How Do I Use The Search Facility?
You may not be sure exactly what car is right for you. Think about what you will use the car for and select a body type. Do you want a small, medium or large model with their corresponding engine sizes? Is the manufacturer's reputation and image important? Are
color, age and price important? How far will you travel to view and buy a car?
Click on Search and then try different combinations of these criteria. Body type best reflects what you might want to use the car for, so put that as your first 'sort'. If you think manufacturer is an important criteria, put that as your second 'sort'. So if you put
'SLC' and 'Mercedes', the Search facility will first look only for
SLC, and then from that category it will only look for Mercedes.
You can go back and try again, with the different criteria sorted in different order. This will help you refine your choice, and decide what you really want.
If you know exactly what you want - manufacturer, model, age,
color, price - put these into the search engine and see the results. The more you refine your search the less choice you have, while if you keep it broad there are more options.
If you do not find what you want, register with our Wanted Service and
you will have anyone who views the site may have just what
your looking for. They will be able to send you all the
information on the vehicle that matches your wanted listing. Or, tell us what you are looking for, and we will e-mail you when there is a car matching your requirements on the site.
Should I Travel To Buy?
As the buyer you should normally expect to travel to view and collect a car for which you are the winning bidder. The distance you are prepared to go will probably relate to the price of the car, its scarcity value, and how desirable you find it.
You can search for vehicles in your area or surrounding
area to bid on if they meet your particular needs.
Should I Pay for Extras?
You should only be prepared to pay extra for features that will help the car sell - when the time comes for you to change it. What is important varies slightly from model to model, but strong metallic
colors, generally not red or white, leather trim, air conditioning and automatic transmission are usually more sought after. In some cars having the right 'pack' helps; e.g. a lux pack in a Porsche Boxster, or lux and family packs in a Mercedes ML 320.
Low mileage for the car's age, a service history by a main dealer meeting the manufacturer's specification, and few owners are all important. Having the right features helps the car maintain its value.
What Can I Find Out About The Car?
Find the cars you are interested in on the Search facility, and click on each one. This will allow you to read the full description. There may be a photo that goes with it. We try to make sure that sellers give a full and accurate description of the car, but see our Terms and Conditions.
If you have a question about the listing you may email the
seller for more information.
Can I Contact The Seller Direct?
Yes, just click on the "ask seller a question" and
you will be taken to a page where you can fill in the question
you may wish to ask and then submit and it will automatically
be sent to the seller. We encourage sellers to reply
right away.
How Do I Bid?
Check the bid history. Is there an opening bid price, and increments in which bids should be made? Has the seller set a reserve price? If there have been a number of bids, this is obviously a car people are interested in.
If you want to make a bid, first you have to Register. This is so we can contact you if you are the winning bidder.
You need to have an idea of what the price should be for the car. Look at guides which you can buy in
newspapers, or find on some sites like N.A.D.A. or Kelly Blue
Book ? What you see in other advertisements is what people hope to get, and not what they are prepared to accept or may actually get.
See what other people have bid, and then bid what you think is realistic. There is little point in keeping to an unrealistic bid as the owner is unlikely to accept it, even if it is the highest bid.
You ought to have an idea of the top figure you are prepared to pay. You should probably discount this by two or three hundred
dollars to pay for that little repair, or getting some service done, that you
may be prepared to overlook when buying the car.
How Do I Know What Is Happening With My Bid?
Keep an eye on the progress of the auction by regularly visiting the site, and checking your Member's Page. If your bid has been beaten, bid again. The auction is a market between you, the seller and the other bidders; only you can decide what price is right for you.
What Happens At The Close Of The Auction?
If the highest bid does not meet the seller's reserve price
the seller may re-list the vehicle or may contact the highest
bidder and finalize the deal at that bid. This is totally up
to the seller. If you were the highest bidder and the bid did
not hit the sellers reserve you may still want to contact the
seller and see if he would be willing to accept another
personal bid . You never know the seller may just decide to
let it go.
The seller may re-list his vehicle as many times as he wishes.
We do recommend that he adjust his reserve so as to eventually
sell the car, so keep an eye out for the vehicle to be
re-listed. If you have placed the vehicle on your watch list
we will e-mail you if the vehicle is re-listed.
At the end of each auction we give the seller the contact details of the highest bidder, in case they want to be in touch and negotiate a sale. We ask them to tell us if they accept the highest bid and withdraw the car from the auction. This gives you a chance to have your bid accepted.
What Happens If The Car Is Withdrawn?
We are sorry if a car on which you have made a bid is withdrawn from the auction before it closes. This may happen because the seller accepts another offer outside the auction. While we try to encourage sellers to keep their cars in the auction until the closing date, we
recognize that they may have advertised them elsewhere, and found a buyer in that way.
We can only apologize if this happens to you, and hope that you will find another car on the site which is right for you.
Can I Withdraw My Bid?
Yes, you can. We recognize that you might change your mind, or find something that suits you better
elsewhere.
We would encourage you however, to think seriously before you place a bid, and our Terms and Conditions expressly prohibit you from manipulating the bidding process in any way.
What Happens If I Make The Highest Bid?
We will send your contact details to the seller, who may wish to contact you to negotiate the sale of the car. You might privately agree a price, and arrange to view and collect it.
If your bid meets the seller's reserve price, we will send your details to the seller, and the seller's details to you. You should contact the seller, and make arrangements to view the car and complete the sale.
You must remember that if you bid on an item and you win the
bid, you have entered into a contract with the buyer and you
are obligated to follow through with the purchase. If you fail
to complete the sale you may be subject to removal from the
site and banned from any future use of the site. If there is monetary
loss on the sellers part you may also be responsible for
their losses.
What Happens If The Car Is Not As Described?
If you discover some blemishes when you inspect the car, you can politely point these out to the seller, and reasonably expect to re-negotiate the price down.
If the car is badly misrepresented, you will have to decide whether you want it at all. Please accept our apologies if this happens to you.
We try to make it very clear to sellers to be honest and to
not misrepresent their listings. If this was blatant and we
find that the seller was trying to scam someone, we will
remove them from the site and ban them from future use of the
site.
Please also let us know about a car which you think has been badly
misrepresented. We will ask the seller to provide us with a copy of an independent Visual Inspection, which can be made available to any prospective buyers.
What If I Need To Get Finance?
You should try and make sure you have finance arranged before you bid for a car. If you are the winning bidder you may be able to negotiate with the seller for him/her to wait while you arrange finance. The seller may however wish to accept another bid where the buyer has finance immediately available.
Do I Have A Contract With The Seller?
Yes. If you bid on any listings you are agreeing to follow
through with the offer. Of course if there is
misrepresentation or fraud, then you are not obligated to
follow through. Once you have seen the car and you are happy to pay the bid price, you can write out a simple contract which states the details of the car, the names and addresses of both parties, the price and that the car is 'Sold as Seen'. Even then the car is not yours, and you cannot expect to take it away until you have paid in full.
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