FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - CAR AUCTIONS
Close This Window

WHAT IS A CAR AUCTION?

“A MOTOR AUCTION ACTS AS AN AGENCY BETWEEN SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SELL A CAR, AND SOMEONE WHO WISHES TO BUY IT!”

Motor auctions allow companies, organisations and those people in the car trade to quickly and efficiently dispose of their surplus vehicles.

WHY BUY AT AUCTION?

When you buy your car at auction, you can expect to pay near TRADE PRICES.

To help with your selection, we have fully trained staff at hand to advise you and provide relevant information to enable you to drive the car of your choice home today.

WHERE DO THE CARS COME FROM?

Many of the vehicles within our range of cars are ‘ex-fleet’ or company cars from major businesses that are looking to replace their current fleet and wish to sell their existing models.  Majority come with full service histories.

These are cars that are taken in part exchange against new or newer cars.

These are vehicles surplus to requirements after stock rotation on dealer’s forecourts

End of contract, lease and finance repossessions from major financial institutions.

WHEN CAN I GET MY CATALOGUE LISTING?

If you require catalogue information for:

This can be obtained by:

-clicking to the relevant sale on-line, click here to go back to this menu page. Information is automatically updated every 5 mins to display the Cars allocated to the next relevant sale. 

Complete lists are ready on the day of the sale from 1pm and an updated list is reprinted at 6pm. Please note cars may be allocated and removed from the sale throughout the day.

-using our FAX U BACK facilities, dialing the appropriate number

from the choice below from your fax handset

Mallusk:                       0906 711 0909 Evenings Car Sales

                                   0906 711 0908 Fleet Sales                                       

Portadown :                  0906 711 0910 All Car Sales

       

-PHONE your closest and most relevant branch as listed below and

speak to a member of our sales team directly:  

MALLUSK         Car Dept General Enquiries: John Ardill, Ritchie Leahy

PORTADOWN    Car Dept General Enquiries: Edmund Madine, David Miskelly

CAN I GET A PRICE FOR THE CAR?

Information regarding reserves or prices is not given out on any vehicle or item for sale.

However, a member of our customer service or sales team can offer you an AUCTIONEER’S ESTIMATE for the price it might achieve. This is as its name suggests, just an estimation, based on past selling prices and guidebook estimations.  A valuation service is also provided to help set reserve prices for selling your vehicle or to give you an idea how much a certain item may fetch

WHAT IS AN INDEMNITY FEE?

Wilsons Auctions provide a service to our customers whereby each vehicle on our premises undergoes an intensive search on the Vehicle Condition Alert Register.  This scheme is provided to purchasers of cars safeguarding against outstanding finance, major insurance claims or accident damage and appearance on the stolen vehicle register.   

WHAT CAN I DO TO ENSURE I GET A GOOD BARGAIN?

We are open Monday Friday and Saturday mornings for visual inspection of all vehicles within our display area on site.

For vehicles you are interested in, we can give you information on: Date of Reg, Engine Specification, MOT, tax, mileage, features and an auctioneer’s estimate

For vehicles under 4 years old we provide a test-drive and guarantee against faults with the engine, gearbox and transmission (if so described by vendor).  

We suggest you arrive early, check out the car you’re interested in, satisfy yourself that it is what you are looking for.  If you want to come down just to have a look, you don’t have to buy first time or even second time. We also recommend you bring a mechanic friend to help you check out the vehicles up for auction.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE CARS FOR SALE ?

Cars come from a variety of sources but the majority come from Major Financial Institutions and Finance Company Vendors who want to dispose of surplus vehicles.  These fall into five categories: end of term, end of contract, repossessions, ex-fleet, voluntary surrenders.  A full listing of the organisations we sell on behalf of is available on request.

In the majority of cases, these are one owner cars.. These vehicles come with descriptive information about MOT, TAX, full service histories, warranted mileage (miles are checked and guaranteed) and vehicle documents.  

The remainder of vehicles come from main agents, franchise dealer networks, regular Wilsons Auctions account holders, local companies and private individuals.  

The information on these vehicles comes from the vendor direct who is not allowed to misrepresent or misinform potential buyers.

WHAT DOES ‘SOLD AS SEEN’ REALLY MEAN?

Although buying your car within this category could save you £100s, all vehicles are purchased as they are seen including all possible faults and no test drive is given. All visible items-body work, paintwork, chassis, spare wheel, tyres, battery, electrical equipment and interior are sold as they are presented and with all faults however serious they may be. 

Engine and mechanical assessment can only be made while the vehicle is driven through the auction hall on the night of the auction. No keys will be given out for the vehicle until full payment is made.  

This applies to all cars within the Blue Ring, for cars over 5 years old, and under the value of £500 and those so described in the White Ring. In this way, after purchase no complaints about the vehicle can be submitted.

HOW DO I BID?  IF I NOD MY HEAD AT THE WRONG TIME, WILL I END UP WITH 5 CARS INSTEAD OF ONE?

Auction processes are so simple when you know how…. And that’s all it is, overcoming the unknown.

The auctioneer has a perfect viewpoint from up on top of the rostrum so don’t be worried.  He is looking for deliberate actions such as raising your hand and putting it in the air.  The gestures of winks and nods are left to regular traders who they are looking out for anyway.  Read through your Buyer’s Guide which explains the auction process in detail and if you have any further questions, there is a staff helpdesk during evening auctions ready to answer all your queries.

CAN I TEST DRIVE A CAR?

Test drives are given on selected vehicles usually offered in our White ring, which are under 4 years old, unless otherwise stated. This information is visible on the vehicles window sticker in our display area or on request from any member of staff regarding a particular car.

Vehicles under this description, GOOD MECHANICALLY, TEST DRIVE , should not have any major faults to the following: Engine, gearbox, transmission.  You need to satisfy yourself with other features of the car i.e. body work, paintwork, chassis, spare wheel, tyres, battery, electrical equipment and interior, to ensure that you are happy to proceed with the purchase of the vehicle.

Test drives are then offered after successful bidding on a vehicle and on receipt of a part payment.  All inspections and test drives under the categories of engine, gearbox and transmission, then you must report this as soon ass possible to a member of staff after the test drive.  Complaints of this nature can only be accepted up to 12noon of the following day after purchase of the vehicle.

Part payments on test drives are not refundable unless a valid complaint is registered.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A CAR SOLD TO YOU ‘PROVISIONALLY’?

If you are sold a car ‘PROVISIONALLY’ this means that the car that you have won the bidding on, has not reached it reserve price.  The auctioneer will contact the vendor to ask if he’ll accept the bid, or will negotiate a price in between.  It will be the following day before clearance is given.

The money you have paid is a deposit and if your bid is unsuccessful this will be refunded to you or put toward another vehicle of your choice.  In order to have your deposit refunded, you will have to bring your receipt and proof of identity and your deposit cheque will be gladly returned.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE CAR?

All vehicles must be paid for within 48 hours of purchase i.e. cars bought on a Thursday should be paid for by Saturday and those bought on a Tuesday should be paid for by Thursday.

Settlement of your account may be made in cash, by bankers draft, by Building Society or Finance Company Cheque made payable to WIlsons Auctions Limited.  We also accept Switch/Delta and major credit cards (credit card charges apply).  A personal cheque will be accepted, but the car will only be released when your cheque has been cleared.  This usually takes five working days.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PAYMENT YOU MUST CONTACT THE CASHIER BEFORE BIDDING FOR A CAR.

HOW DO I GO ABOUT PUTTING A CAR INTO AUCTION AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Bring your car up early on the day of auction or even the day before! We will accept your car right up to 7pm on the night of the auction…

PLEASE NOTE: ONLY CARS IN BEFORE 4PM WILL BE ADVERTISED IN OUR AUCTION CATALOGUE AND ON THE INTERNET, THEREFORE THE EARLIER THE BETTER!

Tell us your vehicle’s registration number, postcode and contacts details and we will produce an entry form which you must checked and signed.

Bring all car documents, MOT certificate, Tax Book (V5), Log book and service history and additional keys etc

PLEASE NOTE: ONLY CARS ACCOMPANIED BY A VALID V5 TAX BOOK WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR SALE

Payment for sold vehicles is one week from the sale after 7pm by Cheque, i.e sold on a Tuesday, cheque ready following Tuesday after 7pm .  Cheques can be collected during evening auctions, bring along full photographic I.D. Uncollected cheques will be posted to your contact address the following day.

Any further queries, refer to our Guide to Selling Your Car at Auction.

 THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF STIGMA ATTACHED TO CAR AUCTIONS IN THE PAST, SO WHY SHOULD PEOPLE GO TO AN AUCTION TO BUY THEIR CAR?

LET’S OVERCOME THE MYTHS….Auctions are no longer tin huts where men in cloth hats drink mugs of tea and stand and look at rusty old bangers…

Wilsons Auctions are the largest auction house in Ireland and the third largest auction house in the UK . With purpose built auction complexes, rows of cars, heated auction halls, restaurant and parking facilities, Wilsons Auctions provides you with a safe and comfortable environment to choose a car from our massive range of quality used vehicles ready to be sold and driven away.  The only ISO 9002:2001 registered auction house in Ireland , with its own Customer Service Department, we offer a friendly and professional service that is second to none.  

Auction processes are so simple when you know how…..and that’s all it is, overcoming the unknown and taking some time to be acquainted with them.  

If you are buying, you can expect to pay near Trade Prices, if you are selling you will almost certainly receive more at auction than if you were trading in, taking into account the mark-up on whatever you were taking out in exchange.  At auction you certainly have more legal protection than if you were to buy or sell your car privately. Auctions charge you a fee to indemnify you against your purchase being stolen, having outstanding finance still owing on it or being an undeclared insurance write-off.  

When buying at auction, mistakes can be made, as with any endeavour which requires a degree of self-discipline and the ability to take responsibilities for ones own actions, but as long as care is taken, you should be able to save yourself money, time and aggravation.