Car Auctions Are Booming—But Are They Legit?

Issue #145

Happy Saturday!

Today, we’re discussing car auctions. They can define market values, set trends, and become shows in themselves. But you must exercise caution. Here’s what we mean.

Market News

• Newer cars are more likely to be labeled as totaled. Here’s why. 

• Here’s all the information on how Lotus goes through a brutal downsizing of its workforce. 

• This article explains why the new automotive loan tax break can save you money, but there’s a catch. 

• The 2027 Toyota Corolla is expected to undergo significant changes. What does this mean for the world’s most popular car? 

• These are the two cheapest EVs to insure. 

• American trucks are unlikely to reach the European market, despite tariffs and deals. Here’s why. 

• This new Porsche has cool, weird, and “useless” features. Check out what it’s all about. 

• GM is taking another step against EVs by slowing down production of this category.

• Here’s how much car prices will increase with tariffs.  

• Toyota has shattered world sales records. Here are the numbers.

Safety and Recalls

• If you thought Ford couldn’t outdo itself, you were wrong. It recalled 1.3 million vehicles in a single day. Here’s why. 

• Volkswagen recalls the Tiguan over a critical steering defect. Here’s more on it.

Car Culture

• Here’s how the Saab owners' meet turned into a literal sh*tshow. 

• There’s a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Jailbreak Last Call (yes, that’s the name) for sale. Here’s why it’s a bargain. 

• The Chrysler 300C SRT8 could become a collectible. Here’s why. 

• A new police device ripped the entire rear axle off a car in a chase. Here’s how. 

• Here are some “dirt cheap” V8s you can find in the market today. My, how times have changed. 

• Police recover more than a million dollars in stolen luxury cars. Here’s the fascinating story. 

• The Nissan GT-R is officially dead after 18 years of a legendary career, and here’s an obituary. 

• Which one would you choose: Mazda or Subaru?

• Speaking of Mazda, here’s how it has designed an engine that could spell the end of EVs.

Video Of The Week

The Chrysler Sebring Coupe and Convertible looked almost identical, but they were completely different cars. Here’s why.

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In The Know

Do You Buy Cars At Auctions? You Must Read This!

Our founder, Kern, has a secret (not so secret) addiction to checking out car prices in as many places as possible. Here’s a throwback article highlighting the in-depth work he did on the price of Grand Wagoneers. 

One of his favorite platforms is Facebook Marketplace (so much so that we created an ultimate guide here), and another is the famous car auction, which has experienced significant growth recently. 

Car auctions are no longer a niche corner of the auto world—they’re a massive industry, and they’re bound to grow more. The U.S. vehicle auction market is projected to hit $4.48 billion by 2030, growing at a steady 3.5% annual rate. You can read more about this relentless growth here. 

We might have a hot take, but we’re certain we’ll see more “average car buyers” turn to auctions in the coming years. Rising demand for used cars, coupled with financing challenges for new vehicles, is fueling the boom. They’re no longer only for collectors. 

And, as they grow, they also become complex phenomena. Curiously, car auctions haven’t embraced technology as much as one would’ve believed, especially collector car auctions. It’s ironic, since these drive the most money per vehicle sold. 

There’s a cultural resistance within these classic car auctions to move into the 21st century, and you may wonder why this matters. It’s all about transparency. 

They rely on old systems and contacts while buyers demand transparency, online tools, and streamlined processes. It’s “the old school way of doing things” versus the new buyer. 

For these companies, not focusing on something as basic as online platforms equates to shooting themselves in the foot, as this article explains. 

Situations like these can have a compounding effect. After all, for all their spectacle, auctions aren’t without risk—especially for buyers. 

The cars on the auction block, especially those cheaper models, are incomplete books. Their maintenance histories are incomplete (at most), they hide mechanical issues under a wash and a wax, and warranties are hard to come by. 

To make matters worse, some car buyers aren’t as well-versed as this article explains. They often fall into traps by skipping pre-auction inspections or getting caught in the adrenaline of competitive bidding. 

All this happens while auctions have great power. Prices set on the block can dictate market trends for entire vehicle segments, especially for classics and muscle cars. 

They might be inflated, completely bonkers, but it’s “what the market dictates.” One example in this article is the muscle car boom of the 2010s, and how prices have since tapered off. 

Whether you love them or hate them, auctions have the ability to steer the industry in ways that dealerships and private sellers can’t.

So, what happens when something so powerful fails? 

Everyone notices, and slip-ups have happened more frequently as of late. 

Mecum Auctions recently faced backlash for allegedly reopening bidding after a car was declared sold—a move that left buyers furious, and with good reason! 

Here’s more on this blunder. 

Meanwhile, Cars & Bids, the online platform founded by Doug DeMuro, had to shut down one chaotic auction altogether, citing a “train wreck” of issues. 

While these cases might seem infrequent and highly specific, they’re not. Instead, they are only the most noticeable in an industry that’s growing and fast. 

Car buyers have to learn how to analyze car auctions, because they’re growing fast and they’re not going away. 

If they are going to play a more critical role in the car market’s future. So, let that growth come with scrutiny. 

What are your thoughts? Have you used a car auction?