Market Prices 575 Manual vs 575 F1 (conversion costs) vs 550?

For constructive conversation here....

Whats the alternative to how they should list cars? Clearly people are trying to turn them and capitalize. Should sellers be forced to wait longer in queue? Or list either similar or opposite spec cars at the same time? Or how about a 'coming soon' section? Should there just be a periodic 3 week pause on any models (fill in the blank) after so many listings?

456 cars had a run for awhile, now it seems they have dried up lately on BaT

On top of it just currently seems like a soft(er) time to sell a car for any number of reasons....economic, pre-tax time, post holidays, winter for much of the country, etc...

 

Yea, you are spot on. I agree with what you are sayin.

yea, that guy that says they are falling hard hasn’t a clue. lol

 

Well, they used to have it as a policy that limited production cars would never be at the same they would bookend. time (or at least I was told this by a high level employee) Clearly that has changed.

Agree with your last point 100%.

 

Fwiw, I sold a 911 with no reserve on BaT this last November, so have some recent experience.

As far as the listing timeline went, I submitted my listing on 10/18 and it was accepted the next day on 10/19. On 10/30 they assigned an auction specialist to work with me on the listing (act as my liaison with BaT, do the initial listing write up, incorporate my edits, answer questions, handle any last minute issues, etc). After several edits of the write up I approved it on 11/9. It went live on 11/14, ended on 11/21. So, about a month from start to finish. Although it was a fair amount of work, all in all in was a fairly straightforward process, and they were responsive and easy to work with.

All BaT will tell you about the timing of your listing upon approval of your submission is that "Your auction time will be set based on a variety of factors, including similar currently live auctions." I asked my auction specialist about this (you have to communicate with them via a portal on the BaT website) and he gave this response:

"Once you are satisfied with your draft and have clicked "Approve", it will move into our scheduling queue. We will get the auction started as soon as we can, taking care to ensure that there is a compelling mix of vehicles on the site. Listings typically go live within a few days of approval. If you have a scheduling preference, please let us know. While we can't always make exact requests work, our team works hard to accommodate them. If you have an upcoming scheduling conflict, please let us know so we can avoid ending your auction on that date."

I agree that it would be much more advantageous for sellers to have BaT space out listings of similar cars, but also probably unrealistic given the sheer number of listings they work with at any given time. And I'm sure many sellers have busy schedules, so need to have their auction end within a narrow window, which further constrains BaT's staff in how they schedule out the different auctions, including of similar cars. I'd imagine that if they start trying to do this with one or a few cars, pretty soon everybody will demand the same treatment, which would probably be impossible for BaT to manage. I'm not defending or implicating BaT here, just stating from my recent experience that it's probably more complex of an operation than we may think, given all the various factors involved.

 

BaT is more sophisticated than that. They are trying to capitalize on the really strong ~$300K sales by riding the coattails/momentum of good cars with a rush of mediocre examples in the pipeline. As a seller, BaT doesn't tell you when your car is going live - it just goes live when they decide it's time; that gives them total control over sequencing sales - they can pause on specific models if they are weak or push through sales on the cars that are hot.

Buyers are relatively savvy though and aren't falling for it though. A mysterious Euro with miles is not the same as a US spec with known history and <10K, and the demand side is aware of this. That said, I still believe most collectors/buyers of bluechip cars aren't buying on BaT.

 

do they care when fees are capped at $5k?

 

I think they care about remaining the preeminent online auction platform which require retaining the eyeballs, and therefore familiarity, and therefore consideration, of current and future buyers and sellers.

 

Hi All,

OK I'm going to ask something for which a response "did you search for that in the thread" or similar is probably warranted... but given that the thread is nearly 60 pages and I was not able to immediately turn anything up, I wonder if anyone who's been on this longer might not mind pointing me to the answer more efficiently So apologies in advance...

I mentioned earlier that I have been considering converting my 2004 TDF / Cuoio, was looking for confirmation that the market would value the effort at something more than the cost to do so and the recent BAT result on the EAG car gave me that confidence. Not that I'm planning to flip the car after, but just to make me feel that it would be a sane investment to do the conversion given the $ and risk that, given all variables, things don't go perfectly smoothly.

So here's the question... I would really love to go original Ferrari parts, but of course 575 components are extraordinarily few and far between. Not going to bid on that eBay set which I've read a bit about here. But am I correct in assuming that all required parts (save the ECU) are carried over from the 550? So that if I had a lead on a 550 which was geting parted out, I could salvage all relevant shifting components and they would be as good (or better) than the parts EAG supplies (with the added benefit of keeping the car more "original", which is important to me)?

All insights appreciated, thanks!

 

Well my car is going to be even more desireable than it was, just waiting on Super Sprint high flow cats to come in which will add about 50hp...

Unless people here have more recent updates about them (?), I have in past heard / read a good deal about EAG which raises concerns about sending $35K and waiting 3-4 weeks (per their estimate) for parts. My fear is that could become 3-4 months, but please let me know if management has changed over there?

In any case I really prefer the idea of using original parts for the conversion. Personally it keeps it real for me, I've always been an originalist and I think it would also add value for many others if I decide to sell her in future.

So sounds like 550 parts are as good a fit as those from a 575?

 

Joel, given how much experience EAG has with conversions, you could also work with them to source said parts and have them do the install. They started out converting with OEM parts and their service/install squad is highly proficient at this point. Doesn't mean other shops can't do it, but if you value experience with this super specific service/upgrade, it's another approach to consider. I visited GT Car Parts in Phoenix few weeks ago, check with them for OEM parts. I saw more than a couple of 550 carcasses (which admittedly bummed me out).

 

I opted for their aftermarket kit for my 430 because it gets rid of the notorious cold second gear grind. No regrets. Rather have aftermarket kit installed by a quality shop lile eag than an oem kit installed by a stealer tech.

 

Glad to hear these good words for EAG, have to say they are in contrast to other things I’ve heard but would love to give them the benefit of the doubt or if they’ve turned things around from what is been told.

In any case my mechanic is truly about the best and most trustworthy around, so no worries about a stealer tech doing the work, I’m just deciding on where to source the parts.

 

I have the scud they converted and runs perfectly after 12k miles on the conversion

 

Joe- 550 and 575M parts for a conversion are virtually identical. The 550 gearbox will even fit the 575M, even though it is less robust than the 575M gearbox. Cases are pretty much identical. Wil's first conversion used 550 parts, not sure about his others.

 

Parts are also LHD & RHD specific. On RHD a new NLA centre console is required. Also the correct gate plate is NLA, the available version is smaller.

Also a lot of the parts from a 456 are the same

 

456 has same setup as well

 

What do people think of this latest 550. This seems like the best of the bunch that we have seen as of late. Thoughts?

9,600-Mile 1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello for sale on BaT Auctions - ending February 5 (Lot #135,488) | Bring a Trailer

 

Wow great looking car.
You don't see 575 modulars very often on 550s anymore.

 

Its at the same shop that the SA was at (across my parking lot). I so applaud this guy for spending the money to make the car "right" - he will recoup that money I am sure!

 

Remember, a lot of early cars (like ours) did not have access to options. So depending on the build date, this may be "fully optioned" lol - as there were none that could be ordered. Just sayin.... We were given NO options on ours. Not one other than colors. We were told if we wanted options, wait 1-2 years then order it! lol

As a buyer, yes, you are qualified and want a discount. As a seller, his approach will bring more $.

Damn, its pretty easy to get a PPI when its already at a reputable shop! Just takes a phone call and a credit card!

 

I believe my '99 was "loaded," with red calipers, daytona seats and rear 'lusso' shelf. Don't think shields or other common upgrades like carbon fiber were available, but if I could go back in time 10 years when I got mine I would have searched for one of the 33 WSR editions.

 

The seats, carbon and shelf were what we asked for. Our dealer even went to the factory 2x and asked about post order add-ons. We paid in full in 97 and got the car delivered as a 98 in 99.

It was an odd deal as we ordered a 996 at the same time (first delivery in CA we were told) and Porsche let us do Paint to Sample, Carbon, blah blah blah. Pops and I were laughing that the car that was 3x as much we could not do anything and the Germans would take every $ we wanted to give them!

I would love to have a WSR! Agreed!