just wanted peoples thoughts on buying from an auction, i frequently check the bca auction site to see whats in and the spec. Im looking at spending about 14k.

[ISJason]

Hi. I've never been to one, the only thing I would say is to take someone with mechanical knowledge with you when you go, or even better another Lexus owner who has bought from an auction previously. Good luck

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, carld said:

Good afternoon all,

I currently have a rx300 on a 04 plate with 78k on the clock,  over the past couple of months ive been toying with the idea of upgrading to a rx450 as my friend has the f-sport but i cant go that far. I just wanted peoples thoughts on buying from an auction, i frequently check the bca auction site to see whats in and the spec. Im looking at spending about 14k.

Ive bought a few cars from auctions in the past.

Never had any issues with any of them bar minor things like pipe leaks. They provide mechanical reports on some cars but others dont have them, especially older ones so worth taking someone along who knows their stuff.

[sorcerer]

It's a long time since I bought anything from an auction but when I did, I never had any major problems. As long as you know what you're doing (or take someone who does) then you can indeed get some great bargains.

[rayaans]

The only thing to worry about are the fees. Generally they end up putting the car up to private sale price if it's low value

[carld]

My friend is mechanic for lexus so i can get him to take a look over the vehicles, ive been told to expect to pay alot for the fees.

Slightly going off topic here, i went and had a look at a 59 plate 450h yesterday but it felt different, i felt as it wasnt as high up as mine, i really liked the cabin but i would have to go for the beige leather with the perferations in which is the same as ehat i have at present, do they only come in certain models.

[rayaans]

21 hours ago, carld said:

My friend is mechanic for lexus so i can get him to take a look over the vehicles, ive been told to expect to pay alot for the fees.

Slightly going off topic here, i went and had a look at a 59 plate 450h yesterday but it felt different, i felt as it wasnt as high up as mine, i really liked the cabin but i would have to go for the beige leather with the perferations in which is the same as ehat i have at present, do they only come in certain models.

I think the perforations on the pre facelift rx450h are only on the top specs. 

The height of the 450h and rx300 is the same. It may be because the seat was too low? 

[DanD]

Personally I am a bit wary of auctions, but I work in Risk Management... so what do you expect!?

I came across an app called Vehicle Smart recently, which you might find useful. Once you have downloaded and installed the app (IOS or Android), all you do is enter the vehicle registration number and make and it pulls out some useful info such as a car full MOT history, including past failures and advisories.

[Beejay]

Is it just me but on trying to register with BCA it keeps rejecting my password. I have now changed my password 4 times and each time it says incorrect password. tried calling BCA but line is dead or jammed.......

Nearly threw my ageing iPad at the wall. Even tried same on my 'puter but same results...... 

 

[steve2006]

7 minutes ago, Beejay said:

Is it just me but on trying to register with BCA it keeps rejecting my password. I have now changed my password 4 times and each time it says incorrect password. tried calling BCA but line is dead or jammed.......

Nearly threw my ageing iPad at the wall. Even tried same on my 'puter but same results...... 

 

Recheck all the passwork requirements very carefully as they normally have to have upper and lowercase letters,numbers and a symbol to be accepted plus a minimum amount of these.

As for the iPad I know exactly how you feel and mine is one year old!

[harrylime]

I once had the idea of eliminating depreciation by changing my car every five or six months, buying at auction, then selling privately (this is a long time ago). It worked well for three years or so, after which I had lost nothing in depreciation, and possibly made a very small profit.As I recall, I packed it in because the fees for private buyers were getting silly, probably to put off private buyers and look after traders.

I attended different car auctions, which clearly cater for different markets. Cheap cars  go through because the cars are not fit to sell anywhere else. The cars that go through from lease companies etc can be good buys because the owners/drivers do not want to be penalised so tend to look after their cars for the lease period (they may have been driven hard, but that applies to any used car).

Your legal rights are better than buying privately ,which perversely is my favoured method of buying a car, because it can provide a lot of information about previous use. However, buying privately is also getting very difficult. Most people part exchange their cars because it is easier. many of those who used to try and get a better price (not difficult given dealers' greed), now sell to places like Webuyanycar. Of over 407 RX450h currently for sale on Autotrader, only 14 are private sales. Take away high  mileage cars, the private sellers whose asking price is as high as main dealers, and you are left with a few that may or may not be within a few hours' drive, and may be over described when you get there. Dealers have it made now.

Unless auctions have changed, for all but the cheapest cars, you may get an hour after you have paid to drive and to find any major faults - this may have changed!. I would suggest going a few times to get a feel for it, know the conditions of sale for any given auction, listen carefully to the description, find out before about service history etc.,try to get there early and see the cars you're interested in outside in daylight to check paintwork etc. You probably will not have access to whatever book dealers use nowadays, so have a good idea what any given car is selling for. If you are targeting specific models, take notes on values for different years/models.Finally, do not get carried away and pay too much, bidding for a cars is exciting !

[mikeyv]

I agree with much of harrylimes' post above, auctions are not as good as they were, particularly for the private buyer.

I bought a lot of cars at auction, some to do up and sell, some to use as taxis, but usually bought them after they had gone through and not sold.

The reason being, auctioneers often invent bids to get the car up to or near the sellers reserve, so if you bid, you'll overpay.

If you go regularly, you'll see cars that have supposedly sold, according to the auctioneer, appear week after week.