subject: Car Auctions – A Personal Bidding Experience [print this page] Sooner or later, you will find yourself at a car auction. It is apparently on a metaphysical bucket list or something. The question is then whether you will have the guts to start bidding on cars and whether you will get a good buy. I certainly had the guts to start bidding and even won. Did I get a good deal? Well, more about that below.
I was a young aspiring professional in San Diego. I was moving up the corporate ladder in the firm I worked for and was viewed as a quick riser with star potential. It was a Saturday night and I was living in hopping downtown San Diego in a loft. Given all of this, it makes complete sense that I was watching a Godzilla marathon on some triple number channel with my buddy Mike. The same advertisement kept playing a car auction in Upland, California. After hour nine of the marathon, Mike and I got the bright idea to attend the auction. Somewhere, a marketing executive wept!
I had never been to an auction before. I had never even purchased anything off of eBay. I was a neophyte in every essence of the term. We pulled up to the auction at six am. We had an hour to sign up and look at the cars. There was just one important restriction. You could ask to have the car started, but you couldnt ask to actually see them move. The only time this would occur was when they rolled up to the bidding area.
The cars were in various states. Some where dirty. Some where clean. Some had a few dents, but nearly all of them were in very good shape to my surprise considering it was a police auction. There was a Corvette that was only a couple of years old, had a flat and wouldnt start. Ha, who would buy that! There was a sweet Jaguar XJ that was clean, lean and mean. I knew what I was bidding on!
The auction started and it was fairly boring. Cars were driven or pushed up to the spot. If you wanted to bid, you slapped your number up in the air. Yes, the auctioneer really speaks as quickly as youve heard. As the auction proceeded, the Corvette was pushed up to the bidding platform. It went for $3,500 and I wished that sucker well. The Jag came up a few cars later and the bidding began. I jumped in at $5,000 and ended up winning it at $8,500. What a deal!
The auction ended about an hour later. Then the education process began. I was talking to the winner of the Corvette. He had a mechanic with him. He told me the car wouldnt start because the starter was bad. It would cost him a couple hundred bucks to replace it and about $400 for a new tire. He figured getting it buffed out and tuned would put his total price at $5,000. Not bad considering the car would be worth$22,500! The sucker wasnt a sucker after all!
Oh, and my Jag? Turns out I was a sucker. I paid $2,000 more than it was worth. I drove it for about 3 years, and lost another bundle at the mechanic. The lesson in all this? Do your homework before you head to the auction. Know what the values are and do not get carried away like I did!
