The Auto Co has disappeared from the empty lot in Penrose where it sold second-hand Japanese cars.

Consumers are being warned they risk being caught and squeezed by the tight margins plaguing the second-hand car market.

Reporter David Fisher investigates a car yard where the sales staff placed their own bids to drive auction prices higher

A bureaucratic loophole has allowed 50,000 damaged second-hand Japanese cars to be sold in New Zealand in the past seven years.