Auctions vs private sale

[James. 9]

Anyone have first hand experience of selling at auction. Who’s good/ bad etc. Pitfalls, advantages ?

They seem to be the places to reach top money and those with collections (eg: people who tend to be too busy/un-interested in crawling around a car with torch on wet Saturday afternoon).

Asking for a friend 🙂

Edited December 10, 2022 by James.

[Keyo 47]

Classic car auction site- my mate said he was not happy how long they held the money back from the buyer to him- came to the point on collection day he would not let the car go on the trailer collecting it intill the auction site coughed up ( he was on the phone barking at them where is my money ) = I think silverstone would be a good auction site for a special car like a campaign- that silver vsr did well there. Campaign will do well or any low miler - my experience with selling mine ( 100 k plus mileage restores) was that I had to remove some of the rare collectable parts to get the value out the car which was a damn shame as of now a full VR6 vwms kit car does not exist. When you look at the rare kitted high mileage e30 325i they fly off the shelf for 25 k sterling with 150 k plus on the clock. 

I think a high mileage restored car would be very risky to sell on an auction site without a reserve - most likely not sell - most of the 10 k plus  buyers are all about low miles- will even pay 15 k for a car that has been rotting in a bush for 20 years just because they can say it has low mileage.  

Edited December 11, 2022 by Keyo

[James. 9]

Thanks. Hmm, food for thought then. And clearly not as cut and shut as I’d have hoped. Hoping to enjoy the car next year as much as possible and have an exit strategy as autumn arrives. Will have a look at silverstone when the time comes.

Anyone have any low mileage clocks going spare ? He he 🫢
 

[_Matt_ 32]

When I enquired to sell my car (decided not to in the end) a couple of places who held both auction and traditional for sale for a price adverts recommended auction for the Corrado in their experience. They felt Corrados did better in an auction environment: they sit forever on the private market so it doesn't look to most buyers that there is much interest so they wait for the price to drop and instead with auction there is a feeling of demand for the particular car with multi bidders.

Sort of makes sense to me but market is not great to sell into right now or perhaps in the traditional selling window March onwards next year either however good cars will always sell for the right place eventually.

Some auctions hold the money in escrow accounts which is a safer way of handling money of bundles of notes however do check the terms on when money will be transferred to your account as for me it would need to be in my account before the car is collected. 

Mileage can be an issue but you can still achieve 5 figures with high miles (125k+) and as numbers of corrados fall and the quality gap between cars that have had a lot of love thrown at them vs cars that have just made it to 25-30 years widens then their values will stablise i.e. no one who has put a lot of effort into a car will let it go for a song (unless forced of course) and there are a lot of quality Corrados being renovated at the moment, some of which will make it to market. If you look at the classified for any 30-35 year old plus sports type car with 6 cylinders you'll struggle to see even find ropey cars for less than 10k. The Corrado is cheap in that company at least. 

 

 

[Dox 23]

Would a Campaign register on a speculators radar? You have to be a hardened enthusiast to know what one is, to 99% the Storm is the pinnacle of Corrado ownership?

Savvy buyers buy in winter (lower prices), sellers get the most in spring (more competition from potential buyers)?

Edited December 12, 2022 by Dox

[Keyo 47]

13 hours ago, James. said:

Thanks. Hmm, food for thought then. And clearly not as cut and shut as I’d have hoped. Hoping to enjoy the car next year as much as possible and have an exit strategy as autumn arrives. Will have a look at silverstone when the time comes.

Anyone have any low mileage clocks going spare ? He he 🫢
 

If its the campaign it is an exception to mileage- all about a good write up letting the world know such a rare car exists - I think a 25 k reserve for a campaign- you never know on the right day could heap in 40 k to the right collecter- go get another- also open the advert up to the usa market as they love a special edition- dare i say it its all about the marketing. 

[1xshaunx1 27]

Campaign will definitely fetch more money at auction. They advertise to a different market, like Keyo says, can have reach abroad, but it’s an auction so have a minimum and wait a bit maybe. 

[Keyo 47]

The silver vsr owner got it right- make several posts on fb corrado specific pages with a link to the auction a good month before the auction date- I would also post on the usa fb page burn all the corrado- they also love a purple car the yanks - yellow you name it as long as its vibrant- they love a euro special edition - i mean the amount of rotty botty storms them lads have purchased the last few years paying top money for a project - I would also post on vroc. 

If you can get a youtube channel on board will give the car some more light like volkswizard - the vsr seller also managed to tactically do this- with a large youtube channel,  this gave his car some good pre sale marketing.  Its the rarest corrado car made from factory it demands a premium full stop- only rarer car was the G60 limited they made two or three i think in hannover. but that was one ugly son of a b...ch

 

. 

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Keyo

[fla 9]

get rid of the Opel Manta front end and it could look quite decent

[KIPVW 0]

Hi Folks, Very long time no see 😉  Just a lurker these days.

Judith was lucky enough to be invited onto the Meguiars Stand at the NEC Classic car show, this was obviously a tremendous accolade for her to get on there and one I'm very jealous of lol! 

The way it's been going the last few years Auction is definitely the way to go as per all other high end cars. The money Ford escorts now fetch is ridiculous for example.

Whilst at the NEC Jude hade a few interested parties looking over her Storm and one particular fellow got in touch through a 3rd party and a deal was done.

It's been quite a wrench coming to terms with parting it after owning 2 Storms in 25 years the later one being her most loved which she's owned since 2008.

I cant disclose the fee but it was very good and one Judith couldn't really refuse so it's nice to know it's going to a nice fellow who'll care for it like Jude did 🙂

[1xshaunx1 27]

Wow

[James. 9]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:23 AM, Dox said:

Would a Campaign register on a speculators radar? You have to be a hardened enthusiast to know what one is, to 99% the Storm is the pinnacle of Corrado ownership?

Wouldn’t have thought so, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. 

The question was not specifically geared towards the Campaign per-say. But certainly brings to light the obstacles of marketing such vehicles. The weak pound does make sense to market abroad though.

I’m just mulling over throwing all the keys in next year. There’s the Campaign, a low milage Z3 and the 8v (which as unfashionable as they are within Corrado world, is still rarer than a Storm 🙂).

I guess each car has to be judged on its own merits and marketed accordingly.

[Dox 23]

8 hours ago, James. said:

Wouldn’t have thought so, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. 

The question was not specifically geared towards the Campaign per-say. But certainly brings to light the obstacles of marketing such vehicles. The weak pound does make sense to market abroad though.

I’m just mulling over throwing all the keys in next year. There’s the Campaign, a low milage Z3 and the 8v (which as unfashionable as they are within Corrado world, is still rarer than a Storm 🙂).

I guess each car has to be judged on its own merits and marketed accordingly.

Next door neighbours 84 LHD 911 SC has just gone off to California, around 10 years since it came here from New York for around triple its original value, even so it was a forced distress sale - it's the second A/C 911 he's been forced to sell .

The marketing comments from Keyo are good ones, resto show in March, Classic car show in November should be on your radar, as should Stanford?

[James. 9]

1 hour ago, Dox said:

The marketing comments from Keyo are good ones, resto show in March, Classic car show in November should be on your radar, as should Stanford?

They are, and thanks.

That’s kind of what I’m leaning towards, and pretty much what I plan to do. Finish off over winter and UK tour 2023. Trouble is, there’s a wedding, house extension an building a house planned for the same year.

I’m zen about it though, and if the year comes and goes than that’s okay. I did have VW classic get in touch to have the car shown at Techno Classica in Essen, but it’s usually around April time, so would probably have to be 2024 if this were to happen.

[Keyo 47]

Its pained me to sell both my corrado- in fact any car ive worked on- but over the years Ive learnt only own the amount of classics you have storage for -also 2 classics are maximum for me- to add be a balanced collection- no point owning several hatchbacks - mix it it up have a rwd in the collection or a v8 etc . 

I would say without doubt the highest built quality car ive ever owned was R129 SL500 - bloody bargain car still to this day - auto box bit outdated but when I hit my 50s it sounds like something I well may re visit as a weekend luxury tiger tank cruiser.  

Edited December 14, 2022 by Keyo