Shannons Auctions Feedback

[sanchoXB]

Morning, I am thinking of bidding on a car at an upcoming Shannons auction, problem is I can't get there to view the car myself and will have to bid by phone. Has anyone on the forum bought a car from Shannons or know someone who has? I am after any feedback good or bad on accuracy of vehicle description, guality of vehicle, Shannons staff attutide ect.

Interested to hear other people's experiences.

Cheers

[Silver Ghia]

From having attended a number of Shannons auctions in the past and seeing the cars there, if I was you I'd personally view the car myself before the auction, or not bid at all. Everyone has different ideas on condition, and its you that needs to be satisfied. Photos and descriptions do not show everything.

[Crazy Dazz]

Absolutely must see the vehicle yourself.
I was at a Pickles auction just this week. On the whole they are very good with their descriptions and will often warn of known problems. Pickles has a big online presence, and you can see on the big screen the online bids coming in.
There were a couple of times when a car came up that LOOKED ok, but the auctioneer would snicker and say “come on somebody give me $100,” and a snicker would go around the room followed by silence. Obviously those present having looked at the car knew what the problem was. THEN the auction would go off on line. There was a Holden Crewman that nobody present bid on, the auctioneer started it at $100, but 5 or 6 online bidders jumped on it and it went nuts, sold for over $14k.

I can also recall being at a damaged vehicles auction where there was a good looking XR6 Ute. It had negligible damage at the back as it had taken the impact on its tow hitch. It LOOKED great, the minor damage at the back was not even worth worrying about. But when inspected in person, there was something a little odd. The rear seemed to sit a little high (couldn’t tell that from the photos,) the doors were hard to close, and the bonnet didn’t sit right. Seems it had taken a HEAVY shunt on the HD tow hitch mounted directly onto the chassis, and the whole car was munged. NOBODY onsite bid, but once again the online bidders went nuts.

By and large, it is VERY hard to get a true bargain at an auction. There are dealers and wreckers there who know what the car is worth to the dollar. They also know all the problems that might be hidden, what to look for etc. So many times I have seen private buyers pay at auction an amount at least equal to (or even greater) what they could have paid at a dealer, with a roadtest, inspection, statutory warranty, and some comeback on the dealer.

Often times all you are saving is the dealer's profit margin and the cost of themproviding a warranty.

[Trevor 57]

I bought my XP Coupe from Shannon's over the phone, BUT I drove down and viewed the car first, their description was OK, but not very accurate, there was some parts of the car that were not disclosed which was a good thing for me as the car was a bit of a gem, I did pay a good dollar for it though

[Spinner77]

Interesting?

What about selling a car at auction when nothing is wrong with it?

There's a risk, I guess, of not getting a good price. On the other hand, could it be worse than a trade-in offer from a dealer?

Personally I'm not attracted to selling by private sale. I don't want to deal with the tyre-kickers, the hoons who just want to rev the guts out it, and of course those whose real interest is in finding out where you live and what security measures you have. Or am I being paranoid?

[351hardtop]

Originally Posted by sanchoXB

Morning, I am thinking of bidding on a car at an upcoming Shannons auction, problem is I can't get there to view the car myself and will have to bid by phone. Has anyone on the forum bought a car from Shannons or know someone who has? I am after any feedback good or bad on accuracy of vehicle description, guality of vehicle, Shannons staff attutide ect.

Interested to hear other people's experiences.

Cheers

As far as the staff etc. Treat it as a secondhand dealer's yard. That's what it is. I have bought vehicles from them before. Definitely don't rely on the advertisement alone, or what you're told. Read their disclaimers.

I had a bad buying experience with them once, but after much cajoling and threatening it was sorted out by management, to their credit. But I suspect only because I had written proof of what I had been told and which was subsequently denied by sales staff.

If it's the car I suspect you're thinking of in the upcoming auction, definitely have it checked out. I got someone to look at it for me and it's not what I expected but that's my fault for being starry eyed. I wouldn't recommend anyone bid without a thorough inspection.

Good luck.

[Poorboy_racer]

Just a thought:
Would Shannons allow an RAC inspection to be done?

[351hardtop]

Originally Posted by Poorboy_racer

Just a thought:
Would Shannons allow an RAC inspection to be done?

From my experience, they certainly will.

[sanchoXB]

I agree it is best to see the car yourself but it is just not possible to get there before the auction, the vehicle reports are fairly vague but the inspectors are happy to talk to you and answer any questions.

I have a friend going to inspect it as well and give me a second opinion.