Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Plymouth
A vehicle sold in Plymouth has to be worth the drive to collect, and the catalogue is what has to show that. The fishing and seafood trade at Sutton Harbour runs refrigerated vans and temperature controlled rigids on early runs up the A38. Marine engineers and boat builders along the Tamar run pickups, 4x4s, crane lorries and plant trailers that tow tenders and lift engines. Trade counters and vehicle workshops at Marsh Mills, Faraday Mill and Valley Road keep a handful of vans and a recovery truck each.
None of those fleets is large, and the buyers for them are often not in Devon, which is what online bidding is for.
We photograph and describe the vehicles at the seller's yard, run an online timed auction for a week or two with a viewing day, and buyers pay us before collecting. Bidding is open across the UK, with Saltash, Tavistock, Ivybridge and Liskeard in reach of a viewing day.
Fish lorries and fridge vans from the harbour
Seafood vehicles are judged on the fridge as much as the chassis. A fish wholesaler's rigid has a fridge unit that has run every night for years, a body lined for washing down, a tail lift that has lifted wet fish boxes and a chassis that has seen salt water, and a buyer needs to know the state of all four. We run the unit before photography where it is safe to do so and say whether it pulls down to chilled or frozen, we photograph the body floor and the door seals, and we list the tail lift's test certificate next to the MOT.
Seafood traders, wholesalers, caterers and food distributors are the market for this kit, and much of it sits outside the south west. Bidding is online, so the catalogue reaches them, and the winning bidder arranges collection from the yard or from our premises, whichever the listing names.
Tight waterfront yards and where to hold the viewing
Some older sites near the water have an approach a car transporter cannot manage: a single track lane to a boatyard on the Tamar, a shared forecourt at a workshop, a slipway road, a harbour road with nowhere to turn a lorry. We check the site before the sale, and what we find goes in the listing so buyers send the right vehicle. Where the access will not take it at all, the vehicles are collected and the viewing and collection are held at our own premises.
Estover and Langage are the simpler end. Yards there were built for lorries, and where the first visit confirms it, a fleet of engineers' vans from a manufacturing firm is sold from where it is parked.
A crane lorry from the marine trade needs its thorough examination report in the listing, because the crane is judged as closely as the chassis.
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 Plymouth
- We are a boat builder at Saltash with a crane lorry, two pickups and a plant trailer to sell before the yard lease ends in the autumn. Does anyone drive this far for a viewing?
Some do, and the rest bid online. A crane lorry from a boatyard is a specialist lot, so the catalogue is written for marine engineers, builders, plant firms and hauliers wherever they are, with photographs and condition notes good enough to bid on unseen. We hold the viewing day at the yard if the approach takes a transporter, or at our own premises if it does not. Set the auction to close a fortnight before the lease ends, so collection is finished before the keys go back.
- Our seafood business at Sutton Harbour has a fridge van that only runs at the weekend market. Should we sell it now or keep it for the summer trade?
Sell it when the last run you need it for is done, rather than parking it over winter to wait for a summer that may not need it. A fridge van is bought when a caterer, a mobile trader, an event firm or a wholesaler needs one, which is not a single month of the year, and a buyer in spring does not pay more than one in autumn. What moves the price is a serviced fridge unit, a clean body and an MOT with months left. We can list it to close the week after your last market.
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.