Risks and benefits of an auction?

Dear sir and madam I am thinking about buy a used car, my friends recommend to buy one from the auctions. Could you please tell me what the risks and benefits if I do so?

12.04.2018

Our answer:

Hi James,

The big benefit of buying at auction is the price. Generally speaking, auctions are where the motor trade goes to secure cars, so if you buy one at auction you’ll be essentially getting it at wholesale price. That’s great, but the pitfall is that you don’t get to drive or test the car beforehand — you’ve buying it as seen. Now, you can go along and inspect the car ahead of the auction, and check out its paperwork, but that’s it — if there’s a big problem with the car, you won’t discover it until you own it.

Is it worth the risk? It can be if you do your homework. Make sure you study up on the make and model in which you’re interested, learn its common faults and failings and make sure you go along to a couple of auctions first, in which you’re not going to bid at all — just get used to the atmosphere and the setup. When you do go, ready to bid, make sure you have an uppermost price in mind, and don’t go above it. Don’t get caught in a bidding war either, as unless you’re buying something really unusual, there’ll be another one along in a minute, so don’t let the auctioneer use you to drive the price of a car up (which is their job, after all).

Answered by Shane O'Donoghue
17.04.2018

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