British Car Auctions www.british-car-auctions.co.uk Reviews

ivan1890's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Good Points: Very large numbers of vehicles to choose from, including on occasions new (but pre-registered) vehicles. I have never witnessed BCA taking fictitious bids 'off the wall' even though such is legal. Chance to grab a real bargain. Unlike eBay you will not be buying 'blind.'

Bad Points: Unable to check interior of car (except for a brief peek as it is driven into the auction arena at the point of sale), or open the doors / bonnet, or start the engine or take a test drive. Some auctioneers are clear but others are almost totally unintelligible!

General comments: Although British Car Auction auctions are geared towards dealers (and more than 90% of the bidders appear to fall into this category) private buyers are made most welcome. However hide your copy of 'Parker's Price Guide' (or whatever) otherwise dealers will quickly recognise you as being a private buyer and may bid up the price purely out of spite. Don't believe me? Then ask BCA staff working in the saleroom.

BCA's are a massive, slick, operation but will give you every assistance if you follow the rules. They know most of the dealer bidders and will often slow down the bidding to assist private bidders unfamiliar with the sheer speed at which vehicles are sold.

You will need to pay 10% of the hammer price IN CASH (unless you have an account with BCA) immediately the hammer goes down ,but the balance can be paid by eg. SWITCH card.

Although, if successful, you will need to pay a buyer's premium to the auctioneer this is quite reasonable: Expect to pay an additional £195.00 on a hammer price of £4,950.00.

So long as you have paid in full, BCA will allow you to drive your purchase home the same day and they will not check your driving licence, road tax, or insurance. But, one can of course collect the vehicle at a later date once your papers are in order.

If you have never previously purchased a car in auction I recommend that you first attend as a spectator only. Next time round you will be clear how things work and far less more likely to make a mistake.

Good luck!

Ian Smith1's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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For a first time experience of the auction environment I was pleasantly shocked at the fantastic range of cars and the professionalism of the staff at BritishCarAuction.com - with auction companies having an "arther daily" reputation, I wasn't particuallarly keen to get a car in this way when I had been used to buying from dealerships.

The staff were very friendly and explained the jargon talk (not that there was much), provided me with a full listings of cars by email (no other company would ...