Bluecycle.com start selling non-salvage vehicles

Bluecycle.com salvage auction site, have announced they will now start auctioning, non-salvage cars. According to their communication, they have stuck deal with one of the UK's biggest dealer networks, and they will be selling their part-exchanged stock through bluecycle.com

In response to customer demand requesting more non-salvage vehicles on the site, we are delighted to announce that Bluecycle will now be auctioning Part Exchange vehicles from one of the biggest car dealerships in the UK.

From this week, we'll be launching the Part Exchange forecourt, where a wide range of makes and models will be up for auction.

We will send an email confirming the forecourt launch date during the week. If you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact the Customer Service Team in the usual way.

Kind regards,

I'm not quite sure what this means for us? But I suppose there may be some cheap cars available, that would be easy to re-sell.
The biggest impact will be to the traditional auction houses. Margins are tight on part exchange cars, and dealers will want to get as much as possible for their cars. If the auction method is more cost effective, we could see far fewer cars coming through the old auctions.

Building a Car History File

When selling a damage repaired car, its always important to fully document the cars history since it has come into your ownership. Not only does this help you when you come to sell the car, by showing t buyer the exact details of the original damage and subsequent repair, but it also shows that you are a responsible seller - which is worth its weight in gold when selling a car!

Many damaged cars specifically Cat D & C's will often not come with any history or documentation of any sort. However, as I have mentioned in previous posts it is often possible to recieve copies from main dealers for servie etc.
Therefore its really important to gather as much information on the car as you can.

Buyers will more of often than not always want to see detailed pictures of the extent of the accident damage before buying. I've always previously taken as many digital photos as possible, before repairs, and then a few during repair to show the quality of the repair work.
Once finished, I have stuck all the photo's in a folder with the VIC (if its a Cat C Car) which then accompanies all the usual book packs.

Being that the credit crunch is biting, take advantage of all the free photo printing offers available from all the online photo printing providers. Details of a couple of the offers are below. Just register upload your pictures, pay a couple of quid postage, and they are on your doorstep in a couple of days.

I will takeadvantage of the below, and print at least 50 photo's for any new salvage project.

Photo Box - 50 Free Prints

Snapfish - 40 Free Prints

Insuring a damaged repaired car

This is a question I@m frequently asked.

"Will I be able to get insurance on my car if its a cat D or C?"

I'm simple terms, Yes. It shouldn't be any different than insuring any other car. However you should definitely make it clear to your insurer that it is a damaged repaired car, as this would affect any pay-out if something happened. Likewise the overall value of the car will be affected, so if involved in an accident the insurers would not pay-out full book value for the car.

Another frequently asked question about insurance and salvaged cars is.

"Do I have to tell my insurer when insuring a Cat X or U car?"

With Category X & U cars, there isn't the need to tell your insurance company unless you would specifically like to. These cars are not insurance write-offs therefore once repaired the overall book value of the car is un-altered. Additionally, damaged on cat X an U cars is usually only cosmetic, and not structural therefore the insurance company wouldn't be concerned there either.

If you are ever worried make sure you have a chat with your insurer as they will be able to clarify all the above for you.

Aside from the above you shouldn't have any problems insuring a damaged repaired car.

Advertising Opportunities for Salvage

I'm sure you will all appreciate running a website isn't cheap, so to help keep developing wrecks2riches.co.uk into the best salvage site on the web, and to ensure we always have the best content, hints and tips available, we are offering various advertising opportunities.

The advertising slots are available to anyone and everyone, be it a Salvage Yard, a bodyshop, dealer, repairer or anyone else who would like to advertise on an up and coming site which is now receiving hundreds of visits per day!

The following are the rates for advertising:

Graphical Ads:
125 x 125 animated or static ad - at the top of the menu on the right, this will appear on every page of the site. Your company will also get an introductory post, featuring a review, and list of your services on the front page welcoming you as new sponsors. Price £20 per month.

768 x 60 animated or static banner ad at the top of the page under the header, this appears on every page of the blog giving you excellent exposure. You will also get an introductory blog post introducing your company. Price £50 per month. 1/1 available

Text Links:
Link on salvage websites directory page - I already list all the main salvage websites, but for this your site will be in bold, and will be accompanied by text detailing your services and telephone number. £5 a month.

All websites wanting text links must be related to salvage and wrecks2riches.co.uk reserves the right to reject requests that is inappropriate. Payment via paypal is required before any advertisements are put live.

Advertising options

125x125 £20.00 768x60 aminated £50.00 Text link £5.00

I'm sure you are asking yourself what will be done with the money from advertising. Here are the key points I'm hoping to achieve.

1) Site redesign, more pages and more useful content with hints and tips on repairs, and the best places to source salvage and parts.

2) Directory - a detailed directory digging into the best salvage sites, repairers, and dealers. There will also be the opportunity for YOU to contribute and add your comments and reviews.

3) A guide of buying, repairing and selling a salvaged car, with a real life example, detailed step by step on the site. Purchased, repaired, and then sold.

NASCAR for sale through bluecycle.com

Bluecycle.com, the online salvage auction site have somehow come about a piece of Nascar history, and are offering it for sale soon! Full details below.

Looks like a seriously rare car, which no doubt will go for some suitably serious ££. To me it would make more sense to sell through AutoTrader, a specialist trader, or exotic car dealer. But this may mean that you may get a bargain. Cant imagine many people who want to buy salvage cars are also in the market for such a collectible car!

Car Details

Winston Cup NASCAR previously owned by Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, was raced by Harry Gant and Steve Grissom.

Make and Model: Winston Cup NASCAR, the #33 Skoal Bandits

Category: U (Not recorded)

Damage Description: Battery. Started.

Specification: V8 330 GN Vortec roller cam motor, dry sump, four speed transmission, bucket seat, race ignition and accessories,

Addition Information: Burt Reynolds co-owned NASCAR Winston Cup team the #33 Skoal Bandits.

In 1981, Gant moved to NASCAR as a driver for Hal Needham and movie star Burt Reynolds.
Harry won a race every year for four years and in 1991, the team finished on a career-high in the Winston Cup Series Point Chase. This included winning five races, one pole position, 15 top-five and 17 top-ten finishes, as well as leading the field in lap lead.

This earned Harry the title 'Mr September'.


Auction Start Date: Friday 26 September 2008

Contact automotivespecialist@bluecycle.com for more details.

Kind Regards,

automotivespecialist@bluecycle.com

Salvage Car of the Week x2

This week I've picked two of Salvage Car's of the week.
One complete dream car, and another more down to earth salvage project.


Ferrari F430 F1
A 2005 4.3 litre beast of a car. Although in somewhat of a bad shape at the moment. Definitely in need of some TLC

Its got some pretty substantial damage. But then, if you are going to own a car like this, you have to drive it properly, meaning if you get it wrong, its going to go very wrong!

Damage
o/s/f wing, o/s/f suspension, A post, o/s door, o/s door?, o/s door glass, bonnet,front bumper, rads, headlight, windscreen,both airbags,roof,alloys,floor, o/s/r suspension,roof dented and kinks, mileage unknown.

Currently on: www.bluecycle.com
Auction: bids currently at £39k.
Ends: 1st September at 09.06





2006 Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 Sport

An immaculate (pre-accident) example of a Lancer. Minor front end damage, only a couple of years old with low mileage (£14K)
Good re-sale opportunity because with the launch of the Evo X, the Lancer has hit the spotlight.
Only minor repairs are required, and its priced competitively.

Damage
Light drivers side frontal. Parts have been removed for inspection

Currently on: www.qualitysalvage.net
Price: £2,975

In my opinion, so long as you can get hold of the few parts required for repair, it would make a good first salvage car.

Checking a cars history

Before buying any damaged repairable car you need to thoroughly check the cars history, not only is this to reinforce or check what the salvage yard is stating about the car, e.g. Stolen & Recovered, or vehicle category.

You will be surprised just how many salvage yards are unsure of the car's salvage category, and this makes a big difference when looking to price repairs, and potentially your profit if you intend to sell on.

Likewise, if a salvage yard says its unrecorded, always run a check to ensure this definitely is the case. There would be nothing worse than paying a premium for what is supposed to be an unrecorded (Cat X) car, and finding its actually recorded.

I've compiled a quick overview of all the main car history sites, with a few comments over which I feel are best suited to checking a cars history.
Please note: these are just my opinions...

HPI Check - £19.99

Very detailed report, and In my opinion the best for checking a car's history. Available online and on the phone, and you get a very detailed report. See one here. A little expensive at almost £20, but very advisable if you are looking at buying an unrecorded car with the intention of selling on. The certificate will prove invaluable when coming to sell the car. Likewise when supporting the sale of a recorded car, it also looks good attached with the history and repair paperwork, and helps reinforce confidence on the behalf of the potential buyer.


mycarcheck.com - £3.95

Dead cheap and provided by one of the biggest (but least known) names in insurance. CDL (Cheshire Data Limited) provide the IT infrastructure for a lot of the biggest insurers, so they definitely know their stuff.
Very simple online check, more basic than HPI, but good if you are speculating about buying a car, and just want to make a quick check before progressing any further with the purchase.



AutoCheck - £19.99

Another quite expensive history check. Although extremely thorough report, and provided by one of the biggest Data companies in the UK. They have access to so much data its scary! Report provided easily online, and they were also recently awarded the Auto Express Best Buy award.
Currently running a deal for £24.95 to check history on up to 5 cars, so good if you haven't quite made your mind up over which car you would like, or likewise if you are looking to buy multiple salvage vehicles.


The Check.co.uk - £3

Excellent service which sends car history direct to your mobile. SO excellent if you are on the move, or are at a salvage yard and spot something which takes your fancy! To use the service text DRIVEBUY space (Enter Registration number) and text to 83600.
I've used this service many times, its accurate, provides all the basic info, and is great for running a quick check on a car.


One point of note, if you are looking to buy an expensive or particularly exotic damaged car, I'd always recommend going for the full HPI, as it will be worth the extra money in the long run.
Although I've had no issues with the text services, It just doesn't provide the level of detail as provided by HPI or Autocheck.

Watch out - some salvage cars may be listed as un-recorded, or may not show on the registers as recorded, but don't assume this will always be the case. Some companies/insurers are known to be slow to register cars as write-off or uneconomical repairs. I haven't heard of this happening often, but just something to consider.