In short yes, as many as 25% of used car sales in the US are conducted online, many through Manheim Car Auctions parent organisation in the US. The ‘Condition’ and ‘Mechanical’ reports provided by BCA and Manheim on our site are unique, no other company provides such transparency, providing more information than a typical buyer would get from seeing the car in person. On top we now can provide the Full MOT history for every vehicle. The MOT is the UK equivalent of the NCT and the history includes a recording of the mileage at each MOT test and the mechanical findings at each test, all maintained on a UK government database. Of course we can provide one of our professional inspectors to provide a further report on the vehicle for €49, so you can have the best of all worlds, a comprehensive vehicle information profile with an inspection by a seasoned professional. You can read a summary from a McKinsey Research report here.
Buying with this level of information is not available from anyone else even main dealers and this information is a much better basis to make a decision certainly better than kicking a tyre on a forecourt!
Manheim and British Car Auctions sell approximately 20,000 cars every 10 days to the retail trade from the UK and Ireland, the vast majority of vehicles are ex-lease vehicles, coming back after 3-5 years on lease to corporate clients. Part of the lease arrangement is the provision of maintenance. This means the cars are maintained to a higher level, many with full main dealer service histories. Ex-rentals will be sold by the rental company which s listed under the auction date, you can simply avoid sales by ‘HERTZ’, ‘AVIS’, – all rental companies – if buying a rental is not for you.
A VAT registered individual or company is entitled to claim VAT back on a company car or commercial vehicle. Details of the various scenario’s are given on the Revenue website.
You cannot reclaim VAT on Commerical or used vehicles if not VAT registered.
All commercials are ‘VAT Qualifying’ meaning you can reclaim the VAT back you paid, in your VAT returns, as you would for a receipt for Diesel. Some used passanger vehicles are also VAT Qualifying and the VAT registered individual can reclaim the VAT paid on these vehicles if it is to become a company car. For clarity you must first pay the VAT and then reclaim it through your VAT reclaims as you would a Diesel receipt.
If you are a VAT registered company or person and plan to purchase a company car and can reclaim the VAT portion of the car then we can help.
We can help you identify a VAT Qualifying car on our database and process the sale to provide you with a VAT invoice. You simply reclaim the VAT amount on the invoice we issue through your VAT 3 returns
For example, you buy a BMW 520D, through us, for €40,000 of which €7,500 is VAT. You pay €40,000 upfront and then reclaim the €7,500 in your bi-monthly VAT 3 returns. Its that simple!
