Mecum Auctions? Any of you lop eared varmints ever dealt with em?

[cowpuc]

I am gaining traction on the whole Mecum Auction scene. Been doing my homework and am now pretty much at the point of wondering if any of you, my fine lop eared varmint brothers/sisters and all points in between, have experiences with them? Never hurts to ask right?

[Bubber]

nope!

[cimmer]

Other than watching them on TV, I haven't been to an actual auction of theirs.  Have you checked the rules for selling and buying cars on their website as I believe they do check over the cars that they auction and make sure they are as advertised as they cant afford a bunch of disgruntle buyers. Also when bidding, keep in mind the buyers premium and shipping cost of getting your purchased to you.  Also watching the auction online if you cant be in person is a better way in my opinion as you don't have to worry about commercials popping up and you not seeing the car you want to bid on. Good luck!!!

Rick F.

[tufftom4]

I have an RV site at the Kissimmee auction in Jan.

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by tufftom4

[slowrollwv]

Puc like said above. Check their website for more info. They will have a buyers premium on what they sell. It can be 10% to 25% and transport can get up in price also. I have went to a few auctions close to me and I have bought and sold some. Best advice is to check everything out before you start bidding. OH! Good Luck.

[cowpuc]

2 hours ago, slowrollwv said:

4 hours ago, tufftom4 said:

I have an RV site at the Kissimmee auction in Jan.

 

 

22 hours ago, cimmer said:

Other than watching them on TV, I haven't been to an actual auction of theirs.  Have you checked the rules for selling and buying cars on their website as I believe they do check over the cars that they auction and make sure they are as advertised as they cant afford a bunch of disgruntle buyers. Also when bidding, keep in mind the buyers premium and shipping cost of getting your purchased to you.  Also watching the auction online if you cant be in person is a better way in my opinion as you don't have to worry about commercials popping up and you not seeing the car you want to bid on. Good luck!!!

Rick F.

Puc like said above. Check their website for more info. They will have a buyers premium on what they sell. It can be 10% to 25% and transport can get up in price also. I have went to a few auctions close to me and I have bought and sold some. Best advice is to check everything out before you start bidding. OH! Good Luck.

@tufftom4, is your RV site a private site that just happens to be near the auction grounds or are you attending the auction? Have you attended a Mecum before and if so, have you purchased a vehicle thru them? I am signed up with them currently for the Indy auction but am aware that I can roll my escrow over to the Kessime if I so choose.  I have been working thru Mecum's policies little by little and have been working on it for some time. The Indy auction will be our first onsite Mecum for us but I have been bidding/watching/learning online with them but being VERY careful as I know auction life from my motorcycle Dealership days and attending Dealer Auctions back then. My main point of posting this thread was to see if anyone had any real life experience with attending as a buyer and the onsite process thereof.  I am wondering just how intimate one can get with the cars? Can you drive them? Start them? Have lift access? Have access to actual owners?   After speaking with numerous Mecum employees via telephone and signing up for their services I have come to the conclusion that, as is normal in all my past dealer auctions, even though claims by the seller can be read by the auctioneer the purchase is still as is/where and is covered completely by the same old "buyer beware" laws of yesteryear. What I am hoping for is that, as in the days of  Dealership auctions in my past, the buyers are allowed to inspect till the cows come in an effort to "Beware". Compression testing, numbers viewing if stated "numbers matching" (requires a lift) and so on and so forth.. 

Any of you fine lop eared gentlemen varmints been there/done that and care to share?

[Gary N.]

Scott, I have been to both Mecum and Barrett Jackson actions, but only as a spectator. You can get up close and personal with the cars before the auction and I expect that if you can find the owner he would answer any questions you have and let you hear it run etc. Not sure about a road test and I have never seen any lifts available for use on site. FYI, I paid to have an inspection/appraisal done on a car I was thinking about buying in Dallas TX. It cost less then an airplane ride and was the best $400 I ever spent. I didn't buy the car.

[Condor]

I've been watching them for years along with Barret Jackson...  It's entertaining as all get out.  Usually the first days cars are about the only ones I could possibily afford, but the fun comes in the next few days seeing cars I've owned going for mega-bucks... Never been to one in person, but maybe when all this Covid BS comes to an end I'll give some thought to BJ in Reno or Vegas...

I hope this posts, cause I'm having a heck of a time .logging on...  Hopefully now I am???

[Marcarl]

21 minutes ago, Condor said:

I've been watching them for years along with Barret Jackson...  It's entertaining as all get out.  Usually the first days cars are about the only ones I could possibily afford, but the fun comes in the next few days seeing cars I've owned going for mega-bucks... Never been to one in person, but maybe when all this Covid BS comes to an end I'll give some thought to BJ in Reno or Vegas...

I hope this posts, cause I'm having a heck of a time .logging on...  Hopefully now I am???

Doing fine @Condor, your post came through the fence.

[Condor]

Thanks Carl   Thumbs Up

[Condor]

OK So I thought I'd register to bid on the Mecum sitr.  The first part was OK, but then they wanted to know what kind of tooth brush I used I said screw it and went else where...  Thought I'd get OK'd for the Las Vegas auction, but now I'm gonna keep my millions...

[cowpuc]

On 10/27/2020 at 9:03 AM, Gary N. said:

Scott, I have been to both Mecum and Barrett Jackson actions, but only as a spectator. You can get up close and personal with the cars before the auction and I expect that if you can find the owner he would answer any questions you have and let you hear it run etc. Not sure about a road test and I have never seen any lifts available for use on site. FYI, I paid to have an inspection/appraisal done on a car I was thinking about buying in Dallas TX. It cost less then an airplane ride and was the best $400 I ever spent. I didn't buy the car.

 

15 hours ago, Condor said:

OK So I thought I'd register to bid on the Mecum sitr.  The first part was OK, but then they wanted to know what kind of tooth brush I used I said screw it and went else where...  Thought I'd get OK'd for the Las Vegas auction, but now I'm gonna keep my millions...

Thanks again gentlemen for the input! Greatly appreciated! @Condor, I totally get your drift on the registration to bid process with Mecum - it is intimidating to say the least.  Did you get to the point where you had to put down 5 grand? That caused me pause because of all the scamming these days. I did do a bunch of digging though and found out that Mecum does have a pretty high level of security on that deposit and seem to be fairly trust worthiness in either applying the escrow toward the purchase, rolling it forward to another auction or refunding it after auction - your choice.   Actually, my current hang up at this time is the absolutely NO WAY I got from Mecum concerning actually test driving the car(s) once they are consigned to auction.  I spent a lot of time in researching this (since last winter) because they do seem to run a fair amount of my bucket list car(s) thru and have yet to figure out a way to get around this as it looks like I would have to locate the owner of the car before he consigns and I have yet to find a way to do that, my ESP powers are depleted I guess.  Point being, even though it is a Bucket List item in my case and not something i plan to buy/sell or run on a track, I still look at it as a used car with alllll of those bearing surfaces and maintenance history in question. I mean seriously,, we bought Trooper brand new from the local Hyundai dealership and I wouldnt even lay the cash down for him without a test drive, crazy eh. I know, I know,,, I can hear some varmints saying PUC - YOU GOTTA TRUST SOMEONE SOMETIME! Fact is, if I am gonna lay out 100 grand on my dream car, I am gonna make sure and use all I know to keep Murphy and his scamming cronies from turning my end of my bucket list days, dream come true 1967, 427 tri-power, 4 speed roadster with side pipes Vette into a dead end street nightmare. @Gary N., I have actually contacted an appraiser on another prospect car (it fell thru before the appraiser got a chance to look at it - car ended up being a total scam on its VIN check) and can appreciate your input! It would be worth it to me though, now that you mention that Mecum does allow for this to happen, to find out how that works and see if I could schedule myself in under their appraiser rule and do my own appraising - it might be reaching a bit but I will check into that!! Another "reach" I have gotta make too is the transporting of it.  The folks I have spoken to at Mecum have informed me that I can not just take my purchased car, with title (even after paying CASH for it - which I plan to do to lower my auction fee by 2% - paying 10% instead of 12% is big bucks) and drive it home, or trailer it for that matter, without paying both Michigan tax and the state tax the car is in when I make the purchase.  According to them, Mecum, I MUST have a hired transporter (of course, they want me to use the transporter service with "MECUM" written on the truck) remove the car from the State where it is purchased to avoid paying double taxes. I am at this time trying to find out whether or not I could hire a "drive off" CDL licensed driver to write Mecum a Bill Of Lading and  transport to the state line for me where I would slap my plates on it and head for home.  I am working/looking at the Houston Texas auction coming up in December (hey @Squidley, seems like we went down thru Houston on the way to Austin/Big Bend after leaving your house - how far from Houston are you? Chance I could leave a beat up old Vette in your yard under a blanket for a couple months?) as there are actually a couple cars there that perk my interest.  As it stands right now I am a gold member ($500 up front fee that gives me and a guest access to 1 year of Auction fun - wayyyyy better than $200 per auction per person!!) so this could get interesting. I have yet to do much leg work on Barrett Jackson Jack but now that you mention them I will be doing so! On a side note, a really close friend of mine that I use to race dirt bikes with years ago was recently telling me about a classic car dealership in Grand Rapids that he knows about. He said he use to hang out with the guy that owns the place - they use to belong to the "Furring Group" together (I guess that is some kind of a rally car group of racers?).  He is gonna hook up with the guy and see what he has/knows of.. Be wayyyy cool if my bucket list Vette was sitting in some neighbors garage just waiting for me to find it LOL.. Interesting times these bucket list days are!! Puc

[Squidley]

59 minutes ago, cowpuc said:

 

Thanks again gentlemen for the input! Greatly appreciated! @Condor, I totally get your drift on the registration to bid process with Mecum - it is intimidating to say the least.  Did you get to the point where you had to put down 5 grand? That caused me pause because of all the scamming these days. I did do a bunch of digging though and found out that Mecum does have a pretty high level of security on that deposit and seem to be fairly trust worthiness in either applying the escrow toward the purchase, rolling it forward to another auction or refunding it after auction - your choice.   Actually, my current hang up at this time is the absolutely NO WAY I got from Mecum concerning actually test driving the car(s) once they are consigned to auction.  I spent a lot of time in researching this (since last winter) because they do seem to run a fair amount of my bucket list car(s) thru and have yet to figure out a way to get around this as it looks like I would have to locate the owner of the car before he consigns and I have yet to find a way to do that, my ESP powers are depleted I guess.  Point being, even though it is a Bucket List item in my case and not something i plan to buy/sell or run on a track, I still look at it as a used car with alllll of those bearing surfaces and maintenance history in question. I mean seriously,, we bought Trooper brand new from the local Hyundai dealership and I wouldnt even lay the cash down for him without a test drive, crazy eh. I know, I know,,, I can hear some varmints saying PUC - YOU GOTTA TRUST SOMEONE SOMETIME! Fact is, if I am gonna lay out 100 grand on my dream car, I am gonna make sure and use all I know to keep Murphy and his scamming cronies from turning my end of my bucket list days, dream come true 1967, 427 tri-power, 4 speed roadster with side pipes Vette into a dead end street nightmare. @Gary N., I have actually contacted an appraiser on another prospect car (it fell thru before the appraiser got a chance to look at it - car ended up being a total scam on its VIN check) and can appreciate your input! It would be worth it to me though, now that you mention that Mecum does allow for this to happen, to find out how that works and see if I could schedule myself in under their appraiser rule and do my own appraising - it might be reaching a bit but I will check into that!! Another "reach" I have gotta make too is the transporting of it.  The folks I have spoken to at Mecum have informed me that I can not just take my purchased car, with title (even after paying CASH for it - which I plan to do to lower my auction fee by 2% - paying 10% instead of 12% is big bucks) and drive it home, or trailer it for that matter, without paying both Michigan tax and the state tax the car is in when I make the purchase.  According to them, Mecum, I MUST have a hired transporter (of course, they want me to use the transporter service with "MECUM" written on the truck) remove the car from the State where it is purchased to avoid paying double taxes. I am at this time trying to find out whether or not I could hire a "drive off" CDL licensed driver to write Mecum a Bill Of Lading and  transport to the state line for me where I would slap my plates on it and head for home.  I am working/looking at the Houston Texas auction coming up in December (hey @Squidley, seems like we went down thru Houston on the way to Austin/Big Bend after leaving your house - how far from Houston are you? Chance I could leave a beat up old Vette in your yard under a blanket for a couple months?) as there are actually a couple cars there that perk my interest.  As it stands right now I am a gold member ($500 up front fee that gives me and a guest access to 1 year of Auction fun - wayyyyy better than $200 per auction per person!!) so this could get interesting. I have yet to do much leg work on Barrett Jackson Jack but now that you mention them I will be doing so! On a side note, a really close friend of mine that I use to race dirt bikes with years ago was recently telling me about a classic car dealership in Grand Rapids that he knows about. He said he use to hang out with the guy that owns the place - they use to belong to the "Furring Group" together (I guess that is some kind of a rally car group of racers?).  He is gonna hook up with the guy and see what he has/knows of.. Be wayyyy cool if my bucket list Vette was sitting in some neighbors garage just waiting for me to find it LOL.. Interesting times these bucket list days are!! Puc

Puc,

There is always room for you and any car you find down here. We are about 45 miles north of Houstons northern limit. We live in Shepherd now, about 15 miles northeast of the house we used to live at. Come on down and we'll show you the real southern hospitality brother!

[Flyinfool]

HEY, I thought I was your driver to drive that Vette to your home???? Or mine if I make a wrong turn at Chicago.....

There is also the option that my truck will easily pull that car on a trailer, and being a 6 passenger truck There would easily be room for both you and Tippy.

[cowpuc]

3 hours ago, Squidley said:

Puc,

There is always room for you and any car you find down here. We are about 45 miles north of Houstons northern limit. We live in Shepherd now, about 15 miles northeast of the house we used to live at. Come on down and we'll show you the real southern hospitality brother!

What in the wild world of "ohhh my gosh it is cold up here Lonna, must be nearer to Fool's Wisconsin White Washer" :)))!  Gotta be careful making those northern moves Squid!!  Thanks my Texas Hero,, bailing Tip and I out is getting to be a way of life down there LOL! The offer is greatly appreciated!

 

2 hours ago, Flyinfool said:

HEY, I thought I was your driver to drive that Vette to your home???? Or mine if I make a wrong turn at Chicago.....

There is also the option that my truck will easily pull that car on a trailer, and being a 6 passenger truck There would easily be room for both you and Tippy.

I would have to zip tie the clutch and throttle to your freshly glued back together foot to leg joints Fool,,, its a 4 speed (my pea brain just refuses to even put the words "Vette" and "automatic" in the same sentence)!! Aint no way I could come get you out of surgery to drive a clutched hot rod back home - even a Vette!!  Besides, the club is gonna need you in full recouperation from your surgery down time come spring of next year - there is no one here that knows how to shut that blasted WWW off and you know how rambuncious this lop eared bunch of VR varmints gets if your WWW runs over time.. NOT A GOOD PLAN!!

[Flyinfool]

3 hours ago, cowpuc said:

What in the wild world of "ohhh my gosh it is cold up here Lonna, must be nearer to Fool's Wisconsin White Washer" :)))!  Gotta be careful making those northern moves Squid!!  Thanks my Texas Hero,, bailing Tip and I out is getting to be a way of life down there LOL! The offer is greatly appreciated!

 

I would have to zip tie the clutch and throttle to your freshly glued back together foot to leg joints Fool,,, its a 4 speed (my pea brain just refuses to even put the words "Vette" and "automatic" in the same sentence)!! Aint no way I could come get you out of surgery to drive a clutched hot rod back home - even a Vette!!  Besides, the club is gonna need you in full recouperation from your surgery down time come spring of next year - there is no one here that knows how to shut that blasted WWW off and you know how rambuncious this lop eared bunch of VR varmints gets if your WWW runs over time.. NOT A GOOD PLAN!!

HA I say HA! It was only a few weeks ago you were getting in itchy trigger finger on a nice Vette with an (Choke Choke) automatic....Till I slapped you and brought you back to your senses.

It would not be the first time I drove a stick shift car cross country with just one functional foot. Are you underestimating me AGAIN???

 

[cowpuc]

15 hours ago, Flyinfool said:

HA I say HA! It was only a few weeks ago you were getting in itchy trigger finger on a nice Vette with an (Choke Choke) automatic....Till I slapped you and brought you back to your senses.

It would not be the first time I drove a stick shift car cross country with just one functional foot. Are you underestimating me AGAIN???

 

LOL,,, how easily I forget LOL.. That was indeed HILARIOUS!!  I got sooooooo wrap up in the shear beauty of that gorgeous Blue 3 dueces sweetheart that my eyes completely missed the fact that it was an AUTOMATIC!!  Fool's sharp eye caught it instantly and, thankfully brought it to my attention,,  thank you jeffery,, you are NO fool lol.. I guess I will have to digress and come over, wake you up in from your surgery slumber and haul your frost bitten back side down to Houston to make sure that if I do go spastic over a car and nod my head at the wrong time I dont end up with an automatic LOL..   And yes,, if we are going to that extent,, you can drive it to Squids cause that aint a WWW chance in Hades my Vette is gonna be exposed to WWW salt covered roads!!  I wonder if U-Haul rents a covered trailer that a Vette would fit in.. Hmmmmm  

[saddlebum]

What somebody talk'n overtime on that confounded 3W contraption

Edited November 19, 2020 by saddlebum

[Flyinfool]

Yea Bum, Puc wants me to run the WWW overtime this season to see how many records I can break.

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Flyinfool

[saddlebum]

3 hours ago, Flyinfool said:

Yea Bum, Puc wants me to run the WWW overtime this season to see how many records I can break.

 

[SpencerPJ]

I've never dealt with them but I was watching a rerun last night and there were several Vettes, bigblock, 4 spd,  like you want at the last one in Indy. Many under 20k, I was surprised. 

[cowpuc]

15 hours ago, SpencerPJ said:

I've never dealt with them but I was watching a rerun last night and there were several Vettes, bigblock, 4 spd,  like you want at the last one in Indy. Many under 20k, I was surprised. 

I actually signed up and attended that auction online Spence and definitely missed those "under 20k" Vettes like you mention.  I did see numerous C3's and others that may have fallen into that category (I have a short attention span for things I have no interest in when focusing on what I am interested in during the auction action).  Out of curiousity, did the ones you saw look like this?: 

[RDawson]

Puc ya need to come down here. I’m only a couple hours away from the the Corvette plant. Go over there and tour the Vette museum and drool over over them lookers. Even see some of the cars that dropped in the sinkhole under the museum. 

[SpencerPJ]

Ya, I went and undeleted the recording, it was Julys event, and the main one I was thinking of did not hammer and it was Blue at $63k.  I looked on their website, I must have been seeing newer models or small blocks, because I'm not seeing late 60s big block 4 spds on their website in the 20s. Sorry to alarm you. Good luck, fun ole car if you find one.  My bucket list is an early 70s Hemi Cuda 4spd.  Friend had a 440 6pk back in the day, oh what fun we had.  Had an automatic.  I never will forget the time he punched it, ripped the driveshaft out of the rear end yoke.  You don't forget those feelings... ha    

[Squidley]

9 hours ago, SpencerPJ said:

My bucket list is an early 70s Hemi Cuda 4spd.  Friend had a 440 6pk back in the day, oh what fun we had.

71 Hemi Cuda is my bucket list car.  Had a 67 formula S model 340 6 pack 4 speed with a 4:11 rearend. That car was a rocket, pull the front tire off the ground.