I should have went to Barrett-Jackson

Yesterday at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Vegas, a 2000 Black 550 Maranello with less than 16K on the clock and full service records sold for 62k. I think I may be going to Scottsdale in January.

 

Pretty amazing huh? I guess Obama's economy isn't exactly working out is it?

 

It had rock chips all over the front of it.

Wallace

 

I was impressed with the F355 Spider though (Lot 652.2). Nice dash, bolster OK, marginally sticky interior, aftermarket wheels. It sold for $66,000.

Other notables:
#22.1 - 1986 Mondial Cabrio - $21,450
#336.3 - 1986 Mondial Cabrio - $33,000
#355.1 - 1989 Mondial T Cabrio - $33,000
#375 - 1988 512 Testarossa - $45,100
#628 - 1994 348 Spider - $46,200
#641.1 - 2000 550 Maranello - $68,200
#653 - 2003 456 M GT - $63,800

In general, I thought the quality of cars was down a little. I wanted to look over a '64 Pontiac GTO that claimed a frame-off restoration to see if I could use it as a comp for mine. It was awful. Still, a worthwhile show to go to - Vegas does it right.

Wallace
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But for that price, it's worth getting the front end re-sprayed.

 

Oh, I agree. I just didn't want you to think you missed a pristine car - it looked much better in the photos than it did in real life. It still would have been a good car to bid on in the 60s but our bank letter was only for $50,000 so we couldn't have bought it ourselves.

Now I'm disappointed in that people may use that rag of a '64 GTO as a comp for my car. It was amateurishly restored and wasn't worth the $35,750 that it sold for. The other one was driver quality and sold for $34,100.

Wallace

 

There was an 02 Murcie for 82k!!

 

Are you adding the buyers premium in these prices you quoted??
I was there, the hammer on that 355 was $46,000, not $66,000... I was impressed with that 355, I spent 1/2 hour nit-picking it and I found it to be pristine!!

The hammer on the 348 spider was $42,000... and it was a cosmetic mess!!
The Testarossa sold for LESS than the 348 at $41,000! I couldn't believe that!

All the other prices you mentioned all also much higher than the hammer price!

And how about the bucket-head who STOLE that orange '02 Murci for $75,000!?!?!?

 

I am. The hammer price is not the sale price. Buyers pay a 10% commission to the house. You also have to pay Nevada sales tax unless you have the car professionally shipped out of the state - at least it was like that last year.

I was not there on Saturday, only Thursday-Friday. I got the price off of the Barrett-Jackson web site which would imply a hammer price of $60K, not $46K. It's possible that the web site is wrong. All of the other cars whose prices I was tracking are correct, though.

Wallace

 

Buyer’s premium for on-site buyers is 10% for vehicle purchases and 15% for automobilia purchases. Telephone, internet or proxy Buyer’s premium is 12% for vehicle purchases and 17% for automobilia purchases. Premium will be added to the hammer price. Sales tax, if applicable, will be charged on the final total of hammer price plus premium.
Do not need to attend to purchase, Mr. Jackson stood up and announced he made good the 750,000 wining bid and bought the Bugatti as the phone bidder got cold feet. Same phone bidder purchased a 100,000 VW 13 window bus.
Not as good a deal when you add up all the additional fees, letters of credit and 400 just for the right to bid. Then they will need a service or post PPI to establish a new starting point and some had no previous service records at all. Too many better ways IMHO to buy toys.

 

Its funny that every person that comes to this forum looking for advice on buying a car gets "never buy it without a PPI" over and over.

Yet, what can you know about one of these you're bidding on? Less than you would get if you walked into a dealer wearing a blindfold. At least the dealer could answer a few questions.

I would never buy a car in an auction unless I knew the car or the history or could verfiy it in advance.

Whenever I see a car at an auction (not something really special like an antique-- just something that you can find almost anywhere), I have to wonder -- what's wrong with it that it couldn't sell elsewhere?

 

Very well said.
I totally agree with you.
I was at Barrett-Jackson last year in Vegas.
I had my PPI done for an 01 Barchetta that I purchased from Steve Harris Imports prior to going to this auction.
I remember wondering how much the F430 they were selling at Barrett-Jackson was going to go for.
It went for a lot more than a 2007 F430 could have been bought for with due diligence.
It is buyer beware with anything purchased from an auction.

Unless you know the car, you are definitely taking a risk in buying something.
You would have to get your vehicle for a steal of a deal if you did not know the history of the car.
It's Vegas man, just like rolling the dice.

 

Right you are bdelp.

 

No freakin way!!! I would think it was a dog at that price. It's the one car I'd like to compliment the 355.

 

True, but Barrett-Jackson has a very good reputation for vetting the vehicles that go through their auction. They are known for not auctioning any "crap", and if it is "crap", they disclose that information.

I too wonder why sell at an auction, when you can get more by selling it yourself. The only reason I can think of is the Pawn shop approach: it's not that you cant sell it for more money, it's just that you need to sell it quickly and you are willing to take less money.

 

In fact, they "secret shopper" every vehicle in the show and you get a seller's rating for the quality of the presentation of your car. If it's not good, you are much less likely to get a car in future events.

One good reason is that Barrett-Jackson treats consigners very, very well. You get a ton of free stuff and VIP treatment when you consign a car. I don't agree that you can always get more money selling it yourself. I see stuff go way over the money all the time at Barrett. I've sold 6 cars at Barrett-Jackson and made money on 5 of them. The 6th one we had our audience plant buy back and then we couldn't get our money out of it in Hemmings even though it made the cover of the magazine!

An auction like this is a couple thousand potential buyers looking at roughly a thousand cars. Offer up something desirable and more people will want it and it will go for good money.

Example: Late C3 Corvettes are worthless. I've owned one - trust me. Lot 30.1 was a 1978 Pace Car. Collectable? Not really. Only 185 horsepower and they made a ton of them. Fairly low miles and very original. Valuable? Heck no. It sold for $11,000.

But wait. How about the pair of 1981s, lots 373 and 373.1? They were the last car made in St. Louis and the first car made in Bowling Green. They are very low mile, completely original cars but essentially no different from the '78 pace car. Valuable? Bingo. $150,000.

A car at auction sells for $1000 more than the amount that the second-most-interested buyer is willing to pay. Given the current economy, my next car is headed to Russo & Steele. Sorry Barrett-Jackson but I'm going to need a reserve on this one.

 

I'm speechless. Shades of the Barrett-Jackson Futurliner fiasco.

Let's turn back the clock for a moment when thinking about the supposed phone bidder who "got cold feet" above. Really?! That was a real bidder, not a shill?