Dave Thornton

Hi - I'm thinking about buying a secondhand car at auction that will be easy to sell on after 6 months. The plan is that I could buy something with plenty of mileage before a service (and good tyres etc) and do about 5k miles in it before selling. With low depreciation and picking a car with good mpg it should be quite cheap motoring.

The trouble is that I want it to be a reasonably decent car too i.e. probably German, or Japanese. Budget is £6-£10k.

I'm quite open to ideas, currently thinking about a BMW 120d, 320d, 330d, Mini Cooper. Must be easy to sell on privately ...

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

How about a VW Golf 4 or 5 or Audi A3 tdi, should be easy to pick up and will sell easy in future.

bpm1588

you should get a well spec'ed d4d avensis for that sort of money,ok not very cool or exciting but upside is zero problems with it.only problem is you don't see many in auctions as even dogs sell so well in private/trade sales.

wise buy in the current climate.

Blueblaster

Can I ask why you are doing this? Can't help thinking you'd be better off getting a cheap runabout - maybe a Mk2 Golf GTI?

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

I guess he's looking for free motoring for 6 months, I'd defo stick German though as the value doesn't drop so rapidly.

Blueblaster

Yeah, I guess so. Alas if it was that simple then we'd all be doing it .

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

cant go wrong with a mazda 6 imho, bloody good car, plenty around, always sell well, and shouldnt depreciate to much over a short period of time, bloody good drive as well.

Dave Thornton

Thanks for replies so far. An old hot hatch such as a mint 205 GTI does have appeal but I would prefer something newer, particularly as a 2.5 year old car has 6 months warranty, even from an auction. Nobody's suggested a BMW yet - can't say I like them but you have to admit they make great engines.

Is the Avensis really the car to have in the non-premium sector? Sounds like Golf or A3 is the better bet, though would have to be 5 door really.

paulwrxboro

im at the sales at least 4 times a week at the moment(getting into buying a few again)
what you need to do is go quite a few times find out the prices of the cars you like and on a good day buy the car you want
dont think just because its in an auction its cheap and your gonna make money
also if your thinking 2.5 year old bmw, over the next six months could lose alot of value and dont forget your looking for somone with a lot of cash and in the currant market theres not alot about, and in six months time ?
my advice would be set a budget of around 3/4 grand get a 03 tdi passat/golf
with higher miles, keep under 100k
today seen a 51 plate 530d older shape in nice order for £4500 with about 90k on the clock
also a 02 merc 220 cdi 140k for £4200
hope this helps

wilffive

mondeo diesel old shape for 3k

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

It's not to hard at all Mate as long as you have patience and pick the right car.

paulwrxboro

you still need to know what your doing and know your way round a car, not so important if your buying 2/3 year old bmw's but still a gamble

the worse thing you can do is just sit in the seats and bid and i see this all the time

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

Yes Appraisal is the key, I know of a Lamborghini Dealer who Appraised a Gallardo, for a customer who was PX against a Murcielago, the customer was very urgent in doing a deal so they did and then when the dealer went to put the Gallardo on sale after the purchase, there was no reverse gear this in turn cost the dealer 14k to sort. Needless to say the Salesman got the bullet.

Dracoro

Apart from anything else, you would NOT get a mint 205 gti (or golf gti m2 for that matter) at an auction. Auctions are for mass sells (co cars, dealer trade ins etc.) and sh1theaps that can't be got rid off in the private sales or dealer forecourts.

Most 205 gtis etc. are in the hands of enthusiasts these days and there's no way they'd chuck them away at auction.

Go for something sporty, S2000, boxster, Z4, 350Z etc. prob lose less money than a eurobox.

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

If he's only keeping car for 6 months then a Rwd coupe/roadster won't be selling in November/December.

Dracoro

S2000s for one sell throughout the year, as do boxsters. not sure about z4s but suspect they do. However not sure about 350z's. On the flipside, crappy things like 4seater conv and cheapo convertibles are very seasonal and I would not want to sell those (CCs, meganes, 207/307s etc.) in autumn/winter.

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

I'd put my money on German cars. Hardtop or Convertible they will sell easy as pie.

vindaloo

Passat, Golf, Bora, Octavia, Toledo (?!) .... 1.9 PD TDI of some type.

Some French Citroen/Peugeot thing with a 2.0HDi.... 307s are OK but maybe not exactly inspiring. Hesitate to mention the C4 as I don't know anyone who's got one.

Maybe a Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Zetec S ???

J.

pete higham

really!!??

https://www.scoobynet.com/other-marq...roof-bmws.html

j4ckos mate

got to the motability sales, and buy family bread and butter stuff.

be aware of the price of petrol and forthcoming road tax increases.
dont let your heart rule your head,

deangtiuk

iTrader: (3)

A lot of cheap cars are sold from Motablility auctions and they usually have full dealer service history, You'll probably find a lot of dealers get their cars for the forecourt from these places. 1 owner, FDSH, Usually low mileage. Can't go wrong.