Caveat Emptor: The Perception and The Reality
A Risk Case Study
I’ve been burned on a few deals over the years, and as you might guess, almost all of them were on cars that I had bought online. Sure, I’d vetted the cars (and sellers) as best I could, had long phone conversations with them beforehand, requested and received additional photos, and otherwise had performed my due diligence. In each case, the car’s problems were ones that absolutely should have been mentioned to me. That is, if the seller had any conscience at all. Some of the joys that I’ve had the pleasure of discovering: An Oldsmobile that REEKED of cigarette smoke. A Mercedes that immediately took on water whenever it rained. A Chrysler that left a 10 inch puddle of oil on the floor after extended driving. I’ve since learned to ask about all of these things.
For most readers, the villain in these stories is probably already assumed to be a used car dealer. Nope, these were all bought from private parties. When I buy from other dealers there’s a general rule that if you ask specific questions you can expect to get truthful answers. Dealers that have been in business for many years have been able to stay in business by being truthful. Yes, they’re going to spend most of your conversation fluffing up the car they’re selling, but when it comes to the negatives, they’ll answer if asked. Now, private parties, they’ll lie right through their teeth. And why not? They have no reputation to maintain, no Yelp or BBB reviews to worry about, and certainly no surety bond that a consumer can come after. You’re on your own.
Buying a car on Bring a Trailer offers a pretty good safety net for the buyer. Cars that have been listed on that site were accepted because they had a sufficient number of photos included, have had their title verified, and have been waved through by the BaT gatekeepers who weed out the junk. But more importantly, once the auction is underway it’s the comments section where the sellers are truly baptized by fire. Panel fit is a little off? Somebody will comment on it. Paint seems to be crazing on the hood? Someone’s already asked for more pictures of that area. Funny sound in the driving video? The seller’s going to add another video. That’s the difference with BaT auctions. Because of that, there aren’t a whole lot of screaming deals to be found on that site. Most of the cars sell at market price or above, and sometimes way above, simply because the pool of potential buyers feel confident about what they’re purchasing.
Sometimes it’s worth taking a look at the other auction sites where the pool of potential buyers don’t have as many reasons to feel confident. The qualities of fairness and transparency found on BaT have proven to be hard to replicate, although dozens of copycat sites have tried. These sites can sometimes produce good buys based on that disparity, although it’s obviously not without some risk. On one of those sites, PcarMarket, I found an auction already underway for a 1986 Cadillac Brougham that looked pretty good, and it was only a 30 minute drive away from me in Washington. I like these big barges from the ’80s, and this one was triple black with 70,987 original miles. Interesting.
I read the auction description, and took close note of the comments. I should have just gone to see the car in person but was getting ready to go out of town. Not making that 30 minute drive a priority turned out to be a bad decision.
The description stated that the paint had some “minor crazing on the trunk lid” and a “small ding in the driver’s door.” Okay. One of the bidders requested more pictures of the paint issues and the door ding, but the seller only replied that it’s nothing that “a good detail shouldn’t cure.” Right, I’ve heard that one before. Ultimately, no extra pictures were added and the auction predictably stalled out from there. See, on BaT, if a seller gets a request for more information, there’s more than a good chance that they’ll execute on that, and quickly. It’s the norm and it’s expected, and sellers who remain aloof to those requests usually end up with a car that doesn’t sell and no invitation to come back. It’s just the BaT way.
Playing around a bit, I took the high bid at $6000 midway through the auction. The next day I was outbid so came back with a final bid of $8000 with three days left. I figured that a triple black Brougham with these miles was worth at least 10K, and if I had to spend a grand on paintwork so be it. This could be a cool and cheap daily driver for me. But $8000 was my max.
That next day I flew to Vegas for the Barrett Jackson auction and kind of forgot about the car, figuring that I’d probably be outbid at the auction end and I wasn’t really attached to the car that much anyway. Friday night I was at a casino playing video poker when a call came in from a number that I didn’t recognize.
“Hey, congratulations! You just bought my Cadillac!”
After bidding on numerous cars over the past two days at Barrett, it took me awhile to connect the dots. “Oh, right! On PcarMarket, I remember now. So there were no more bids after mine?”
“No! You just got one helluva deal.”
Looking at the video poker screen in front of me, I had a meta moment when I realized that I now had two separate gambles running concurrently.
The following Monday, the seller drove the car down to my shop where I had agreed to get him paid, complete the paperwork, and then drive him back home in it. The first thing I did when he pulled up was check out the “small door ding”. Turned out it wasn’t that small, more of a dent I’d say, but what made it worse was that it had been painted over, with a brush. And the “minor crazing” on the trunk lid was actually way worse on the top surfaces of the front and rear fenders, revealing to me that the hood and trunk lid had been repainted at one time, not the “original paint” car that he had claimed. No wonder he didn’t post more pictures. Ugh. Oh well, my car now.
I paid the guy then got in the car to drive him back. The seatbelt was stuck in its retractor.
“Is there a trick to this?” I asked.
“No, it’s broken, though I’ve got a replacement that I’ll include. But, um, it’s turquoise, not black.”
Thankfully, the car drove really well out there on the freeway back to his home, but along the way I felt my mood darken as the seller bragged to me about some of the cars he’s “flipped” on BaT.
“So you sell on there as well, huh,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s just a hobby of mine.”
Little did he know that unlicensed dealers are a pet peeve of mine. “So why this one on PcarMarket?” I asked.
“Oh, you know, I didn’t want to bother with this car getting picked apart on BaT.”
And he was right, this car would have been picked apart. This car would have had more than one commenter asking for additional pictures. But also, the car would have had more than just four bidders competing for it. That’s the trade-off, and that’s why it’s so hard for these other sites to compete with BaT. Distrust of sellers is the sand in the gears on auction sites, and this guy had just admitted that selling damaged goods is easier on the copycat platforms. Sitting there behind the wheel, I had no problem letting him know that I didn’t look upon his methods kindly. With an even tone, I plainly told him that his obfuscation had resulted in my disappointment with this car, and my disappointment with him as a person. Yes, it was awkward, but it was necessary.
The next morning I went in to my shop hoping for a fresh attitude about my cheap and cool daily driver. Hey, so what, I’ll dye the seatbelt black and go get some paintwork done to bring the car up to where it deserves to be. In fact, I’ll just drive the car over to my painter’s shop right now for a quote! Turning the key, I was greeted with an ear-splitting screech from the fan belt. Not just for a moment, but a continuous wail that finally faded away after a mile of driving. Wow.
I met with my painter but was told that he wouldn’t have time to get the car in for another month. Grrrr. I drove back to my shop accompanied by a chorus from the shrieking belt. Later, I texted the seller.
“What’s with the noisy fan belt?”
“Oh, if the car’s parked outdoors overnight it will do that. Never a problem if it’s in the garage, though.”
“Yeah, in the garage is where it was all night.”
No reply.
In the end, I finally got the paintwork completed and took care of the noisy belt, too. It took three months but now I had a car that I would feel comfortable selling to another person. The car did better on BaT, but ended at $10,500 with the reserve not met. Shortly after, I reached a deal with the high bidder for $13,000. So….after the buyer’s fee from PcarMarket, my painter’s bill and the numerous hours I had spent bringing the car up to my standard there wasn’t much of a return in exchange for my time and aggravation.
Looking back, I only had myself to blame. But I did get to add some new questions to the list that I ask sellers, and re-learned that if they decline a request for more pictures - walk away. There’s plenty of good cars out there to choose from, and remember, as the saying goes….You’re not just buying the car, you’re buying the seller.
Awkward but necessary. I love your honesty!
The worst car deal of my life, the one that ultimately made me decide to never flip another car happened on BaT. Yes i was briefly an unlicensed reseller. Anyway the seller disclosed some things except the part about the entire wiring harness needed replacing. A 1987 Porsche 928 S so wiring harnesses were challenging to source. I finally got it sorted and lost $6k but i was able to tell my buyer the true state of the car. Lesson learned, the hard way.