‘Trailer it, he was told. He ignored the advice’

There’s a small but – it seems – growing number of less well informed enthusiasts who believe that buying at auction is largely the same as buying from a dealer. At least going by several tales I’ve heard from the trade recently. They won’t be PC readers, obviously, but we all get something from shaking our heads in sage despair at the foolishness of others.

The thing is, you pay that bit extra to a dealer, fairly safe in the knowledge that the car’s been checked over and fettled as necessary. They have a reputation to maintain and would prefer not to deal with calls from unhappy customers. Dealers want you to pass on good vibes about their business to other potential customers, but they also know that a bad reputation can spread like wildfire.

One reason you can pay (quite a bit) less at an auction is that you don’t have that safety net. Most buyers are happy with that, especially with the savings you can make. But not the guy who successfully bid on an old Rover P6, a car not long dragged out of a garage where it had sat for the best part of a decade, had some fluids changed and been given an MOT. It had otherwise not been driven and was, wisely, trailered to the sale.

The buyer was told all this and was recommended to have his P6 transported home. Home, in this case being more than 120 miles away. He ignored the advice, arranged insurance (but not breakdown cover) and drove off. Fifty miles into the journey he was stuck at the side of the road and on his mobile, complaining to the auctioneer. And that’s only one of several similar stories. Buyer beware.

‘The P6 buyer hadn’t arranged breakdown cover…’

Russ Smith has been following the classic car market for more than two decades and contributes to Practical Classics, Classic Car Weekly and Classic Cars.