-	Scottish Motor Auction Group, Kinross
		Scottish Motor Auction Group Bridgend Kinross Fife KY13 8EN Tele: 01577 862 564 Sale Date: Monday 12th April 2004 Sale Type: General Motor Vehicles, General Sales every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6.30 p.m. Buyer’s Premium: None The SMA auction house at Kinross is unusual for Scotland in that it didn’t emerge as a natural enlargement to an historic agricultural auction site. The current site was purpose built after a topographic survey suggested the location had all the correct requirements for a successful auction development. Equidistant to the cities of Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee, the Kinross auction, with its large purpose-built car park and restaurant, has flourished over the past twenty years. The Easter Monday Sale Hubby and I attended is the quietest of the three sales. The general rule is that when the garages are busy so are the auctions. However, for a quiet sale there was still a fair crowd of around 200 punters vying for 313 cars. Hubby deals in 4x4s; so a car auction for us is like a trip down memory lane. Our objective was to make £500 profit on a car. The cars for sale fell into three categories. • Main Dealer Agent, i.e. trade-ins put through auction to clear forecourts • Finance House, repossessions or part exchange • Private. In Kinross, some of the cars are genuinely private entries; locals from the rural surrounds using the auction as a place to sell. However, be warned that in most car auctions these supposedly ‘private’ cars are polished bangers put into the sale by small-time street dealers who have been unable to sell them on. The cars we were interested in fell into the Main Dealer Agent category. Remember that these are generally a safer investment. I was informed that the Kinross Auction is the most expensive car auction in Scotland, more expensive than the Ingliston sale in Edinburgh, even, but then the song of the car trader is that ‘there is no money to be made’. This mantra always makes me wonder, if that really is the case, why do they bother attending? It certainly didn’t seem too expensive when several cars I liked could be had below trade price in Glass’s Guide. There were two things that struck me about this auction: the first was that, overall, the cars seemed to be in pretty good condition and quite genuine, the second was the punters had manners. There was no intimidation, no flexing of muscles, no throwing each other out the way as the cars went through. Men apologised if they were in the way when I was inspecting vehicles. I’ve never been at a motor trade auction where such impeccable manners and politeness were displayed. Such consideration made for a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere, but they also made it a wee bit boring. I expect a free adrenalin rush at every sale; nothing of that kind was to be had at Kinross (timid buyers should be suitably grateful and take note – Ed). There was no buyer’s premium, as is usual at motor trade auctions, but there was the standard indemnity fee. This is an insurance premium paid to the auction house, which lasts for one year. In the course of that year, if you were to discover that your purchased vehicle had been stolen, was subject to an undischarged hire-purchase agreement or had been an insurance loss (not declared at the Sale), your bid price would be refunded. The indemnity fee was £70 for vehicles costing £200 to £499, and on a sliding scale to £95 for vehicles costing £2,000 to £2,999. Auction houses generally check the vehicles for outstanding hire purchase prior to sale such checks should also show up if the car has been an insurance loss, is a write off or, as these vehicles are called in the trade, ‘on the V car’ list. V cars fall into graded categories D to A, D grade being the least damaged. It is illegal to sell on such vehicles without declaring their V Car status. These cars are no use to main dealerships because finance houses won’t lend on them for HP purposes. V cars have to be purchased outright or bought with a personal bank loan hence, they aren’t much sought after for forecourt resale. For a private-use vehicle, I wouldn’t shy away from a V car on a D grade. There is often very little wrong with D/C grades. By the time the vehicle reaches auction, it is fully repaired. The advised bid price on such a vehicle is £1,000 below trade guide price which could mean you have a clear run at purchasing a respectable-looking, fully repaired vehicle for £3,000 below showroom price. Remember that, because you won’t be competing against main dealers (for the reason I gave above), there are bargains to be had. Just make sure the vehicle has been properly repaired prior to purchase. I bought a V car on a D category a while ago. This was a perfect vehicle; a reputable dealer had replaced the original engine with a brand-new one that had only done 250 miles. Glass’s trade price for that car was £4,500 with a forecourt price of £6,500: I got it for £3,750. A year of free driving later, the car is still worth £4,500 for me to sell on declaring it as a V car. We all know the tale of Tommy Two Motors, the bloke who was stitched up when he unwittingly bought two cars that had been welded together. Such a vehicle ought to show up at auction as a V car on an A grade. At least at auction, where such checks are done openly, you ought to know beforehand what you are buying: on the forecourt such information checks aren’t readily available to the public. For an independent HP check, call 01722 435500 or the AA. Some V-class vehicles in decent condition under the hammer were a 1999 Vauxhall Corsa GLS 12V 1.0 three-door in petrol blue, 50,555 miles with six months’ MOT and no obvious damage sold at £780. A 1996 Rover 618 SI 1.9 four-door in green with a six-month MOT and 76,678 miles made a bid of £650. A T-reg Vauxhall Astra Club 1.6 four-door in lime green with warranted mileage of 44,932 and an MOT until June didn’t sell at £2,050. The usual cheap run-arounds were there: a K-reg Nissan Primera LX 1.6 in vile mauve colour, 125,000 miles and little MOT sold for £190. No reserve price on that seemed to cause overly enthusiastic bidding. I wouldn’t have given £50. What I did like was a T-reg Proton Persona XLI 1.6 five-door, finance repossession, with 30,849 miles in lilac, which sold for £650: a cheap car in good condition (except for a door lock), the colour making it an easy sell ,with about £500 profit to a girl driver. Several K- and L-reg Ford Escorts would have lasted enough months to make the £70 to £100 hammer prices worthwhile, and an M-reg Mondeo 1.8, in regulation boring blue, sold provisionally for £200. One of the most upmarket cars there was a green VW Golf MK 4 GT TDI diesel, with 31,233 warranted miles, cruise control, air con., and service history. The reserve was £9,800; so where was the profit for an auction buyer? The car remained unsold after a bid of £8,200. An S-reg VW Sharan 1.9 TDI with part service history made £3,900. A P-reg VW Golf MK 3 Driver with long MOT and very shiny (too shiny?) red paint made me suspicious of the 99,000 unwarranted miles, but it sold provisionally for £1,450. With a full service history, the resale value could have been up to £5,000; so really it wasn’t a bad deal. Hubby meanwhile was starting to bid on some cars. I had wanted the purple Proton because I saw £500 in it. There were two 1996/7 Fiestas I saw a profit in too, but Hubby has a trained eye. He started by bidding on a 1999 Toyota Corolla SE 1.3 three-door in silver, MOT July, 63,777 miles not warranted, but the car was, overall, genuine. The auctioneer asked it be taken out at a top bid of £2,150. Next came a white 1998 Renault Megane RT 1.6 with no MOT and 47,839 miles, which I didn’t like. Hubby was outbid at £1,450. Then the 1998 dark-blue Peugeot 306 LX 1.4 he had liked arrived in the ring… but blowing white smoke (not a good sign). He changed his mind, didn’t offer the hammer fell at £1,800. Someone has bought a headache. Then came a dark-green 1999 Renault Megane 1.4 RT, four-door, warranted 51,000 miles, part service history, one former keeper and a full year’s MOT from a main dealership. His provisional bid of £2,100 held the car while I negotiated. After some haggling, a price of £2,250 was agreed upon, which with the indemnity on top took the full outlay to £2,363. Not a bad day’s work considering that the trade price in Glass’s Guide is £2,800 and the recommended retail price is £3,995. The car is now sitting like a peach waiting for its new owner to come along. It didn’t even need a valet, just the side of the driver’s seat stitching a little; so, all in all, it was quite a productive day at Kinross. Hopefully, our goal of making £500 with £2,500 will be achieved. About Scottish Motor’s Easy to get there? Yes, just a few miles over the Forth Road Bridge, north of Edinburgh, on the way to Perth. Parking? Plenty of spaces, so parking is no problem. Refreshments? There is an on-site restaurant and on-site fish-and-chip shop for takeaways. Catalogues/estimates? Catalogues are available from 3 p.m. on the day of the sale. The reserve price of vehicles for sale can’t be revealed the first time they are put through the auction, but thereafter the reserve price can be released to interested buyers. We say? Not a bad sale and certainly relaxed and competent. I’d certainly go again, but I wouldn’t make it my regular auction, because I like more excitement, more cut and thrust. But it is a good place to purchase a quality family car at a very fair price. Susan McNarey ©Government Auction News 2004