The Buy
It was a slow day at work so I started browsing salvage car auctions for anything interesting. A few Porsche Boxsters were coming to auction soon, and a 2004 S caught my eye. It was silver with darker 'Carerra light' wheels, a brown top, and cocoa brown leather sport seats. This wasn't just an S, it was a 50th Anniversary of the 550 Spyder, Special Edition. The auction was going to be held in a few days. I put in a low bid with no expectation of winning, just for fun. As the auction day came closer, other pre-bids approached mine. I was going to be working during the auction and was now seriously interested in the car. Concerned that I might miss the auction, I increased my bid.
Monday, before the auction started, pre-bidding pushed the car over $3,000. Still the high bidder, I raised my bid to the most I was willing to pay. At noon, the online auction started. I found that 'my car' was near the end of the list and wouldn't come up until about 3 pm. I am a bit obsessive and checked the auction status every few minutes, making those three hours seem like three days.
I have 'lost' plenty of these auctions in the past. The bidding can easily go higher than I am willing to risk on a salvage car. This car was flooded in Hurricane Harvey, over four months ago, and may not be repairable. For my bid, I considered what the total parts value of the car was likely to be. I'm not trying to make a profit. I just don't like to be upside-down in value when I purchase cars.
Finally the car was on the block. The current bid was $3,350, safely below my top bid. Seconds ticked by. There were no new bids. SOLD (on approval) to me at $3,350. “On Approval” – there is a reserve price on most of these auctions and I was expecting this one to be set somewhere between $3,500 and $5,000. I closed out the auction and checked my bid status to see the reserve price, $10,900. That's Ten Thousand, Nine Hundred Dollars for a salvage car that has been sitting for over four months, stewing. No way. With little hope, I typed in a counter-bid, well below half of the reserve.
I was disappointed that I didn't get the car, but also relieved. This car will probably need a lot of work to make it run again. After days of waiting, the thrill of winning the auction, then seeing it slip away, I needed to tell someone about it. I messaged Woody, figuring that he, if anyone, would understand. Then, I got a call and had to leave my office and the internet for a couple hours (flying).
I returned to the office that evening. There was an email... The seller had accepted my counter-offer. There was also a message from Woody: That car has been completely submerged “...You don't want that one.”
Oh crap.
