2 February

VW Closed, Manheim Bruntingthorpe

Bruntingthorpe's a curious one - when the other sites are, newer or older, pretty much purpose-built... more

24 January

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

Up through heavy rain and fog to Leominster: just the moment to find out that the automatic wipers a... more

24 November

Heritage / Wessex / Mitsubishi / Hendy / Carshop, Manheim Bristol

As written before, this time of year, for the franchises, is pretty much the last factory-floor swee... more

Comments (1)

1 November

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

Every few hundred yards up the last few miles of the M40 before the Birmingham turn-off was another ... more

12 October

Land Rover Closed, Manheim Bristol

Back to Bristol again, to see how Land Rover's fortunes are holding up in a market that - generally ... more

22 September

General Sale, Manheim Bristol

On the way through, off to see a man about a number of VWs, I've stopped at Brizzle to see what's ha... more

24 August

Land Rover Closed, BCA Bedford

Up to a surprisingly sunny Bedford, for the Land Rover Closed. With some irony, the car that gets... more

Comments (1)

2 August

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

This time of year is hardly the peak of 4x4 sales (or at least it had better not be) at the best of ... more

5 July

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

Up to Derbyshire again - the general sale next door seemed busy, but almost everyone was outside the... more

Comments (1)

21 June

Land Rover Closed, BCA Birmingham

Up to Brum, with some trepidation: the 4x4 bubble has well and truly burst now, and while there's st... more

27 May

VWFS, BCA Bedford

Back to Bedford this time, just to see what's changed. And the simple answer is: not much. The ma... more

4 May

Fleet sale, Manheim Bruntingthorpe

There are still many things that are a mystery to modern science: dark matter. The placebo effect. T... more

6 April

Bristol Street, Ocean, general - BCA Bridgwater

Since this morning's meeting was cancelled, and this afternoon's meeting is still this afternoon, I'... more

25 March

VWFS, BCA Bedford

I could only stop here fairly briefly, but it was worth the look: a number of faces who said they'd ... more

7 March

Lombard, Bristol Street, Motability - BCA Brighouse

Up here for something else, but a little bird (strictly speaking quite a large human, but it sounds ... more

1 March

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

The main hall was busy before the auction, but not jam-packed as it has been. Some of this was presu... more

22 February

General sale, BCA Derby

Up here researching a different issue, I stopped at Derby for a quick look at the rest of the world.... more

1 February

VELO/ING/Motability, Aston Barclay Westbury

On the way to Bristol for tomorrow's VW Closed sale, so this is a good chance to see how the three-t... more

25 January

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

It seems to be rather the tail-end of the 4x4 boom, but it was worth dipping in here to see how the ... more

5 January

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

After yesterday's first fleet sales of the year, I'm back to Brizzle again to see the first Closed. ... more

25 November

Land Rover Closed, BCA Measham

OK, I take back previous remarks: today was cold. That said, it can get colder as far as Land Ro... more

18 November

VWFS, BCA Measham

Back up to sunny Measham again, to see if the price-range cars are faring better than the late-plate... more

2 November

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

Up to Leominster again, to see someone but also to get a quick look at the 4x4 auction. After the la... more

Comments (1)

28 September

Chrysler Open, Manheim Leicester

Up to sunny Shepshed for a fairly small selection of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep product. There was a f... more

6 September

ING/Motability, BCA Bedford

Once again a good-sized crowd, and enthusiastic despite the cars on offer being for the most part hi... more

4 August

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

Although it wasn't a massive attendance, all the usual suspects were here and a fair few more on lin... more

28 July

Pendragon/Sytner, BCA Bridgewater

Down west to see someone, but checking up on the over-age/didn't sell section. Much as at the VWFS s... more

21 July

Pendragon/Lex, BCA Derby

Being made unexpectedly available, I fetch up at Derby to see how the general market is faring. T... more

2 July

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

Up to Derbyshire again for Kia: not many people here, and the talk before the auction was all about ... more

22 June

Recent closed/specialist auctions

It's just not fair to name names at present, since no-one's really exempt from the general slow-down... more

2 June

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

To Bristol for what was to prove a very quiet sale; three of them and one of me. A phone-round after... more

19 May

General sale, BCA Nottingham

With today's Vauxhall sale cancelled due to lack of stock (there's a clue there), I went over to Not... more

4 May

Fleet & general sale, Aston Barclay Westbury and Manheim Bristol

To Westbury, to see the Motability and ING cars go through. Where the hell is everybody? Talki... more

13 April

Land Rover Closed, BCA Birmingham

Haven't been here for a while ... LR are busy making hay while the sun shines, and the vehicles on ... more

30 March

Arval/Black Horse/Lombard, Manheim Bristol

Unable to get to Leeds thanks to the motorway system in meltdown, I'm redirected to meet with a cont... more

4 March

Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge Open, Manheim Colchester

Across to Colchester, for the American sale and to catch the general sale in the next lane ... and w... more

2 March

ING, Masterlease, Ogilvies, Motability, Aston Barclay Westbury

To Wiltshire in unexpected sunshine for the alternative fleet market; it's noticeable that this sale... more

18 February

Chrysler Open, Manheim Colchester

Through thick & freezing fog up the A12, something which might have kept back some of the holiday ho... more

3 February

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

To Bristol through some impressive fog for their first sale of the month. Last month was thorough... more

1 February

Motability/ING, Fleet Auction Group

You'd have thought we'd not seen sub-zero temperatures for years rather than days: apparently we've ... more

26 January

Chrysler Open, Manheim Leicester

Up to Leicester - or nearly Leicester, since Manheim Leicester is rather like Bristol airport, not q... more

5 January

Arval/Black Horse/Lombard, Manheim Bristol

First sale of the year - for me, and for a number of dealers. Yesterday was spent trying to find whe... more

20 November

VW Closed, Manheim Leicester

Today's auctioneer was a 6' bear. Happily there was a rational - fairly rational - explanation fo... more

10 November

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

Up here for a meeting, but there was time before to watch the sale. The hall was full but not crowde... more

2 November

Fleet Auction Group

Up to Leicester again for a child-free - or almost - sale of general trade jetsam: Flag being trade-... more

27 October

Chrysler Open, Manheim Leicester

A quick look around the site before the auction started showed an improvement in the sort of cars be... more

30 September

VW Closed, Manheim Leicester

After a serious drought of stock, a deluge ... 300 cars, with an awful lot of them the same spec. Th... more

17 September

Land Rover Closed, Manheim Leeds

Is there any stretch of motorway in the UK without roadworks? Grumbling aside, a much better atte... more

3 September

VWFS Auction, BCA Derby

To Derby for the mixed bag of VAG product and the occasional surprise guest. Derby isn't the newest ... more

29 July

Land Rover Closed, BCA Measham

Back up to Measham this time, through an impressive downpour in a demo A3 - which was rather like go... more

22 July

VW Closed, Manheim Leicester

VW Closed sales have always been the home of strong prices, but the last six months have seen them p... more

15 July

Vauxhall Closed, BCA Measham

Measham again, for the Vauxhall Closed sale. Looking round the back before the sale (the covered are... more

1 July

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

With the heat continuing unabated, the attendance was unlikely to be record-breaking and it wasn't h... more

25 June

Manheim Bristol, Fleet/Trade sale

Bristol today was a mix of fleet and trade-in disposals; Heritage, Black Horse, Hartwells, Wessex an... more

18 June

VWFS Sale, BCA Derby

Derby is one of BCA's older sites, and it lacks some of the flash of the more recent developments - ... more

4 June

Chrysler Approved, Manheim Colchester

Today did not begin well. I'd lent my sat-nav to a colleague, and as I did so he asked 'will you be ... more

1 June

Hyundai European Fleet Event, Tuscany, 27th-29th May

To Italy as part of the UK team at this pan-European event. It's an opportunity to drive all the exi... more

20 May

Vauxhall Approved, BCA Measham

Up to Measham for the Vauxhall sale. These approved sales, distinct from the Network Q events, have ... more

12 May

Public help for private companies

One concern has been raised about the car scrappage scheme, and it's been raised very quietly so far... more

5 May

Fiat & GM

Now this was unexpected. Having written about how the industry needed to lose weight, Fiat seem t... more

29 April

Chrysler & Chapter 11

The first reaction from the non-Chrysler trade to the news has been one of 'it wasn't us'! The whole... more

28 April

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

Up to Leominster for the 4x4 sale. This auction has always been the 'serious' 4x4 market - a lot mor... more

23 April

Chrysler sale, Manheim Colchester

Colchester's multi-lane experience is usually busy, and today was no exception. Chrysler dealers hav... more

21 April

Manheim Bristol

At the auction to meet up with two contacts, but also to keep an eye on the health of the fleet resa... more