Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Swindon
Contract fleets come to auction on the contract's timetable, not the seller's. A distribution shed at Blagrove or Symmetry Park changes customer, the new operator brings its own transport, and the outgoing operator has a yard of rigids and curtainside trailers to clear before the lease ends. Along the M4 corridor that happens often enough that we plan sales here around handback dates rather than seasons.
Swindon's older estates sell vehicles for other reasons. Printers and packaging firms at Cheney Manor and Dorcan run Luton box vans with tail lifts on paper and finished work, and vehicle repairers at Kembrey Park and Groundwell run recovery trucks and courtesy vans. Those come up when a business retires or merges.
We list all of them in an online timed auction that closes on a date agreed with you, hold a viewing day, and buyers pay us before they collect. Chippenham, Cirencester, Marlborough and Wantage are in reach of a viewing day.
Handback fleets from the sheds at junction 16
A distribution fleet at Blagrove or Symmetry Park is usually sold from where it stands, and the first visit settles that. We check the approach, the turning space and the standing, note that buyers' units come off the M4 at junction 16, and put what we find in the catalogue. Collection days then run from the site in a window agreed with the transport office, so the last vehicles leave before the keys go back.
The paperwork is where a handback sale succeeds or fails. Each rigid needs its MOT, tachograph calibration, service file and V5C, and each trailer its plate and test date. Anything on lease or hire purchase stays with the funder until the agreement is settled, so it is listed only with their consent and a settlement figure. We collect this with you in the first week, and where a document is missing we say so in the listing rather than let a buyer find out at collection.
Bidding is open nationally, and the older tractor units are where export interest usually sits.
Luton vans from the print and packaging trade
A Luton box van with a tail lift has a wide market, and printers and packaging firms around Cheney Manor and Dorcan run vans that have done gentle work. Paper is heavy but the runs are short, deliveries are to loading bays rather than kerbsides, and the vans are usually serviced on time because a missed delivery is a missed job. We list the tail lift's test certificate alongside the MOT and photograph the box floor and the roller shutter or doors.
Removals firms, delivery contractors, furniture sellers and sole traders are the usual market for a Luton, and Royal Wootton Bassett, Calne and Faringdon are in reach of a viewing day. Each van is listed separately, so it is priced on its own rather than discounted in a batch by a dealer.
Where a print firm is closing altogether, the vans sell in the same auction as the presses, guillotines, folders and finishing kit, so the unit is cleared on one set of collection days rather than two.
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 Swindon
- We are the outgoing operator at a shed near junction 16 and the handback is in six weeks. Is that enough time to sell fourteen vehicles and eight trailers?
Yes, with no slack wasted. We catalogue in the first week, the auction runs for a week or two, and collection takes a few working days after the close, which leaves time for a vehicle that fails to sell to go into a second sale before handback. Start the finance settlement requests on day one, because the funder's consent is needed before a vehicle can be listed and that answer is outside our hands. Reserves can be set on the tractor units, and the trailers usually find their own level.
- Our printing business on Cheney Manor is closing and the vans are all in our livery. Is it worth removing the vinyl before the sale?
Yes, if the livery is wrapped rather than painted. Vinyl removal is cheap, and a plain white Luton is easier to bid on than one carrying a printer's name down the side. Painted livery stays, and we say so in the listing. Take out anything with your customers' details on it, and leave the tail lift, the load straps and the internal ties in place, because a van that is ready to work is worth describing as one.
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.