Anyone have some advice or experiences from going to car auctions? I'm talking the ones where dozens of cars go under the hammer in one day.
Are there good bargains to be had? How can I get a bargain?
What are the good ones to go to in Brisbane?
Have You Been to Car Auctions?
inherentchoice on 27/10/2017 - 05:56
Comments
Just go to manheim in Brisbane on any Tuesday. Quite interesting experience. Bargain very much depends on your understanding of car internals as well as pricing.
Dude. Some advice
Garbage in garbage out.
Your first question says it all. Just leave it at that
The rest just confuses the issue
e.g. heres some answers to Q2 and Q3
Yes and No
Pay for the car you bid on.The key is to research, from watching how an auction works, to being prepared to walk away on any specific day. It takes time, the "bargain" isnt going to be labelled or identified, as it is here on Ozbargain.
A bargain one day could be expensive the next day, all depends on who wants the car the day you arrive to bid.
Start with this article, then google some more (this is the start of the research process)
https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/top-four-tips-for-bu…
Says everything better than I can put it.
Be prepared to put effort and time into finding that bargain by attending auctions regularly and doing non-auction price research. You need to identify a number of vehicles you are interested in to help you narrow your research and to allow for that particular model to show up at auction.
By going to the auctions before hand leading up to when you want to buy, you will also see vehicles that continually get passed in - so you know which ones to avoid.
Bargain comes from knowledge, knowledge comes from research, research comes from effort. Work backwards on this equation and you should find your bargain - but the word bargain for a s/h car is also a matter of context and definition.
With any auction, be it for cars or anything else, set your price based on your research and don't be tempted to go a little more to secure the winning bid.
The thing you need to remember is the lower prices at auctions are a trade off to the risk you take. You may find with the knowledge of auction prices and private sales, you may be able to negotiate just as good a price with less risk.
Hope the above helps.
I would recommend going to 2-3 auction purely as a spectator, get a taste for the market in your area. Write down what sells for what, go away and research the sale values privately and determine what is considered a bargain. It is all supply and demand, If 2 people in the same room want the same car the price goes up, if no one wants it then its a steal. Never bid with your heart, get facts
I've bought cars from most of the players in melbourne; pickles, fowles, grays, ebay, gumtree, facebook. Used to buy, fix up (if required), then flip 6-12 months later, but don't have the time for it anymore.
Realistically assess your level of mechanical knowledge and your level of preparation to commit to buying cars. If you don't have a lot of general knowledge, best for you to focus on one particular make, model, series and research. A simple carsales search will reveal private and dealer prices for a model, use that as a benchmark for determining whether an auction price is a good deal or not. Don't forget there's no statutory warranty on auction purchases.
You'll generally get the lowest auction prices (compared to private/dealer sales) on mass market, "boring" cars. Think camry, falcons, commodores etc. If you're just looking for a daily driver you won't have too much problems here. More niche cars tend to be bid up, but potentially better resale/easier resale depending on the specific model.
Good luck - attend a few auctions first, so you're not surprised when a car gets sold/passed in every 90 seconds.
If you pick an ex-Government or ex-fleet car, usually, the quality of cars is reasonable and is well maintained. Fleets rotate cars once they get to 60K or 80K km. The manufacturers warranty is usually still valid. The downside is the cars are boring - white or grey toyotas / mazdas.
I've bought at an auction. I did my research first - got a mechanic inspection done. It was a 3 year old toyota (ex-public hospital staff fleet), 60K km. Very well maintained.
I went to a midweek evening auction. These are the best to get bargains, because the bidders are all car yard representatives looking for a bargain that they can sell quickly. The moment they see a genuine bidder like myself bidding for a particular car, they stop bidding. Seems to be like an honour code, it was quite funny.
But you have a buyres premium you have to pay, typicaly about 15%, and have to make full payment within a couple of days.
See https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/pickles-live for Brissy auctions
If they go under a hammer won't they break the car?