Buy a used EV

Our bespoke model involves buying-to-order from trade vehicle auctions, then delivering direct to the customer for a fixed fee. We have helped put thousands of drivers behind the wheel of their own electric vehicle. Our team are based in Orkney and serve customers all over the UK.

Eco-cars founder, electric vehicle specialist Jonathan Porterfield, has been selling electric vehicles for almost 20 years. In 2020 Eco-cars became part of ReFLEX Orkney, and Jonathan trained and advises our team to offer this same advice, expert sourcing and delivery of your electric vehicle.

The Eco-cars service offering used EVs and the ReFLEX service offering leasing of new EVs, together provide two affordable routes for individuals and businesses to switch to electric vehicles, supporting ReFLEX’s aims to accelerate decarbonisation.

• The buying process

  When buying-to-order with ReFLEX Orkney and Eco-cars, the customer has complete control over the vehicle we select. Our role is to offer advice through each step of the buying process, source a vehicle and, once you've given consent, facilitate the purchase and transport.

  • Questionnaire. We send you a short questionnaire to give us a brief of your travel needs, budget and the type of vehicles you are considering.
  • Sample vehicle email. We use your completed questionnaire to do research on the vehicle auction websites to see what is available at the time that matches or is close to your brief. We will then send you an email of an example vehicle, including the images and condition report supplied by the auction house. This email will let you see the type of information we will supply to you, if you decide to go ahead with our service. It will also include a detailed overview of the step-by-step journey of using the Eco-cars service.
  • Search fee. If you would like to proceed with our service then we request a search fee of £150 + VAT. This fee will entitle you to receive 6 search vehicles for consideration. Once we have your payment, we will search daily at auction for vehicles that match or are close to your brief and email them to you for consideration. We secure a vehicle for most of our customers after supplying 4 to 6 search vehicles for their consideration. However, if it takes more than this you can then pay either £75 for 3 more search vehicles, or £150 for another 6 search vehicles.
  • Sourcing. We buy from trade auctions right across the UK that all list and sell online. Our team will search multiple auction websites every day. When we find vehicles that meet your brief, we'll send you the details to review and you can decide if you'd like us to bid for you.

  • Sales fee that is only charged if we buy you a vehicle. This fee varies and is based on the CAP clean value of the vehicle, which is set by the auction house. The fee goes up in £100 increments per £10,000:

    • £300 + VAT Sales fee – for vehicles up to £10,000 CAP clean value

    • £400 + VAT Sales fee – for vehicles between £10,001 and up to £20,000 CAP clean value

    • £500 + VAT Sales fee – for vehicles between £20,001 and up to £30,000 CAP clean value

    • £600 + VAT Sales fee – for vehicles between £30,001 and up to £40,000 CAP clean value

    • Fees continue to increase in increments of £100 per £10,000 of the CAP clean value

  • Payment process. Once we secure a car at auction, we show you proof of purchase from the auction house and ask you to transfer within 24 hours the full amount shown on the Eco-cars invoice. This includes payment for the vehicle, the auction house fee and Eco-cars fee. We then have another 24 hours to pay the auction house for your vehicle. We can only accept payment by bank transfer.
  • Transport and delivery. We can plan your transport for you or you can collect the vehicle yourself.

  Buying through Eco-cars gives you access to secondhand trade buying from auctions. The vehicle will come to you in same condition that it was put to auction in. This brings you significant savings on the big markups that car dealers put on used vehicles they buy at auction, however this may mean that your car requires some cleaning or repairs. The grading and condition reports from the auction house will give you an idea of what to expect. But it is important to understand that buying from auction, is a trade sale, sold as seen, with no warranty given or implied.

  Overall cost = hammer price of EV + auction fees + Ecocars fee + transport costs (inc. ferry)

  Contact info@reflexorkney.co.uk to learn more and start the process.