This 2014 Mercedes CL550 has been on and off the web for months, I believe. I’ve started to write about it and paused, either because I was including it in a lengthy blog about a bunch of cars and changed my mind, or it went into “Currently Unavailable” status. It’s been back for a few days so here we go. The CL class started way back in 1992, and this 2014 is the final year of the third generation spanning 2006 to 2014. The successor to the CL is the S-class coupe. As far as I can tell only 237 2014 CL550’s were sold. A unicorn?
From the B-pillar forward (if it had a B-pillar!) it would be the same cockpit as an S-class sedan and looks and functions the same as my S600. I’d feel real comfortable here. Not lost on me it’s the same color combo as the CT6 I just gave up. Grrrr. I’ll get over it.
The CL550 is AWD (4Matic), and has auto cruise control, seat massagers, heated and cooled seats, and a Harman Kardon sound system. The coupe is such a pretty car from the angle above. From the front I always thought it a bit porpoise-like.
The CL550 is powered by a 4.7 liter twin turbo V-8 rated at 429 hp mated to a seven speed automatic, good for sub-five second 0-60 mph runs. The car sold new eight years ago for probably $120,000 and is now depreciated to about a third of its sales price. I like that. MaxCare is good to 125,000 miles and the max of 60 months, and with the ultra low mileage on this car – only 23,000 – you could cruise 20,000 miles a year worry free. Not a bad deal for $42,998. Rare car and out the door for under $50,000. Find it here in Kearny Mesa, California.
Brace yourself. What follows is too much information about Cadillac seats and clots. And too many shots of my chicken legs. A few weeks ago I wrote this piece about buying a 2018 Cadillac CT6 and setting off the next day on a business trip to North Carolina. I was falling hard for the car and Super Cruise, the industry best Level 2 autonomous driving. Hands free for miles and miles of interstate driving on I-95 south. Made only one stop in Ashland, Virginia on the 300+ mile drive. I fidgeted with the seat trying to get better leg support but didn’t think much about it, until late the next day after a four mile run near Fort Bragg. The back of my knee hurt in an oh so familiar way. I’ve had blood clots twice, the first in 2014 and again in 2019, after which I’ve been on blood thinners. Thinking another clot unlikely I ran another pair of four milers that week unsure if it was clots or a muscle strain. By the time I drove back to Virginia I was pretty sure and headed to the emergency room, where I was diagnosed with another “acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT)” – a blood clot. Got a shot in the belly and changed blood thinners and made my 3pm music gig at a local brewery.
In between my 2014 and 2019 clots, with no blood thinners but getting up often, I’ve flown to India and back non-stop (each way, not the entire loop!), to Africa, and to South America. On thinners I’ve driven cross country twice in the Mercedes S600 and even knocked out a thousand mile day solo. I thought I knew how to manage. But on the 2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum seat above, the intersection of the seat bottom bolster, the seat bottom, and the metal bar crossmember that should extend (but don’t) intrudes on the bottom of the leg just above the knee, and (for me) makes it impossible to get comfortable. And I’m 90 percent sure that pressure gave me a clot. Press the button and there’s a faint sound of a motor doing something, but movement is imperceptible.
The Dulles CarMax service folks were superb in taking a quick look at the car and sending it out to Cadillac for inspection. Sadly, per below, Moore Cadillac advised the seat is not supposed to extend despite the manual, the controls, and the infotainment graphics below suggested it should. They reported back that it works just like all the other Cadillac CT6’s. Disappointing. I even joined the Cadillac CT6 online forum to ask for help, and other owners confirmed that the seat bottom just don’t move. That despite the shot below of the infotainment display indicating extension and the owners’ manual confirming it should. Moore Cadillac just pissed me off. Pretty much offended me with their answer.
For comparison, I checked out a BMW X5 and Mercedes E300 seat, and both extended significantly compared to the immobile Cadillac seats. Below you can see what a normal Mercedes seat does. A cheap E300.
Unfortunately, the 2018 Cadillac CT6 Platinum with Super Cruise that I bagged after it dropped $4,000 one night had to be returned. And for what it’s worth, the Dulles CarMax business office processed the return in less than 30 minutes. Pain free (unlike my leg). A refund check for the car and a refund check for MaxCare are on their way. They had me drive it into the service bay to check the mileage and it was a wistful 100 yard cruise. It’s a really nice car with near Mercedes luxury at a decent price. The seats just (literally) came up short. I suspect for a less than six foot driver they’d never know. The car should be available again soon. Meanwhile, I’ll be driving the S600.
Here’s the link if you want to track the car – it’s not yet back on the market. Suspect there’s work to be done to clear the title.
Been writing novellas about multiple cars in (infrequent) blogs so here’s a simple one. CarMax has a total of 1,291 manuals transmission cars out of a 47,000-plus inventory, and only 173 V-8’s mated to manual transmissions. Most of them are Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers (so resisting the urge to postpone this post to include the lone Cadillac CTS-V with a V-8 and manual!) this one comes across as a nice affordable unicorn to me. A 2012 Audi S5, with both a 4.2 liter V-8 motor and a six-speed manual transmission. The last year for the V-8 in an S5. “Only” $27,998.
The manual transmission was actually standard on the 2012 Audi S5. And the V-8 was also offered only on the 5-series among the S-line. The S6 and S8 kept the wonderful Lambo-ish V-10 until 2013 I believe, and the S7 was introduced to the US in 2013 with a V-8. The 5 started using a supercharged six cylinder in 2013 and you’d have to move to the RS5 to keep a V-8. The 4.2 liter V-8 only produced 354 hp and a 0-60 mph sprint in just under five seconds. But I’ve heard an S5 wail on an exit ramp near my home and it was a glorious vintage power motor sound. That was before I knew it was not a 450 hp motor and quite surprised.
Other than the motor and transmission there’s nothing all that special about the 2012 Audi S5. Bluetooth, parking sensors – not even a rear view camera, heated seats, AWD. It’s a lot like my 2013 M3 in concept (last year for an old school V-8). But it’s a nice 10 year old driver’s car and if you want to shift a last of its kind here you go. Sold new for maybe $55,000 and with relatively low miles and MaxCare available up to a full 60 months – but only 125,000 miles, this car could be used for 15,000 miles yearly until it’s over. That would make it MaxCare covered until it’s 17 years old. Not bad. Find this three owner New England car currently here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Stuck at home while my house is being painted. A bit cooped up (ha!) so did a quick run through of the fun coupes in my saved file and hoping to complete this before the fumes get to me. As I write CarMax has 1,679 cars nationwide officially listed as “coupes”. I could easily get wrapped around the axle finding Camaros, Corvettes, Mustangs, M3’s, Infiniti Q60’s that fit the bill but there are just so many of them. So I’m going with these three Audi TT’s, and this weekend perhaps a 1 of 1,418 model worthy of it’s own page. If you can guess what it is you win.
This 2012 Audi TT RS has been available for quite some time. The little coupe has a 2.5 liter five cylinder turbo pumping 360 hp. Car and Driver calls it a “mini-R8”. The dual clutch version tested in Europe sprinted to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, and later the US model six-speed manual transmission TT RS hit it in 4.0 seconds flat – disappointing only in comparison to the dual clutch – still faster than my 911 was! Top speed was limited to 174 mph. The first gen RS only came to the US in manual mode. Only 641 were imported in 2012, and about the same for 2013 before the car was discontinued. The TT RS was reintroduced to the US market from 2018-2022, when it ended again. Even with the second generation, annually only a few hundred of the TT models were sold as RS. A unicorn.
Car and Driver panned the TT RS for highway drone, but otherwise loved the almost 1g of AWD lateral grip and rip snorting performance once past the turbo lag. The only other criticism? “The TT RS is so competent,” we reported, “so coldly immune to human clumsiness as to diminish the role of the driver.” I tried on a regular TT once, and while getting in and out was as challenging as any low slung car once inside I was surprised how roomy the cockpit was for my 6’4″ 225 lb frame.
The 2012 Audi TT RS sold new for almost $60,000. For a ten year old car with 71,000 miles it’s still a bit high priced. But it’s a bit unique with only a dozen or more for sale across the country. As with other older European cars, MaxCare is only available for 48 months and capped at 125,000 miles. I’d buy it, and enjoy this mini-R8 for 13,500 miles a year – plenty of space for a daily driver! Find this one owner, accident free Audi here in Garland, Texas.
Midway between San Francisco and Sacramento along Interstate 80 sits the Fairfield, California CarMax – a CarMax that in my humble opinion gets far too many unicorns. Too many because it is too far from me on the East Coast. Search my archives and you’ll find more than a few references to cars out in Fairfield – my favorite being this Jaguar XJ8 that made an epic journey of transfers over the course of a year from Florida to Fairfield. Today I was pleased to see two nearly identical 2012 Jaguar XF’s in Fairfield, one a naturally aspirated V-8 and the other a supercharged V-8. Only $4,000 and 90 horsepower separate the two. Given I’ve been writing ridiculously lengthy and infrequent blogs I’m keeping this one minimalist. Here’s the pix and some facts. Enjoy.
The 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged sold originally for about $65,000. It sported a 5.0 liter supercharged (duh) V-8 and would hit 60 mph in under five seconds. It was positioned nicely between the regular V-8 below and the more aggressive XFR with 510 horsepower. It’s a handsome sedan with plenty of performance yet not overly aggressive. About a year and a half ago I last blogged about a 2013 Jaguar XF Supercharged here, and it was selling for about the same price. Can’t believe there was once a first year 2009 for only $14,998!
Here’s the link to this 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged in Fairfield. It’s a one-owner, accident free car. Throw in MaxCare and you’re out the door in the low $30,000’s, with a fast, attractive sleeper.
Last week the pieces fell into place to go nuts and pick up my next two unicorns. One is my daily driver and the other my business car. The journey has had many twists and turns, and both cars are compromises – but for me, pretty darned good placeholders until the opportunity presents itself to acquire what I really want. I’ve had the chance to put some miles on both cars this week, and I am not unhappy. Just broke. Let’s go to the cars.
A 2013 BMW M3 (E93) hard top convertible surfaced out of nowhere at my local Dulles CarMax priced at $41,998 with only 32,000 miles and I immediately reserved it. The last year for the V-8 M3’s, low miles, and reasonably priced. The description said red interior – I hate red interiors – but the pictures did not look like someone bled out inside. You may recall the day I bought my Jeep I also drove to New Jersey to test drive an M3 that went badly. I’m so glad I gave this one a second chance.
The sales rep in New Jersey had no idea how the SMG transmission worked, and neither did I. The car revved and lurched at every stop light and I was embarrassed to look like I wanted to race everyone. When I arrived at Dulles, Ryan, my favorite service rep ever who also owns an M3, showed me how simple it was to put the car in “D” and drive like a normal guy. I test drove the car and in seconds it was clear this could easily be my daily driver. Hit the “M” button on the steering wheel and it screamed. Hit it again and I was back to daily driver mode.
Not sure the photo does the interior color justice. The photo looks more orange than red, and I thought what the hell, I’m from Baltimore and it’s almost baseball season and maybe I could accept this as Orioles colors? I think the color is “ox blood”, but it really looks like just brick. It’s not at all offensive and almost pleasant. Unique. The bolsters are not yet worn. I once owned a 2002 BMW 330CiC and the left bolster showed the effects of big bodies sliding in and out. This one not yet.
I’m pleased that with the top up there is plenty of trunk room for daily errands, and even a suitcase would fit in here. Top down, maybe a gym bag or two.
The 414 hp naturally aspirated V-8 is a joy. Old school. High-revving. Torque is low but most M3’s hit 60 mph in less than five seconds. Unfortunately, the additional weight of the hard top convertible hurts acceleration a bit and probably has it at five seconds flat. It’s still a joy getting to sixty.
Why an M3? Here’s my logic. It’s a convertible, and sort of takes the place of my recently sold 1971 Fiat 124 Spider for drop top driving. Second, it’s an enthusiast sports car, and sort of takes the place of my 2008 Porsche 911 I sold last year. That’s the only reason I call this car a compromise – I really want another 911 but the prices are upwards of $80,000+ for a 2017 991.2. Could be a while until 2017 911’s are in my price range. Last, I’ve concluded a daily driver sports car doesn’t need auto cruise control or seat massagers (although Apple Carplay would be nice), and should be legitimate enough to not embarrass me at cars and coffee. The V-8 M3 fit the bill. For what it’s worth, I thought there was something funky about the exterior and Ryan immediately noticed it has an expensive aftermarket carbon fiber package inside and out. The side panels don’t bother me too much and the front air dam I’ll probably tear off parking at some point. but the lip on the trunk just looks boy racer and has to go. It’s not me, and I actually like the subtle lines of the original M3 trunk. It’ll have to go. Also, in the glove box was a recent registration from an owner in Gaithersburg, Maryland, not far from me. The CarMax pictures were with California plates. Apparently, the car was transferred from the West Coast, bought, and returned. I do not know why. I did buy Maxcare (not cheap at almost $5,000 for $50 deductible up to 125,000 miles) , so I’m not at all worried that there’s a problem. I’ll let you know if there is.
About a month ago I wrote this piece about my discovery of the Cadillac CT6 Platinum model, with a 400 hp twin turbo six and tons of modern features. I took home a 2016 model and loved it. When I returned it I was just learning about Super Cruise, Cadillac’s industry leading self-driving technology, and thought I needed to find a 2017 model with Super Cruise. I would have been wrong. Dulles CarMax service tech James is a GM guru and told me I had to find a 2018 model and showed me the plastic arc on the steering wheel indicating Super Cruise. Kept me from making an unforced error. I found a 2018 CT6 in Charlottesville, white with black interior, and had it transferred. Loved it. Loved Super Cruise. But when I tried to use the automated parking feature it kept trying to back into spots that already had cars in them, so I returned it to be fixed before I made a decision. It was also $58,000 – a lot of money and not too much less than a Mercedes S560. While waiting, though, a 2018 CT6 that was white over tan, my preferred old man colors, showed up in Huntsville, Alabama as “coming soon” for the same price. The transfer fee was $249. The next day I saw the transfer fee increased to $349 and as I was getting agitated over the rise – the car dropped $4,000 in price to $53,998. I had no idea why. I still don’t. I immediately booked it for transfer, and when it arrived I bought it. MaxCare was less that $4,000 (the car is still under manufacturer warranty) and with the price drop, I’m viewing it as free!
The Cadillac CT6 Platinum is also a compromise, in that I really want another V-12 Mercedes. There just haven’t been any at CarMax in a long, long time. It’s time to sell my S600 and I need a long distance highway cruiser with all the modern features – adaptive cruise control, Apple Carplay, seat massagers, HUD, and tons of leg room. I also wanted enough oomph to not miss the V-12 too much and I was hopeful the twin turbo six cylinder would give me that, with 400 hp.
The cockpit in the CT6 is comfortable and luxurious. Like the S-class, it has almost too much leg room in the front. The infotainment is a little clunky, in that some controls can only be accessed by reaching for the touch screen and it seems a long ways away. There is a touch pad by the gear shift but odds are I would crash before scrolling to where I need to be on the screen. I have been a little frustrated getting in and out of the car. With long legs the front seat is way behind the B-pillar and I feel like I’m squeezing in and out of the narrow opening. The “easy exit” feature moves the seat forward in such a way that only really small people could ever use it. Possible that’s adjustable and maybe when I take the time to read the manual I’ll figure it out.
Rear seat room is somewhere between an S-class and E-class in Mercedes. There are a nice pair of DVD screens that rise from the front seat backs, and a box of headphones and remote controller was in the back seat. Nice. The rear side window sunshade is manual, which seems primitive compared to my 12 year old S600. The rear window sunshade automatically drops when the car is in reverse and returns up when in drive – nice.
I’m currently on a business trip to North Carolina and left the day after I bought the car. The motor is the only thing really giving me pause. In “Touring” mode it is luxury car quiet and as strong as any six cylinder on the road. But I wanted more zoom and left it in “Sport” mode much of the time since I bought it. Yes, it will do 0-60 mph in almost the same time as my V-12 Mercedes. But it’s “growl” sounds an awful lot like the 1981 Citation X-11 V-6 my best friend once owned, and that brings back bad memories of all the GM failures of that era. I’m hoping, though, after watching Cadillacs dominate endurance racing at Daytona, that the motor will hold out.
The highlight of my drive from Northern Virginia to North Carolina was Super Cruise. It’s possible to literally drive a hundred miles and never touch the steering wheel. Driving I-95 through downtown Richmond Super Cruise executed some tight left and right curves flawlessly, even braking on its own to keep me safe. I only needed to touch the wheel to change lanes to pass. At dusk I had Super Cruise going, along with night vision, adaptive cruise control. seat massagers, a podcast on Carplay, and a rotisserie chicken cooking in the glove box (just checking to see if you’re paying attention). I was delirious with the drive. I was also getting a whopping 28 mpg gas mileage at 78 mph. So when I start feeling disappointed in the 3.0 liter six cylinder as only being adequate, and I realize gas is well over $4 a gallon for premium here, I’m becoming comfortable that this car is a pretty good compromise – and I have the M3 for when I want an old fashioned V-8 powerplant. One week in, I am not unhappy.
The world is going to hell in a handbasket. Because of the tragic Russian invasion of Ukraine, gas prices in the USA averaged $4.25 a gallon for regular and over $5.00 for diesel as I write. Fortunately my V-12 Mercedes S600 is in the shop for last minute repairs before I sell it. But we still gotta drive, right? Thought I’d put together a short list of cars I might be tempted to drive if I had to endure these prices long term. (Of course I say that as I prepare to pickup a 24 test drive of a BMW M3 V-8 this afternoon!) Unicorns? Only during these times.
Let’s start with an electric vehicle (EV), the controversial 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E SELECT. I’ve seen them on the road and the design doesn’t offend me, I just wish Ford hadn’t contaminated the Mustang brand on this EV. But since I drove a pitiful (borrowed) 1978 Mustang II with the 84 hp four-cylinder to my high school prom I guess I have little credibility here. Is is an SUV? A crossover? A car? Who cares. It’s electric! (Boogie, woogie, woogie)
The Mustang Mach-E Select has 266 hp and will do 0-60 mph in less than five seconds – not bad – and go maybe 270 miles on a charge. Middle of the pack EV performance. It’s fairly well equipped with auto cruise control and Apple Carplay. Car and Driver liked it so much they gave it an “Editors’ Choice” award. The car sold for maybe $50,000 new, and is now selling at a disappointing premium of $53,998 here in Potomac Mills, Virginia.
Stock # 22328427 VIN # 3FMTK1RM6MMA10386
Next we have what I thought was the gold standard for EV’s, but don’t hold me to that – a 2018 Model 3 Long Range. CarMax today has 253 Teslas on the lots, ranging from $41,998 for a Standard Range model to $156,998 for a Model S Plaid rocket ship. I chose the 2018 below for no other reason than it was “reasonably” priced and a long range model. It’s similar in performance to the Mustang, albeit with a little less range (200 miles?!). Same with features.
The 2018 Tesla Model S Long Range rolled out to mixed reviews. Car and Driver noted the highs as “satisfying handling, impressive tech integration, looks and feels like the future.” The lows were “Not the price we were promised, not the range we were hoping for, the questionable build quality we’ve learned to expect.” This was probably a $56,000 car new, and is now $43,998 here in Kearny Mesa, California.
Stumbled on this hot 2020 Range Rover Velar SV Autobiography Dynamic and wondered if there was anything special about it. Was surprised to learn it’s a one year only model and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) made only 600 units. A unicorn, but not a cheap one. Invested another whole hour on the web only to learn that 60 made it Canada, and no idea how many to the USA. It was once a $100,000 SUV and two years later, it’s on the lot for $83,998. A bargain? Probably not. Exclusive? I’d say so.
With the convenience package and driver assistance package there is nothing available from Land Rover this vehicle don’t have. Adaptive cruise control, heated, cooling, and massaging performance seats for all, knurled-metal finish on the infotainment and HVAC knobs, multiple big screens, leather, carbon fiber, and on an on. Looks handsome. Tasteful.
No rear DVD system – probably interferes with the suit jacket hangar built into the driver’s headrest? Nothing opulent in the back. Nothing really to see here mate, move on.
Here’s what you really get for the $40,000 over a regular Velar – a monstrous 550 hp 5.0 liter supercharged V-8 powerplant mated to an eight speed automatic that’ll take this beast to 60 mph in less than four seconds. Same motor in the higher priced Range Rover Sport SVR and lower priced (usually) Jaguar F-Pace SVR (see the bottom of this piece). The motor engineered and built by Ford for Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations until 2020. The SVAD gets bigger wheels. bigger brakes, and corners with brake-based torque-vectoring. It also has a bigger gas tank – gonna need it. JLR is also pretty proud of the active exhaust system, providing the video sound track below to whet your appetite, or be music to your ears, depending on your epicurean preferences.
This one-owner, accident free 2020 Range Rover Velar SV Autobiography Dynamic is available in Corpus Christi, Texas here – it’s been on and off the net today so the stock number and VIN are also below. What about MaxCare? This Range Rover still has two years and 20,000 miles of manufacturer warranty – after that it’s a crap shoot. I suspect the legendary unreliability of JLR vehicles is by now more folk lore than reality, despite Doug DeMuro’s famous Range Rover some time back. (For the record, CarMax dropped more money repairing my Mercedes S55 AMG – $35,000 – than they did on his Range Rover – $21,000!) Spending $84,000 on this Velar would be a strain for me, and MaxCare might push that to $90,000. But I couldn’t own this without it. Your call.
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum – Home for 24 Hour Test Drive
My 2010 Mercedes S600 has about 97,000 miles and two years of warranty left, and so I’ve been preparing it for sale (hint, hint?) and hoping to replace it with another long distance highway cruiser. The BMW M760 V-12 I drove last fall was not as spacious as the Mercedes, and there haven’t been any Mercedes V-12 unicorns at CarMax in an awfully long time. I’m starting to think there may not be anymore, and so I started looking at possible placeholder cars – nice enough to drive for a year or longer but not so expensive I couldn’t impulsively sell on short notice if a Mercedes (or Audi) V-12 came on the market. I’ve looked at Cadillac CTS-V’s, but they don’t have adaptive cruise control or seat massagers, features I just have to have on the highway. I am willing to sacrifice the aromatherapy in the S-class.
Then I started filtering my searches for Auto Cruise Control, Apple Carplay, Heated Steering Wheel, and Seat Massagers. You’d think there would be more choices, but of the 61,000 cars in the CarMax inventory, less than 400 have seat massagers. Iinterestingly, the highest count are Fords – F150’s and Explorers. Who knew? Sorry but once you’ve had your back and butt rubbed at 75 mph on a thousand mile drive, you can’t not have seat massagers again. Ignoring the $70,000 and up cars, I zeroed in on these Cadillac XTS and CT6 sedans with 400 hp six cylinder motors, AWD, and most, if not all, of the features I need. And I even took the 2016 CT6 Platinum model above home for a 24 hour test drive, so we’ll start with that one.
The CT6 was the Cadillac flagship from 2016-2020, selling about 40,000 units total. The Platinum trim is the highest level. More interior pictures below, but let’s just say I was as comfortable in this Cadillac CT6 as I have been in the 2004 Mercedes S55 and 2010 Mercedes S600 I’ve owned. And neither had the audio system in the Cadillac – a 34 speaker (including in the head rest) Bose Panaray sound system. Loved it – especially coupled with Apple Carplay. Never heard of Panaray so had to Google it. First, Panaray is a “portmanteau” word, blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others – panoramic and array. The sound system is a $3,700 option in lesser Cadillacs and standard in the Platinum models. I can see me turning the stereo down to share with passengers what both Panaray and portmanteau mean, once I learn to pronounce it.
Thought I’d wrap up the sale of my 1971 Fiat 124 Spider on Bring a Trailer before getting back to CarMax unicorns. This post about taken longer than I wanted to write, because the whole Bring a Trailer process has taken far longer than I had expected. It was an exhausting and exhilarating ride, and ironically one of my lingering memories will be just how much Bring a Trailer struggled to actually bring a trailer when the buyer requested shipment via the web site. More on that later. Fortunately, the buyer is a patient and kind man.
I initially submitted my Fiat in mid-October 2021 to begin the process. I elected to go for the $349 package that included Bring a Trailer (BaT) sending out a professional photographer and assigning an editor to write my listing. It took a few weeks to schedule and shoot the photos and make them available to me for review. Then it took a couple of weeks to assign a writer to complete my ad. If you’re wondering, BaT uses a template to input owner-provided info and allows for a little, but not much, color commentary. That’s why all the ads sound alike (powered by a 1.6 liter four-cylinder mated to a five-speed manual gearbox….) Fellow DC Fiat member Brewster Thackery is a BaT rep and was assigned as my writer. He did a good job and accepted edits that were important to me. By now we were into late November with no date set for going live and the holidays were looming. I began to fret.
To their credit, BaT noted there was a single digit discrepancy between my vehicle title and the VIN, and I would need to get that corrected before it could be listed. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a new title issued in Virginia for a 50 year old Italian car? Turns out not hard at all – wonderful lady at the DMV got it done in about 20 minutes. Not a corrected or salvage or anything – an original title with the correct VIN. Whew!
Although I was frustrated we were two months into this process the BaT folks were accommodating in postponing going live until after Christmas. I didn’t think launching the auction right before Christmas was going to help sell the car. Who buys a vintage Fiat as a Christmas present? Instead I had a better plan – go live on New Year’s Eve and hope car enthusiasts with lots of time and lots of booze might go nuts bidding. And so we went live, for eight days instead of the normal seven, with the auction to close at 11 am Pacific time – 2 pm my time on January 7th. BaT has a provision to prevent last second snipers – if the high bid is placed at the deadline, the auction is extended another two minutes. Let’s go to the bidding.
I got a chuckle right off the bat with a compliment by solarfish and a clever $1,971 bid. Get it? BaT members can make comments whether or not they are bidding, and that makes for an interesting auction. Normally the negotiation of a car sale is between a buyer and a seller. Not here. Negotiations are more chaotic, and like normal auctions potential buyers are negotiating with each other with escalating bids – not negotiating with me. I made the sale “no reserve” and so highest bidder was getting my car. The interesting part is that the bidding is going on while bystanders, who may or may not know Fiats, and may or may not even be interested buying the car, can add comments. I was prepared for some sharp shooters who tune in only to point out defects and signal to all of us how much they know about these cars. Irritating, but can’t get irritated. Calmly answer their points because everyone is watching – but be aware that their comments can influence other real bidders. Tom Milton irked me by asking questions that seemed like that, at one point suggesting I might be hiding something and “maybe beauty is only skin deep?”. Imagine my surprise when he later bid on the car! That reinforced the need to stay calm. BaT advisors also told me I did not need to respond to each and every comment in real time, especially not from non-bidders.
