How much should a fleet operator typically expect to pay when selling their cars at auction?

All auctions companies publish standard terms of business which detail the charges for both sellers and buyers but these tend to be for single transactions.

Auction sale commission fees for sellers are generally based on a % of the sale price. Depending on how many vehicles you may have and the likely value of those vehicles, there is always room for negotiation. Additionally, all the valued-added services are usually menu priced and therefore very easy to quantify before deciding to proceed.

Typically the sale commission chargeable to a fleet company would probably range from 2% to 4% of the hammer price, plus VAT.

In cases of extremely low or high vehicle sale values, it is not unusual to see a minimum and/or maximum fee capping applied.


Might fleet operators also consider buying vehicles at auction?
This is certainly becoming increasingly popular with fleet operators and there are examples of some smaller fleets which source all their vehicles - cars and commercial vehicles - at auction.

The range of vehicles sold in auction, in particular those such as Manheim Auctions and BCA, is very broad with entries coming in from many sources including manufacturers, daily rental operators and the major leasing companies.

These often comprise quite young vehicles (under 12 months old) with very low mileages and the trade prices, at which they are offered, make them extremely attractive to the cost conscious fleet operator.

Even some of the larger fleets source their pool cars in auction, to great effect.
The advice to fleets looking to buy in auction has to be firstly, do it with plenty of research beforehand and retain a degree of caution.

There is undoubtedly great value to be had in this process but selecting the right vehicles to suit your needs and ensuring you have checked them out thoroughly beforehand is vital.

You should expect to receive assistance with this from your local auction centre and remember that most auction companies list all the vehicles going into sale in online catalogues on their websites.

Source: Managing Your Company Car, Expert Opinion, by Colin Tourick. Contributor: Rob Barr, Manheim.