Re: Cosworth 190E 2.5-16 Project Car on BaT
BaT, shilling and questionable biz practices aside, appears to be a double-edged sword. The essentially unmoderated comments from the peanut gallery can either help spike the price to silly levels, or kill them off from either wrong information posted as fact, or pure unhinged trolling. Having a reserve seems to be a wise safety net, if the BaT overlords grant your petition for one.
Disclaimer: I've neither bought nor sold on BaT, but I'd be pretty nervous either way.
My first foray into BAT world was with a 1982 300D that I picked up from a PeachParts "buddy" whom I barely knew that just called me one day and said he had the car and wanted to sell it. He wanted $1800 for it, was second owner, had 120k on the clock, all records, Florida cars, etc., etc. As with most descriptions like this I figured it was a beater or in need of some serious Martha'ing. It was about 45 minutes away, so I wandered over to see it on my next work from home day.
Amazing. Flipping time capsule. I did all I could to restrain my glee and held out $1700 in cash. He bit.
I drove the car home, spent a few weeks getting it 100% Martha'ed, and decided to use it as a "fun" car to drive to work on Fridays and run errands on the weekends. After a few months the thrill wore off and I was bored again, so I put it on BAT with no reserve. So with a purchase price of $1700, I had maybe another $600-$800 in it tops for a total investment of around $2500.
The car sold for $7700.00
The story behind the buyer is something for another day, suffice to say that he presented himself as an MB enthusiast to gain my trust, but was later revealed to be a flipper. He got caught in a bidding war at hammer time and was stuck with the car. His problem, not mine.
Second car was a 1990 350SDL that had been my daily driver for a year or so. Great car, but due to some long term significant spousal health issues, I wanted to get away from having a car I needed to tinker with regularly. They wouldn't set a reserve, so I rolled the dice and went bare on that auction as well. In the case of the 350SDL, it languished for nearly the whole auction, with the requisite commentaries about it having the "rod bender" engine, etc., etc. I rode herd on the comments and did my best to dispel any concerns about the integrity of the car or its engine. Finally, in the last 10 hours or so things began to heat up and it ended up closing at a price I was happy with. I probably broke even on the car but I was happy to have it gone. Far easier than dealing with Craigslist or any other venue.
The buyer on this car was really flakey. As I mentioned previously, he went AWOL on me for the first three days after the auction closed, and even after that was difficult at best to contact or get a response from. He finally flew down from Maryland a week or two later and picked up the car. The few hours he was here were spent listening to him talk about his business and all sorts of unrelated subject matter - he didn't really seem that interested in talking or hearing about the car. The best part?
"Hey, uh, I forgot to bring a license plate with me or insurance. Could I just drive back with your plate and I'll send it back to you when I get home?"
Uh, no, I don't think so.... so I pointed him at the closest tax collector's office (where we do tags and titles in FL) and off he went. That was about 11:30 in the morning. I got a text from him at 12:30 saying that he arrived there. That's nice. Then around 4:30 another text saying he was on his way north.
I heard from him a couple weeks later saying that he made it back without issues and he was enjoying the car. It included a picture of a wooded area that was covered with leaves, the car being one of several in the picture that were also covered with leaves. Nice.
Anyway, I agree - BAT can be a tricky place, especially the peanut gallery. They can help or hinder. I've had it both ways. All I can say is that it's a great venue for a seller for the most part. There's no way you can get that kind of audience with willing cash buyers for $100. The other side of that sword is that cars sold on BAT often seem to sell for well above market, or often for simply stupid prices. The run up on a 560 anything these days I would attribute to BAT. Granted the SLs have been desirable for a long time, but the sedans not so much. Not anymore....
Dan
