Manheim Express

Manheim Express is the German trade-only car auction of Cox Automotive, run by Cox Automotive Remarketing GmbH from Bubenheimer Bann 11 in Koblenz. It launched in 2020 and joined forces with online auction provider pkwNOW in 2021. Stock comes from verified German dealerships and is sold on to other motor traders in Germany and across the EU. The FAQ is blunt: private individuals cannot buy or sell here, and the T&Cs limit the platform to VAT-registered dealers, leasing companies and fleet managers based in the EU.

What you can buy

• German dealer stock: passenger cars off dealer forecourts, from sub-€1,000 runners to premium German metal, each listing carrying a vehicle history and detailed information; a filter search by model, age and price narrows the inventory.
• Part-exchanges, lease returns and accident cars: the trade-ins a dealership would rather move on than retail, plus de-fleeted stock through the operator's own fleet-remarketing arm for fleet managers and leasing operators.
• Vans and trucks: a side line rather than the core - the German glossary markets commercial-vehicle auctions and buy-it-now for traders after a used Transporter or Lkw, while the rest of the site is about used cars.
• Electric cars: singled out in the operator's export white paper, which builds its case on the gap in EV acceptance between Scandinavia and Germany.
• Cars bought for export: a separate EU track with its own fee sheet and Polish, Dutch, French and Danish landing pages; export buyers must be registered in another EU country, their bids are always net, and transport is quoted per car in the auction window.

How the bidding works

Registration is free but gated on paperwork: a business registration or commercial register extract under six months old, ID copies of the authorised signatories, a VAT ID, company phone number and website. A third-party dealer check runs before activation, so expect days, not minutes; a seven-day trial shows inventory and live auctions, bidding switched off. Three formats run. Dynamic auctions show the top bid, open at €0, move in €50 steps, usually run at least 48 hours and extend by 30 seconds on any late bid, with a bidding agent stepping up to your maximum and an e-mail whenever your status changes. Hidden auctions are sealed bids invisible to rivals, raisable twice at most per bidding phase. Buy-it-now fixes a binding price for 24 hours, with a chargeable pre-purchase option before that window. Bids are binding, confirmed twice and cannot be withdrawn. Payment is advance bank transfer only, the money has to land before the car is released, and payment and collection are due within seven days; transport is booked on the platform straight after the sale, quoted live within 30 minutes, express or 10-day standard. Regular buyers of larger volumes can ask for individual conditions.

What to check before you bid

Winning is not owning. The status "auction successful" means only that you are the highest bidder; the seller still decides whether to accept, and the Trade Desk may call to renegotiate. Budget the buyer's auction fee and check which schedule covers you: the German price page quotes 2.5% of the net sale price with a flat €99 below €1,000, while the fee overview linked from the export pages lists tiered German fees and, for EU buyers, 3.2% of the gross price with a €200 minimum plus a €200 export fee. Settle the tax side first - the VAT ID is your proof of trader status, export bids are quoted net, and you owe the delivery certificates the German tax authorities require. Condition comes from status reports by in-house experts, the seller's house appraisal or DAT data, not your own viewing, and the T&Cs exclude any warranty for quality defects, so the written description is what your binding bid rests on. On export purchases transport runs exclusively through the platform, so price it in. Support is multilingual, the site runs in German, English, Dutch, French, Russian and Turkish with Polish and Danish export pages, but the office answers Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 17:30 German time.