Newport Auctions have just announced that they have won the contract to sell off some of the 100,000 cars seized annually by the DVLA for road tax avoidance. The program starts tomorrow (July 7) with approx 150 vehicles offered every second week.
Jon Collingbourne, managing director for Newport Auctions, says that this will be great news for those who cannot afford a new car or bike. “Some of the untaxed vehicles we seize are very good cars, and we are very pleased to be working with Newport Auctions to help make these available to law-abiding drivers,” he says.
I’m not so sure about any of this. Do exceedingly patronised ‘law-abiding drivers’ want to buy seized cast offs? Especially ones with no history and no keys? Picture the damage involved in repossessing a car without the keys to hand.
Then there is the question of who else might want to buy. If I was a non-’law-abiding’ driver, I’d let the fees and miserable letters from the DVLA mount up, before eventually catching the train down to Newport and buying my car back, no doubt saving myself some cash.
This also calls to mind a story a bailiff once told me, regarding an alleged scam for those confiscating cars on behalf of Transport for London, for Congestion Charge avoidance. Say a bailiff found a car with lots of outstanding tickets. They would arrange to confiscate and convince the owner to hand over the keys to minimise damage, then lose the keys en route to the depot. If the car ever went to auction, it might then arrive looking a little untidy with a smashed ignition/door lock etc. Then a friend of the TfL chap would buy the car or van and drive off with the keys having just saved themselves a packet. Scope for scammage here too?
The seized car auction catalogue is here. I can neither confirm nor deny rumours that this post was just an excuse to use that pic…
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
To clarify:
1. The majority of the vehicles will be supplied with new keys.
2. All winning bidders will need photo/address ID before talking any vehicle, thus reducing the chance of such scams.
3. Newport Auctions will chose only those vehicles most likely to sell at auction (around 3600 out of the 100,000+ available to them every year. You can rest assured that they will likely choose good quality vehicles in a condition that the market will pay for.
Clarification much appreciated; the keys should make a big difference. Thanks Gareth!
A pleasure John.
May I also mention that any winning bidder will need to show their driving licence so that it's number can be added to the registration process.
All of these measures ensure that the process of ownership transfer is as secure as possible; and that it does not feed the problem of unregistered, unlicenced vehicles on the streets.