The Daily Vroom
Auctions To Keep An Eye On
This 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII on Cars & Bids is already at $50k with six days left, and it feels like one of those auctions where everyone knows it is going higher.
The reason is simple: 960 miles.
That is ridiculous in the best possible way, because Evos were not bought by people who wanted to preserve them for a museum. They were bought to be launched, boosted, modified, daily driven, argued about on forums, and generally used hard. Most of them were. This one somehow avoided all of that.
It is black over black, 5 speed, SSL Package, Enkei wheels, Brembos, intercooler sprayer, carbon fiber rear spoiler, sport meter kit, window sticker, factory literature, no notable modifications, and Doug DeMuro has already reviewed it. Basically, if Cars & Bids could design clickbait for people who grew up loving Japanese performance cars, this is it.
The seller says the owner bought it in 2014 and added about 20 miles since. Apparently he is a big JDM collector with several of these, which explains the whole thing. If you only own one Evo, not driving it feels criminal. If you own three or four, one can sit there quietly and turn into what is probably now a six figure car.
I just hope the next owner drives it a little. Not ruins it. Not modifies it into a YouTube regret machine. Just enough to remind it that it is an Evo, not furniture.
This 1966 Porsche 911 Sunroof Coupe is one of those listings where the car itself is interesting enough, but the comment section has become the real story.
On paper, there is a lot to like. Early short wheelbase 911, Polo Red, factory sunroof, Webasto gas heater, rebuilt 2.0 liter flat six, 5 speed manual, fresh restoration, and the seller says it is one of the first twenty five 911s built with both the sunroof and gas heater. That is not nothing. For an early 911 buyer, those are all words that usually get attention very quickly.
The problem is not really the car. The problem is the language around the car.
Once a seller says “rotisserie restoration” and “no expense spared,” bidders are going to inspect every inch like they have been personally invited to find the flaw. And in this case, they did. The comments quickly moved to the fiberglass passenger fender, missing or unfinished trim, hood emblem holes, bumper fit, interior details, and whether the car looks more rushed than the description suggests.
That is where sellers can make life harder for themselves. A car can be very good, very rare, and very desirable, but if the description oversells it by even 10%, the comments will usually punish the other 90%. Maybe the better pitch here is not “no expense spared.” Maybe it is, “rare early sunroof 911, freshly restored, mechanically sorted, very attractive, with a few finishing details and a fiberglass fender that some buyers may want to address.”
That sounds less dramatic, but it is probably stronger. Because then buyers are not discovering the compromises. They are pricing them in.
To be fair to the seller, he has been active in the comments, has added more photos, answered questions, explained the history, and clearly believes in the car. He also points to real money spent, including more than $25k on the engine rebuild, hundreds of hours in sanding and polishing, and a lot of new or restored parts. So this is not a disappearing seller situation. He is there, he is engaging, and that matters.
But this is a good reminder that auction descriptions set the temperature. If you describe a car as a great driver with rare options and a high quality restoration, people judge it one way. If you call it no expense spared, people judge it like a concours judge who has had too much coffee.
The positive here is that the car still has a lot going for it. Early 911s are special, factory sunroof cars are desirable, Polo Red works, and a rebuilt 2.0 liter with the right look and sound will always find an audience. The seller just needs the conversation to move from “is this really no expense spared?” back to “what is this rare early 911 worth as it sits?”
Because there is probably a very good car here. It just needed a slightly less heroic description.
Your Feedback
I thought yesterday’s poll would be pretty straightforward. Ask people what worries them most in an auction listing, get a few clicks, move on.
Not quite.
The replies came in quickly, and what stood out was how consistent the theme was. Buyers are not just looking at the car. They are looking at the seller. Too few photos are a problem. Missing records are a problem. Vague accident history is definitely a problem. But the biggest issue, again and again, was confidence. Once bidders feel like they are having to drag basic information out of a seller, the car starts to feel riskier than it probably needs to.
Below are some of the replies, and I think they say a lot about what buyers are really looking for before they raise their hand.
When the seller does not respond to legitimate questions, it raises a red flag. To some extent you are buying the seller as well as buying the car if you don’t feel, the guy is honest and forthcoming confidence is lost in the value of his car.
I read the seller's description of the car and look for the vague statements - thought to be, reportedly, a previous owner claimed. 😊
One Thing I Have Found To Be Unacceptable. One wants To Reserve And The Auction House Insists On No Reserve. This in my opinion Takes The Seller out of the Pic. Sellers In most cases want a return for the amount invested. There's no guarantee in a no Reserve platform will the Seller recoup what was obvious spent to get the vehicle ready for sale. On a Reserve Platform at least the Seller retains his vehicle if Reserve is not met. The Seller can try again later. Or at the very least try another venue.
You can never have enough info when evaluating a car. I have seen great cars go cheap because of poor presentation, and mediocre cars bring strong money because of solid presentation. It makes for a better sale and less buyer anxiety when you have all the facts up front!👍
Potential bidders need their questions answered plain and simple.
Lack of detail in the photos is also a concern. I've seen listing that look like they had greasy fingerprints on the lens, or took a photo with their phone of a photo on their computer. Also listings of a dirty car or interior. If someone doesn't care to detail the car before listing it, that may indicate how it was maintained. I kind of understand that with an estate sale, and there are good records, but most of the time that is not the case.
Not enough information!
I would add combative sellers who try to argue away questions instead of answering them.
A quiet seller is far and away the biggest red flag. There are a million understandable (if not necessarily justifiable) reasons for the rest of the options — needed to get the car live quickly, didn’t have immediate access to all the resources, didn’t have proper coaching, etc.
But a seller unwilling to engage with an audience, answer questions, or respond to requests once the auction is live tells me everything I need to know: at worst, they’re intentionally hiding something, or at best they just don’t care enough to give me the info I need to make an informed decision. Either way, I’m not bidding (or bidding far less than I might otherwise)
There is no way to prevent this from happening. I’ve heard from inside both sites, 10% of transactions back out due to sellers getting cold feet.
This Is What A Seller Should Be Doing
After writing about sellers not always helping themselves at auction, this 1962 Jaguar Mk II is a pretty good example of the opposite. Because this is what effort looks like.
The car itself is already interesting. It is a 1962 Jaguar Mk II 3.8 in British Racing Green over tan leather, restored in the early 1990s by Jason Len, the founder of XKs Unlimited, and owned by the same person since 1998. It also has the sort of upgrades that make an old Jaguar far more usable in the real world: a T5 five speed manual, limited slip differential, power assisted rack and pinion steering, Wilwood front brakes, Koni shocks, electronic ignition and dual SU carburetors.
That is a strong starting point. A Mk II is already one of those cars that looks right before you even know the details. British Racing Green, tan leather, wood dash, chrome, proper old Jaguar shape. You do not need to be a Jaguar person to understand why people like these.
But what I like here is not just the car. It is the way the auction is being handled.
This is a no reserve auction, there are plenty of photos, videos, service records, a magazine feature, a proper backstory, and a seller who is actually in the comments answering questions. When people asked about the prior front end repair, he explained it. When they asked for more photos, he added them. When the tire date codes became a discussion, he did not disappear. He dealt with it. That should not be unusual, but it still stands out.
And it matters even more on a car like this. This is not some delivery mile modern collectible where the whole pitch is “nothing has ever happened.” This Jaguar has lived a life. It was restored decades ago, modified by someone who knew what he was doing, driven sparingly, repaired when needed and kept by the same owner for a very long time.
That kind of car can be more interesting than a perfect museum piece, but only if the seller gives bidders enough confidence to understand the story.
There is also a great little BaT moment in the comments. Dave D, who says he was the founder and publisher of British Car magazine and personally shot and wrote the original article on this car, shows up and starts bidding. You cannot manufacture that. That is the kind of comment section moment that gives an auction a bit of life.
Will this be a record breaking Mk II? I have no idea. That is not really the point. The point is that the seller is giving the car a chance. Good photos. Real history. Clear answers. No disappearing act when the awkward questions show up.
Funny how often that is the difference.
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