Bailiff cars – what are they and should you buy one?

As the cost-of-living crisis bites, the number of cars seized by finance companies, local authorities and the DVLA is rising to record levels.

This might mean misery for the previous owners but could mean you could get a half-price used car bargain. Is it worth the risk? We’ve spoken to experts to look at what’s involved and what you need to know.

Where can I buy a bailiff car?

There may be many reasons why a bailiff has taken a car away from its owner, but it’s unlikely that the driver will have given it willingly. This means the car will have been literally lifted off the street and kept in a depot for a few weeks before being taken to a designated auction.

These sales are open to anyone from the public and the prices can be half that of the already low trade value – but you are likely to be buying it with no keys, documents or any other knowledge of its history except what you can find out online.

What exactly is a bailiff car?

Simon Morgan is the director of Letchworth Motor Auctions in Hertfordshire and has been selling bailiff cars for more than five years. Most of the vehicles he sells have been involved in traffic offences and seized by Transport for London after non-payment of parking fines and congestion charges.

Simon says: “99.9% of the cars we get are locked. We are not allowed to touch them as they are covered by a court order which isn’t lifted until the sale transaction is completed. That means when you buy the car, you also buy the contents, which can include all sorts of personal items.”

Most auctions will give a report on the external cosmetic condition and mention any remaining MoT by simply checking on line, but they won’t be able to guarantee the mileage. If there is an obvious big issue, such as a missing engine, it should be mentioned in the notes, but that is all they can do. “As we can’t judge what the car is like mechanically, you are basically buying a lump of metal,” says Simon.

There is a value in that metal as scrap, which forms the rock bottom price of any car. At a Letchworth sale there was a 2005 Toyota Prius which had every red flag to put you off buying it. For starters, it was a bailiff car with no keys which was registered as a taxi. The mileage at the last MoT was more than 237,000 miles and had been written off by insurance companies three times after being repaired and crashed repeatedly. Yet it still sold for £1,000 to a recycler who will break it for parts, including the valuable battery.

When bailiff cars are risky

These professionals will take the risk into account and do sums to work out the car’s value, and how much it will take to get the car into a saleable condition. Simon reckons the hammer prices are between 30 and 50% below those of an identical car supplied with its keys and documents, and only about two out of every 10 bailiff cars are ‘problematic’. He says: “The dealers will do their homework and get a vibe for the car from MoT history, which anyone can find online. If it’s something that’s older, then the base level is the scrap value, which goes up and down according to the global markets.”

Jim Ronan is a professional auctioneer who has been selling cars across the country for more than 30 years. He says: “There is a buyer for everything – it’s just a question of price. Three weeks ago someone bought a bailiff BMW. It was a 7-Series on a 19-plate with no keys or documents and someone paid £22,000 for it. That’s a big risk, but it’s probably worth £38,000 if it was ‘proper’. You watch these buyers and think ‘gosh, they are brave’, but that’s how traders work. They take the chance and hopefully can make big money.”

If you just want the car for parts then you might just break a window to gain access, but to get the car back on the road you’ll need to get hold of a new key. On modern cars that can be complicated as there are sophisticated electronics designed to make life easier for owners and harder for thieves.

On a basic modern car such as a Ford or Vauxhall the cost to pick the locks to gain access and provide a new programmed key is around £250 +VAT and it can be done on site at the auction by a mobile locksmith. More sophisticated models like a newer BMW or Audi are much more complicated and require codes from the factory.

These will only be available through a main dealer, and they will demand to see proof of ownership, usually a V5C registration document. As the car you’ll be buying won’t have any paperwork, getting hold of one from the DVLA can add weeks to the process. It’ll be expensive too – Simon says you should expect to add £1,200 +VAT to the budget for a pair of new keys on something like a 2018 Audi.

Bailiff car scams

Once you are inside, you might be lucky and find a service book and other paperwork, along with other items which are now legally yours. If there are any particularly sensitive items you might consider returning them, if you can find any contact details in the car.

The previous owner might not be so understanding and might try and get the car back, which could be easier as they are likely to still have the keys. If the car had a tracker fitted, it makes it simple for them to find it too.

Simon says: “We’ve had the previous owner turn up at the auction to try and get a car back from our site but we’ve got a secure compound so they weren’t going to get it out. We also had to get the police involved once when a previous owner found his old car on someone’s driveway and used the metal part of the key to get into it. Luckily he couldn’t start the car as the electronics had been reprogrammed and he was arrested.”

That’s not the only scam. “We’ve had instances where people report the car stolen,” says Simon, “although it’s relatively rare that you have trouble – maybe one in 40 sales”.

At the extreme end of that scale, the buyer of an Audi A1 was pulled over, arrested and kept in the cells overnight until he could prove he was the legal owner of the car. “In another case the debtor got the hump and reported it to the police a year after it had been seized and they got a pay out from the insurance company. He had the keys and the log book so it was easy for him to make a claim. But it all caught up with him in the end and he was charged with fraud – it did involve a lot of paperwork though.”

Not all previous owners are crooks or bent on revenge. Jim says: “We came across one a year ago which was a little Toyota Aygo. We later found out it had belonged to an elderly lady who had come to London to visit relatives and had parked outside in a spot where there was a two hour limit. She then had a heart attack and was taken to hospital where she spent four months. She lived in Scotland, so wasn’t seeing the letters from the council. After getting no response they sold the car. Whether you think that’s unfair or not, that’s the law. You can’t get sentimental about these things, and we just have to sell them as part of the legal process.”

In that case someone will have got a bargain, with no more hassle than needing to get a key and applying for some paperwork. Others might not have been so lucky with their bailiff buys. “If you’re a private buyer it is a risk, no doubt,” says Simon. “But if you are prepared for the worst case, or just want a car for parts then go for it.”

Top tips for bagging a bailiff bargain

• Find an auction: Search for sales local to you, or national companies which offer delivery. Make sure you factor in the costs of transport though, and bear in mind it will cost more to deliver a car without any keys. In addition to Letchworth, companies such as John Pye have six locations around the UK and specialise in repossessions of all sorts.
• Look later in the year: Don’t expect many cars to be offered in the first quarter of the year. The bailiffs and courts don’t generally work over Christmas, and this produces a hangover effect in the new year.
• Check the history: You should investigate the history of any car you are buying, but it’s particularly important on bailiff vehicles You can also get a good feel for how a car has been maintained by checking the MoT history.
• Get a key quote: Unless you are buying the car for parts you are going to need a key, so get a quote for gaining access and supplying at least one before you bid. The auction company should be able to help get prices from its trusted locksmiths. If you want a spare too, it will be cheaper to get it at the same time rather than later.

Check for trackers: If your new purchase is a van or prestige car, the previous owner might have fitted a tracker and will be able to locate it. You can look for strange current draws when the ignition is off, or ask a professional to scan for a signal. If it is professionally fitted, you should be able to have it deactivated remotely by the tracking company and have the subscription transferred to you.