Hi Legends,
I'd really appreciate your advice on this one :)
Is it OK to buy a 2021 Hyundai Palisade from Pickles Auction? 55,776 Kilometres on it. I'm located in WA and will have to pay for transport from Sydney. Is it a problem that I can't see the car in person?
Anything I should consider?
My uncle has bought car from manhiem twice without any issue. He knows how to check cars though. I heard people sometime pay for a mechanic to come to check the car with them. You get an hour before the auction and if you can inspect 10 cars to be able to buy 1 and it will be worth it.
You should be banned from buying from any auction. Auction cars are "as is, where is". Paying out $3k under market value for an auction car is absolute craziness.
I once paid $22.5 for a Ford Station Wagon at the Auctions 20+ years ago. A Similar ex- govt vehicle was at a nearby dealership for $29.999. They day I bought mine I saw 9 cars driven out by their sales team.
I had a few friends in the car game, one was there that day to buy for their dealership. He told me if I got to 22 on this vehicle, I'd most likely win the bid.
Ngl
Fair trading wouldnt play a role in this as theyre an auction house and in the fine print the car is in 'as is' condition
I dont understand why you didnt learn your lesson the first time but decided to go back for more?
If Pickles or some other auctioneer hasn't banned you from their auction site or from buying a third car off them, then chapter 3 is on them!
The fact that you would buy a modern turbodiesel and be surprised with EGR and DPF issues tells me you didn't do any research.
Don't buy cars without researching, and theres a reason that cars sell at auction.
Given it's only a couple of years old, it doesn't really look like a great buy. TBH from the few Pickles auctions I've attended in person, any vehicle half-way decent is snatched up by car yards. They leave only the real junk behind, which often times get snapped up for way more than what it's worth. In short, I've never found a bargain at a Pickles auction.
Yes, It seems like they are in cahoots with large car yards, and sell them early these days. The last time I went, the cars were about the same price as buying from a dealership.
There are definitely bargains to be had at Pickles Auctions if you know what you're looking for. Be careful though as many people seem to over pay IMHO.
If you like the size of the Hyundai Palisade, look for a Hyundai Santa Fe Elite that's ex-government owned, well maintained with regular serving and 2-3 years old. An example is a TM Santa Fe Elite, 2019-20, selling for $32-33k. These often include a towing package, rubber floor mats, cargo barrier, nudge bar & upgraded brake pads.
Dealers appear to be reselling these for $40-45k, so the $10k saving is worth it for some slight cosmetic issues like minor scratches. The vehicle would still be under manufacturer warranty for 2-3 years.
I doing the OP will even read this considering it's a new account and he hasn't replied in a while but:
:D
(profanity) pickles auctions, A mate of mine had his 1998 R34 GTT stolen and someone in a facebook group saw it there. When he went to pick it up they demanded that he pay them what they had paid the thief to get it back. He told them to go (profanity) themselves called the investigating detective for the theft right there in front of them and the car was towed away by police 3 hours later. He had a TON of abuse hurled at him by the staff at pickles while he was waiting for the police tow truck to show up just incase they tried to damaged the car or something.
Sounds like a made up story.
First step would need proof of ownership, something they wouldn't have…
They took a photo of a fake license and asked no more questions because running japanese import. At the time (early 2011) the police detective said that they were having issues with Pickles not following correct procedure and selling stolen vehicles using the excuse "we have a photo of their ID thats enough isn't it?" Apparently (This is just a rumor that i heard from the facebook group that found the car initially) the cars were being bought at auction and sent overseas to be stripped for parts or just sold as is, so they never got found in Australia again.
Did they leave the Rego paper in the glovebox?
Common trick.
This is a joke right? You're willing to buy an unroadworthy vehicle, unseen, with no legal refunds (as it's an auction), and ship it to WA at your own cost.
You can't be serious
and palisades are POS'
I've bought a couple of cars through pickles, sight unseen. It's been good, though I'd stick with their government cars. Those almost always have solid service histories, I've seen logbooks that show regular servicing even if they've only driven a few hundred km. And many of them are quite similar. A whole bunch of common models with 40k km and a couple years on them. Once you check out a few of them, they all start to look the same.
And the best thing is knowing that they are being sold at the end of a lease. Not because the owner doesn't want to pay for some hidden damage or something. You could still get a lemon, but the real shitboxes are probably dumped on auctions within the first year.
Fleet might be the same. But the Wednesday auctions are a mixed bag. They could be coming from anywhere, including damaged, dumped, and repossessed. Those ones, you'd have to really want the specific model, and then be very careful checking them.
I'd suggest waiting for a similar model to come through a different auction catalogue. If you're lucky, you'll see a few come through at the same time.
If you could see it yourself and knew what to look out for. And weren't spending the money for transport. And then it went for a price thay your happy with once factoring repairs to get it up to scratch. It probably is worth it.
But your not getting any of those benefits. So any cost savings you will save will likely dissapear very quick. And then you would have been better off spending a little bit more or waiting for a local example.
The car should be under warranty, but if the service book is "incomplete" then Hyundai may reject any warranty claims.
The car is a dud. End of story. OP is a champ for bringing us this thread.
Had someone call up about a car bought at auction with no VIN on the car anywhere, not under the windscreen, no build or compliance plate and ground off the engine.
They were wondering how they could find out what the VIN was, long story, you can't. You have no idea what you're getting from auction and may only be able to sell it for parts.
"Whilst every effort is made in the preparation of this description, it is a 'guide' only and no guarantee or warranty whatsoever is made as to the accuracy of the information contained within."
This is some scummy fine print. In other words, we can lie, deceive and withhold anything we want.
Never buy a vehicle without being able to test drive it. Pretty simple.
I bought my first near new / "expensive" car from Pickles back in the day. Even though I inspected it, and they came with a basic mechanical check, I'd looked at 50 plus similar cars that day and didn't notice the radiator overflow was damn near empty on this particular one. Once purchased, before leaving, I told them this, and asked how something this simple could not form part of their nrma backed inspection regime. They said it didn't, it was tough shit, put some water in it and get it out of here. I had a $700 service performed on it by a mechanic near Pickles (which I had planned anyway), before driving it home. It eventually required a radiator, which wasn't a big deal, but it was a rocky start.
Edit: In more recent years, once everyone got the same idea, prices at Pickles have been largely comparable /exceeded private sale prices, where you can test drive etc. Not worth buying at auction, unless you have a mate that can get access to the trade auctions.
@haylazf16: I think it's very kind of you to share your experience, hopefully someone learns something from it.