It is 10am on the coldest day of the year so far and ice has formed on the car park at Manheim’s auction centre in Colchester.

There have been hundreds of accidents across the country overnight after temperatures plummeted to -10C.

To make matters worse, the A12 from London has been completely blocked by an accident.

Under these circumstances – and with Britain firmly in the grip of a recession – it would be easy to imagine that Manheim might give up and go home for the day.

Or, at the very least one would assume that prospective buyers would be few and far between.

So having struggled through the traffic to spend a day at the site, I’m staggered to find the car park three-quarters full.

As I approach the reception desk, hundreds of customers are milling about munching bacon sandwiches, slurping tea from polystyrene cups and getting ready for action – ie buying used vans.

My host, commercial vehicle sales director Alex Wright, is there to greet me and I’m whisked off to the boardroom, where more bacon sandwiches are waiting.

What is it with van buyers and bacon sandwiches?

“Don’t underestimate them,” Mr Wright tells me. “If the bacon sandwiches aren’t very good, there’s a chance that buyers may go down the road to another site where they are better.”

Judging by the throng at Manheim, these ones must have been made by Gordon Ramsay.

The fact that so many buyers are out in force in such filthy weather with cash in their pockets must be good news to the readers of Fleet Van who have used vehicles to dispose of. Well, yes and no.

The halls are buzzing and most vehicles during my visit were knocked down and sold to eager buyers – but any seller who expects prices to be anywhere near what they were a year ago will be disappointed.

The message is loud and clear – price your vans reasonably and they’ll sell. Expect too much and they’ll sit in the halls for weeks costing you money.

Mr Wright says: “Times are tough, there’s no doubt about it. During 2008 we went from a position where manufacturers were struggling to fill their orders to a full economic downturn.

"Our sales were up 8% last year but the prices are lower. We rapidly went from achieving 105% of Cap Clean to 79%.”

Buyers have to accept the fact that their vans are worth less now and if they do, the situation seems rosy.

Mr Wright says: “The halls are packed and the market is on fire. But the price of some panel vans has halved in a year, although they were up again by 5.5% in January.”

Dealers are obviously tempted by the bargain prices but also by the fact that in a panic at the end of last year, many got rid of their stock, leaving themselves with empty forecourts.

"When they realised that people still wanted to buy used vans, they have had to restock."

Mr Wright says: “The used market is still buoyant. People may want a nice new Volkswagen Transporter Sportline but maybe now they can’t afford it.

"They still need a van to get to work, however, and so some are trying auctions for the first time.”

Curiously enough, the bad weather also helped the auction house rather than hindered it.

Not wishing to turn out in the snow, some new vendors tried Manheim’s online service Simulcast and realised what a cost-effective way it was to buy vehicles.

Copying its US parent, the old halls at Colchester have been abandoned in favour of an American style ‘four-lane’ system.

It’s an impressive sight to watch as multiple lines of vehicles queue up side by side, driving through the automatic doors periodically to be placed in front of prospective buyers.

It takes barely a minute or two for each to be sold (or not, as the case may be) and driven out again at the other side of the hall.

The lines are all open to each other but a clever sound-proofing system ensures that visitors can only hear one auctioneer at a time.

The only deviation from the US lane system is that the English ones are wider.

Apparently, while American buyers are content to sit on the sidelines and watch the vans go by, us Brits like to get down among them, open the back doors, kick the tyres and occasionally jump up on the roofs to check for any unseen damage.

The system also dictates that a two-tier rostrum is provided for the Manheim staff.

Up on top are the auctioneers who jabber away at around 500 words per second, while lower down sit the people who sort out all the paperwork and generally liaise with buyers.

It’s important to put these staff at a head-to-head level with the customers as it gives a nice personal touch.

After filling up with the aforementioned sarnies, Mr Wright and I descend to the fray. And I don’t use the word fray lightly.

The hall is buzzing with buyers and the selling pace is frenetic. Anyone who’s never been to a van auction should treat themselves – it must be the best free show on earth.

Buyers largely fall into three categories – retailers with proper premises who may well bid online, traders out for a bargain to patch up and sell on and Joe Public – often couples who are out to buy just one van and may be auction ‘virgins’.

As we ascend the auctioneers’ rostrum I spot the three types immediately. The ‘virgins’ skulk at the back nervously, brochure and pen in hand, often couples, exchanging heated words and with a strange glow on their faces.

The retailers are mainly smartly dressed and have secret little bidding signs that the auctioneers know – a wink, a nod of the head or maybe a scratch of the nose.

They have already sussed out the state of the vehicles they want to buy and have no need for further investigation.

The bargain hunters are right in the pit. Many look a bit scruffy and down at heel but I saw several huge wedges of cash magically appearing from their pockets during the day which labelled them as anything but.

They sit around looking very knowing, suddenly springing to life when a prospective van appears, yanking bits here, climbing up ladders there and finally making their bids by waving a brochure in the air.

Above, there’s a large screen which houses the internet side of the auction. Accredited buyers can log on, watch the auction in real-time and slam in a bid at the touch of a button.

It’s contagious – make no mistake about it. As I watch the auctioneer in awe and envy (I really wanted to be an auctioneer when I was a kid) a fairly neat 53-plate Volkswagen LT35 hi-roof LWB is knocked down for £3,300.

It is the ideal vehicle I’ve been looking for – and what a price!

I’ve had a pipe dream for a few years now about buying just such a model and converting it into a camper van for a fraction of the price of a ready-made one.

My heart pounds as an identical LT enters the arena. I could just afford it at that price. I’m sorely tempted until a reality check pulls me up dead. I’m here to report, not to spend money.

I grin at Mr Wright and he seems to know exactly what’s going through my head. “Great isn’t it?” he exclaims. “You can see why I love this job so much.”

I leave Manheim Colchester hugely impressed with the set-up and also heartened at the disposal prospects for Fleet Van readers.

All of us, including me, were almost herded into a mass panic at the back end of 2008 as we watched banks crashing, companies folding and UK plc almost putting up a ‘closed’ sign.

We were expecting the worst and as with a lot of other things, prices on secondhand vans plummeted.

But it finally looks as though used prices have bottomed out and are even climbing again.

The UK won’t shut up shop, business will still keep going and those firms will need vans to carry out that business.

As long as fleet sellers present their vehicles in the correct way and retailers keep snapping up used fleet vehicles, there seems little to fear at disposal time.