british acutions , newport, wales

 

a dealer will (or should) do a full check and replace any bits needing done and normally will give a new MOT. plus theres a warranty - the thing that swung it for me. I had the same thought but decided to play safer with the dealer option and bought from Banwy - would recommend them.

 

Hey Chortle,

When I looked into buying an ex AA T4 I was convinced buying from the auction was the way to go. One company owner, well looked after, cut out the dealers commission etc.

But after going to two auctions I gave up because,


the vans all seemed over priced

they all looked in a very poor condition (despite the on site valet)

had rusting wheels

high milages

there is VAT to pay obviously which does add up

and NOTE all the vans glove box interiors were butchered to allow for the on-board computer

so there was at least one or more things wrong with them all!



My advice is to be careful and buy privately, I did.

Also, most of them go to the BCA auction in Newport South Wales and some to the Manhiem auction at Haydock near Manchester.

 

Quite interesting,this i have noticed that the recent batches have been tatty compared with other batches ,and the wheels are often rusty on seaside or northern vans
The AA stuff used to be spot on but as a dealer the vans are now too expensive to buy as too many private people pushing prices beyond book value .Ive seen many dealers stuck with these they bought in June last year.
We caught a cold last year and im watching the market as i know of at least two dealers that paid too much and want £7k +vat to get back what theve paid out,and in these times of credit crunches whos buying!!
All fleets are watching pennies so watchout ,you cant test clutches /brakes and cvj joints or for turbo problems and Lombard will still expect strongish money for one with faults !(They want £3.5k for one that doesnt run)
I think the market is now flooded with these and have a poke about and check out the dealers selling them ,they havent got people buying at present so you could get a good deal and take less risk !

 

the vans all seemed over priced

They will be £1500 to £2000 more expensive when the dealers sell them on!

they all looked in a very poor condition (despite the on site valet)

I graded the 50 odd vans I saw at auction between an F for a battered van to an A* for a clean, unmarked, well looked after van.

had rusting wheels

Very few of the vans I saw had rusting wheels, the oldest van was around 5.5 yrs old. And I imagine a large proportion of the buyers would be looking to replace the steels with alloys.

high milages

39,000 is high mileage?

there is VAT to pay obviously which does add up

The dealers charge VAT as well!

and NOTE all the vans glove box interiors were butchered to allow for the on-board computer

Around £40 to replace. Which you can pay for out of the £300-£600 you get by selling the toolboxes, sink, ply bulkhead, racking, lightbar and controller, trolley jack lift etc.

so there was at least one or more things wrong with them all!

And privately bought vans are perfect?

The hardest problem I had was picking which of the 50 odd vans I was interested in so get there early, grade the vans, make a short list and listen to the engine when they start it up for the first time.

 

i bought my ex aa from a garage and it was on a 1999 plate. i looked at it for a few mnths on his forecourt then made him a silly offer but he accepted £3900 for it. but on the same day i bought it i noticed the clutch slipping and took it back and told him i wanted a new one and the guy put a new vw clutch in it for nothing and i sold the toolbox/lights/towbar and other bits for £520 . if i had bought at auction it would have been out of my own pocket and would have been gutted. auction ok if your mechanical minded in my oppinion.

 

Hey Wendelspanswick,

I was giving my opinion of the vans I viewed. Maybe the two batches I saw were just a poor examples.

As for price, the vans I saw went from £3800 to £4600 ish +vat, 51 to 52 plate. But as I say the condition just put me off.

You got an AA van with 39k miles on? That was a one off surely. I saw nothing under 97k miles.

You don't pay VAT in a PRIVATE sale!

I didn't know you could replace gloveboxes.

As for condition, thats something you have to consider on any type of sale.

I've bought 3 small vans in auction before and did just as you advised. So was very happy with the deal. It seems the T4's have a big reputation which keeps the prices high, too high in my opinion. (see DJ's post) People don't go mad for Transits do they!

Seeing them in use by the AA they look really smart but in the auction they were a let down. There was also 3 vans going through the auction at the time which were in excellent on 53 plates in that dark green colour? 30k ish miles. Think they were council owned in Scotland. They went through right at the end so don't know but I bet they went for silly money too.

I love T4's I just don't love the prices!

Ps The van I bought in the end is a 2001 1.9TD in dark blue on 46k miles! The previous owner started converting it so it came with side and rear windows and VW alloys. I paid £4000 too.

 

You don't pay VAT in a PRIVATE sale!

I think you will find that you do I:

Commercial vehicles are itemised as plus VAT rather that a price inclusive of VAT.

Its just the same as if you go shopping to Costco, all their prices are displayed EX VAT.

 

Why would you pay VAT in the sale of a privately owned van? If the seller is not VAT registered there is none to pay?

Are we getting our wires crossed?

I:

 

hi my cousin works for the aa the guys can buy there van when its up for change im waiting for his to come up will have to paint it though i work for the rac lol

 

With reference to low mileage vans in the AA
There are a few used for training and for very local use so mileages can vary
The lowest weve seen was 6,000miles ,we had 30k ones last year and my one had only 11,000miles ,so they are out there ,but it would appear few and far between !

 

Cant understand the fixation over VAT.
If you buy from the auction or a dealer your price is plus VAT. If you buy from a private sale, it is highly likely that they paid the price plus VAT, so the totla amount they paid will still be reflected in the price you pay even though technically it does not include VAT.
The reality, is the price will always reflect VAT, but if it is a private sale, or even a business to private sale you cannot claim the VAT back.

 

I totally hear you about VAT but I'm not sure it always works out like that.

It just seems to me that as a non VAT registered buyer, after I paid VAT in a van sale from a dealer I very much doubt I could get the total cost of the van back if I sold privately the next day. ???

Unless I was very lucky then I would have to swallow some or all of the VAT so the taxman could have his pound of flesh!

As mentioned on another post, T4 prices seem artificially high because of their popularity so putting a price to a van is unpredictable.

Just a thought.

 

ive asked loads of AA guys recently and none of them said they could buy the vans at the end of service. ?