Copart's Car Auction Locations
Copart started in 1982 with its first salvage yard located in Vallejo, California. Copart is now a global leader in online vehicle remarketing, with over 200 locations throughout United States, Canada, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Ireland and Northern Ireland. When Copart expanded into the UK in 2007, we started with 7 salvage yards. Today we have 19 car auction locations spread all over Britain, handling over 500,000 vehicles every year.
The History Behind Our British Locations
JUNE 2007 - Copart started in Britain, having purchased Universal Salvage PLC and their 7 salvage yards. One of these salvage yards has now become our Head Office in Wootton, Bedfordshire. Out of the other original 6 salvage yards we are still using 5 locations today, having greatly developed and enhanced each of our sites to become industry leading Operations Centres and to expand on the inventory we sell to include thousands of used vehicles:
Sandy - In 2014 Sandy was expanded by a further 4 acres. Online auctions are held every Monday and Wednesday.
Sandtoft – Sandtoft increased their number of weekly auctions in April, and now hold their auctions every Tuesday and Friday.
Sandwich - This is Copart’s largest and most South Easterly Operations Centre in Britain. Sandwich was also the first BreakerBid4U site, allowing more customers to purchase Category B Breakers. Auctions at Sandwich are held every Tuesday and Friday.
Westbury - Westbury has now become 2 sites, the original Universal site and a site purchased in 2010, Northacre, Westbury, which is 14.75 acres. Auctions take place every Thursday.
Chester - This is Copart’s only Operations Centre in Wales. Chester’s auctions take place every Tuesday and Friday.
AUGUST 2007 - Later that year Copart expanded buying Century Salvage Sales Ltd and gaining another 3 locations. These locations are still Copart Operations Centres:
Rochford - This Operations Centre is also one of the BreakerBid4U locations. Rochford auctions are held every Tuesday.
Wisbech - Auctions take place every Wednesday.
Peterlee - Auctions take place every Wednesday.
2008 - Then in 2008 Copart continued to grow gaining our yard in York, previously Simpson Bros (York) Holding Ltd
York - York’s weekly auction is held on a Friday. In 2019 new land was purchased for yard expansion in 2020.
Copart also purchased AG Watson Auto Salvage and Motors Spares (Scotland) Ltd gaining 2 yards in Scotland and 2 yards in northern England. We only continue to use one of these yards today, which is our only location in Scotland:
Whitburn – Being in Scotland, Whitburn is Copart’s most Northern Operations Centre, almost equidistant from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Whitburn has a weekly auction, every Monday. In 2015 Whitburn was expanded by 5.8 acres.
2010 - We acquired D Hales Ltd, gaining 2 more locations:
Bristol - Copart's most south-westerly location in Britain. Bristol now has multiple auctions each week, on a Monday and a Wednesday. Bristol was recently expanded and is due to be further expanded to become a 58 acre site in 2021.
Colchester - Online auctions take place at Colchester every Wednesday.
2011 - From the John Hewitt and Sons Ltd (Hewitt) business, we gained another location:
Wolverhampton - Hewitt had a strong focus on agricultural vehicles and our Wolverhampton Operations Centre continues to specialise in the selling of Agricultural vehicles, alongside a wide range of other vehicles. Wolverhampton’s weekly auctions are held on Monday and Thursday.
2016 - Then history was made as we had our first purpose-built facility created, our newest car auction location:
Newbury - Based at Greenham Business Park, Newbury was built to enable Copart to meet customer demand in the South of England. Auctions are held at Newbury every Thursday.
2019/20 - We are continuously growing and expanding our sites. Already this year we have had to increase the number of weekly auctions held at a number of our British locations. With more auctions and continuing expansion of our British locations, we are able to provide an exciting, wide range of used and salvage vehicles, available to you wherever you are in Britain.
Find out more about Copart’s History.
How do you buy from Copart?
If you are looking to buy from one of our car auction locations, it is very simple. First, you must register to become a member and be able to buy from Copart. If you are not a member, you can register online.
Once you are registered you can browse our wide range of vehicles to find the vehicle you want. Then you can start placing your bids before and during our live online auctions.
If you need further guidance, take a look at our Copart buying guide.
Does Copart just sell salvage vehicles?
We sell a variety of salvage and non-salvage vehicles. We sell used cars, motorcycles, agricultural and plant, commercial vehicles, caravans, HGVs and more. We sell our vehicles on behalf of several industries: Insurance companies Banks; Finance companies; Fleet operators; Dealers; Car dealerships; and the general public. All providing a range of salvage and non salvage vehicles that we sell online Monday to Friday via Copart’s patented VB3 online auction technology.
What are the benefits of buying vehicles online at auction?
All of our auctions are online. This means that wherever you are, whichever location the auction takes place, you can easily bid and buy online. All Lot information can be found on the individual Lot pages, with quality images, vehicle details and any additional information you might need. You can easily keep an eye on all your favourite vehicles from all locations, using our watchlist, so you can view them all in one place.
What if I cannot find the vehicle I am looking for?
If you cannot find the vehicle you are looking for then you can sign up for Vehicle Alerts. Just fill out the form and Copart will then send you an email when we add the vehicle you are looking for, to our inventory at any one of our locations. Through using Vehicle Alerts you will never miss a vehicle again!