Popped into the auction house today.

It was a hectic Monday and I squeezed in a flying visit to a car auction this morning just to see what is happening price wise in the market. Flying as I was in and out within 20 minutes but got some good indicators.

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Not what I am looking for but it just shows you never know what they might have.

I will need a double cab van very soon so I can work and help with deliveries at the same time. Not quite ready for it yet though so no harm in just window shopping. The best time to go to an auction is in the middle of the month for obvious reasons. Less people and less money around which helps with more bargains.

I studied this a few years ago whilst my daughter was doing Chinese lessons down the road from another auction house. I wanted to know the best time to buy and what the savings would be. I learnt over a 6 month period the week before then of the month is best as the prices were slightly lower.

I went to various auction houses and finally found one that suited my pocket better. The others are mainly for the dealers and the prices were about 20 percent higher than this one that I had found. The amount of dealers present is very small and the chances of snapping up a bargain are way better.

This particular auction house has various motor cars from different sources and the ones I am particular interested in are the bank repossessions. These are normally fairly new and the late models which still have the manufacturers warranty and service plans as part of the deal. I don't want something that is going to be an issue mechanically and the auction lists anything that is wrong so you are fully aware.

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This is more practical and will retail for $20 000 and will expect to pay around $10/11 000 instead.

The prices are averaging about 60 percent of book value which is rather good. I will give you a prime example so you can see why it is best to look at this route before buying from a dealer. A late model car mat be worth $40 000 on a dealership floor,but the book value is only $30 000 and then at auction you only pay between 60 and 65 % on average of the book value. In this case the car would be around half price with all the admin fees and taxes included. I would only expect to pay around $20 000 then for this car and no more.

The more expensive cars have less interest from the buyers at this particular auction as I don't think they have deep pockets and are just looking for quick flips or a bargain for themselves. I would say anything under $6000 is where they all are so I would be buying for around double that and getting a bargain at the same time. A car under $6000 doesn't interest me as I know it will be a lot older with more miles on the clock and no service plan and manufacturers warranty.

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I need something that will carry stock as well so this would be sufficient for now.

I will never buy a new car ever again as the depreciation is too big. A new car loses around 30 percent as soon as you drive it out the door. One of these cars I can get back what I paid for it 2 years later so it is the smartest way of buying in my opinion. I had this happen with my last car which I had for over 3 years.

Luckily I know what car I want and will bide my time now and keep my eyes peeled for one to pop up. I won't touch a Ford and Volkswagen ever due to their problems over the last few years so it will either be Toyota or Isuzu. Boring I know, but reliability is what I want. The auction houses have their own internal financial services so they can offer you payment terms in house.