BUYING A SCOOB FROM AUCTION
 

OK, I WORK AT A CAR AUCTION ON THURSDAYS DRIVING THEM THROUGH THE RING, TOMORROW THERE IS A K PLATE SCOOB GOING THROUGH WITH 123K ON THE CLOCK, LOOKS IN REALLY GOOD NICK THOUGH, AND BEING STAFF COULD PRBABLY WANGLE THE KEYS FOR AN HOUR SO I CAN HAVE A GOOD BUTCHERS AT IT, IM NOT MECHANICLY MINDED SO WHAT SHALL I LOOK OR LISTEN OUT FOR, I KNOW YOUR PROB SAYING THERE MUST BE SUMMAT WRONG WITH IT CAUSE ITS GOING THROUGH AN AUCTION, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW DO YOU,. ANY ADVICE WOULD BE MAGIC, :notworthy

make sure theres some service history with it, if there is swipe it :) the price will be a lot lower, listen for any knocking in the engine, check the fluids, make sure theres no nasty smoke, and then turn your caps lock off. :)

Shaggy you are wasted on here

Turn your Caps lock off !

ROFPMSL

Pete

do not bid on vehicle if it has gold wheels, an 'expert' off here reckons it drops the bhp by at least 50 or 60

its got crystal indicators aswell so i spose thats another 10 gone, is that better shaggy.

nah the de-tango'ed repeaters should make up for the wheels. i wouldn't touch a scoob without service history, especially at auction

we had one go through last week which was another pre face lift, i think it reached 1750.

basically i konw about the water in the oil and gunge in the oil cap, how do i tell if the bottom end is going, or gone, what tests can i do, any other nasy things apart from that, excuse my ignorence but as i said im not that deeply mechanicly minded, cheers.

lol........... it will probably end up on ebay advertised as:

"MINT condition 280bhp scooby" with 40000 miles on the clock!

(I dont mean you will do that mate) ..but you knwo what i mean!

If the engine doesnt knock then it has to be worth it for the parts if the price is right.

Whats the matter with buying at auction. Just because its an auction it does'nt mean the car is a heap either scooby or otherwise. I've been in the trade for over twenty years and buy a great deal of cars/vans and trucks from auctions. The only down side I have found is the large amount of money left in my pocket after buying these vehicles.
I recently bought a 95 wrx import from an auction with no test, just to keep my 13 year old son happy as he likes them. Took it for an MOT (straight one) passed with no probs. That was mine including test fee for just under £1600.
I liked it so much I bought another one and traded it out with no probs.
All this fuss people make about service history is rubbish. Just because there may be a service book stamped up to the hilt and loads of bills for work done don't mean a thing.
False service history is an easy thing to get for any car and is done regulary of all types of cars, especially scoobies and similar as the "punters" like it and makes them feel safe.
Full service history even if correct, does'nt mean that the engine/gearbox/turbo won't blow up at the end of the week that you bought it.
I'd much rather pay out for an engine on a car that stands me in £1600 than £5k.

my thoughts exactly m8, service history dosnt really mean jack, the only concern i have about buying a car like this from auction is why is the damn thing there in the first place, why not selling privatley, but as i have stated i work there so i have got a big advantage over people can only buy it as they see it,
now wait for the wave of comebacks.

Bang on lad.. All this **** about UK cars and service history from some members on this site is laughable. If a scooby is fuc#ed its fuc#ed.

It's probably gone to auction from a dealer who took it as a trade in, a 93wrx with 123k is hardly forecourt material. You can expect to pay very little for it really, as the saying goes you get what you pay for

right i checked the car over this morning, couldnt acutualy drive it cause it had been put in the row but the guy who rowed it said he took it for a blast and it was ok, i have had a quick check over and there are no nasty ratles or bangs, but there is a squeking like noise coming from one of the cam wheels by the sound of it, as if it needs a bit of wd40 or summat, cam belt was changed in may with recipt, the reserve is £2700, i dont think it willreach anywhere near that . what do you peeps think about it. :)

I'd be surised if it made £2700 at auction. I think you're on to a loser there :(

If you plan on keeping it then you may be able to factor this in as you won't be selling it it on to make money, plus you have had the advantage of looking over it in a bit off detail, unlike all the other likely buyers.

I bought a 1994 UK spec that had 130000 on the clock with no S/H and it ran faultlessly!

Taking into account the milage I'd be willing to pay about 2250 for it and try flog it for about 3000. I recon if you pay £2500 you'd be getting an okay deal if its pretty clean etc. And remember you get what you pay for ;-)

the milage is in kms so really its only done 70,000 miles , so thats ok, its just this squeeking thats botherig me, i rang a couple of dealers and they said it could be a belt, or one of the cam pulleys is on its way out, if it goes then its buy buy engine basicly,

It should'nt get anywhere near £2700 but you never know with auctions. You only need two people who want it and it could reach the reserve. REMEMBER if its in from a trader it may not be the first time they have tried it at auction even if its the first time at yours. If it stands them in a few quid they will try a few before biting the bullit and lose money on it.
See what it make's and put your offer in accordingly direct to the trader. As you know the girls in the office will be able to contact him once its gone through and not met the reserve.
For example if it reaches £1500 make your offer at £1600. When they phone him be around so you can hear what the response is. He may, if your lucky drop to £2000 straight away just to get shot of it depending on how long he has had it and what it stands him in. He will probably say that £2500 buys the car so just offer what your max is. In my opinion obviously without seeing the car, if you don't get it for £2200 walk away. There are plenty out there and it won't be long before you find one.
Best of luck with it anyway.
Keep us posted.
Cheers
Del

well , i drove the scoob through last night and as i know a few of the punters there who could spot a touch up from 50 yards they said it may have been in a smash, also while they were proding and revving the engine for 20 mins it looks like the head gasket has gone to, as i came out of the ring to take it back up to the yard i floored it and there definatly wasnt that scooby pull, also as i parked it up steam started coming from under the bonnet, i cant belive i didnt spot this before, maybe i didnt leave it running long enough, there was one good point though, i didnt buy it,

so im gonna save for another turbo now, so has anyone got a sport for sale for around 2,2.2k please let me know, cheers.

Have a look on www.imprezasport.net :)