Game 2: Price is Right - WDB1240361B394195

[Ntrepid]

1991 Mercedes-Benz 500E Brabus 6.0

Bid for the chance to own a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500E Brabus 6.0 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #36,660.

bringatrailer.com

Here are the rules:

1. Only one entry per person (cost of entry is PayPal to kondilas@ieee.org using F&F option $5) and your submitting a price to this thread enters you into this game
2. Entry must be submitted to this thread NLT Tuesday, September 15 at 2:05pm ET (7 days prior to the ending of this listing)
3. Entry is (1) the hammer price at which you think this auction will end and (2) if the car will RNM
4. The winner is the person who is (1) closest to the selling price (exclusive of BaT fees) without going over and (2) indicates if the car meets the seller's reserve
5. The first person to claim a certain price and RNM status owns that slot. Duplicate bids will be discarded and the original will be maintained
6. Additional people wanting to submit at the same level have the option of bidding $0.01 higher or lower (essentially boxing the first bidder)
7. Any user can submit $0.01 as a bid if they believe all bidders are over the hammer price.

The new dimension of indicating if the car will meet the seller's reserve allows two people to bid a similar price as long as they do not choose the same auction outcome. For instance, if @gerryvz chooses $100K and RNM and @Klink chooses $100K and Reserve met, there will be a single winner assuming they are the closest to the hammer price without going over.

Feel free to ask questions as we refine this game.

Good luck!


Robert

Participant Count​	500EBoard Member​	Auction Hammer Price​	RNM​	Submission Time Stamp (ET)​	Paid (Y/N)​
1​	@JAB12​	$65,000​	RM​	22:09 (09/13/2020)​	Y​
2​	@gerryvz​	$69,200​	RNM​	22:19 (09/13/2020)​	Y​
3​	@amg_meister​	$59,500​	RNM​	02:17 (09/15/20)​	Y​
4​	@Ntrepid​	$71,500​	RM​	11:21 (09/15/2020)​	N​

 

[JAB12]

@Ntrepidy bid for this one is $65,000 reserve met. Going to a romantic of the era willing to provide the needed TLC. Paypal sent.

 

[gerryvz]

$69,200 and no RNM. PayPal sending now.

 

[gerryvz]

No RNM = RM.

 

[Ntrepid]

Wow. Everyone is holding out to the last minute, I like the strategy so as to dial in your bid.


Robert

 

[gerryvz]

Based on his initial post in the peanut gallery, the seller said that a lesser example was getting $100K, inference being that this car warrants north of that. If that is true, then the reserve is likely going to be far above what @JAB12 and I have been thinking.

Unfortunately, I don't think the car is going to even hit $60K with an RNM, but I'll leave my bid as is. I think the $50K bidder got out in front of himself.

Nobody has explained the benefits of (let alone the need for) solid lifters for a 6-liter M119.

 

[gsxr]

Remember that BaT will not accept a silly reserve, say for example $200k. The reserve would likely be in the general ballpark of other listings or sales.

As a seller, I'd normally be nervous about a no-reserve auction, but this might have been a good scenario to try that. It gets a lot of bidders jumping in early along with free publicity. And since the seller has deep pockets, likely wouldn't care if it went for a bit less than hoped for. But, we'll wait a week and see how it goes.

 

[JAB12]

If BAT accepted a reserve of $100K (or more) for this example then that all but confirms what I already suspected that they don't necessarily play by 'Fair rules'. You can't confirm the veracity of the Brabus conversion, and the punchlist shows just some careless ridiculous items such as the tires which, IMHO, should have been appropriately replaced in sale prep for the correct high performance brands these vehicles warrant. This feels like the same attempt of the recent RM no reserve post delivery engine drop in 'E60' that underachieved last month on that auction. That car was essentially put on the block fresh off the boat.

The 'isms of the seller as a to a 'cheetah on fire' sound silly to me. The car will sell for what a knowledgeable enthusiast or collector of the era that knows what this is will want to pay. I am with @gerryvz $50K bidder jumped the gun on a 9 day listing. I'll stick with my bid/guess. I know very little about his car but you take the PL plus the ill present mish mosh of parts and the lack of verification records from the tuner, not to mention the lengthy life in Japan and I cannot justify this thing commanding 6 figures as presently showed. Put in another $25K into it and get at least an email from Brabus and then we can talk.

 

[amg_meister]

$59,500 and RNM. PayPal sent.

 

[Ntrepid]

3 hours to get your bid in!


Robert

 

[JAB12]

@Ntrepid, I like your optimism on this one breaking $70K and reserve met. We shall see. I think the peanut gallery on this offering has made a lot of other members shy away from the game. Less than 10% of those who have read this thread have bid. Hopefully the next 2 hours it picks up. A la BAT.
Good luck everyone!

 

[gerryvz]

This is a very nice, unusual and odd car in a lot of ways. On the surface it is very very attractive, particularly to uneducated buyers, or those who know "just enough to be dangerous" about the E500E. No question it is authentic and the "real deal" as it is being marketed as. It is in good enough shape that it can be easily brought back with the right levels of attention, time, and money.

However, for a lot of other folks, this car gives considerable pause, and not just because of the punch list. Some conscientious prep work by the owner and/or seller would mitigate much if not most of the punch list, making it mostly a non-issue. It is this sense of "pause" that is holding this car back, and perhaps members from getting "in the game."

To me, and this is only my opinion, this car feels a fair bit rushed to sale, without a marketing strategy or proper preparation. We'll see how high this one goes, but I can guarantee it will not get anywhere near $100,000.

 

[gsxr]

To me, and this is only my opinion, this car feels a fair bit rushed to sale, without a marketing strategy or proper preparation.

I agree. The consignment dealer does not seem to know very much about the history of the car from the owner, and there are essentially no records. Almost like the owner is trying to insulate himself from all the questions. Strange.

 

[JAB12]

This feels like the same attempt of the recent RM no reserve post delivery engine drop in 'E60' that underachieved last month on that auction. That car was essentially put on the block fresh

Agree with both @gsxr and @gerryvz on latest comments. As per my note on post #8, clearly not sufficient prep to offer the car for sale. Not even a high level detail, new correct quality tires and other simple non costly items that should have been done prior to the photo shoot. That is just basic car sale prep. IMHO, if you are not able to spend a few thousand bucks on sale prep on a car like this, you cannot pretend to hammer down at a $100K plus. It is not just photos and a BAT write up when you have no documentation to back anything up. But then again, that is just me and my OCD thinking.

 

[Ntrepid]

Betting window is now closed. The pot stands @ $20 to the winner! Good luck!


Robert

 

[gsxr]

10 mins left!

1991 Mercedes-Benz 500E Brabus 6.0

Bid for the chance to own a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500E Brabus 6.0 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #36,660.

bringatrailer.com

JAB is winning at the moment with bid parked at $65k.

 

[JC220]

10 mins left!

1991 Mercedes-Benz 500E Brabus 6.0

Bid for the chance to own a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500E Brabus 6.0 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #36,660.

bringatrailer.com

JAB is winning at the moment with bid parked at $65k.

I thought for a moment you meant the bid on the actual car. Doh!

 

[Ntrepid]

Congrats @JAB12! You nailed the hammer price! $1 less and @amg_meister would be rolling in the dough!


Robert

 

[JAB12]

Ended at $65,000 RNM.

 

[gerryvz]

Congrats JAB on an exact call. The pot is yours? Does the RM/RNM status affect anything?

 

[JAB12]

Congrats @JAB12! You nailed the hammer price! $1 less and @amg_meister would be rolling in the dough!


Robert

Thank you. If there ever was a wild guess...

 

[JAB12]

Congrats JAB on an exact call. The pot is yours? Does the RM/RNM status affect anything?

Good question. You have to love the 'Bags of cash' comment issued by the seller on the last minutes of the auction.

 

[JAB12]

@Ntrepid Thank you for hosting this game and for a superfast payment from the House.

 

[JAB12]

Congrats JAB on an exact call. The pot is yours? Does the RM/RNM status affect anything?

Thanks Gerry. Look forward to future games.

 

[gerryvz]

Unfortunately and somewhat surprisingly, this car was not well marketed, nor was the auction well executed. It really deserved the @deanlaumbach treatment.

 

[JAB12]

I wonder what the reserve was? $100k?

 

[gsxr]

I wonder what the reserve was? $100k?

I have no idea, but suspect the owner believes it's worth more than it really is, in the current/as-presented condition. And complete lack of documentation. I'm a bit surprised that BaT approved a reserve that high.

 

[Ntrepid]

@JAB12, please confirm receipt of PayPal funds totalling $20.


Robert

 

[JAB12]

@JAB12, please confirm receipt of PayPal funds totalling $20.


Robert

I did, on post #23. But yes confirmed. Thank you for the fast payment.

 

[gerryvz]

I would bet that the reserve was somewhere in the $75-80K range, give or take. BaT got caught up, because rare/6.0/Brabus.

If the car would have been better prepared, and better marketed/described, it would have achieved that.

It's all well and good to ask or expect top-market dollar, but the goods had better be in the condition to back up the ask/expectation. I expect that the car's owner and seller were (initially) expecting the car to bring close to, if not more than, six figures.

All of the Price is Right game-playas on this forum were tightly in the $60-71K range, give or take $500 on each end. That just goes to show that no one in the world — not even the so-called "expert" flipper-dealers — knows the market better than the folks on this forum.

 

[JAB12]

All their comments certainly suggest the six figure expectation.

 

[gerryvz]

Well, the listing seller's initial comment in the peanut gallery certainly heavily implied it, based on the "other" Brabus model mentioned....