One sad '91 Custom Cruiser

This wagon was up for sale at the recent Mecum Harrisburg auction. It was a no-sale with a high bid of a whopping $1,500. Maybe the low bid was because of the car's very high mileage? 226,000.

The car doesn't look too bad for that much mileage. Some paint chips on the hood. The rest of the body looks pretty good as does the interior, which just looks used, which you'd expect. One weirdness is that, while there is a photo of the second seat showing the good shape it's in, there are no photos of the front seat or dash area at all. Makes you wonder somewhat. I know that most people bidding on this car will see it in person and can inspect all aspects of it, but there are internet bidders as well, and they'd probably like to see the full interior.

With that many miles, no one should be expecting a cream puff, but the car looks good enough that someone could have some fun with it. I wonder what the seller's reserve was. If it's too high, he'll be owning this car for a while yet.

That brings me to another question. This car is never going to get much in the way of bids. Is it really worth bringing a car like this to a Mecum auction? If the car isn't going to bring more than a couple thousand? You have the hassle of bringing it to the auction, probably on a trailer or with an accompanying vehicle so you have something to go home in if it does sell. You have to deal with Mecum and their fees. Your car will be on the block for five minutes or so and then it's done.

For a car of this low a value, wouldn't it better to just advertise on BAT, Craigslist, etc. from home?

https://www.mecum.com/lots/1152019/1991-oldsmobile-custom-cruiser-wagon/?aa_id=701837-0

 

Included video shows the front passenger area and driver's seat. Looks decent enough - no rips in the seats...
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Doesn't look like the seller did anything more than give it a quick exterior-only wash prior to the show - no engine compartment detailing, no shampoo of the interior. Even left a grubby old steering wheel cover on it.

 

I don't know what the sellers motivations for trying to sell at Mecum are. Maybe he was going there with someone else and figured he would take a shot and they both drove in case the car sold. Mileage doesn't seem too unusual for one of these B-Bodies. I'd want to see what it looks like underneath, but overall it doesn't look terrible. I think we've all been viewing 5 and 6 figure cars for sale on BaT for so long that we've forgotten what a regular old used car looks like.

 

Thanks. I didn't think to look at the video.

 

Bid to $1500 no sale.

 

We will probably never know the entire story, so there could be extenuating circumstances, but I think you hit the nail on the head. That's a lot of time and effort for no gain, especially when there was a low probability it would sell to begin with. With all of the online resources available these days, that would seem to have been a better route.

 

I think the seller is clueless. He's probably wondering why the bids didn't go higher. If you think you have a 'nice car' for B-A-T, you should put some EFFORT into making it LOOK like a nice car - wash and wax; major clean up of engine compartment; shampoo of interior - at a minimum, with this unit. And lose that cruddy steering wheel cover.