Glass Guide | Chris Smith

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

2 September

VWFS, BCA Measham

After ten days driving in Italy, it's apparent I need a little ... de-programming. However, I got he... 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

3 August

ING / Ogilvie / Leaseplan / Motability, Aston Barclay Westbury

A need to be near here later on brings me to this currently grey corner of Wiltshire. It's been inte... 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

22 July

VWFS, BCA Measham

Back to Measham - I'll soon have my own mug behind the counter - for the VWFS sale, and to meet a co... 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

5 July

VWFS, BCA Measham

Back up to Derbyshire (if the M40 did airmiles I'd probably have a ticket to Ashby de la Zouch by no... 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

25 June

General sale, BCA Paddock Wood

In the efforts to finds a pulse somewhere in the market I've fetched up here, at the south-eastern e... 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

4 June

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

Up to Derbyshire for Kia. Not just me this time, although I've seen their sales busier; but although... 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

25 May

Land Rover Closed, BCA Nottingham

Back up here again, for LR. I'm not alone in this, but it's pretty close - not many people physicall... 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

12 May

VW Closed, Manheim Leicester

Up to Shepshed for a rather hurried look at how the VW stock is faring. Apparently it was all going ... 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

22 April

Fleet & general sale, Manheim Bristol

I can't remember the last time I had to park down the road and walk to this site. When did they pull... 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

7 April

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

Not a huge turnout for the sale, but with quite the best March for ages - better than pretty-much an... 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

5 March

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

As the confidence within the brand builds, so do the sales: it's noticeable how much the attendance ... 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

3 March

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

To Bristol, to see the state of affairs with VW. The turnout wasn't spectacular, but as one deal... 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

25 February

General Sale, Manheim Bristol

Back in Bristol to see a man about several cars - several hundred cars - so I spent the morning at t... 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

16 February

Lex/Arval/Lombard, Manheim Bristol

Back to see a small bit of a certain large dealer group, I stopped in on the auction. My first th... 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

2 February

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

Across to Leominster for the 4x4s to go marching two by two. Or something like that. There's stil... 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

28 January

Land Rover Closed, BCA Measham

The market at the moment has a taste for the specialist, the distinctive: bread & butter models are ... more

26 January

Chrysler Open, Manheim Leicester

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

21 January

VWFS, BCA Measham

Up to Derbyshire again, for a meeting but using the morning to check up on VAG product in the market... 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

24 November

Lex/Arval, Manheim Bristol

The halls at Bristol are tandem, and when both are in use the crowd tend to mill around the middle i... more

20 November

VW Closed, Manheim Leicester

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

19 November

Chrysler, Lex - Manheim Colchester

To the mysterious east, to see a man about a car (manufacturer) but also an opportunity to see the d... 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

4 November

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

Today's sale was very, very quiet and the few people who were there were there to see what everyone ... 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

29 October

General Sale, Manheim Bristol

roadworksroadworksroadworks ... Still, worse things happen at sea. Apparently. To Bristol, to ... 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

2 October

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

A modest turn-out for the sale, again explained by the drive on new sales that's taking up all the d... 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

25 September

VWFS Sale, BCA Bedford

A pretty big turn-out for a sale near the month's end and some familiar faces, still struggling to f... 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

16 September

Vauxhall Closed, BCA Measham

Not exactly packed (although hopefully the internet was), the impression was that there were more pe... 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

1 September

Westbury Auction, Wiltshire

To Westbury, for a bit of a bin-end bargain selection from Ogilvies, ING and Leaseplan (with a few M... 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

28 July

Chrysler Open, Manheim Leicester

Not the biggest turn-out for Chrysler: making it an open sale tends to put off (that's the printable... 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

21 July

Westbury, Fleet sale

Stopping at Westbury again, on the way to see a couple of people, to watch some of the Ogilvies, Fle... 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

3 July

Kia Closed, BCA Measham

Heavy rain didn't improve Measham's looks, although the auctioneer's suggestion that it was twinned ... 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

30 June

Brightwells 4x4, Leominster

Today was just a bit further down the path that's been established: precious little worth buying, a ... 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

23 June

Land Rover Financial Services, BCA Walsall

Land Rover Financial Services were putting 35-odd cars through in amongst the Lex cars today. There ... 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

17 June

VW Closed, Manheim Leicester

Leicester doesn't seem as big as some of the other Manheim sites, but the space round the back can h... 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

3 June

VW Closed, Manheim Bristol

The car park at the front of the hall, traditionally an overflow, is noticeably empty today. A few y... 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

21 May

VW Closed, Manheim Leeds

A first in the holding pen, some 57 plate cars - it turns out a local dealer's gone bust, and the st... 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

19 May

Westbury Car Auctions, Fleet sale

Westbury isn't the first place that springs to mind on the auction circuit unless you're local, but ... 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

6 May

Land Rover Closed, BCA Birmingham

Once again, before the sale started there was a chance to snoop around the storage area. At first si... more

5 May

Fiat & GM

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

1 May

Kia Invitation Sale, BCA Measham

Back up the M40 again, for the Kia sale. Kia - and Hyundai - are in an interesting place right now, ... 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

29 April

VW Closed sale, Manheim Leicester

Leicester saw the debut sale of the Golf VI. As a couple of people said on the launch, it looks very... 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

27 April

Showroom traffic

Today was as grey and miserable as one could wish, and I visited various dealerships in the north Lo... more

23 April

Chrysler sale, Manheim Colchester

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

22 April

Network Q, Measham

Before the sale - auction debut for the Insignia - I took the opportunity to look round the compound... 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

Joined Glass's: 1995
Currently drives: Land Rover Freelander
Would like to drive: My terrible old Defender
Likes: Home - when I can get there
Dislikes: Middle lane owners club