by Mike Gulett –
When buying a collector car who do you trust? Do you trust the auction company? Some auction companies are on television providing lucrative entertainment while they make more money selling cars.
Do you trust the collector car dealer?
Do you trust the seller?
When you buy through an auction company or a dealer you likely will not meet the seller or even know the identity of the seller. If you buy directly from the seller at least you have an opportunity to ask questions from someone who has owned the car and driven it and lived with it for a while. You also get a chance to inspect the car and take it for a test drive or have an inspector you hire do so on your behalf. You may not be able to do this if the car is at an auction but you can do a full inspection if the car is with a dealer or if you buy directly from the owner.
As we approach the Monterey Car Week auctions – where the most important collector car auctions of the year will be held that set the trends for the next year – these are questions that I think about. If any of you are looking to buy a collector car anytime soon I am sure you think about this as well.
I read many of the auction companies car descriptions and look at the photos. I also read many collector car dealer web sites where I find interesting cars and interesting descriptions sometimes. I always find a car or two that I would love to own but I cannot buy all that I want.
There are several on-line classic car auctions. I only have experience with Bring a Trailer where I have sold two cars in the last few years. So, my comments here are limited to BaT.
Bring a Trailer strives to make their listings as transparent as possible by having the seller disclose all flaws with their vehicle. There are typically around 200 photos and the final text of the listing is written by a BaT representative. The standard listing is live for 7 days so depending on where the vehicle is located it may be difficult to complete an in person inspection before the auction ends. So, most of the vehicles are sold without an inspection.
Is it possible that there might be shill bidders raising the price at on-line auctions? Since most readers and bidders use screen names and thus are not known a fake bidder could slip in and make strategic bids that raise the final price.
Buying any collector car has some risk because of the age and/or the complexity of the particular vehicle. Steps that we take before the purchase may be able to reduce the risk. It can be wise to have a budget for post purchase repairs, just in case.
Good luck to you all with your collector car search – be careful out there and have fun.
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