There’s been a lot of chat lately – really since the onset of the COVID pandemic -about how online enthusiast-oriented car auctions like BringaTrailer, PCar Market, MB Market, Cars and Bids, and so on have robbed average middle-class car enthusiasts of good or great deals on interesting cars. Just last weekend your TTS ambassadors attended the Turtle Invitational 4 concours in Bedford, New York. Among the folks we had the pleasure to meet was a fellow who had recently won a very clean yet not-particularly-collectible Bavarian sedan from the 1980s. It was a very nice car. As the owner conveyed, “I feel like folks were asleep at the switch, and I stole it!”  Interested, we looked-up the car after we returned home, and found that he’d paid double what we guessed, and probably 3-4 times what the car would’ve cost before the boom. No doubt, both the landscape and perspectives have shifted, and luck in the auctions definitely favors the wealthy. But are those of us without bottomless coffers just SOL, or are there still bargains to be had on cars that we actually want to own?

The simple answer is yes – there are still deals out there. BUT, and it’s a big but, you have to look and work a lot harder to find the deals, and you might have to be willing to do a little work on the other side of the purchase.

Back in the day, BringaTrailer was the best of the blog sites that found interesting cars online and wrote about them. It was really quite a brilliant strategy: put the cars in front of enthusiasts and build an audience. Back then, it was up to the reader to follow-up on the Craigslist ad or eBay auction for the car in question and seal the deal. The brilliance came when they became the listing source, and not only was the audience already there, but the sellers were as well. They made a business out of being selective about the cars that made the grade and rejected cars/sellers with unreasonable reserves or dubious cars. They’ve relaxed a bit on the latter, but the majority of cars on BaT are still pretty darned nice.

Marque-specific auction sites tend to get interesting or rare examples of that marque (and sometimes other marques, selectively), but don’t have quite as wide an audience – though sales results on these sites remain strong. Likewise, multi-make auction sites like Cars and Bids or Hemmings are a little more of a combination of top quality cars coupled with some higher mileage, somewhat less interesting, or not-quite-as-nice examples. For folks who appreciate nice cars, there seems to be an enthusiast auction site to suit your needs. Unfortunately, all the other folks who like the same cars as you do know about them.

So where are these good or great deals I speak of? A few places:

1. First and foremost, a poorly written classified ad or eBay auction is a buyer’s best friend. Not everyone is comfortable with – or even understands – the car auction community. These are often the same folks that put a 6 word description on their Craigslist, Cars.com, Facebook Marketplace, or Autotrader classified ad. It’s often accompanied by awful pictures, too, if there are any pictures at all.  It’s time consuming and frustrating at times, but these are often the same people who are not trying to sell their cars for the same or more as the last BaT sale for the same car, albeit with delivery miles and/or celebrity ownership. These are the same sellers that often like to speak on the phone rather than text or email, and really want you to come to them, because they think that the Internet is one big scam. I mean, they’re not completely wrong, but that’s a different article. It’s generally wise not to buy sight-unseen in any case, although with the right due diligence I’ve been successful with it more often than not. And I’ve done it a *lot*.
2. Despite the fact it seems to have become a bottom-feeder’s paradise, eBay still manages to have some pretty interesting cars listed. Generally, in my experience these tend to be higher-mileage examples of neat cars and a lot of dealers that don’t have the time or bandwidth to wait for the enthusiast auction process. Like with the classifieds, buying sight-unseen isn’t a great idea here, either. Unscrupulous car dealers are expert in masking, hiding, or outright lying about flaws and problems with cars. Still, sometimes they don’t really understand what is unique about a car, or they rely on KBB, etc. for valuation – and while that normally works against the buyer, for some cars those pricing strategies don’t account for the enthusiast factor. Sometimes they just see old cars. But eBay isn’t just dealers, there are normal sellers there as well. Even in the past few years I’ve had a couple of cars that I put on eBay because they had a little bit of story to them. Not bad cars at all, but also not going to win Pebble Beach.
3. Look for the forums for the cars you’re interested in. Frankly, if I want to buy a Porsche, I’m going to start with the Porsche Club of America classifieds or The Samba. For Mercedes it’s the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, MBWorld, or the PeachParts (now Pelican) Forum. EVERY car with an enthusiast following of any sort has a forum, and there’s almost always a classifeds forum. Beyond that, there are numerous model-specific forums. Look at sites like 500eboard.co and the great  Porsche 986 forum, just for example . Google (or your favorite search engine ) is your friend here. Often the forum members will be familiar with a specific car, making sight-unseen a little more palatable…
4. Look outside the United States. Europe and Asia don’t seem to have embraced the enthusiast auction sales model like we have here in the States, so there are some truly remarkable cars listed for sale on websites like AutoScout24 and Mobile.de. You obviously have to factor-in shipping for international purposes, and it’s that much harder and more complex to qualify/inspect a car prior to purchase. That said, the internet has made the overall car community much smaller than it once was, and through online forums, FaceBook groups, and other enthusiast resources you can often find someone close enough to lay eyes on a car for you. Likewise, if you’re buying from a dealer you can look at their reputation online for a sense of what you’re likely to get. Finally, several of the dealers that advertise on these sites have experience delivering cars to the U.S., and you can often find other folks on these shores who can relay their experiences.
5. Don’t forget word of mouth. The full Euro-spec Mercedes 500SEC in my garage at this writing came to me because a car friend of mine knew I had a penchant for these cars and threatened to buy it if I didn’t. Game on. Engaging in car communities and with car folks like service shops or specialty dealers can mean that someone may call you before going to the open market. It’s always good to have friends. Don’t be afraid to put the word out with fellow enthusiasts as well – often anything is for sale, price varies..

Whatever car tickles your fancy, you don’t have to feel like the market has just passed you by and you should just give up. It can be a long, drawn-out process. Like I mentioned above, assuming you find a car you want, there is no substitute for laying eyes on it yourself. That said, it’s not always possible. Here are a few other considerations:

1. Consider paying for a pre-purchase inspection. The more the car costs or is potentially worth, the more this will be money well-spent. Any buyer should expect to spend a little bit of money, but some basics like a visual inspection and compression test can save you thousands.
2. Don’t be afraid of cars that need a little bit of work. Sometimes a car is for sale because an owner got tired of spending money on it or because it needs work. In my world that means they are priced better and more negotiable. Ideally, you can do the needed work yourself, but otherwise if you know the issues call a specialist in the model and talk turkey with them. Chances are if you don’t already know a guy you’ll need them sooner or later if you buy an older car regardless of how clean it is.
3. Consider how you’re planning to use it. If you want to drive an interesting car, then a well-documented car with lots of miles might be your best bet. Some of the most fun I ever had was in my aircooled 1988 Porsche 911 Targa with 228,000 miles on it, but nearly every service record from new. Same for my 179K mile 560SL. Both were priced well below market, but held their own on a display field with cars costing 20 times as much or more. You might also consider cars with rebuilt titles in the same manner, but in that case I’d strongly recommend you get pictures of the damage and any receipts for the repairs if available.

At the end of the day, whether you’re looking for a trailer queen or an everyday driver, there are still plenty of opportunities to get your hands on a classic car that will suit your needs without paying the auction premium. That’s always an option as well, but for me the car buying process is as much about the hunt for the car as it is about the car itself. The best auction sites take the hunt out of the mix by bringing the cars right to your desktop/laptop/tablet/smart phone, which is great if it’s the right car at the right time and the right price. For me, and some of my car friends there is a satisfaction in seeking-out and finding a great deal hidden in plain sight. Your mileage, as always, may vary.