Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Coventry
Coventry sends us two kinds of fleet. The first is the ordinary supply chain van, a panel van or long wheelbase van that has run parts and tooling between an engineering shop at Binley or Bayton Road and the vehicle plants, and that comes on the market when a supplier loses a programme. The second is the distribution fleet from the big sheds at Ryton and Middlemarch Business Park, where tractor units and curtainside trailers are replaced or released as contracts turn over.
The city's electric vehicle and battery work adds a newer type of lot. Electric vans bought for early fleet trials are now reaching the age where firms replace them, and they need describing differently from a diesel.
We sell all of these in online timed auctions. Bidding is online and open across the UK, the trade in Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington Spa and Hinckley is a manageable drive from the viewing day, and vehicles are collected in an agreed window after the sale closes.
Distribution fleets at Ryton and Middlemarch
The logistics parks to the south east of the city are where the bigger vehicle sales happen. A haulier that has lost a contract has tractor units and trailers to clear by the date the yard goes back, and those vehicles are expensive to keep. We catalogue at the yard, set the auction to close before the handback date, and give buyers a collection window straight after.
The A45 and the M6 make Ryton and Middlemarch an easy trip for anyone who wants to see a vehicle before bidding. Hauliers want to see the tachograph calibration certificate and the fifth wheel. Trailer buyers want to see the plated test date and the floor. We lay this out lot by lot in the catalogue and answer questions from bidders who cannot attend.
Older tractor units are usually where export interest sits, and the motorway links from the Midlands put a unit sold in Coventry at a port within the day.
Electric vans and what buyers ask about them
An electric van needs a different catalogue entry from a diesel, and the buyers ask different questions. They want the battery capacity, the stated range when new, the charge connector type and whether a battery health report exists. They want to know if the charging cable is with the van. Some ask whether the battery is owned outright or held on a separate agreement, because a few early fleet vans were supplied that way, and a battery on such an agreement belongs to the provider until it is settled.
We gather this before the sale and put it in the listing. Where a battery health report is available from a dealer or the fleet management system, it is worth including, because it answers the first question a bidder has. Where there is none, we say so.
Electric vans came into fleets here early, so they reach the market here sooner than in some places, and the catalogue is written for bidders anywhere in the UK.
What these sales can include
- Panel vans
- Long wheelbase vans
- Luton box vans with tail lifts
- Tippers and dropside trucks
- Refrigerated vans
- Rigid lorries
- Tractor units
- Curtainside trailers
- Flatbed and skeletal trailers
- Minibuses and welfare vehicles
- Pickups and 4x4s
- Car derived vans
- Plant trailers
- Vehicle mounted equipment
How the sale runs
We photograph and describe each vehicle, record the mileage and note known faults. The vehicles are listed in an online timed auction and the catalogue is marketed to trade buyers, hauliers, owner drivers and export buyers. Bidders can inspect on a viewing day, usually at your yard or ours, and lots close in sequence on the sale date.
Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, and buyers are expected to inspect before bidding. The buyer pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately on the buyer's invoice. Your charge is a separate commission, with any costs agreed in advance, deducted from the proceeds.
Reserves can be set on individual vehicles where there is a clear reason, such as a finance settlement figure.
The commercial vehicle and fleet auctions page covers when auction suits a fleet, paperwork that affects the price, livery and fleet kit, after the hammer.
Questions about selling in Coventry
- We supply a vehicle plant and the programme has ended. How do we sell twelve vans quickly?
Contact us with the registrations and the location. We visit, photograph and describe the vans in a day, and the auction runs online for a week or two. Buyers pay us and collect in an agreed window after the close, so a job this size usually runs three to four weeks, depending on the number of vehicles and the date you need them gone. Each van is listed separately and priced on its own condition. Strip the vinyl livery before the viewing day, gather the V5C documents and service files, and tell us which vans are financed.
- Will buyers travel to Coventry for a viewing day, or is it all online?
Both. Bidding is online, so buyers anywhere in the UK take part, and a viewing day at a yard near the M6 or A45 is an easy trip for traders and hauliers in Warwickshire and the West Midlands. Middlemarch is inside an hour from Birmingham and Solihull. A buyer further away may send a driver to look at a tractor unit before bidding, or may bid on the catalogue alone. Anyone who cannot attend can ask us questions, and we answer them honestly.
More questions about vehicles and fleets
Related services
Guides
- Selling a commercial vehicle fleet
Fleet sales turn on paperwork as much as on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before listing, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.