are there any in/near sheffield ? anyone had any experience at them ?

chrs

There are 2 I know of

Chesterfield - Nr Tesco
Rotherham - straight over at the end of The Parkway

I have bought at auction before, best thing to do is just go along have a look around and watch for a few weeks. Then when you are feeling brave enough and you spot something, make a bid, but no your limit.

It also helps if you know a bit about cars and what to look for, or take someone along who does.

You can get some bargains:thumbsup:

There's also a big one at Bawtry

Originally posted by AJCrowley
are there any in/near sheffield ? anyone had any experience at them ?

chrs

I went some years ago. They used to be plenty of car traders there bidding and I noticed some would purchase up to 20 cars a night.

On some days there used to be lots of Fleet cars and ex Police cars that used to go through the auction, these were generally in good nick with full service history but quite high milege.

They will no doubt have changed since I last went.

I think the one in Bawtry is better than the Chesterfield one which always seems to be mostly old bangers

Bawtry is good.

However some tips.

Go to one, with no money in your pocket and absolutely NO intention of buying. WATCH and observe the goings on - note the regular bidders (car dealers and seasoned auction veterans). Look at the stuff they bid on, and when they stop.

With some auctions, although they are all better now than some used to be I think, beware of bidding against the wall (where the auctioneer accepts your bid, then accepts a phantom bid and waits for you to bid again)

If you can't spot an absolute turkey of a car within 30 seconds, take an expert along with you for advice. There are some tricks unscrupulous sellers (not the auctioneer, the seller using the auction) can use to get a nearly-dead car to sound and look OK as it drives through the auction. If you can't tell the condition of a car by using your ears, not your eyes, then auctions are not the place for you - unless you know someone who can go along with you.

I think Chesterfield (half an hour) and Bawtry(bout half an hour) auctions are the same company but Bawtry tends to be the better of the 2.....I often go down the A1 to Newark motor auctions (bout hour) or there is Meinham/M1 at the Rotherham end of the Parkway(15mins away)....Morley nr Leeds(bout half an hour) int too bad either....

cheers for all the replies, pretty much what i thought, but i'd never noticed that one in rotherham (says a lot about my brain i suppose...)