By Jeff Glucker 
Most of the machines that cross the block in a Mecum auction are muscle machines. Big engines and bold styling grab the crowds, and also grab their dollars. Sometimes there is a vehicle that arrives and is a bit unique. Occasionally this turns out well for the seller, and a nice profit can be had. This was not the case, however, for the owner of a 1997 BMW 328i convertible that rolled up to the auction floor.
It’s the wrong place for this car. In fact, it shouldn’t be an any auction unless it’s the type that has vehicles with grease pen writing on the windows. Click past the break to watch the oh-so-sad German sled make a short-trip to No-Salesville.
[youtube width=”720″ height=”405″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDfh_wCjbZE[/youtube]
haha I have been watching Mecum all week, thinking that if i ever wanted a new-ish European car, that is the place to buy them. They are all going crazy cheap, even the SL500s. There was a sweet early SL450 that sold for $5k, even in red over tan.
Jeff, whats the story with the less expensive muscle cars I have been seeing? Of course there are plenty of high dollar $50-60k muscle cars going through, but I have also seen quite a few of the less desirable drivers going for $20-25k. Yesterday I saw a 1968 Camaro hardtop, a 1970 Chevelle, etc. At other Mecum auctions I have seen many 2-nd gen Camaro/Firebirds sell in the teens. They look awesome on the screen, are they junk in person? 200k miles? Beat interior? Rust under a cheapo paint job? Or just a not-very-popular version at market value?
Not sure… It's been a weird weekend so far. The market seems to be moving all over the place. Cars that got $90-100k two years ago are hitting $35-50.
My mantra has always been, the oddball is usually the best value.
If you're looking for a cheap truck, go someplace where trucks are stupid (i.e. SF Bay Area).
If you're looking for a cheap Subaru, Florida's a good place to look (especially in summer).
If you're looking at a wine list and it's all California wines except for one Bulgarian wine, that's the one to get (somebody tried it and liked it enough to buck the trend).
I've long thought (though never enough to do anything about it) that you could make some money by going to regular used car auctions and buying the "this doesn't belong in this state" cars, transporting them to where they do belong and reselling them at a profit. I'm not talking exotics or special interest cars either. I'm talking about picking up AWD/4WD cars in Texas in the summer and selling them in Colorado and Washington in the fall.
Just sayin'…
I found my V8 RWD car in frozen Oregon in December. $5k cheaper than the local GTs,
A friend does just that. He'll buy as many Subaru's and such as he can, then ship them up to auction sites in New England. He tries for two truck loads before shipping them up.
Similar thing is true for a lot of auctions. Basically it pays to be a bottom feeder. I went to a gun auction one time with lots of high end Winchesters and double barrel shotguns, they were way out of my price range. But the cheap stuff went REALLY cheap, nobody wanted the stuff that wasn't perfect or rare. A friend and I left with some good deals. Basically "the junk didn't belong, so it went cheap".
At any auction you can sometimes get lucky and get the stuff that nobody knows what it is worth for really cheap.
Wow. That gentleman missed his calling as a backing vocalist for Primus.
He's Jerry the racecar driver.
[youtube LBQ2305fLeA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBQ2305fLeA youtube]
Stooby.
Seems like Mecum is the place to go if you want a cheap R107 Mercedes.
A 1997 BMW convertible got bid up to $6,000 or $6,500. That's about market price. The ones on Craigslist around here average from the high $4k range to the high $7k range. Edmunds dealer retail, which is always off, low, for older BMWs shows $5,100.
HA!
classic ending.
WHAT THE….that's one of them thar FURIEGN cars, ain't it? ::spits tobacco::