I went with a friend who had his car in a local auction last weekend and it was an eyeopener for sure. Of the 85ish cars involved only 1 car sold that had a reserve, the rest did not generally come even remotely close ie 16,000.00 reserve 9000.00 top bid etc. For the money that one spends to enter the car I think the AutoTrader would be a much wiser way to spend your $$$$$. I would guess that at the auction there were 150ish people in attendance so a very small pool was present where as the AutoTrader is seen by thousands????. Me tinks Barrett Jackson has added to the collector car atmosphere and people pricing their cars at an unrealistic price point.

What do you other folk think and am I off base.

 

Hey Snakebite, I think you are right on about the auction thing. I have a friend who has owned a Chrysler dealership in Sask for many years and also buys & sells collector cars. We were just talking about this same thing last week, the Barrett Jackson auctions have raised expectations on values way beyond reason.
If you have a "mint" true collectable, yes it should get a fair price, but many people (generally the uninformed) now expect those values for their "collectable" even though it's a basket case.

 

I couldnt agree more.

 

I think people see the auctions such as Barrett-Jackson and say "hey I've got a car like that one it must be worth that much." Even though their car isn't a numbers matching, 1 of 25 in that trim package with a certain engine and so something like that.

 

I think before you even get into the Barrett Jackson, you gotta "show them the money" and prove your yearly income is like six figures minimum, plus when you do get in, they got those "buying assistant's" that hype the crap out of it, not to mention a healthy helping of free booze to keep the bidding going!! Your local auction would have a bunch of looky lou tire kickers and average working joes more than your serious high dollar collectors. I think you got it Snakebite - Autotrader and unrealistic price point fo sho.

 

^^^you have some very valid points as well, good job.

 

I am seeing lots of guys buying cars and getting GREAT deals!!

I am seeing quite a few coming up from the states.

 

People generally overprice their modded cars regardless of where they sell them.

Auctions are still a great place to get deals, but no reserve is key. BJ can do tons of no reserve as he has a huge marketing team and has been branding for a long time... he draws the crowd.

As for Autotrader. IMO, its a bag of sh*t. I have listed cars forsale there and on forums / kijiji. My luck has ALWAYS came via kijiji or a site.

mustang - kijiji + trader
mustang - forum
van -kijiji
explorer - kijiji + trader

and all the cars I have bought in the last while came from seeing them listed on a forum or kijiji. Autotrader just seems shitty ++++ you get those calls from those other guys looking to hook you on a $500 deposit other listing until your car sells.

Auctions, buyer beware. You dont get to test drive and inspection may be limited and include not starting or hearing the car run.

 

uuh uuh valid point on the inspection. One chap looking at a low mileage Jag found coolant in the oil so right away he vetoed that car. For someone like me, I would be screwed as I do not know anything mech wise. I buy new for this reason seriously

 

Good point about buying new - there's alot that can be hidden or conveniently "forgot to mention" in a used sale. Gotta know what you're looking at, as there's a lot of fakes out there and people looking to take advantage of ignorance. Buyer beware fo sho.