KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 100 seized vehicles, including Mercedes Benz and BMW, will be up for auction next month, says Datuk Ismail Mohd Zawawi.

The Kuala Lumpur Road Transport Department (JPJ) director said the vehicles – 34 motorcycles and 66 cars – will be auctioned off on Oct 9 at the state headquarters along Jalan Genting Klang from 9am onwards.

"The auction book will be sold at KL JPJ's Financial Unit from Sept 25 till Oct 8 between 8.30am and 4pm.

"Auction documents will not be sold on the day of the public auction," he told a press conference at the city JPJ headquarters on Tuesday (Sept 24).

Public viewing of the vehicles by those who bought the auction books would be held on Oct 7 and Oct 8 between 10am and 3.30pm, he added.

"On the day of the auction, there are limited number of places so only two people representing each buyer are allowed in the auction hall," he said.

Ismail said the auction items were categorised as licensed vehicles (which means they can be used on the road) and scrap.

“For the vehicles that must be scrapped, only licensed scrap metal operators are allowed to bid.

“The operators must bring the equipment to dismantle the vehicles to the JPJ office, and they will be provided space to do so, ” he said.

When cars are seized, the owner is given about three months to claim the car by paying the respective fines or summonses.

"If the owners fail to do so, the department will begin the process to strip and change the ownership of the car by the fourth month. However, such procedures are not applicable for cloned cars," Ismail said.

He added this was the second time this year that the department was holding such an auction, with the first one on April 30.

"A total of 100 vehicles, including 66 cars, worth a total of RM1,053,250 were successfully auctioned.

"Of the 66 cars, 64 of them were cloned cars," he said.

Ismail said many people opted to buy cloned cars, mostly supplied from Singapore as they were 40% to 50% cheaper compared to the authentic ones.

"It is still against the law, thus the people should not go down this easy route.

"It is very sad that some people even took personal loans to purchase the clone cars but in the end, as it is illegal, the car is seized. The buyers are strapped with debts for a car they cannot own and they also have to face the consequences of the law," he said.

Those interested to join the auction can contact KL JPJ Seizure Unit at 03-41450846.