Car Auctions

ahhh car auctions

Used to love them. I used to go with my old man who would treat us to our annual family car. He'd always go for something that had 12 months MOT and Tax, then run into the ground for 12 months, flog it in the paper for not much less than he paid for it, and then go and buy next years.

Maxi's were his favourite if I remember rightly

Tried it myself, bought a fantastic Mitsubishi Galant, all singing all dancing, engine sounded great, every extra imaginable, looked the business, went for an absolute bargain with minimal bidders.

Did the deal, handed over the dosh, went to pick it up, started first time, but had no clutch.... Anyone that knows an early 1990's Galant will know it costs a fortune to replace the clutch (apart from me).

If it sounds too good to be true..... yeah whatever....

If you're buying from an auction, then know your stuff

Ouch, Allot of the cars went for pennies they had the same car I have with double the mileage and it went for

Hey I've worked before in a car auction for 2 years connected in Japan. Usually if the brand of the car is Jap you can assume that it was ported from Japan to your place. Japan has an environmental tax in terms of smoke emissions and the older your car is the higher the tax which is almost the same as buying a new car. So that's why they have a lot of released used cars and most of them are auctioned.

The Japanese most of the time will give you detailed reports even with the smallest dent or engine problems so to start it off since you are aware that 24 hours before the auction you are also given an opportunity to view the cars and check the damages. On the diagram sent by Japan included in the Bill of Lading is a damage report that you can get. Mind you that whichever part of the world the receiver of the goods or Japan itself if the client (auction house) requested it they can rewind the mileage of the car so that it can have a lower mileage and the price or the value of the car will be higher...

I know that this can be surprising (or not?) but its true. I have processed car orders before to Jamaica, Carribean, and South America including Asia and I usually get a request from an auction house to rewind the mileage of the car.

So to top it off if the auction house is kind enough to have like an open house viewing to check the car first for physical dents, problems or damages wherein you can see it no just through the selling card.

You can also reference the car (if you still have time) by checking used car websites for prices and just check out your taxes if its reasonable enough for the amount the bid starts off then you're all good.

Hope this gives an idea.