AUTO AUCTIONS: THE NEW RETAIL SALES LOT??
by bill - July 13th, 2009.Filed under: The Car Biz.
In the past 5 months, I have been astonished at the prices vehicles are selling for at the auto auctions. What am I missing here? I have been in this business for 13 years and have never seen anything like it. I just carried a vehicle to the local auction after 90 days. It brought $500.00 more at the auction than I was asking retail at my dealership. Anybody have similar stories?
July 13th, 2009 at 8:27 am
We are seeing the same thing here in Texas. Buying units at auction for close to retail then trying to certify to re-sale at lot. I have a friend that works for Mercedez Benz in the remarketing department. He said he had the best sale day at auction in the past 1.5 years on 05/12/09. He sold a 2009 MB SL 63 AMG for $169k and had listed on floor at $125k.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Hey Ken – Thanks for the reply. WOW, that is amazing. My question is this. If he was selling the SL for retail money at $125k on his lot, but grabbed $169k at the sale – and I am thrilled for him, but…
1) Who is the dealer that bought the vehicle going to sell it to?
or
2) Has anyone else been seeing what I am seeing at the sales (in record numbers), retail buyers – oh, sorry, I mean “DRIVERS”, standing with the dealers when they are bidding on the vehicle. “Hit it again, again, again” I overheard one saying to the dealer. WOW, smart drivers.
It used to be that ANY GUESTS must stay inside the building. All the drivers used to hang out in the cafe. We all understand things are tough. But I am suggesting that the auctions MUST crack down. Rules are rules and they need to be enforced.
Blessings,
Bill Saks
July 13th, 2009 at 8:30 am
This was an off lease vehicle that MB took back when lease matured. They ran the unit at auction with the floor price set at $125k, meaning they wouldn’t take anything less than. They ended up with a big time winner, not expecting it to run at $169k. So, that does show that these units are running at auction for retail plus. Now, who buys that unit? I don’t know, but if it ends up being a financed unit, then the lender is likely to cap the carry. My guess is if the person buying it can afford it, then cash down from consumer gets the loan in line with banks call. That would still make profit for dealer that purchased at auction for dealers only.