F355 Market

Exactly. If it were a normal car ad/ebay ad and seller tells me one thing, I show up and it’s not what he says, I’m hagglin’ on prices. Not sure what the protocol is for BAT, but is it possible to haggle after the auction is over and the price agreed to? Seller has an obligation to sell at auction price as well even if it is much lower than what he wants.

 

I would say, most of us on here are “overly knowledgeable,” to the point of “deal paralysis.” We have knowledge and experience that most sellers never consider as an issue or care to dig too deep.

My thoughts on all car deals are 3 fold: interior, exterior, mechanical. Car must posses 2 of the 3 to be purchased. Only having 1 good character, hard pass or major discount. Car possessing all 3 is a premium and priced accordingly. Most people see all 3, in their cars as positive and “sell” around the negative. Real estate is even more difficult because the buyer can control the “contract” with inspections and negotiations after the fact of agreeing. Plus you have agents involved - somewhat colluding together to get their “piece.”

But car sales are generally you and buyer only, until the rise of BaT. Now you have Hagerty, Cars and Bids, Pcar Market, et al; changing the game over eBay, the original. Back in the day, feedback was a real deal and could somewhat be trusted, but now the seller cannot ding the buyer, so it has become watered down. The new online auctions have the “peanut gallery” dialogue to provide “honesty” and clarity of the auction process, as well as free dialogue on the bidding item that is saved for eternity, so you had better play nice and be honest. BUT the peanut gallery can also skewer an honest car and drive the price down, when the seller may be weak, poor internet response time or just overwhelmed with the questions. I take issue with the latter and wish that The auction houses focused on more knowledgeable write ups, questionnaires and “an expert” moderator. I can tell you, they have none of that and their only goal is to get quantitative sales at any price to generate the commission. At least at a Mecum or B-J, you can see it live and Bid with you own eyes. Granted a lot of people buy on the phone, so even that is dubious at times. I guess there is no perfect purchase scenario other than being at the right place at right time and lucking into any deal. Realizing your good fortune weeks later when you see the market unfolding and your price paid represents a fair deal in your mind only. Everyone else will say, “oh I would not have paid that,” or “you overpaid.” But I think that is jealousy and “missing the boat” of opportunity.

Enjoy your cars. They are going up. I am driving the same car as all of you that own one. Some bought new and have serviced for 20 plus years, in that case Ken and I have smoking deals! Others who buy these cars at $130k plus are convincing themselves, they are buying the best. All 3 key “Ingredients” are accounted for at the highest level. Mileage is the lowest and they feel investment grade quality is a premium worth paying over “driver grade” discounts. I for one wanted a driver. Who does not want a driver!! I was sick to my stomach driving my museum car. That is crazy! Now I am going to leave the damage on my front bumper for now and just drive the SOB!! Butress, repairs be damned!

As these cars increase in value, even the driver cars will appreciate. Maybe to the point that they too should be “restored,” not driven and traded as commodities only. Who knows, but this thread will give all of us some insight into the past, as well as where the future is headed for the 355 Ferrari


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Every auction house wants to maximize their commission, but BAT has a cap at $5k, so once a car goes over $100k, doesn’t matter to them where the final bid lands.

BAT also provides a free service to sellers where an individual comes out, takes pics or vids of the car to market. I feel if BAT is going to earn a commission from the buyer, they should be looking out for the interest of the buyer.

Perhaps moving forward, they can propose a mandatory cosmetic inspection/photoshoot with BAT’s trained photographers to capture general imperfections. Interior and exterior. Mandatory only for certain cars or perhaps above $50k in estimated value. This would instill more confidence as a buyer knowing a 3rd party is presenting the photos... positives and negatives. MAYBE even go as far as have the photographer answer questions from the peanut gallery.

 

I don't know what BAT brings to the table. I doubt they could circumvent the laws in the seller's state. Past that you would have to research what BAT requires of the seller and buyer. Aren't BAT auctions reserve auctions (unless otherwise stated?), so the seller is protected on the down side.

But forget the flaws. Enjoy the car. Remember, while beautiful as all 355s are, they are also the worst car Ferrari ever built mechanically, IMO. Not that that stopped me from buying one, and I love it.

 

What app is this? I’ve been using mobile.de thinking it had all the cars on the continent but this one is not on there... would like to monitor yours too in my search! Thanks



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Unfortunately for me, I look at the cars more than I drive them. Gives me just as much joy, maybe even more than driving. Overtime you just get an itch to fix cosmetic issues. I know myself too well .

BAT decides if the auction is a reserve or not and if so, where the reserve is. They have a vested interest in low reserve or no reserve. Seller can play by their rules or look elsewhere. That’s probably why the Red/Tan Berlinetta asking $180k went on Pcar instead. Pcar was willing to give him a high reserve (I’m guessing his was $150k).

 

Autoscout24

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My guess is the raise the price on that car. I messaged them as soon as it was posted. No response yet...and I'm assuming a few people from this thread messaged as well.

 

Let me know what you want for the wheels , I may be interested in them .

 

Noted!

 

Current high bidder said he looked for black/black manual coupe for years with no luck, hence the high bid. He’s determined to get it. I hope he does.

 

looks great for 355's, lots of solid sales recently!

 

Kind of like my hunt for a blue Berlinetta manual with carbon seats. 3+ years into the search I didn't really care what I had to pay. Time is money and one of them is running down while the other one is losing its value.

 

If that guy wants the black car so bad here is you change to move the market up. Ken, why don't you start? Throw out a bid of $135,00. When the guy bids $136,000 tres55 can pop it up to $140,000. Maybe between the 3 of you it can be pushed to $180,000.

 

I have no interest in GTS or Spiders I'll leave those to you old guys

 

Ken-
I 100% agree with your observations. Honestly - its one of the biggest reasons I didn't bid against you on that car. I didn't trust the representation of the seller. And I didn't have a friend local to the car to lay eyes on it. I'm not paying for a PPI for a car that I can't establish the purchase price of before I pay for the PPI. With BaT, I figured this was throwing money away. So consequently, the only cars I bid on are ones I can have someone look at "for free". Or if I know they are a bargain. Not sure how they fix that. As I bet they are making enough money without assuming liability for representation...

 

Exactly. With the 7 day time pressure, no one's getting PPI's done for BAT cars. Luckily, for this particular car, there was a PPI done in 2016 right before the car had an engine out. The car has only been drivin' 800 miles since, so I figured that PPI was good to go off of. It mentioned buttress cracks, taillight cracks, front and rear windshield delamination, paint chips... which is why I pressed with my questions concerning those particular issues. Since the seller responded saying he did not see buttress cracks, I assumed they were repaired and top half of car painted as part of the repair. But there was no invoice showing this work, so I was a bit confused. Turns out it was never repaired , hence no invoice. Buttress cracks are there. Seller downplayed the issue. Now imagine my response if I had just shipped the car vs flying in to see it...

I've seen a Bradan 355 paint thread where the buttress seemed extensively repaired/repainted. Full weld job, the whole works. This was years ago. I wonder how that's holding up.

Yes, buttress cracks are normal and a seller shouldn't be ashamed of it for these cars. But if it's there you gotta announce it, especially if potential buyers are asking about it. I thought the issue was sorted and personally valued the car $2-3k car higher for the convenience.

 

Last thing I need is 3 355's . He can take my triple black 355 for $180k though . From his past comments on BAT, a triple black Berlinetta is really what he's after.

 

I see someone on BAT asking about buttress cracks on the Black GTS. Must be reading this thread .

Here's the link to Bradan going ham on buttress repair. This was 9 years ago. I really wonder if their solution worked.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/bradan-355-major-service-paint.358733/page-9

 

I forgot how awesome those threads used to be- any idea why he stopped posting them?

 

Cuz hes too busy and doesnt need to

 

They had a fire and have been busy moving the shop to a new building. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/bradan-new-shop-build.633167/

 

WOW! I can only imagine the stress!!! The shop is looking beautiful. NOT easy to setup by any means.

 

White on Black 95’ F355 Gated for $69k. Been driven well. 94k miles

http://www.catsexotics.com/vehicle-details/1995-ferrari-f355-gtb-coupe--lynnwood-wa-id-40786723
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White wrap. Car is yellow.