South Western Vehicle Auctions

South Western Vehicle Auctions is a Dorset auction house running three distinct streams — everyday cars, classic cars, and commercial vehicles and plant — from its saleroom near Poole. It also offers an off-site auction service, taking a sale to a client's own premises when the assets are easier sold where they stand than moved.

What you can buy

• Cars: the main calendar, with vehicles inspected and graded before sale.
• Classic cars: a separate stream with its own calendar, results archive and buying guidance.
• Commercial vehicles and plant: vans, trucks and site equipment catalogued together.

How the bidding works

Sales run to a published auction calendar, and each stream keeps its own. The house publishes its inspection gradings, which is the detail worth understanding before you bid: a grading system is only useful if you know what each grade covers and, just as importantly, what it does not. Results are published after classic sales, which gives a usable reference for what things actually make. Valuation forms are available for sellers, and finance partners are listed for buyers.

What to check before you bid

A grade is an opinion formed quickly, not a warranty, and classic cars in particular reward your own inspection or an independent one — originality, welded repairs and documentation history move the value far more than cosmetic condition. Read the buying guides the house publishes for each stream, since terms differ between an everyday car sale and a classic auction. Collection and delivery arrangements are set out separately; confirm them before bidding if you are travelling, and remember that off-site auctions take place at the client's premises rather than in Poole.