Should I complete a revs check for a vehicle purchased/bid at a graysonline.com auction?
I have never bought a vehicle from graysonline before so I am not sure. The contact assured me the vehicles are free from encumbrances which is the main thing i would be concerned about.
Watched 'the checkout' on ABC last night. Watch for the 'special' vehicle history checks offered by several websites. They are mostly provided by credit mob VEDA and often pre-tick the option to receive spam from them. They also don't provide much more than the standard govt issued report, other than a few pictures/icons. You might pay up to $36 for what you can get for $3.40.
Also note there is PPSR.com.au (VEDA) and ppsr.GOV.au (the real one)
Yep. I find the $3.40 option to be more than adequate. The car history report usually don't hold any more information. The only thing you would get out of it is a possible KM reading to check if something wasn't right, and often this info isn't there anyway.
And I always tell people to use the PPSR GOV website because it's $3.40. All of the other "REVS" checking websites just access the PPSR on your behalf and give you the same Info for $20+
This is really handy information. I have done it on the non gov website before and this PPSR GOV one is much more cost effective. Thanks I would not have known.
"GraysOnline guarantee that all vehicles/boats/motorbikes in this sale are sold with clear title.
Bidders may find when they do perform a PPSR check (highly recommended) in many cases the cars do have an encumbrance, which will be lifted as soon as the vehicle is sold at auction and monies are cleared in our account."
From the site.
How much does it cost?
a few bucks? at least in VIC…
Then why wouldn't OP just do it? It seems stupid not to when paying thousands.
makes me wonder too….
Sight unseen?! Jees you're brave
Not really an issue. Bid accordingly. A lot of ex fleet vehicles end up at auctions like this and are well looked after. Auctions are usually a lot cheaper than buying retail, but the offset to that is there is no warranties or after sales support on most vehicles. Vehicles can not usually be road tested or submitted to rigorous testing. Usually only open to visual inspections or checks.
Caveat emptor… Bid accordingly…
If you bid on a worst case scenario you'd likely be bidding at least $5k less than retail.
If you can't see panel repairs/mismatched paint colours etc, you shouldn't buy it
Hail damaged cars might not necessarily have been written off, hence wont be on the register, you won't know till you see the panel work
Same goes with mechanicals, sludged oil, etc etc
At the end of the day, you could buy it for more than it's worth to get in a good condition
Source - work for a car yard, I've seen how some fleet/hire cars come in (and my Used Car Manager is picky, so god knows what he's not buying)
Yes, that is worst case scenario. Mostly worst case but not typical. I have purchased plenty of cars from auction, and it doesn't take much to find a good one from a bad one, and even bad one at the right price can be good ones.
Hail damage is cosmetic and easily repaired. Not really that much of an issue if you're saving thousands on a car. There are a lot of cars/motorcycles out there that are accident damaged that you would not even know. I know this because I buy a lot of smashed bikes from auction, fix them and resell them.
Fleet vehicles are easy to check out service history on. Most are given to execs and managers and are on lease plans that include servicing. They are typically not thrashed. Now, ex-rentals could be another story, but are typically also serviced frequently and people take care of them in general for fear of a $2500 excess payment if they damage it.
And from my experience (I too work in the automotive industry) most car dealers just buy cars from auctions. Some dealers are picky, some (read: most) just want stock. They get cheap cars that they can turn over for a tidy profit. That's why so many cars at car yards are second hand are ex-lease vehicles.
Source - Automotive technician, sales consultant, auction buyer, weekend fixer-uppers and quick flip vehicle sales for past 25 years… :)
Source - Automotive technician, sales consultant, auction buyer, weekend fixer-uppers and quick flip vehicle sales for past 25 years… :)
That's the thing though, you know what you're looking for and can spot damage a mile away. Average Joe can barely notice mismatched paint, let alone what to look for when it comes to panel repairs
Just be very careful if your buying from Grays. I've been there and had a look at a few cars, cosmetically they look great. They go through a cut and polish and engine dress. Some didn't even have engine coolant in them, which means its either leaking or burning it. Misfires, burning oil etc etc. Some of the worse I've seen.
One car i looked at online had a note saying "white smoke" (something along those lines) and that was removed from the page the following day.
I noticed their listings are inconsistent and a lack of description unlike pickles or manheim.
If it is at auction, good chance it is either damaged, repossessed or ex fleet. If it is damaged, it would be owned by an insurance company. If it is repossessed, it would be owned by a finance company. If it's ex-lease, it's owned by a lease company. There is no real risk there if it falls into one of those three groups. I am almost sure that if it is sold through Grays Auctions it would have to have a clear title. eBay is different because things are privately listed on eBay, Grays is an auctioneer and vehicles would be consigned to them. For them to sell them, they would need to be clear titled.
Encumbrance check is only about $3.40 in NSW if the vehicle is from here.
PPSR check
What may be more worth it is a vehicle history check. Lots of different websites that will let you search based on VIN.
Eg: carhistory.com.au