Car Auctions

[neil_loves_marie]

thinking of going car auction in the new year to buy a car after new year.
never ever been to 1 and just wondered how it works on driving car home.

do i need to insure the car to drive it or as i'm buying it for the wife can i drive it on my insurance being fully comp and allowed to drive other cars.

or is it worth getting a traders policy??

[Zacs-Master]

Some good info here
http://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/buy/Useful-information/How-to-buy-at-auction/
Some other good info if you type car action into the red search box above.
And here
http://www.ehow.com/how_4473615_buy-car-auction.html

[neil_loves_marie]

so technically i can just buy, pay and drive away...
i didn't really wanna mess about swapping insurance on my policy for a hour or so to then take a new policy out.
at least cus its in wifes name i can at least drive it home on my insurance.

was only looking at traders policy as it would save aggro on keep ringing insurances up and paying the admin fees to swap and change.

cheers, i'm actually going to BCA in Walsall on jan 3rd, saw a few small ones in the catalogue i'm interested in for her.

[Zacs-Master]

Good luck, hope you get a bargain.

[New Judge]

No, you cannot just buy, pay and drive it away. From the BCA website:

“Remember that it’s an offence to drive a vehicle on the road without valid insurance, a current Vehicle Excise Licence and MOT certificate (if applicable), so you need to make suitable arrangements.”

As part of the “suitable arrangements” under the “Continuous Insurance” regulations all vehicles must now be insured in their own right before being kept or driven on the road. The full details are here:

http://www.mib.org.uk/Motor+Insurance+Database/en/Continuous+Insurance+Enforcement/default.htm

But to save you looking it up, the first paragraph says this: “As part of Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), it is now a legal requirement for registered vehicle keepers to insure their vehicle(s) at all times.”

On your own policy you may be insured to drive cars not belonging to you (and even this is dodgy because you may have difficulty convincing the police that a car you had just bought and paid for is not yours) . But the car must have a policy which covers it in its own right and it must be recorded on the Motor Insurers’ Database. If not you risk having the car impounded as well as being prosecuted for No Insurance (minimum six penalty points). You are most unlikely to be able to buy a traders’ policy as (I assume) you are not a trader.

So unless the auction house has some sort of arrangement to temporarily provide cover for cars that they sell (as some motor traders do) you will have to arrange cover.

[neil_loves_marie]

newjudge -
that is great, i will wait till i can get through on the phone to ask where i stand on this issue.
don't really wanna wait a week for cover note to come through but has you say they may have a temp thing that allows private buyers to drive home.
only live 20 mins from auction and my mom lives 5 mins away so only need enough cover to get it to either of these places.

[New Judge]

And don't forget that once your cover expires you will have to take the car off the road and declare it so to the DVLA. If you leave it on the road it needs to be insured (in its own right) even if it is not driven.

[TWR]

A tip here you need to remember, first if you do not have any idea of the Mechanics of a car, take someone with you that knows otherwise you may come unstuck, If you have a car in mind, do your home work first by checking Google sites of the faults that car has ( some cars have a lot ) If you get there early you can view, get there late & you see a car you like & start bidding, you may come unstuck, check your Insurance price for the car, check the cars history as soon as you have bought, (If you have bought one,) that can fall back on the Auction if the car has been in a write off, look inside the engine bay? is it very clean?? "Why" has it new pedal rubbers?? "Why" your mechanic or whoever should know what he / she is looking for & if you are advised against, take the advice & walk away, at times Auctions can be a way of getting rid of a troublesome car just remember that.

[neil_loves_marie]

TWR - i will do research as I do in buying anything but I aren't a mechanic but know my way round an engine.
I'm only looking at small cars anyway, such as ka, punto, corsa so when its home insurance won't really be much for the wife.