Car & Classic auctions. Any experience?

Pondy

Pondy

Muppet
 At the summit of the picturesque fens
It seems that Car & Classic are becoming a big player as an advertising platform for car buying and selling.
I am interested to know how their auctions work. Fees for buyers and sellers and what they do for the money as a seller.

Anyone had any experience of selling, or buying, through their auctions?
 
Pondy said:
It seems that Car & Classic are becoming a big player as an advertising platform for car buying and selling.
I am interested to know how their auctions work. Fees for buyers and sellers and what they do for the money as a seller.

Anyone had any experience of selling, or buying, through their auctions?
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Not sure we’re talking about the same car and classic but I use these people to sell all my classic cars


Never failed to sell and usually sensible enquiries and buyers. Won’t use an auction of any type due to fees.
 
bluespit said:
Not sure we’re talking about the same car and classic but I use these people to sell all my classic cars


Never failed to sell and usually sensible enquiries and buyers. Won’t use an auction of any type due to fees.
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Yes same people. They do auctions aswell. A bit like the pistonheads auctions where it is just in an auction section and runs for a given period (around 7 days IIRC).
I was thinking about it as the car I'm thinking of selling is very hard to value, so an auction will find it's audience at the going price (probably).
 
I’ve had them badger me about using their auctions each time I’ve advertised recently (I usually change one of my classics about every 4-6 months)

My response is usually related to ‘the fees you take from selling my car pay your salary so you can phone me up to ask if you can sell my car!’

And in any case I’d rather take time with a purchaser, let them drive the car, jack it up, look underneath, talk about the good and bad points and reach an agreed price. A quick 20 minute shuftie in a dodgy wearhouse and no test drive smacks of danger -buyer beware
 
Car & Classics Auctions is online only - they never touch the vehicles, if you want to inspect a car before bidding then you can click a button which will send a request to the seller and you can arrange it between the two of you. All they seem to do is provide a service which on the surface is similar to Ebay but with much tighter T's & C's and higher fees.
 
Pondy said:
Yes same people. They do auctions aswell. A bit like the pistonheads auctions where it is just in an auction section and runs for a given period (around 7 days IIRC).
I was thinking about it as the car I'm thinking of selling is very hard to value, so an auction will find it's audience at the going price (probably).
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My concern there would be that for your car you're probably looking for a very small audience. Therefore you might be waiting a long time for the right buyer to come along. A 7 day auction is fine for an ordinary car, you'll generally find it's value, but for something as unique as yours I suspect you'd be likely to get a lot less than you could if you advertised as a classified and waited.
 
As you are the same age as me, you will most likely have been a member of Pistonheads for centuries as well which makes advertising free on their platform for you.
 
pvr said:
As you are the same age as me, you will most likely have been a member of Pistonheads for centuries as well which makes advertising free on their platform for you.
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I joined Pistonheads as a toddler, so I have free advertisements too.
 
I've not used their auctions but I have bought and sold on C&C a few times. Not for a while though. My memory is a little hazy and I'm not sure they still do it but their default when selling used to be that the buyer paid into C&C's escrow account and then C&C paid you minus a handling fee. You had to jump through a couple of hoops if you just wanted to place an ad and deal directly with the buyer.

Probably not suitable for the OP but it being a cesspit aside, I always had much better luck buying and selling on eBay classifieds.
 
pvr said:
I trust you will put the username and password in your will for your children to pass on this benefit?
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Pistonheads will probably have collapsed by the time young Richard here is ready to fold up his loafers, you Paul 🫵, on the other hand, senility is just around the corner, and by ‘just’ I mean it’s sooooo close you can smell it, Pistonheads definitely won’t have by the time you pop your ‘Clogs’….see what I did there…clogs….😬

I’d be booking your care home place pretty quick sticks if I were you…..🫵 😈
 
tiglon said:
My concern there would be that for your car you're probably looking for a very small audience. Therefore you might be waiting a long time for the right buyer to come along. A 7 day auction is fine for an ordinary car, you'll generally find it's value, but for something as unique as yours I suspect you'd be likely to get a lot less than you could if you advertised as a classified and waited.
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I know that several cars like mine have sold via their auctions and achieved decent money. Hence why I thought it may be the correct place to sell.
One sold for £70k hammer price in 2024 (it was very good one)
Another sold in 2023 for 77k hammer price (I think it was a very good one)
And another sold in 2024 for £40k hammer (that was a terrible one)

TBH I would look at an auction as a last resort anyway. I will advertise it (if I decide to sell) elsewhere first.

I know it is a very niche car for a very niche market.
The prices of these are very high for what they are (on the face of it). Always have been. A precedent was set when the first cars were sold in 2016/17. Probably the most expensive "kit car" or "replica" in the UK. Many will laugh at £70k for a re-bodied Z3. But those that know, know and won't.

What I would need to do is make sure that anybody considering or looking for one knows mine is for sale. I also don't anticipate it selling quickly, which is something I am not used to.
 
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