For sale: one top-of-the-range BMW X5; five years old, one owner, 3.0 litre diesel engine, average industry value £30,000. But why did this example fetch just £11,750 at auction in Herefordshire earlier this week?
The answer probably lies with its one not-so-careful owner. The prime German motor is covered in scratches, its interior has seen better days – and it just so happens to have been seized by the police.
Car buyers are increasingly turning to police auctions for their next purchase – and those willing to the work to bring cars with interesting service histories (or a lack thereof) up to scratch can find a real bargain.
Auction houses with police contracts say these cars are big business – particularly among those handy with a spanner and a buffer who are able to bring these cars up to scratch and either use them or sell them on for a tidy profit.
A closer inspection hints at why this BMW went for so little: it has a number of bumps and scratches on the outside and the interior trim has seen better days.
Mileage-wise, it had managed some 163,000 in just five years – or 2,700 a month. Exactly what it was being used for isn’t listed on the description.
But the small manner of the rear seats being removed and dumped in the footwell suggests the car may well have been the subject of some intensive searches by police investigators.
It did at least come with two keys – but failed its most recent MOT on an engine management warning and a deflated tyre, which means it would need to be loaded onto a transporter for delivery.
This BMW X5 went for less than £12,000 at auction in recent weeks – after being seized by police
The interior had been largely ripped out – suggesting an interesting history prior to its seizure
Likewise, this Volvo sold for just £15,300 – half the price of other similar models on second-hand car websites
With buyers’ fees of 7.5 per cent, the total cost was just over £12,600 – a comparative steal when compared to the £18,800 CAP market price.
But it was in better nick than some police-authorised cars we looked at. Some were Category D and Category S write-offs requiring work to make them roadworthy again.
A Volvo XC90 SUV went for just £15,300 plus a 7.5 per cent fee of £1,100. While it had 96,500 miles on the clock in just three years, it passed its MOT earlier this year.
Lower mileage examples on popular second-hand car websites were fetching more than twice the price when checked by MailOnline on Monday.
Similarly, we watched an Audi S3 Sportback – a 2.0 litre ‘hot hatch’ capable of hitting 60mph in under five seconds fetch £5,160 on Monday morning after a fervent last-minute bidding war – despite the fact it was deadlocked and had no keys.
Road-ready examples of these mean-looking five-doors tend to fetch three times that price on the market – meaning someone with the know-how has just landed themselves a real steal.
Some examples raise more questions than they answer, however.
We spotted one family hatchback for sale that saw its mileage drop by 4,000 miles in between MOTs – the listing did not specify whether it was an error or something altogether more suspicious.
Buying a car at auction, then, is a risk – and as these events are run online, there’s no chance of going down and seeing a would-be purchase in the metal beforehand.
But many of the vehicles sold at auction are largely roadworthy – often towed for illegal parking and never reclaimed, or seized by police for offences such as driving without insurance.
These may have been seized under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE), or the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), or even the Road Traffic Act, which permits police to seize vehicles in connection with driving offences.
Not all will have a dramatic history behind them.
This Audi S3 Sportback hot hatchback has no keys and is deadlocked – but still fetched £5,000 at auction
The car bears some wear and tear – but auctioneers say many of the cars they sell on behalf of police are perfectly roadworthy from the get-go
A Freedom of Information response published by Devon and Cornwall police showed that in 2024 7,287 cars were seized under various laws, and of that just 378 – 2.7 per cent – were sold at auction.
Other than those seized following collisions, most cars were seized under the Road Traffic Act for no licence or insurance; some were also taken by request of the DVLA for lack of tax. Just two per cent were seized under PACE or POCA.
The Audi was sold on auction house Raw2K, whose boss Mark Bennett told the Telegraph that many of the vehicles sold tend to be ready for the road.
‘Typically you can get a car for 60 per cent of its CAP value. Some will have a full MOT, be in very good condition and have a standard mileage,’ he said.
‘We get a lot of private individuals buying and fixing them up as a side hustle, plus businesses which turn them round and sell them.’
Proceeds from the sales are reinvested in public services, or sometimes given to charity – and auctioneers say they are selling more and more seized cars and other property on behalf of the police.
Addison Pye, the director of auctioneer John Pye & Sons, said: ‘We’re selling more vehicles on behalf of the government and police authorities each year, both due to increased supply as well as our success in securing government contracts.’
Alongside cars, auction houses also sell vans, motorbikes and even seized e-bikes
John Pye also hosts auctions for property like Rolex watches, some of which are landing bids in the tens of thousands of pounds.
Police forces are also selling other items online via the likes of eBay and even second-hand clothing app Vinted – with trainers, speakers and other electronics among the goods that can be found by budding bargain-hunters.
