thanks for the reply,

yea i noticed the prices at auction were pretty close to the lower end on auto trader.. at least for the M3 and S5s that i saw. So i figured it would be better to go through a dealer.

It has worked out so far..

thanks for all the help :)

Hi, be extremely careful at auction at the moment - prices are very volatile, with desirable spec cars fetching almost retail in some cases. If they're cheap, there's usually a reason. Be especially careful with the M3, if one of those fell within your budget, chances are it would be missing the sought-after options, or have missed it's running-in service. M-Power cars must have a service at 1200 miles. If it's not done, it invalidates the warranty!

There are some good cars at auction, but you really need to know what you are doing.

maxsteam:

My opinion is that, if you are paying £30k for a car, you should, at the very least, kick the tyres before you get your wallet out.

Thanks for taking the time to write out this response, it is much apreciated. I think i agree completly.. I have not yet been to any auctions and have a couple of months free so i might pop down and see what they are going for in auction. If i can find an example for 2-3k+ in a showroom i wouldnt mind going ahead with it just for the sake of the security, but if they are fetching 5k+ less in auction, well i may have to take a punt :)...

I think i will steer clear of the car sourcers.. Finding a bargain is important but getting ripped of in the process is not what i want.

One hour seems a veeery short period of time, i think i would have to make arrangements with a local garage on the day to do a priority MOT or vehicle check so i can get that done asap! Can any1 recomend any specialist people or companies for this? AA springs to mind but i dont know..

Again thanks for the reply

Mo

You should check the details for the particular auctioneer that you are looking at but it is usual for them to offer indemnity insurance (to cover you/them if the car is stolen or still on HP) and on more modern vehicles they may offer the buyer the option to return the vehicle within an hour of the sale. Some auctioneers will state, as part of the description, if a vehicle has been an insurance write off but it's still worth looking for kinks in the chassis or doors/panels that don't quite match up. You shouldn't really have any problems with a vehicle on a 57 plate but, if you want to use the warantee, one of the conditions is usually that you have to have the car serviced regularly at a main dealer. What you might save through the warantee, you usually lose through the main dealer service charges.

There may be some genuine car sourcing companies but a lot of them are dodgy. A typical scam is for you to say that you want a 57 plate Jag, the sourcing company pass this information to a struggling business who buys a 57 plate Jag on a finance agreement then, without telling the finance company or settling the agreement, they "sell" the vehicle to you. The business then continues with the payments and, in effect, get a loan together with the responsibility to make monthly payments to the finance company. That could all work out fine as long as you don't want to sell the vehicle before the agreement is paid off and as long as the business can manage to keep up the payments. Unfortunately, this type of finance is often a last resort for a struggling business and, if the business goes into liquidation without paying off the finance agreement, then the finance company will want to take the vehicle back.

Other car sourcing companies simply take the money and run.

My opinion is that, if you are paying £30k for a car, you should, at the very least, kick the tyres before you get your wallet out.

So im thinking of purchasing a new toy.. but it has to be within budget..

Atm i have a list of a few "candidates" but they are all out of budget..

I.e Jag Xf 3.0d Portfolio S... i would pay 30, but they are priced at 35... no matter... i can wait.

Jag XFR (anything on 57+ plate) with all bells and whistles for under 25k.

M3 57plate+ for under 28k... Among others..

Basically a really good car for a bargain I am considerng going to auction as the cars im considering are stilll under manufactors warentee.. This should mean that provided its not stolen or been in an accident, i can get all of the "problems" fixed under warrenty.. SO should be a nice way to save a few pennies when compared to dealerships.. BUT i dont know if this is a v good idea...

I was browsing around and came across some "car sourcing" companies.. you give them the car/cars you want and the budget you want and they do it for you for a fee. But u dont get to see the car till its delivered and u have paid for it.

Just wondering if any1 here has any experiance with such companies and weather they are reliable or not? do they just take ur details and go to auction and then deliver that car? or is there more to this?

Any direction apreciated as i cant find any reviews or such when i google.