Auction Monday: Carmax
149 vehicles were sold in 1 hour. From a 2008 Mercedes C300 Sport with 71k that went for $21,400 (plus fee) to a 1998 Lincoln Town Car Executive with 263k that went for $1,600. Seeing that one go down the line for that price made me feel pretty good. I had bought a mint one with 100,000 fewer miles for the same price the week before. But by the end of the day I felt pretty crappy overall. Why?
I am competing against over 100 dealers for the same frigging car! What’s the point? When I see a ratted out 1995 Volvo 940 wagon go for $1600, and it’s worth maybe $700 wholesale, why should I even bother? There was a frame damaged 2006 Audi A8 L that went for $25,000. That was nice to look at if you’re not used to identifying resprays and substandard repairs. To be frank, there were only a precious few cream puffs at this sale.
A 2001 Cadillac DHS with only 57,000 miles went for $6400. Either you need to already have a rabid buyer on the hook for that vehicle. Or you need a finance company that only requires a pulse and a paycheck to make that work. You finance it for $10,000. The company cuts you a check for $9,000, and you enjoy the freedom. Wait, that was five years ago. Today you’re toting the note with a GPS and a diasbler.
There was one vehicle that did interest me. A 2006 Scion Tc. I used to re-sell Celicas more than any other tpye of car. This one may as well be called a Scion Celica. Everything from the controversial design to the sport touring nature of them is indicative of the Celica heritage. That is except the last gen Celica which was a true boy-racer type for some young adults and a lot of middle-aged secretaries.
With no title, but no announcements, the 76,000 mile Celica in drag sold for $8,000. Five-speed. Very nice interior. But a base model without even a sunroof. Throw in the fee and the handshaker, and you’ve got a car that’s going to look good sitting at a lot for a long period of time.
But then again maybe not. Latinos tend to be far more experienced with manuals and the buyer du jour specialized in that clientele. It wasn’t cheap. But during tax time nothing is.
More by Steven Lang
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I'm so glad I bought my 'new' car back in early Feb, it appears that prices are going berserk across the board. Even up here in Canuckland prices on some used vehicles are getting silly. Oh well, wait until things die down and credit becomes easier to get hold of an eventually we'll see the heady days of $200 operational auction house clunkers again... or not.
Sold 1991 Previa. Spent wealth to bring it up to snuff. Sold to a young family from Iowa just starting out. I went as low as $300 but the nice young fellow said no... he felt the $500 was MORE than fair and appreciated my kindliness. Oh well. Just being a decent guy (tm) that seems to be such a rarity within a society I generally despise. Done for "good Karma"? Not sure. Maybe just to be different. Stupid? Most probably think so. Maybe those folks are correct. I also keep off others' lawns. And do not allow my noise to enter others' abodes so they can dwell in peace. Hope the van performed well for the couple and their itty bitty spawn who drooled constantly, not having learned to spit yet. Still disgusted, in general, with the USA as a whole and its societal norms. Along with the vast majority of all that is human. let the 30-mile-wide asteroid impact at 15,000 miles per second. Humans are generally an unworthy species. Splat. Adios.