First... to realise capital and release cash tied up in vehicles, many large garage groups are owned or tied up with Finance Companies or Banks. To have large numbers of vehicles tied up on forecourts is very expensive, so they put them through the auctions and rely on low or very low profits, but are able to release large amounts of cashflow by doing so.

There are also many Lease or Hire vehicles put through for more or less the same reasons, it also enables the hire companies to update their fleet on a regular basis.

These vehicles are usually 2 years old or less and therefor fairly expensive, you will however save a significant amount of money, which could be up to 2 Thousand pounds off the normal forecourt asking price dependant on the make and model, but remember you get no guarantee (unless there is some of the original Manufacturers guarantee left which is transferable) and as a rule no come back if a few days later something goes seriously wrong, it will probably not have been serviced when you buy it and will almost certainly need a thorough going over and a Major service.

Second... to sell vehicles taken in part exchange which are not "late" vehicles or are not what the garage group concerned wishes to sell and guarantee.

These vehicles will usually have fairly high mileages but will probably have been being used up to a few days before the auction and therefor possibly in reasonable condition, and are worth a very careful look at, they usually run at prices between £500 and £5000, and will usually carry the garage groups name on them. (They will not carry guarantees and the mileages are never warranted).

Thirdly... to get rid of a vehicle that could not be guaranteed, is probably in poor condition and could and probably would be a major liability to anyone buying it, it may have been put in by one of the Jack the Lads who are making very good livings out of buying wrecks tarting them up and putting them through auctions, mainly because there's no come back and very little chance of them being traced, it will havebeen made to look very pretty and will seem like a good buy, you must be onyour guard, (remember good, clean, sound cars can normally be sold very easily privately via newspapers or word of mouth). It may of course have been put in by someone quite genuine who needs to put their hands on some cash very quickly, but that's the gamble you take when buying from an auction.

If you do decide to go the auction route make sure you take someone with you, remember Two heads are always better than one.

Decide on how much you want to spend and add a further £300 to £500 over that amount, because in my experience that's probably what you will have to spend to bring it up togood road worthy condition,including an MOT and a full Service. Irrespective of what is said by the auctioneer about the length of MOT on the car, I have never yet bought a car from an auction on behalf of one of our customers that went through an MOT without the need for some attention however small.

Get to the auction early, allow plenty of time to look around, Make sure that you read all of the instructions which are very clearly displayed at the larger and more reputable auctions, and listen to the recorded advice given before each auction starts.

Select the vehicle you would like to buy, have a good look at it, (Remember- you do not have the same opportunity of checking a vehicle at an auction as you do on a forecourt).

Take as good a look as you can... check that the vehicle looks generally intact and if possible check the following items:-

The Bodywork - check for colour matching on each panel (it may have been in an accident)... carefully run your fingers under and around the wheel arches checking for body filler covering serious corrosion, but be very careful, you may cut yourself... ... check the Windscreen forcracks and chips etc... the Lights- that they're all there and not broken... the Tyres - have they got a good tread depth on them, and are the walls in good condition with no bulges or cuts, if possible see if it's got a spare wheel... if you can see inside the vehicle... check the Seats and Seat Belts - that they work... I fit's got Electric Windows - checkthem.. check the Pedal Rubbers for signs of wear, this will give some idea of whether the mileage on the Speedometer matches the kind of wear on them, check the Speedometer and the year of the vehicle, remember an average mileage is approximately 8,000 to 10,000 miles per year, compare the Two ie: 5 years old should equate to approximately 40 to 50,000 miles, (however, if a vehicle has been serviced well and regularly throughout it's life, modern vehicles can still give excellent service having done twice the average mileage or even more).

If you can wait until the vehicle is being driven into the auction ring, listen to the engine - how it starts, what it sounds like - if it rattles or rumbles leave it well alone, if it smokes badly - either heavy white or heavy Blue smoke again leave it alone, white smoke usually means a head gasket problem and blue smoke means warn pistons or piston rings, check that it's in tact inside, for some petty reason many vehicles have the Radio/Cassette taken out, and to replace one could prove expensive.

You will probably not have the time, the opportunity or the facilities tocheck all of these things, but check as many and as much as you can, it will save a lot of heart break and serious cost later.

You will also have to pay a buyers insurance premium which can cost between £35 and £90 dependant onthe cost of the vehicle you bid on, this only protects you from vehicles which have been "Stolen", or have been "Write Offs" or have "Finance" still owing on them but not notified to the auction. You will have topay 10% deposit at the time your bid is accepted by the auctioneer, and this is irrespective of whether the hammer has been brought down or not, in other words, sometimes your bid may be accepted "provisionally", you will still have to pay the deposit and then wait until the seller has been contacted by the auctioneers to see if your offer is acceptable.

Some of the more professional auctions have started to introduce sectionswith descriptions like...Select... Premier... Special... or even Top Car, in these sections the vehicles are usually well presented ie: they have been well valeted and there for look pretty good, they will claim to have No Major Faults or some such description, which actually relies on the integrity of the seller and not the auctioneers engineers, so you must still treat these sections with some suspicion though it's fair to say that you may stand a slightly better chance of a reasonable purchase through this type of auction rather than the other suck it and see type, and as a rule in these sections you are allowed 1 hour after the sale to bring any faults to the auctioneers attention, so ask for the key and check it over as soon as you can and definitely before you pay the balance of your cash.

Take with you some Oil - Water and Petrol (it's amazing how they always manage to run them so low on petrol) - take a Tow Rope and some Jump Leads, so many of the vehicles have faulty Batteries, and don't forget the vehicle will probably not be Taxed, so take some one with you who has access to "Trade Plates" or buy the car and leave it there for 24 hours until you have Taxed and Insured it.

In conclusion it's fair to say that there are very considerable risks in buying from an auction but there are also opportunities to save a lot of money, you really must give it very serious thought before taking this route, if you do, choose a reputable auctioneer, with a reputation to protect, I wish you good luck and Ihope that you get one of the real bargains that do sometimes, though very rarely, appear.