How Rob Dietz sold $175M of Cars on BaT
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
90:53
Car
Porsche 918 Spyder
The Porsche 918 Spider is a very fast car that uses both a gasoline engine and electric motors to go really quickly while also being more efficient. It's a special type of car called a supercar.
Term
Valentine
Valentine is a brand that makes radar detectors, which are devices that alert drivers when they are near police speed traps.
Term
900 horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful a car's engine is. A car with 900 horsepower can go very fast and accelerate quickly.
Term
boost
Boost means adding extra air to the engine to make it more powerful, usually done with special devices like turbochargers.
Car
Ram Power Wagon 2500
The Ram Power Wagon 2500 is a big truck designed for heavy work and off-roading. It's built to handle rough roads and carry heavy loads.
Car
Dodge Power Wagon
The Dodge Power Wagon is a tough pickup truck that can handle rough terrain and heavy loads. It's popular with people who need a reliable truck for work or outdoor adventures.
Car
Porsche 911R
The Porsche 911R is a special version of the Porsche 911, designed to be lighter and faster. It's a rare car that many people want to own because of its performance and unique features.
Company
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer is a website where people can buy and sell special cars. It's known for helping car lovers find unique vehicles and for making the buying process easier.
Company
BaT
BaT stands for Bring a Trailer, a website where people can buy and sell classic cars. It's popular among car enthusiasts who want to find unique vehicles.
Term
PPI
A PPI is a check done on a car before you buy it to make sure everything is working well. It helps you avoid surprises after the purchase.
Part
brake rotors
Brake rotors are round metal discs that help stop your car when you press the brake pedal. They need to be in good shape to work properly and keep you safe.
Concept
collectibility
Collectibility means how much people want to buy and keep a car as a collectible item. Some cars become valuable over time because they are rare or in great condition.
Term
PPF
PPF is a special clear film that you put on a car to protect its paint from scratches and damage. It's like a shield for the car's surface.
Car
Acura NSX
The Acura NSX is a sports car that is famous for being fast and fun to drive. It has a unique design and was one of the first cars to use a lot of advanced technology.
Car
Mercedes SLR McLaren
The Mercedes SLR McLaren is a fast and stylish sports car made by Mercedes-Benz and McLaren. It has a powerful engine and is famous for its unique look and speed.
Car
Ferrari SF90
The Ferrari SF90 is a fast sports car that uses both a gasoline engine and electric motors to go really fast and save fuel. It's one of Ferrari's newest models and is very powerful.
Term
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle is a famous small car that has a unique round shape. It's been around for a long time and is known for being fun to drive and easy to recognize.
Car
Ferrari 16M
The Ferrari 16M is a special version of a Ferrari sports car that is very fast and lightweight. It's popular among car collectors and enthusiasts.
Car
Gordon T50
The T.50 is a new supercar made by a famous car designer, known for being very light and fast. It's built for people who want an amazing driving experience and appreciate high-performance cars.
Car
Gordon Murray T50
The Gordon Murray T50 is a supercar created by a famous car designer. It's known for being very light and having a powerful engine, which makes it very fast and enjoyable to drive.
Car
Porsche Panamera
The Porsche Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid is a fancy car that can go really fast and also uses electricity to help save fuel. It's a mix of a sports car and a luxury car.
Concept
hybrids
Hybrids are cars that use two types of power: a regular engine and an electric motor. This helps them use less fuel and be better for the environment.
Car
Porsche 911 GT3
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a super sporty version of the regular Porsche 911, built for people who love to drive fast and enjoy sharp handling. It's known for its powerful engine and is often used on racetracks, making it a dream car for many.
Car
Porsche Carrera GT
The Porsche Carrera GT is a very fast and expensive sports car made by Porsche. It's known for being lightweight and having a powerful engine, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 GT1 is a special version of the 911 made for racing. It's designed to be very fast and is known for its unique look and performance.
Term
MSRP
MSRP is the price that car makers suggest dealers sell their cars for. It's like a starting point for how much a car should cost, but the actual price can be higher or lower.
Car
McLaren P1
The McLaren P1 is a very high-performance car that uses both a gas engine and electric power to go really fast. It was made in limited numbers and is considered one of the best supercars.
Car
LaFerrari
LaFerrari is a super-fast sports car made by Ferrari that uses both a traditional engine and electric power. It's one of the most powerful cars Ferrari has ever made.
Brand
McLaren
McLaren is a company that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They also have a history in car racing, especially in Formula 1.
Car
Ferrari F8
The Ferrari F8 is a fast sports car made by Ferrari. It has a powerful engine and is designed for high performance and speed.
Car
Ferrari 296
The Ferrari 296 is a sports car that uses both a traditional gasoline engine and an electric motor to improve performance and fuel efficiency. It's part of Ferrari's effort to modernize their cars while still being fast and exciting to drive.
Car
Ferrari Testarossa
The Ferrari Testarossa is a well-known sports car that was made by Ferrari from the 1980s to the 1990s. It has a unique look with side vents and is famous for its speed and performance.
Car
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 is a famous sports car made by Ferrari in the late 1980s. It's known for being very fast and having a unique design, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
Car
Porsche SP3
The Porsche SP3 is a special model from Porsche that highlights their unique design and engineering skills. It's known for being very attractive and advanced.
Car
Porsche Macan
The Porsche Macan is a smaller SUV that still feels sporty and fun to drive. It's designed for people who want a luxury car that can handle daily life while still being exciting.
Car
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a fancy SUV that offers a lot of space and comfort while still being fun to drive. It's like having a sports car that can also carry your family and their stuff, which surprised many people when it first came out.
Term
stick shift
A stick shift is a type of car transmission that requires the driver to change gears manually using a lever. Many people enjoy driving stick shifts because they feel more connected to the car.
Car
Porsche 911 Turbo S
The Porsche 911 Turbo S is a super-fast version of the regular 911 sports car, with a powerful engine that makes it really quick. It has a lot of fancy features and is loved by people who enjoy high-performance cars.
Car
Land Rover Range Rover
The Range Rover is a high-end SUV that can handle rough terrains while providing a very comfortable ride inside. It's a popular choice for people who want a stylish car that can also go off the beaten path.
Car
Jaguar XJ220
The Jaguar XJ220 is a super-fast car from the 1990s that was famous for being one of the quickest cars ever made. It's a rare and exciting vehicle that many car lovers admire.
Car
Lamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach is a famous sports car known for its unique shape and flashy design. It's a car that many people dream of owning because it's so cool and fast.
Car
Lancia Augusta
The Lancia Augusta is an old car from the 1930s that is admired for its stylish look and engineering. It's a piece of history that car enthusiasts appreciate.
Car
Ford Gt
The Ford GT is a super-fast sports car that looks really cool and is built for speed. It's a modern version of a famous race car from the past, and it's very exclusive.
Car
BMW E63
The BMW 6 Series is a stylish luxury car that comes as a coupe or convertible, offering a fun driving experience. It's designed for people who want a mix of comfort and sportiness in their car.
Car
Ferrari 612
The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is a fancy sports car that’s designed for long drives while still being really fast. It has a powerful engine and a comfortable interior, making it special for those who love luxury and speed.
Car
Cadillac STS
The Cadillac STS is a comfortable luxury car that has a lot of space inside and comes with nice features. It's designed for people who want a smooth ride and a touch of elegance.
Car
Aston Martin DB4
The Aston Martin DB4 is a beautiful old sports car that's very sought after by collectors. It's known for its classy look and great performance, making it a true classic.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a classic American car that's famous for being fast and stylish. It's a popular choice for people who love to drive and want a car that stands out.
LIVE
What's up everybody? Welcome to the
Smoking Tire podcast. Today's episode is
brought to you by Off the Record and I
am going to need it probably because as
you're listening to this, I am on the
road and track Blue Ridge 500. I'm
driving a Porsche 918 Spider. I'll tell
you all about it when I get back. But if
I get busted speeding and I'm running
counter measures, I've got my Valentine
going. I've got ways going. I am as
covered as I can be. But I if I can't
resist the 900 horsepower and I get
boost, I will need off therecord just
like you do. If you get busted doing any
type of moving violation, go to off
thererecord.com/t.
That's o ff t h e r e c o r d off
thererecord.com/t
and off thereordcord will set you up
with a qualified attorney in a
jurisdiction where you got that ticket.
All you have to do is set it up and then
turn your brain off and Off the Record
will handle it. One of their qualified
attorneys will fight that ticket all the
way up to the Supreme Court if need be.
And [snorts] of course, offthe
therecord.com/tst
is the code you use to get 10% off all
legal services through off therecord. Of
course, if you want to ask questions for
the live show, if you want to get the
show early, if you want to get the show
without ads, if you want to get extra
show access to early collabs and merch,
etc., patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast
is where you do it. All right. On this
episode of the podcast, Rob Deetsz, aka
Wob is in studio. Rob is the uh biggest
or second biggest uh bring a trailer
seller of all time going back to the
very first week they started offering
auctions. and we're talking about
strategies for maximizing your return,
trends in the market, all kinds of
interesting stories with the buying and
selling of cars online that are now
totally ubiquitous. So, this is going to
be real interesting. Everyone, be real
nice to my new friend Rob Deetsz on the
Smoking Tire podcast.
>> All right. Well, [ __ ] welcome to the
program.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Making the drive all the way from the
valley in the middle of the day. Woo
boy. in that giant [laughter] rig. It's
>> the best. It's the best,
>> dude. Rob rolls up. Is it a 2500 or a
3500?
>> It's a Power Wagon 2500 with like a tent
and a tire on top of the tent.
>> It's like 12 ft tall.
>> It's so enormous.
>> What at at highway speeds? Is it a a
whistle? [laughter]
>> Actually, it's pretty quiet.
>> Oh, man. That's lucky.
>> Best. It's a marshmallow. The shock
absorbers are non-existent. It's just a
stack of Stay Puffs on [laughter] top of
one another. It's great.
>> Yeah. Well, for the urban jungle that is
the 405 freeway. Yeah. Well, thanks for
coming down, man. I really I appreciate
it. Oh, I did that wrong.
>> Oh, no. What have I done? I'm solo
today. And uh Zach isn't here and I have
to do the I have to do the uh the old
producing. There we go. And I got the
camera angles wrong. Um dude, I was
looking up some stats today. Yeah,
>> you are a real [ __ ] heavy bike
seller. Are you the alltime biggest
seller? I believe you are. Right.
>> So, there's three guys. It's me, Matt
Randle, who's 911R, and uh Anthony
Sarah, who's 600, Veloce. I think Veloce
has got more volume.
>> You have 1,91
listings on Bring a Trailer, which is
[ __ ]
>> I think dollar volume. We're definitely
the highest of of [snorts] anyone on
BAT. I think we're at like 165 $170
million worth of cars we put on Bring a
Trailer. That's a lot.
>> It's so many cars. And the worst part is
I remember I would say I could probably
refer to 95% of them.
>> So, well, that I mean that would be a
fairly savantlike talent.
>> It's useless brain space.
>> But you said when I saw you at our
mutual friend's birthday party the other
day, shout out to Pete. um that that
you're we you go cuz we were talking
about the the processes and all this
kind of stuff cuz I'm I'm doing it real
small time on behalf of a few of my
clients
>> um at at Westside and and you said some
really interesting things but but the
first thing that caught me was you said
>> every one of those comments is really
me.
>> Yeah. And I was like,
that's so many like a lot of comments
>> because we were watching we actually you
just you just had a car that ended
today. A 993 Carrer S.
>> Yeah, it was a cool car.
>> Really cool car. Do you know that I have
an identical car that we're listing and
that Bat said, "Please wait until Wob's
car is done. Ours whatever. Who cares?
Another like six days." Our It's the
same color Aero kit C2S car. So, we were
waiting, you know, to see what yours
did. Yeah.
>> Um and uh and I was watching, you know,
the the comment in this one. This was a
heavily commented, heavily watched
auction for a popular car.
>> And uh the volume at which you were
commenting was by is pretty
extraordinary.
>> It's important. It's the most important
thing. You see these sellers where they
just don't do anything and you know and
there's just no enthusiasm. Right. Well,
you clearly I mean the other thing is is
is the new way to to look at selling
cars, which is very interesting that you
pointed out the other night is is sort
of cars as content. Meaning the the
listing
>> isn't a traditional listing. It's now a
piece of content subject to the same
sort of algorithmic trends of any other
piece of content.
>> Yep.
>> Which is a crazy a crazy thing to think
about. It's not just that. It's you're
subjected to the same things that any
forum or video or any other piece of
content would have of opinions that may
be verifiable or completely off base or
>> that's intentionally meant to harm, you
know. So, it's it's a little sampling of
the world.
>> And it's
for better or worse, it is like a fullon
social hierarchy. like there is like the
number of thumbs up you've gotten, you
know, cumulative lifetime is next to
your name. And when you're a person that
is representing another person's car, uh
if it's a car you're consigning, if it's
a car that's my customer's car that I'm
just presenting for them, um you you
can't you can't risk the risk being seen
as uncooperative because because then
it's like now you're because every every
listing is an audition for your next
listing. It's in this in this votable
social socially immobile sort of system.
>> Yeah, you hit the nail on the head
because it's you're you're only as good
as the last thing you sold, right? And
especially even the way Bring a Trailer
structures it. We'll use those them as
the as the example. You can only go back
so far in a portfolio to see what you've
sold. So, two weeks ago, I could have
sold, you know, a 300 SLR and set some
crazy record on it. And then if the next
week I've sold, you know, some
off-the-shelf car or whatever. Oh,
here's the history. Here's the cars. So,
it's not just the cars, but then the
content. So,
>> what have you sold for me lately?
>> Yeah. Exactly. And then how did that
auction go? And then if you carry in
that wrong enthusiasm, I've seen it
happen to people. They put a couple cars
for sale, one auction goes off the rails
a little bit, and they go in the next
auction, people go, "Well, look what
happened in his last car. Watch out."
And so, there's really a lot of thought
that goes into managing it the right
way. And going back to being the sole
voice of content,
>> I know every opinion I've ever written
on there because it's been my opinion
every single post ever on the trailers.
So, but I think it's important because
then there's no crossover. I can always
say, "Hey, in the past I used to feel
this way about this car, but now I've
changed my opinion."
Fine. We all do is we get exposed to
different cars. But now if I say, you
know, this car is the worst thing I've
ever driven in my entire life. Well,
guess what? It's it's still the same,
right? It's my voice. So
>> the So for me, when I'm, you know,
helping other people list their cars,
I'm able to be pretty dispassionate
about what the car, you know, is and
isn't. And I find that that to my
customer, that's an advantage. And I
find that to the buyer, that's probably
an advantage. But it but that may be
second tier strategy when it comes to
the content curation portion of the of
the listing, right? like you want it to
sort of be like a reality show
competition or like a murder mystery
show that sort of like builds tension to
that final 10 minutes of bidding where
you want to get the frenzy going, right?
Yeah.
>> And so it's it's like uh I found that
like one of your one of your moves
that's like real money is like why give
away what you can sell, which is my
favorite line from uh uh the great white
hype. Um, why put the service records in
the listing when you can put [laughter]
them in the comments?
>> We were talking about this last night.
>> That's dude, that's the move. I mean,
it's that's the really the move. That's
that because that when you put it in
when you put an image in the comments on
these auction sites, it [snorts] sends
an alert to all the watchers.
>> Yeah.
>> And so you can just repeatedly ping
these people throughout the week. It's a
very proactive thing you have to be
doing.
>> Yeah. Well, I mean, let's look at it
like anything else, right? The the the
more timely something is, the more
interest level there is, right? So, some
[snorts] of these premium auctions that
are almost two weeks long. You put
everything out there in two weeks. I I
don't remember what I did two days ago,
let alone two weeks ago. So, you forget
about cars or, oh, is that still live?
Oh, so getting getting people back into
an auction takes content. Takes people,
oh, what did he post? Oh, what's new?
What's fresh? And it keeps you have to
keep adding information. You have to
keep adding depth and and breadth to the
car and why you'd want to buy it.
Otherwise, it's just a static ad. And
it's almost no different than just a car
gurus or autotrader ad where it's just
content that's there and you can digest
it at any time.
>> Well, and sure. And like to be to be
fair, like if it's an if there's an
individual selling a car
>> or or a professional selling a car,
being honest and upfront and putting all
the information in the listing,
>> that's not the worst thing you could do.
>> I mean, that that that'll probably get
you 90 to 95% of the way to your goal.
It's just that you end up with that
flurry of activity on day one and then
you have nothing at all for 6 days and
then the flurry at the end. And so what
the what the the intent is is to manage
the flow of energy over the week so that
people are constantly reminded that this
thing is not only still there but ending
on this day and time
>> and and the information is always
growing. There's always a little bit
more to learn about the car. So, it for
for a private seller approaching it to
sell their car, I would say probably a
little bit better to approach it with a
much more holistic listing to begin
with. I'd say for people that have been
around the block a little bit, metering
that out and being able to navigate the
enthusiasm. Sometimes it's a way to
reset the tone on something, right?
Sometimes it's a way to hold back pieces
that can be important not only to for
add content, but maybe to redirect,
right? Maybe you've got a car that
doesn't have a ton of records to it and
people go, "Oh, where are the records?
Where are the records?" And then you can
introduce the records and be able to
start speaking, creating the dialogue
going forward to here's the records we
do have and here's what we've learned
about the car and the inspections and so
forth. You can redirect
>> tone as it can shift sometimes.
Sometimes the tone is just like, "Oh,
this is the best." And there's other
times where people are really trying to
chisel away. And I love both of them. I
think they're both fun for different
reasons, but you have to approach them
from a different perspective. And if
you've already given everyone
everything, then they are redirecting
and toning. You're just kind of having
to But no, no, no, but wait, no, but but
wait, hang on. Let me let me tell you a
little bit more about it. I think
there's a way to do it where you can be
a little bit more involving and add more
depth to the car.
>> How how much investment are you putting
into personally inspecting? Like, are
you are you doing the equivalent of that
$500 PPI on every single car so that you
would never be surprised by someone
else's PPI? Cuz like that that cuts into
your margin quite substantially. It
does. But what we're doing is we've got
a 172 point checklist that for all
intent and purposes is a you know
franchise dealer PPI checklist. We have
it. We record it for every car. I'm
always hesitant to post it because it's
a nonneutral PPI from a perspective of a
buyer, right? So, what we always say in
our auctions is everyone, please
schedule your PPIs, right? It's the only
real do.
>> Folks, we got to take one quick break
from the action because factors coming
in hot for fall. It always feels like a
reset, right? Summer's over. Back to
school, busier routine, shorter days,
dark at 5:30. Yikes. Finding time can to
cook can be super tough for me. It's not
about cooking. It's about lunchtime.
Finding a healthy lunch can be tough.
But factor is there. Their chef prep
dietitionian approved meals make it easy
to stay on track and enjoy something
comforting and delicious no matter how
hectic the season gets. There's more
variety and more meals now with a bigger
selection of weekly meal options
including premium seafood choices like
salmon and shrimp at no extra cost.
They've got more GLP1 friendly meals and
Mediterranean diet options. And for the
first time, Asian inspired meals with
bold flavors influenced by China,
Thailand, and more. 97% of customers,
including me, say that Factor helped
them live a healthier life. You can feel
the difference no matter your routine. I
use factor for lunch because when I come
off the mountain, when I'm filming,
whatever, that morning is so busy, I
never make time to prepare and plan a
healthy lunch. So, by the time I get
back to the office, I'm like starving
and I just I tend to want the closest
thing around. Well, if that closest
thing is factor, I'm eating healthy,
right? When I've got that factor, I know
there's four or five healthy meals in
the fridge waiting for me that I can eat
within two minutes in the microwave
right when I get home. You can do it,
too. You can eat smart at
factormeals.com/tire50
off and use code tire 50 off to uh to
get 50% off your first box plus free
breakfast for one year. That's code tire
50 off at factormeals.com
for 50% off your first box plus free
breakfast for one year. Get delicious
ready to eat meals delivered with factor
only offer offer only valid for new
factor customers with code and
qualifying autorenewing subscription
purchase. We're also brought to you
today uh sponsored in fact by Rua. Rua
is a new way to do therapy, right?
Mental health. That's what I'm talking
about. Talk therapy. I have seen uh
therapists for over 20 years. I've seen
the same therapist for over 10 years and
that therapist went from inerson to
virtual uh during the pandemic and has
never gone back. So, I know that virtual
therapy is honestly the same as
in-person therapy. But the problems are
a finding a new therapist if you don't
have one or lose one and b figuring out
the insurance because so many good
therapists just don't take insurance at
all. And taking care of your mental
health shouldn't be harder than your
physical health. If you pull a muscle,
you see a doctor, you got insurance. But
when it comes to finding the right
therapist, it's frustrating. There's
weight list and there's huge costs. So
RULA makes therapy simple, affordable,
and fast. They work with most major
insurance plans and the average session
co-pay is just 15 bucks. That's
basically the cost of lunch. But instead
of a sandwich, you're investing in your
own headsp space. And with RULA, you're
not just matched and left to figure it
out. They check in and make sure you're
actually making progress. Every
therapist on the platform is licensed,
vetted, and picked for their expertise,
so you know you're talking to someone
legit, not just whoever happens to be
available. Uh it's easy to get started.
You answer a few quick questions about
what matters to you and RULA connects
you with in-et network providers who
actually fit your needs. You choose the
times and could be talking to a
therapist as soon as the next day. No
weeks of waiting or endless back and
forth. So, thousands of guys have
already used Rula to finally get the
care they need. Don't keep putting it
off. Go to rua.com/tire.
That's r.com/ty
to get started today. Take the first
step, get connected, and take control of
your mental health at rula.com/tire.
And now back to the show. I mean, no, my
answer is no.
>> It's, you know, the frustrating part is
that there's a [snorts] lot of people
that want to schedule things that are
not PPIs, that are very time consuming.
Um, oh, I want to look at the car, but
they don't know what they're looking at.
So, they come and they look at it and
they kind of walk around and go, "Wow,
this is cool." and there's an hour of
time spent just kind of circling around
the car, not really doing anything.
Whereas that time could have been spent
better with an actual PPI. And I think
some people are resistant to spending a
few hundred sometimes, especially
because what Bring a Trailer in
particular brought to the market was
this ease and access where you didn't
have to be local and you had this
different level of exposure and
different level of
>> you know think about I mean to their
credit you know think about what bring a
trailer requires versus what it took to
throw a car on Craigslist back in 05 you
know eight shitty [ __ ] pictures and
you know so so you do
I feel like you have enough information.
It's like it's like a Dunning Krueger.
You have just enough information to
think you have all the information.
>> Yeah. Yeah. 100%. 100%.
>> You [snorts] know, it's [ __ ] I'm just
going to vent about this one to you.
When someone
>> When you make it easy to do a PPI, you
you make the car available whenever.
Come do a PPI. Maybe you even recommend
a list of experts locally. Here's four
people. You you pick. One of them comes,
they find a couple of things wrong with
the car.
>> Someone who's been paid to find
something wrong with the car. Find
something wrong with the car.
>> You're a [ __ ] liar now, Rob.
>> That is the only time it's like, bro,
I've made it so easy for you to learn
everything. Like, I don't know
everything. Obviously, the mechanic had
to find this. I don't [ __ ] know.
>> And cars are subjective, too. Here's the
thing. There's certain things that are
objectively measurable, right? the brake
rotors are in this amount of spec or
not, right?
>> Cosmetic is unbelievably subjective. So,
our PPI could note minor stone chips on
the front of the car, right? To another
guy, that could be like serious things.
>> Insta repaint,
>> right? Exactly. Oh, there's stone chips.
Oh, this is the end of the world. So,
that's the biggest reason in my opinion
for PPI, not even the mechanical end.
The mechanical end is easy to quantify,
but now in this world of collectibility,
we're seeing so much focus on cosmetic,
cosmetic, cosmetic paint. Has there ever
been paint? God forbid the car ever got
scratched. Anything anything ever,
>> dude. I hate when a [ __ ] when people
just just dismiss a car cuz it's had the
bumper. Like, do you understand that
every car from 2002 to 2010 that came
with factory or dealer PPF needs a front
end repaint?
>> You cannot remove this [ __ ]
>> It is awful. [laughter] It is awful.
>> I bought my NSX mint 17,000 mi factory
[ __ ] PBF trying to upgrade it. It
peeled a third of the paint off the
bumper. What now? the talking about
conversations that I had to to really
capitulate on. PPF was one of them. On
Bring a Trail, I go, "Oh, God, please
don't pf your cars." And now we're
obviously in a different spot where, you
know,
>> new PPF is different.
>> Yeah, new PPF is great. I But like, oh
my god,
>> God help you. You call a a reputable
shop and you say, "I got to remove uh
factory PPF on a 997 Turbo," they're
going to go jump in a bath of cyanide.
>> It is. [laughter]
Well, you know, talking of the gripes
that are similar to to that would be um
you know, kind of our ongoing Carfax
gripes. And this is a dealerwide thing
where you know, damage, you know,
reported. We had a a funny conversation
the other day. We had a a Mercedes SLR
McLaren edition that we had live had a
damage report on. Now, it's a fully
restored factory car, right? This car
went back to McLaren where they
completely made the McLaren edition. I
don't care if that car was upside down
and on fire before, right? It's a
factory resto. been gone through by the
appropriate people,
>> right? So, but a damage report, okay,
damage reports are a little scratched,
something, you know, simple. So, in
talking to Carfax, we kind of said, you
know, we really got to get this off of
here. This is not the car was never, you
know, damaged in any meaningful way. We
knew all the history of it. There was
never any paintwork. There was never
anything. We knew the history of nothing
ever happened. And so, one of the
responses back to the damage report was
that a damage report can also mean that
the car had some restoration. And we're
like, wait, restoration is now damage.
So that's the next part of it is this
living and breathing off of not only
going back to
>> is there like an insurance scam where
you can you can use, you know, a little
bit of damage to get this spiraling
while you're in there,
>> I'm sure. Well, now there's another one
because of when Ferrari's system went
down a year ago or whatever it was, uh,
they weren't able to process cars that
were in service and cars that had been
there a long time. Some people had taken
advantage of it and then said, "Well,
the car has been there too long, so now
you can have to lemon law my car." And
they were getting out just because the
the their processing uh you know, system
was down. So there's always
>> Is that where all the SF90s came from?
>> Oh [laughter] god, the SF90s. The
neverending SF90s. Why is there so many?
>> It's the Volkswagen Beetle of
>> There are f I mean that's one of many
proofs of uh that being rich doesn't
mean being smart.
>> Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, look at look at how
the markets [snorts] reacted to it.
Especially now Ferrari announced, right,
there's 40% going 2030 they're going to
do 14 new models, right? 40% are going
to be hybrid, 40% are going to be gas,
and 20% electric. So 20% out the window,
right? So they're only making 80% of
what we care about. And then even the
hybrids, we know that's a little and the
market's reacted.
>> They don't want them. Nobody wants them.
>> Did you see Donnie 16M $830,000?
>> Uh yeah. No,
>> that's a hard pass for me. I've driven
one of those. That's a no.
>> But look at where that, you know, 16s.
Everybody wants the most, you know,
>> limited contemporary classics. Everyone
went Ferrari.
>> And that's where everybody wants uh, you
know, why is a is Koig making a
synthetic manual? Why does Pagani not
have screens and they have levers and
[ __ ] you know? Why does uh the the new
Bugatti Torbon has a [ __ ] you know,
watch movement for a gauge cluster? I
mean, they can't they can't run away
from screens and [ __ ] fast enough.
>> I know. It's incredible. Incredible.
Especially in all the touch surfaces and
everything. The the the feel of an
analog car, whatever. Even if it's your
your HVAC controls or your radio
controls.
>> You ever sit in Have you Do you do any
of the fancy schmancy [ __ ]
>> Yeah. I I like it like everybody else,
but I don't do a lot of it. Mostly
because, you know, we'll we'll run a
couple maybe three.
>> That's not what I meant. Sorry. Not sell
fancy cars. I know you sell some fancy
cars. Have you ever been Have you ever
like This is going to sound so Have you
ever sat in a T50 or been around a
Gordon? I've been in a T50.
>> So like T50s are special for like 10,000
different reasons, but one of them is
just the feel of the [ __ ] knobs for
like the windshield wipers is the
greatest most satis. It's every switch
is a Leica camera shutter in a T50.
>> It's one of the most [snorts] ignored
things in cars. And then if we want to
go back to SF90s where everything is
just pressing firm on a flat piece of
nothing and it's it's look, it's not a
bad car either. It's a fun good it's a
it's a good car,
>> but it's not an exciting car.
>> So here's an interesting conundrum then
>> and I'm about to maybe find this out for
myself because I'm about to drive a,000
miles this week in a 918. Okay,
Porsche's 918. So I'm doing an
interesting thing. I'm driving for 5
days, road tripping a new Panamera Turbo
SE hybrid.
>> Okay.
>> And then I give that back and then I do
five more days in a 918. Okay. A 10
years old Porsche hybrid.
>> Yep.
>> So 918s are a perfect example of a car
that should be worth less than its MSRP
despite its rarity
>> because because of what we're just
talking about hybrids and digitization.
And yet they seem to be worth not only
more than their MSRP, but they're
they've appreciated on a level above
some of their contemporaries, which is
wild. It's an interesting car. So I we
just sold two 918s uh this month. Right.
Okay. And so it's been a topic of
conversation, particularly as it
pertains to its relationship to the CR
GT. Right. Right. And so one of the
things that I've noticed the most, Have
you driven a 918?
>> Yes.
>> Okay. I've driven it briefly and I will
have a much more thorough report in two
weeks.
>> I would love to hear back because I love
the 918. I think it is a very seamless
integration of the hybrid system done in
a way that doesn't make you feel like
you're driving something that's being
supplemented too much. It's got one of
the best throttle notes with an exhaust
that's right behind your ear. And it's
it's a chainsaw sometimes, it's a growl
sometimes, it's a hum sometimes, and at
high RPM it's a GT3. It's got all the
right notes to it, especially mid
throttle, 4,000 RPM, it sounds like four
chainsaws all being started behind you.
[laughter] It's lovely.
>> With the CGT, lovely car. We There's no
argument. [snorts] I don't think it's a
good-look car. That's a personal thing.
From a drive perspective, it's
fantastic.
>> Yeah, I love I love the CGT so much.
>> Do you visually, too?
>> It's not It wouldn't make my list of
prettiest. I don't hate it. Uh I I
aesthetically give me a 911 GT1. Uh
please port but but driving it no notes.
Yeah. No notes. So
>> CGT I think will forever be one of these
cars that is damned similar to you know
any other you know the the little
bastard or you know it
>> even if it is a wonderful car to drive
you need to start exploring that car
higher up to be able to really enjoy it
and understand it. There's a lot of guys
that drive them. If they drive them,
maybe they're five, six tents and
they're always just holding back a
little bit. Whether it's the Paul Walker
effect, whether it's the journalistic
effect of these are hard to drive or
whatever the case, but I feel every
owner is always holding back on them a
little bit, particularly now. When they
were newer, it didn't seem that way.
>> Yeah. When when a car is worth [ __ ]
five times its original MSRP, it's it's
too valuable to rip on.
>> But go drive a 918. And that's where the
really big part comes cuz you can go
drive a 918 at 8/10 and go, I'm in total
control of this car and it's a dance and
it's rewarding and I'm not so sitting
there on the edge going, do I need to
worry about this car? Is it going to do
something that I'm not ready for?
>> This is why I always end up voting for
the second place finisher and
performance car of the year is cuz I I
want the psycho car and most people
don't actually want that.
>> Right. And the CGT is lovely, but I
think 918s particular, there's there's
nothing that's followed it, right? At
that trifecta time, it was P1, the La
Ferrari, and the 918, right? Ferrari's
released 75 other cars since. McLaren's
released 275,000 cars since. I don't
even know what McLaren's offering
anymore. And Porsche is still, even in
their advertisements now on their own
site are 918. That's it. That's the last
king of the hill.
>> It's probably the [ __ ] car I'm
driving. It's the blue one that they
still have. It was my car got used for
the Delta shuttle for for [laughter]
about 6 months. [clears throat] It was
pretty funny. Cars the cars put in work.
It's a real workhorse.
>> They are lovely cars and they make sense
why they're going up.
>> I guess when you consider that they are
um guys, we got to take one more break
for smalls. I love reading for smalls
because I love my cats. Smalls love my
cats and my cats love smalls. Right
back. My cats are I mean I travel a lot,
right? And I have an in-home cats
sitter, so their routine doesn't get
messed up when I travel, but that
doesn't mean like when I come home, they
aren't super super stoked to see us. And
they just like come running up. They all
want treats. They want me to take them
outside in the backyard to get some sun
cuz the cat doesn't do that. Uh rightly
so. And they want their Smalls treats.
They absolutely love these dried fish
treats from Smalls. They are so so good.
And man, when they get that delicious
fresh like real food cat food, man, do
they love it. The listeners of this
show, they know my cat can't live
without the Smalls. And now you can get
60% off your first order, plus free
shipping at smalls.com/tire.
Smalls cat food is proteinpacked. It's
made with preservative free ingredients
you'd find in your own fridge and
delivered right to your door. That's why
cats.com named Smalls their best overall
cat food. The best thing about the
Smalls is I'm really using um uh uh
specific feeding times. I'm not letting
them graze all day. So, as as such, I'm
doing more of the canned protein richch
food, less of the uh the other brands
dry food that I was leaving out all day.
And my cats have started to lose a
little bit of weight. My my two fat
girls are a little bit uh slimmer, but
they are they're all ready to eat their
own bowls twice a day, and it is great.
My cats love the taste of Smalls, and
they just crush it when I put it down.
So, what are you waiting for? Give your
cat the food they deserve for a limited
time because you are a Smoking Tire
listener. Get 60% off your first order,
plus free shipping when you head to
smalls.com/tire.
One last time, 60% off your first order.
It'll make it a big one, plus free
shipping when you head to
smalls.com/tire.
And now back to the show. uh that there
really hasn't been a successor whereas
both McLaren is now on its second if not
third or fourth really successor um
ultimate series car and uh and Ferrari
is now on certainly at least two down
the road kind of
>> um F8 is real ugly everything everything
they're making right now is ugly I'm
sorry to say
>> it's I think they're in a tough position
and and this is not a I don't like for I
Ferrari, but I think they're in a really
tough place going forward. And I don't
think people realize how bad it is until
we're going to look back and go, god,
because
>> actually I don't mean to be so harsh.
The 296 is is somewhat pretty. 296 is
all right.
>> 296 is pretty.
>> It's not a car I'd want, but it's it's
pretty.
>> I I'm I'm largely [snorts] agnostic to
it. I don't think any of them are. I
think the spec drives some of the
prettiness a little bit more than
others. I think an offtheshelf spec may
just not be as much pop than a car that
>> dude I think you know I think a lowspec
car in like a subtle color like a a
fairly basic 296 in a blue or a gray
without too much flash on it is like
super pretty actually.
>> Yeah, I think so too. I think the the
new 12cylinding is a pretty car too.
It's
>> in the right color. In the right color.
>> Got to be the right color. It's big. But
all this the special ones all that that
weird F40 thing that weird Tessterosa
thing what what are we doing over here
>> to follow up the [ __ ] SP3 with that
like one of the prettiest cars they've
ever made like damn it's it's it's
>> answering to the shareholder and it's
answering to uh you know kind of the
powers that be and and they have to
create volume now at this point and
they're not Porsche right Porsche is
being substantiated by Volkswagen so you
can have a Macan that lives in three
different iterations you have these cars
where you can spread some of the love
around, but Ferrari's stucker [laughter]
and they're a public company.
>> They can't Yeah. Like no current Ferrari
owner will accept them moving down
market.
>> No.
>> Right. Like or a 911 owner isn't
>> Well, I shouldn't say this. When the
When the Cayenne came out, people were
insulted for a minute and then they all
bought them to drive alongside their
911s. When the Macan came out, people
were like, "Will it be cheap?" And then,
you know, most people ended up being
like, "You know what? that doesn't
actually water the brand down that much.
I doubt Ferrari people would be so kind.
>> You can't do it. You can't do it. And so
that's their their their neverending
problem is that they're going to have to
answer to shareholders. They're going to
have to keep showing year-over-year
growth. And you can only show that by
increasing volume, increasing the amount
of models, and there's only so many ways
you can, you know, put your suit jacket
on as suit pants or put it on and put
your pants on as a shirt, you know. So,
I'm curious. I think they have a tough
road ahead of them. I think they need to
get back to the same roots of where they
used to be, which was a much more analog
experience. And I think they know this,
too, but I think it's a tough road.
>> Insane because you'd think the margins
would be there for them to do stick
shift cars.
>> I know.
>> Like you'd think like you have you guys
made the most legendary shifter in the
[ __ ] history of cars.
>> I know. Incredible, right? [laughter]
And then you look at Porsche. Well, now
their focus has been power, right?
Everything,000 horsepower. And you look
at Porsche who's just been middling
along with 500 something horsepower.
>> 12 years.
>> I know. [laughter] They've had the same
output for 12 years in these cars.
>> Unbelievable.
>> Essentially, they've added I'm sorry. If
you go uh if you go GT3 RS40 2011 to
current car, they've added uh I think
it's 42 horsepower.
>> Wow.
>> 42 in that car.
>> A couple Briggs and Stratton.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, having said
that, the new I just drove the new Turbo
S [ __ ] hybrid and it's, you know,
zillion horse. That's cool.
>> See, that's I I start losing it there.
I've driven stuff. I've driven
everything that's unbelievably fast. It
comes down to experience. It's
experiential.
>> No, there's no there actually So, the uh
I' I've said this in the last couple
shows, but just for you, the reason to
buy a Turbo S now is not for that speed
because it isn't [ __ ] usable versus
the next two or three fastest versions.
uh the 400volt hybrid system which you
can get in the G in the GTS also
>> unbelievable body control.
>> Really?
>> Yeah. Okay. So, if you actually wanted
to use one as a car a lot
>> in an area that had not great roads,
>> man, the the envelope of talent of that
suspension system.
>> Okay.
>> It's nice. It's nice. You can get it in
the GTS. You do not need the Turbo S
power. But, uh you know, if you got to
have it, you got to have it, you know.
Um, let's talk about you for a minute.
Okay.
>> So, you've been, you know, on the one
hand just a car dealer. On the other
hand, you have [ __ ] car. A used car
dealer. Good deal for you, my friend.
>> A used car dealer. Um, on, you know, on
the other hand, you've been at this. How
how when was the first listing on on an
online auction platform?
>> Well, with Bring a Trailer, God, I think
we were like auction 60 or something. I
always forget what it was, but it was
really early on. Like I remember Randy
and like Gentry like coming down and us
being like, "Hey, this is cool. like the
cars are selling.
>> Did you ever have a brick-andmortar
store?
>> No. I I wound up really growing my
business at the exact right time that
bring a trailer was growing because I
started this I my real quick background
was I was in finance. I was invest
banker and then [snorts] I quit. Nothing
lined up. I my life has always been in
cars. Investment banking was just
feeding racing addiction and all the
other things, right? So when I started
this, I had no clue what I was actually
really doing or what I wanted to do. I
just knew it was going to be in the car
world because it's what I grew up doing.
And [snorts] so I wound up actually uh
starting a I was flipping cars in the
driveway. I mean, had like 40 Range
Rovers at the house, like Range Rover
classics all in different states of
disrepair. And um eventually I got the
right routes to kind of think, hey, I'd
love to manage some car collections. I
think that'd be fun. and help guys out
who got a big significant collection.
And sure enough, I found a couple
people, met a couple people and started
doing some of that. And that started
gaining access to to some really special
cars. And then we started advertising
even in the eBay days where it's like,
who has an NSU Spider for sale? Oh, I
have one or who has some other obscure
car. And so at the time, I was able to
advertise these in places like, you
know, eBay or, you know, whatever other,
you know, facets we had then. So when
Bring a Trailer came around, uh, we
were, you know, they were just a a blog,
right? And it was like,
>> yeah, I started reading it when it was
just like [ __ ] they found on Craigslist.
>> Yeah, exactly. And the funny part,
that's actually where our where the the
WOB wob name actually came from just a
forum name because before they were
selling cars, it was a forum and that
was just a screen name I used for
everything. It's so funny people who
just like get stuck with their
usernames. Like you think [ __ ] Shmei
would want to be Shmei today and and I
like Tim, you know, he's a good guy. But
like if you knew that that username when
he was like 13.
>> Yeah, exactly. That's what this is
forever. [laughter] This was a little
girl who couldn't pronounce my name
correctly. It's the dumbest thing on
earth. Somewhere there's like a
40-year-old woman out there who's got a
whole business named after [laughter]
and she has got no clue. Oh, hey, you
don't know me.
>> See, bullying works now. So, so yeah, so
we started with them and uh I was
managing uh a collection uh Mike Malam.
You know Malmetu?
>> Yeah. So I was managing his collection,
helping him with all his sales and um
and doing just a bunch of stuff for the
collection and he I'm going to give him
credit even though he only I'm going to
give him like 50% credit here, but no,
he he was like, "Hey, uh you know, bring
a trailer. Maybe we should put a car." I
was like, "Yeah, let's do it." And and
so uh put a car on there and did really
well. And lather, rinse, repeat. It was
like going really well. And I remember
there was a week where there was like 14
cars live and that was at the time like
wow 14 cars I'm bring a trailer and we
were like seven of them and it was like
[laughter] all right well hope we're
putting the eggs in the right basket
[snorts] but um it was just a continued
you know reup of let's push the envelope
a little bit and usually pushing at
first didn't really work. you know, you
put a car that was like a little outside
of the buyer's perspective in there and
[snorts] and it wouldn't do well and
then you'd try it again maybe a little
bit later after somebody who was
searching for like, oh wow, they had
that, you know, pins gau. Oh, I was
looking for a pinsgower. And so it it
was one of those things where you push
the line and know that you're probably
not going to be the pioneer. You're
going to be the guy who just gets the
hour on his back and kind of
>> That's been me at every level of online
video production, by the way.
>> Good. First guy to try something, get
your ass kicked, next guy makes a
fortune.
>> Yeah. But but but that's the important
part. The important part is that you're
the [snorts] creativity still.
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's all right.
>> Because if if it's just about the view
or the the whatever, then the the the I
don't know. The important
>> It's about the money though.
>> Someone's got to fund this habit.
>> Yeah. [laughter]
So it it's it's uh we started early on
and we grew a lot with Bring a Trailer
as they grew and then COVID came around
and while obviously a really challenging
thing for a lot of people business got
lucky
>> businesswise [laughter]
it went [snorts] crazy.
>> That's [ __ ] nuts. the level at which
online shopping was extended to things
that cost $300,000,
[laughter]
>> right? Which paired so well, we talk
about the PPIs paired so well with like
I like it. Bid bid.
>> And you saw these crazy prices and you
saw and people were just like, I can't I
can't leave. I can't look at it. Okay.
Yeah.
>> And so it became part of our I think
reputation and transparency came through
a lot of that because we knew we were we
were having to cater to a crowd that
couldn't really see the cars. So we were
growing simultaneously as bring a
trailer was growing and I think it's
been a a really important part of it has
been this like
>> know that this is a new way of selling
cars and because of that we never
created a real I'm a brick and mortar.
from a California retail dealership, but
like I'm not the glass dealership by the
highway. I'm not the come on in
President's Day sale. I'm like a
windowless warehouse like go away, no
one's home.
>> But when you know what you're looking
for, this is the right place, right?
It's not, oh, I'm trying to decide if I
want one of these cars. You know what
you're looking for. Like, I've got an
Astera in right now. [laughter]
>> No one on earth is looking for an Astera
aside from like one or two people. If
you know this is the right place, but
you're not coming in like I think this
is the one, honey. You know, so yeah.
Yeah,
>> that well you got to get to that. So, I
mean I I have I have a few procedural
questions and then our patrons uh
through the Patreon, of course,
patreon.com/smokire
podcast have some really good questions
today and I'm going to hit refresh on
that one more time.
>> Um but okay, so
uh are there cars at at this point in
your in your career? You are no longer
seeking out cars to sell. They're
they're passively coming to you, Rob, I
would like you to sell my car. I would
say the overwhelming majority are coming
to me, but there's definitely still
stuff that you know is out there that
you're looking for. The stuff that you
know you're never going to find unless
you start, you know, cracking some
doors. But
>> But is so is it like when you when
that's you talk about a car like that,
is it I'd like to own that car or like
I'd like to consign that for somebody
just just to check it off a list. Like
can't there can't be that much thrill in
just consigning some bucket list car for
somebody, can there?
>> There for me there is. There is because
you know what? There there's a lot of
cars that you and I probably know very
well that like you really want to
experience and have a role in that car's
history and be able to really speak to
it in depth and there's no planet in
which you want to actually own it,
right? Like [snorts] an XJ220 is a
lovely experience to be able to go, God,
what a cool thing and now never touch it
again.
>> I mean, you know what? We I I I care for
other people's [ __ ] for a living and so
I get that taste that way, right?
[snorts]
>> Yeah. Yeah, I know what it's like to
maintain this thing and keep it alive
and keep it happy and [snorts]
>> and you're getting press cars and so you
get press cars are the ultimate,
>> right? Cuz you're just
>> you taste you taste. I got and I was
super spoiled for a while. I got press
watches. I mean, you want to talk about
>> It's a press watch.
>> It's exactly what it is. Exactly. Press.
Have you ever Have you never [ __ ]
read any like watch journalism? I know
about as much about watches as I do
about, you know,
>> you don't need to, but like if you go to
certain websites like Hodinki is the
biggest one. You've heard it. Okay.
>> If you want to [ __ ] have your mind
completely blown, consider the fact that
there are people in this country who
could comfortably write four to 5,000
words about a watch.
I mean, look, I
>> and I'm not saying I can enjoy consuming
that content, but I'm saying that
someone can find that much to say about
a [ __ ] watch. And to that end, watch
press watches are just like [ __ ]
press cards.
>> I appreciate the the the mechanics of
it, the machinery of it, the engineering
of it. It's beautiful. But holy cow, but
maybe maybe a watch guy from the same
perspective. How are you writing 5,000
words about a car? It's got wheels. It's
got a steering wheel.
>> There are deep nerds in every level of
everything. So yeah, press but you know
watches are a thing like cars.
>> I I can't tell you the number of watches
that look great on my my friend Carl
Ruiz uh rest in peace one of the
smartest people I've ever met. He told
me in in a right in 2019 2020 he goes
Matt a watch a house a car and your
building are all the same size on
Instagram and this greatly benefits
small things as opposed to big things.
It works against big things. And so many
people will buy a watch based on what
they see on Instagram, but you can [ __ ]
with a picture so bad on Instagram. And
a watch might look good like this and
horrible like this or be like topheavy
or whatever. Interesting. So anyway,
press watches have saved me tens of
thousands of dollars in not buying [ __ ]
I might have had to buy to learn, you
know? Same with cars. Okay. Consumer
advice.
>> Yes. Uh to what degree do you recommend
people repair [ __ ] on their car before
listing it for sale?
>> It's a balance. It's like anything,
right? It's uh the simple view of that
is spend 5,000 to make 10,000.
Otherwise, disclose, right? I mean,
there there's some people that go, I
don't care. I just want to be able to
offer the best product. And generally,
that's how we approach things, too. But
there's certainly going to be a time
where the return not only for it
financially, but the return for it
visually starts becoming a point where
you go, well, we're not going to make
the car 50, 100% better because we've
done this thing that's going to cost
$25,000.
It it's it's
>> money in, money out.
>> Yeah. I I think disclosure is important.
make the best possible product you can,
but there's also always going to be a
point where it's like, hey, there's a
chip in the hood, but or, you know, the
quarter panel. Let's use a quarter
panel. That's always a great one.
There's a chip in the quarter panel, but
that's going to be respraying both
quarter panels blending into the trunk
down the door. And is it really worth
it? No. I mean, there's a point where
you want to embrace what a car is.
There's a point in which you really need
to make sure the integrity and the
originality and all of that's there, and
you just close. But I I think there's
certainly pre-ervicing and making sure
it's ready to go. Making sure there's
nothing that's outstanding.
>> I think people really do want if if it's
a modern car, not some like 40s thing or
whatever. If it's a car from the last 15
years,
>> I think people want to be able to fly in
and drive it home. You at least have the
option.
>> They people say that and then they
don't. I've [laughter] the only like one
of the few times somebody ever did it,
the guy fell asleep at the wheel and I
was like never again or is anyone
picking up a car ever again. Wow. Um so
it's it's something we actually kind of
don't encourage. We're like ship the
car. It's cheap. Get to know it on your
own property in your own neighborhood.
Don't know it through the [snorts]
desert of New Mexico or something.
>> Funny. We've had a very high percentage
of people pick up the cars here.
>> Really? I I've Oh god. Just
>> in my own Bentley, my Turbo R. Picked it
up, drove it to Seattle. Oh god. Oh god.
Yeah.
>> Um the uh Okay. Cars got uh tasteful
mods, catback exhaust, wheels, things
like that. Return to stock or leave the
mods.
>> Depends on the car. You know, most of
the time if you're looking something
that's truly collectible, uh you're
talking about a car that's probably
better stock. But if it's a well-known,
we were talking about Dean cars and you
know, this is a different
>> I find that brand name packages are
okay. If it's an AMS Alpha 9 or a demand
motor. Yeah. Or, you know, even if it,
you know, Hennessy Venom 1000, if it's a
known quantity.
>> Yep.
>> You know, then it's probably okay.
>> Yeah. It really depends. It depends on
the car. It depends what you're looking
at. I've got a I've got a good conundrum
going on right now. I'll give you really
quickly. I've got a challenge 360
stradali in right now.
>> Six-speed conversion, gated conversion.
>> Awesome.
>> Now, as a car,
>> I love it. is just it's the best, you
know, it's like the mini F40. It's
fantastic, right?
>> As a collectible piece, it's in this
weird area because it's like, well, 360
stradales have gone through the roof,
but this car already was a six-speed
converted car, which is only
>> it was converted to Stradal or converted
to manual.
>> Converted to manual. So, it's like two
parts. There's nothing major here, but
the car was that. Do you kill value by
turning it back to stock?
I know. It's brilliant. It's brilliant.
someone because here's why somebody who
knows
>> what that would be like to drive will
want it for that
>> 100% 100%
>> like me
>> come [laughter] drive it come drive it
>> what do you what do you guess something
like that is worth
>> so this is the question everyone with
360 uh stries were all asking ourselves
the same question because the last one
on bat did like 605 or something like
that
>> can I also for the record say [ __ ]
hard pass at that
>> wow wow wow wow we wow Right. Crazy
crazy.
>> Get a [ __ ] Modina and put a [ __ ]
straight pipe on it for that $7,000
special going for crazy. I know.
>> But so crime is legal and money's fake.
[laughter]
>> Well, everyone's looking for the next
best stuff, right? It's it's no
different, right? It's it's the app of
uh
>> Okay. So So are you uh are you on the
over or the under? I think it's between.
It goes between what a great strradal
goes for and a great real manual Modina
goes for.
>> I'm I'm I'm between that bracket, but I
would say it's certainly closer to
>> I don't know, it's definitely closer to
the Stradali mark than the cuz 360
sticks have gone down. They've been
softer. Okay. So there was a
>> well the availability of manual swaps
had you know it's not the only way to
get one anymore. You you can get one for
cheap if you want and most of the swaps
are like
pretty much not discernible from the
factory cars.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So it's it depends on the
car. Get back to the car. It really
depends on the car and depends on the
goal and and some of them you just got
to embrace and some of them you may want
to you know if you put a set of wheels
on that's the big one. Wheels. If it's
just wheels take them off.
>> Call it the stock wheels take off.
because that's this the the it's like
the stuff in the title photo that's
important, right? So if it looks like
it's like on rims,
>> different story though actually the
speaking to that that 993S that we had
>> that was on rims. They were pretty cool.
It looked pretty cool actually. It did
look good. Did it come with the stock
wheels? I didn't see.
>> No, I only twist. Yeah.
>> So ours has the stock wheels on it, but
it comes with a set of speed lines.
>> Oh, I know the car.
>> The same color car, isn't it?
>> It's the same color. I know the car. So,
and it has a binder that is like
>> if this guy wasn't taking care of a car,
he'd be [ __ ] murdering people with us
or this crazy.
>> I know the car. I know the car.
>> It's beautiful.
>> Yeah, I agree.
>> I think the only reason we we were
talking about it, I think, with the
owner, but I said, I've got this other
one in and it was like, you're going to
have a wait here.
>> Yeah, maybe he just called us.
Meanwhile, he had to wait anyway.
>> I know. Great.
>> Um, okay. Uh, are there Well, uh, I want
to ask you fund [ __ ] but I also want to
ask consumer questions because I know
people want Okay. If it's if it's if
it's a if it's um an individual listing
a car, be be an individual for a minute,
what do you think is do you think they
should really try the trickle out the
stuff strategy or if you're an
individual coming out of nowhere, just
try the full-on honest approach?
>> I think an individual has a different
route than a dealer. I think the
individual becomes a lot more about the
story and the story is what your theme
is going to be as you post through. So
rather than posting out metering out
service records if [snorts] I were a
private individual I'd be metering out
my story and my experiences with it. I'd
be posting pictures. Here's me with the
car at Darian Gap and you know, here's
me and my wife and create the the story
that the next guy when he goes to Cars
and Coffee gets to regurgitate it and
go, you know, it was this guy and he
took it to the Gap and bl that's that's
the private individual theme. I think as
a dealer, it's a little bit different,
right? Our job is identifying value and
being able to present it transparently
and be able to show off an asset that we
believe is is a worthwhile asset for
people to to invest their money in,
right? Um, it can still run in the same
theme, right? Private versus dealer, but
I think it's different motivational
factors. I think there's less people
buying story a little bit from dealers.
Unless it's a storied car.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Unless that's the
whole thing.
>> Yeah. Because face it, I mean, I know
where most of my cars are coming from. I
know most of the stories because we
source cars differently. But if we're
going to apply an overall dealer metric,
most dealers out there are buying cars
at auction or they're getting them on
trades. They don't know about the car.
So, it's a little bit more of a a
different storyline that they have to
tell.
>> Sure. Um, let's see. I have one more uh
uh one more for me and then I have we're
going to let the people on our Patreon
ask their questions which are the real
consumer questions.
>> Um, if you're running the whole [ __ ]
over there, I mean, you you have must
have people helping with it, right? But
if you're if you're you told me today
that uh we had to do the show at this
time because you had four car cars
closing in a half hour this morning.
How many auctions are you capable of
running simultaneously by yourself
before you go start to go a little
insane?
>> We found that our cap is about 20 a week
before something starts losing attention
in a way that it shouldn't be.
>> Um it's tough at 20 at at our current
kind of way we manage things. Uh but the
more challenging part is particularly
the timing of them when they end
together. when they're all ending.
There's also a post uh like a timing cap
where you have to wait 10 seconds
between a post. So if you got four cars
ending, it's like, "All right, wait.
One, two, three, four."
>> Oh, wow.
>> Oh, go to the next auction.
>> That's So that's crazy. So they like
literally That's like when [ __ ] Delta
lets you book an unmakable connection.
>> You got [laughter] to You got to think,
can you I mean, you you at least must be
able to talk to someone at the team and
go, "Hey guys, listen. It's if if if
there's going to be this restriction,
>> I'm going to need I'm I'm going to need
a guaranteed spread on this.
>> After how many years of doing this, we
figured out how to work around it in a
large capacity and you kind of structure
it a little bit, but
>> can you have like WOB and WOB 2
commenting? We thought about doing a
like a W light or W project or W like to
try and kind of uh tear the branding a
little bit more to kind of go like hey
like there's cars that were like hey
this is doesn't cut the muster for what
we want to sell.
>> This is the equivalent of the second
YouTube channel.
>> Yeah, a little bit a little bit but then
it's it's a whole another rap.
>> No, I just meant so you could have
someone else logged into a different
account commenting. I mean it's not
trying to take advantage of the system.
It's working within limitations. Yeah.
>> Yeah. [laughter] I like it.
>> Yeah, exactly.
>> That's a good idea.
>> Um, all right. So, let's uh So, 20 a
week. Okay, cool.
>> That's That's about the cap. That's
>> And that's And do you keep all them cars
on site?
>> Yeah.
>> All right. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Everything's got to come to us.
>> You got Yeah, you got to have it.
>> I got to know. We do, too. You got to
have it. We We We're up to around four
or five a month, which which I'm very
happy with. We're not a dealer. We just
help people sell their cars privately,
and and we charge a flat fee, which is
different than other people do. Um, and
whether you know, however you want to do
it, works for us. And um um so we have
this ident we got a really nice 993 CQS
arrow kit coming.
>> And [snorts] speaking of stories, this
one's a little sad. We have uh a guy is
we're helping a guy sell his wife's car.
She unfortunately has dementia, but
she's had this Alpha Spider for like
it's I think it's a 90. It's an airbag
car, so it's that's sort of at the very
end. But wow, is this [ __ ] thing
mint. Uh when I went down to look at it,
it's at our other store and I went to
look at it. I thought the guys had
already detailed it and they're like,
"We haven't even touched it yet."
>> Red tan, but just lovely, lovely little
car. Uh, I'm going to Yeah. The [ __ ]
shifter on the dash. Fantastic. It's
like Rad Racer.
>> So much character for the money. There's
a lot of car that that gets, I think,
largely ignored in the market for, you
know, a lot of different reasons. But I
think it's a lot of car. A lot of car.
>> Yeah, they're really cool. So, I'm going
to do the driving video uh tomorrow.
Take a little spin.
>> Do you do the driving videos? I do all
the driving videos. That's awesome.
Yeah. So, I think that's
>> a little mini review out.
>> They get people like that. They get a
little some little odd comments from me
and
>> trash talk them ever. You ever like,
"Oh, that clunk."
>> No, but I I mean, no, but I point I mean
I do I I you know, we're honest. I I I I
point stuff out. Yeah. It's um so far I
haven't had any I haven't had any
mechanical issues.
>> Smells a little like fire in here, but
[laughter] you know, ships are good.
Stinkros are good.
>> Very lucky. Uh let's go to the Patreon
and uh let's see. Joe with a great
question. We've already kind of answered
it, but just to clarify, is there such a
thing as too many photos? There was
recently a CRXSI that had 800.
>> Holy hell.
>> I mean, I think like you said, the move
is to use them in the comments to remind
people that your car is there. Don't
overwhelm them in the listing.
>> I think there is a point in which it
depends on what the photos are of,
right? 800 photos could be there could
be 400 photos of unbelievable records
going back on some car there. You know,
think about it. Records, you got a
binder. People want to scan everything,
go here is everything.
>> But if you got 800 photos of the car,
>> I mean,
>> a small car.
>> Yeah. One of the biggest uh [snorts]
things that people do is, and and you're
going to agree with this because you're
you know, you know this uh is they they
go take photos of a car and they just go
shutter just complet [laughter]
D and there's just a regurgitation of
whatever they shot. Nothing's edited.
Half the stuff.
>> I don't need 40 41 42 43 44 degrees of
angle. I don't need a onederee spread
for a photo.
>> Yeah. What we try and do with our photos
is we'll have a high photo count, but
what we try and do is present in
different light. And I don't necessarily
just mean we do outdoor because everyone
thinks that outdoor is the only way you
can like gauge a car. But studio, as you
know, the lights will show the a speck
of dust. It's like hard to shoot in the
studio. Sun, you can hide almost
anything. But there's some colors you
really need to see them in the sun. So,
we show both.
>> But even in the studio, it's making sure
your lights are positioned different
places. So, I want to be able to look
down the car. I want to see how straight
it is, right? I want to see the car lit
up top. I want to see So, some of that
requires, you can't light the car
perfectly from every angle in every
time. So, some of that's just
repositioning the car and getting the
light right. So, somebody who's doing it
on their own as a private seller, you
may want to move the car around and
experiment. If you're outside,
experiment with the sun at different
angles on the car rather than just
walking around it and making sure that
you can capture like I want to see on is
there any dings? There's any dents, any
winess, how's the paint quality? Like,
some of that stuff's really important.
>> Paint meter photos matter if you get
>> paint photos matter. Yeah,
>> if you can get them.
>> They don't always It doesn't always
work, but they do. It does help.
>> And it doesn't always tell the right
story either, so you have to be
thoughtful about it, too. So, um Jeremy
Spokane, Washington State says, "Uh, how
much does seasonality
uh play into results? Are there better
or worse times to buy or sell?" Uh, I've
heard like time of day or day of week
can even matter. Please explain.
>> That's a really good question. So,
personally,
90 plus% of our cars I want ending
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Now, this
is just my own personal preference.
Bring a trailer when they started
>> because that's when you want to be there
monitoring the end of
>> part of that is true. Um but Bring a
Trailer originally started their
auctions ended Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday. That's what they had found or
thought would be the best days for it.
And then only over time did they add
Monday and Friday and then only over
time did they add weekends. I like the
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Number
one, Mondays can be overwhelming. Some
people aren't focused. Some people are
just not there or you know they're
dealing with stuff. Fridays people
leaving early. Whatever the case,
weekends 50/50. Now, it doesn't mean you
can't have a great auction that ends any
of those days. I I try and buy cars. I
can't buy stuff any of those days
necessarily either, right? So, there's
times where it makes sense. There's
times it doesn't. I like a little bit of
it on my own for those days. I don't
think there's a wrong answer. I I don't,
you know, I've seen strong results on
weekends. I've seen strong results on
weekdays and and vice versa.
>> Seasons, you know, there's this idea
that in spring, uh, I should wait till
spring to sell. Well, you and the other
200 million people think the same thing.
So, even if there is more buyers in the
market because it's spring, there's also
a lot more supply. It's because everyone
else had the same idea, too. So, you've
just matched supply and demand is all
you've done. So, my suggestion is I like
to generally give a little buffer around
major holidays. Like, I don't really
want to end on like the 24th, 25th, or
26th in December or something like that.
But, I've had good results before
Christmas and right after Christmas. But
like a little bust,
>> get it in time [clears throat] for
Christmas isn't the worst thought.
>> No, I had some good I had some world
records in in December, like a week
before uh Christmas. So I I think give a
little buffer to the major stuff, but I
don't think there's a real seasonality.
Even this summer was like for us a lot
quieter than our our past summers,
whereas fall, which typically September,
October a little quieter, were a lot
busier. So there there's a little push
and pull to it and you don't really know
what you're getting. So, I wouldn't hold
back. I I I was an economics major. For
me, it was, you know, the the market I
know is better than the market I don't,
which is I know the market right now. I
can speak to it right now. Well, if uh
if there's uh a better market down the
road, I won't know. Maybe it's worse.
Just embrace what you have. Yeah.
>> Uh John Hennis, see you next Tuesday.
[laughter]
What cars have the most annoying biders
and commenters?
>> Oh, this is the easiest question. Oh, I
love this question.
>> Ferraris.
>> Ferraris aren't so bad. Okay. 560SL.
>> I'd rather pull out my own fingernail.
>> No way.
>> Uh C2 Corvettes.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Uh they're pretty painful. Um there's a
certain era of BMW that can be a little
painful, but not terrible.
>> Why the 560S?
>> I have no clue. I don't know if it's the
buyers or the the passion for them or
because they made so many of them. And I
loathe selling like Dean Lombok, uh, you
know, shout out to Dean because I I love
him. He's a he's a very nice person. He
sells a lot of Mercedes out in uh
classic Mercedes in in New Jersey and
this is what he focuses on. And I'm
like, you have the worst job on earth. I
I they're And I like 560L. They're cool
cars, but man, they're they're they're
painful to to and C2 Corvettes. Oh, that
that Philips screw was March of 63. The
car was made in April of 63. This car is
not a good asset.
>> Sure. Uh in that uh in that vein, Johnny
Slasher says, "Uh, how do you engage
with the peanut gallery on bat? Some
commenters are helpful and insightful,
others not so much. What is the balance
between being engaged and helpful as a
seller without being drawn in by the
trolls?" That is the biggest thing. As a
seller, if you're a private seller, do
not engage with it. Be diplomatic. Yeah,
>> diplomacy is going to get you a lot
further. And you can also just wind up
really squashing something kind of
quickly with most people, which you can
just wind up saying, "I disagree with
you." And that's okay. We can both have
different opinions about this, and I
encourage you to come get a PPI, inspect
the car. Heck, come out. Let's get lunch
together. Let's talk about the car. I
encourage you get a firsthand opinion
rather than just speculating on what you
think you see. If they have a point,
then embrace it. Hey, you got a point
there. Yeah, I didn't see that scratch
there. And getting into an argument is
going to kill the auction, kill the
value, kill everything. So be
diplomatic, be patient, and know, yes,
some people are trying to grenade stuff
purposefully. Some people just don't
know any better, right? It's some people
like, you know, give it the old Countach
thing where it's the worst driving car
on Earth. It's no different driving than
any other ' 80s Ferrari, but the the
journalists at the time made it sound
like it's the worst driving thing. And
you go into a Countach auction, everyone
goes, "Well, it's a shame these drive so
bad." And like it's just the same thing.
So yeah, some of it's just not, you
know, it's just ignorance and some of
it's people being intentionally
intentionally.
>> Dude, my I mean my experience was
admittedly a lot less than yours is if
someone is being like a shitty
commenter.
>> Look at their comment and bidding
history before bothering [snorts] to
respond to them.
>> A lot of these people are just shitty
commenters. They're not there to buy.
They're not serious. They're there to
just
try and show off how much they know
about whatever and like a nonresponse to
that is okay.
>> Yeah. And sometimes it doesn't require a
response. Exactly. Right. There's no
requirement that bring a trailer says
that you need to respond to everything
that somebody says.
>> Well, you know, you the the fear is to
get I mean, once you're doing it as long
as you have, that fear is probably gone.
But when you're small or just started or
an individual, you don't want to get
branded an uncooperative seller because
it is a social hierarchy system. So the
temptation is, well, if I don't respond,
I'm uncooperative, even if this person
is asking in total bad faith.
>> Yep.
>> I at one time got an email that arrived
an hour prior to somebody making a post
saying, "The seller is a uh a seller
who's not shown up. He's nonresponsive
and buyer beware." And we just got your
email an hour ago. Like we get hundreds
of emails on a car, a little patience.
>> We had we've had someone comment that
with 20 minutes or so to go in the
auction saying requesting paint meter
readings.
>> Yeah. Like dude,
>> and it's like, man, where where have you
been for seven days, bro? Like, and it's
the kind of thing where like I we would
do it like no problem. Paint me. Okay.
Hey meter readings, no problem. But
like, can I have like, you know,
any time at all to do this for you?
>> Um, let's see. Uh, Hila Monster Greg,
what's the worst personal car you've
ever bought at an online auction?
>> Oh god, at an online auction. Oh man, I
don't even know. I've just I I fall into
the group of people that that I loathe
as I don't say loathe, that's the wrong
word, but you know, I buy so blindly. I
don't PPI anything. I'm like sitting
here going, "You should PPI everything."
I don't PPI anything. Uh, so there's all
types of stuff, but you know, there's
there's two types of buyers, right?
seasoned buyers where you have a pretty
darn good idea of what you're buying or
you're not buying it. Uh or you're
somebody who just doesn't really know
any better and you may wind up with
something that's not so great. So,
there's not a specific car that
necessarily comes to mind uh that was
particularly bad. Oh, there was a pretty
bad 911 I bought where I went against my
rule. I have a rule I'd never buy from
Florida.
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, that's a very good
>> Oh, it's like rule number one of the
car.
>> All cars that go to Florida should stay
there until they go to the ocean.
>> 100%. And I went against a rule and it
came in and I was like, geez,
like just stuff that was pigeon weld
together and like and it was
mechanically sound, but the whole car
was
>> I bought my Ferrari 328 from Augusta,
Georgia, and it was definitely driven
there from Florida. [laughter]
>> Makes sense. Uh, Street Parked says,
"For an individual seller, what quality
makes a car for ID uh, ideal for an
auction sale instead of an asking price
sale and vice [snorts] versa?"
>> That's a really good question.
>> I think it's more the person than the
car.
>> I think it's person, but I also think
it's desiraability of the car. And I
also think particularly, again, we're
going to go back to something like bring
a trailer. Um, it's it's how easily
accessible is this car, right? Is this a
2025 911 Carrera like that anyone can
just go into any dealer and buy or or is
it a car that's just an off-the-shelf
car? [snorts] There's no you're not
going to have really that fight. And
that's what you want at an auction. And
I don't mean that in a negative tone. I
want you want passion. You want people
excited about like, wow, I really want
to buy this car. I bit up a Buick uh
estate wagon, a 1990 Buick estate wagon
yesterday to $25,000.
And I comment I'm like to the other guy
where I'm like how far are we going to
bid this $10,000 wagon [laughter]
and like it's
>> why did you want it?
>> Cuz it's awesome. Cuz it's because it's
passion, right? And so that's what's
great about auction. So offtheshelf
stuff, there's not going to be passion.
It's going to be oh it's a cool car I
can find another. But rarity,
desiraability, hard to find spec, that
that's a good reason to send a car to
auction.
>> Sure. Um, and also like a reason to not
is like if you I mean I hate to say
this, but like if you have something to
hide.
>> Yeah.
>> If you have something to hide, one
person at a time seeing your listing and
asking about the car and you only need
to justify whatever the [ __ ] they're
asking you versus open forum, anyone can
notice anything in any photo or any
service record and bring that to
everyone else's attention.
>> 100%. So, you know, not that I suggest
selling a car with dirty laundry, but
like if you're [ __ ] jammed up, you
know what I mean? Like,
>> well, you know what? One of the things
that I think people really appreciate on
online auctions is is obviously
transparency, but project cars do well.
>> Don't be afraid to embrace what you
have. This is a project. It needs a
whole bunch of stuff done to it. And you
know what? People love the dream.
[snorts]
>> Sure. Ted Striker says, "What are some
of the more common irrational fears and
misconceptions that people have about
selling or buying a car from an auction
site? And what would you tell them to
give them more peace of mind?"
>> Well, I think people always are
concerned about who are they buying
from, right? That's that's the first
one, especially when you're talking
about a private seller who's maybe got
no history on there. Well, am I going to
send them the money? Am I not going to
get it back? Or, you know, where am I
going to get the car? And so forth. I I
would say uh bring a trailer. Again,
we're going to use them uh as an
example, but I think Cars and Bids and
some of the other ones have put in place
basically escro services for money. And
so, I think that's a good thing. I would
say you [snorts] can alleviate so much.
Again, PPI, inspect the car, put eyes on
it, and not like, oh, my buddy Jim lives
close by. He'll come look at it and he's
just going to walk around it for an hour
and go, "Yeah, it looks cool." So, I I
think get a mechanic to look at. It
doesn't cost much money, especially if
you're serious in the car, right? I I
certainly recognize that if you're
looking at a cheaper car, $300 or
whatever it costs for your PPI could be
an expensive guess at the car.
>> Simultaneously on that cheaper car, if
you have a $1,000 repair on it,
>> that's a material number.
>> Spending a couple hundred bucks to not
buy a total [ __ ] box is money well spent
>> for sure.
>> Um, Rob D's nuts, expert guidance,
reserve versus no reserve. And I have my
own opinion on this, but but you as a
dealer, I'm interested in what you have
to say.
>> Uh, depends on the car as always. Um,
I'd say no reserves sets the emotion
much different. Much much different.
People know it's selling. Um, it tends
to keep bidding lower for longer, which
is good. Same thing. We want that return
viewership, right? So, you have people
are going, "Well, why is this only a 25
grand? This is $100,000 car." And they
revis revisit and revisit and revisit
and they look at the pictures. What am I
missing? I must be missing something.
Maybe everybody else is missing
something and they've sold them sold
themselves on that car. So when it gets
down to the end, they're have this idea
that man, this is a car I wanted. I
looked at it. I looked through all the
pictures. I did all the homework. Why
was it so cheap? I think it's right.
>> That emotion is there and it's not like
a psychological trick. What you've
always what you've done is got them
invested in a car that now they actually
understand where they've looked at it
and they feel comfortable with the car
in order to bid. That said, no reserve
can go the other way too sometimes where
you just don't have where people kind of
go, well, are they just selling it to
sell it or whatever the case? I think
quality of the car needs to be there and
transparent as everything. Um, I like no
reserve. I generally sell my own car as
no reserve. I think the market is
smarter, the aggregated market is
smarter than me or you or any
individual, right? They'll tell you what
it's worth. It may be that that day it
was worth less and the next day it's
worth more or it may be the other way
around. Uh, I would say
newer sellers should probably think
about approaching sales with a reserve
as the first or second auction they've
ever done. Go into it. Don't go into the
kind of the big boy arena knowing that,
you know, you could sell the car for a
lot less. But also, don't be afraid to
approach No Reserve knowing that, you
know, Breaking Trail's got like 2
million registered biders or something
like there's no deal. Like I I've sold
what uh I don't know how many cars.
>> 1911. So, 1911 cars we've sold on on
bring a trailer. I probably bought 30
and of those 30 I was probably buying
for half of them were probably for
clients and then the other half I was
probably buying at full retail. Like
there's not a lot of deals, but what
you're getting is transparency. You're
getting you know what you're buying and
that's more important than the deal.
>> I like sell. So, the way I decide
reserve versus no reserve,
>> my my cars personally, if I'm selling my
car, mentally, it's gone. And I know
that for better or worse with my social
media reach and and the auctions and
whatever, whatever market price is that
day, I'll get it. Whatever market price
is better, under whatever it is, that's
what it's going to be. And I try to tell
everyone else that we are capable of
putting enough eyeballs on your car that
you'll get price whether or not that's
what you think it is.
>> So I tell people I say look if this
auction ends and you're and you go
through this and you still own the car
but you haven't taken a lower number are
you happy that you didn't take this
lower number or are you annoyed that you
still have a car that you wanted gone?
>> Right? So, if you want the car gone,
[ __ ] let's send it. Yep. And you're
going to get what you're going to get.
I'm gonna do my best.
>> And your perception of value is
immaterial to the buying public. They
could care less what you think it's
valued at. They They're going to value
it.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh, Super Burrito uh says, "I see a
bunch of complaints on Reddit about
buyers and sellers not following through
with deals at the end of auctions. Have
you had this happen? Uh, and and have
the auction sites been helpful about it
andor what do you do? So, it happens
from time to time, right? This is a
business.
>> I had this happen once. It was nuts.
>> Yeah. And and you know, again, what
almost 2,000 cars. I don't know. Maybe
we've had a 100 cars out of 2,000, 50
cars out of 2,000. Um, generally you go
to the next guy in line. Yeah. Sometimes
you put some together there, sometimes
you don't,
>> you know, and worst case scenario, you
may have to relist the car.
>> Some of those relistings don't do as
well. Some of them actually do about the
same. Some even may do a little bit
better. We had a Ford GT that the guy
didn't pay, a carbon GT, and we relisted
the car. It actually did better. All
right. Well, hey, that worked out. So,
um, it's [snorts] it's just part of it.
You can't plan for it. So, don't go into
it thinking that way. It's a it's a very
immaterial percentage of auctions that
actually end that way. So, I would say
don't don't hold your breath and just
>> It's weird. It is weird. I found that a
a few times someone bids on a car and
wins and they don't really seem to
understand that they then have to send a
[ __ ] wire to somebody to to pay for
that car. Like,
>> wait, wait. I have to I Who is I'm
sending it to a stranger? No, you're
sending it to the person you just bought
the car from. Like, what do what did you
think was going to happen here? Exactly.
And and then the only one where the they
actually refused to pay was real crazy.
>> Go. It [snorts] was not even an
expensive car. It was a Mini. And uh you
know auction concludes. Okay. And and
they then came to to to send the money
and they go this I I Google I looked you
up on Google Earth. And this was when we
had just opened our other store
>> and you're in a dirt lot.
>> GOOGLE EARTH HADN'T CAUGHT UP YET.
Google Earth shows a construction site.
I just looked up on Google Earth. You're
you're not even a real business. You're
a constru. I'm like, "Oh, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is I'm not
sending money through this. This is this
is all crazy." And and I sent the emails
to bring a trailer. And the next bidder
in line, would Matt, would you take $200
less? Yes, I would. Click. You know,
game over. And it was [ __ ] crazy,
though.
>> The only good side of when a car does
when somebody doesn't pay for a car is
some of the times just a ghost. You
never hear from them. But a lot of times
you get these unbelievable stories,
>> lunatics. They're the best stories
[laughter] ever, ever, ever, ever. Like
like fairy tale kind of stuff. So, at
least you get a good story out of it.
[snorts]
>> Um, okay. The the big question. Slow-mo
in DFW. It was asked a few times. uh
cars and bids versus bring a trailer.
Why would I send a car to one versus the
other?
>> There's different markets. They both do
things very well. Um I don't know Doug
that well. I know him a bit. We've
spoken a couple times. He's done really,
really, really well. Cars and Biz is a
legitimately viable and good platform
with a lot of tech that
>> I actually like their software better as
a seller. It's like a nicer piece of
software to use.
>> I would agree. And I think Bring a
Trailer realized, I'm not saying
anything that's like, oh, hush hush. You
know, Bring a Trailer has been had this
massive growth on a website that was
effectively a WordPress site that's h
[laughter] been having to like
continually band-aid a site that really
needs a complete redo. Now, it's a very
good functional site, but yeah, Cars and
Biz was able to come out a little bit
later and make it a little bit more
functional. So, but there's definitely
different audiences there and and what
Cars and Bids did that uh that Bring a
Trailer did and that's the thing that a
lot of these co copycat sites are
missing is that they had organ organic
audiences, right? And Doug brought his
organic audience with him, which is a
huge part of his success.
>> Bring a trailer had first mover. Doug
had a huge core audience to jumpstart
the business.
>> What does anybody else have?
>> Right. Exactly. And so what what Doug
has though is his audience is a little
bit different of of a of a sector of
audience, right? Different different
dynamic, different people, different
buyers, different cars. So, um I think
modified cars seem to do pretty well on
there. The kind of more 2000e forward
cars seem to do well on there. Um I
think he's geared a lot towards people
that aren't necessarily collectors who
just want to drive and enjoy their cars
and screw around and have a light heart
about some of it. Whereas Bring a
Trailer certainly has that, but there's
certainly a much bigger population of
diehard collectors who want everything
exactly the way it left the factory. It
can't be any different.
>> So, if I had, you know, like a modified
EC E63 or something like that, I'd
probably send it to Doug. That's
probably the right place for it. But if
I had like a, you know, the, you know, a
really really tight and right, you know,
or 918 or something, you know, whatever,
that's going to go to bring a trailer.
But, um, it doesn't take away from
Doug's platform at all. I think he's got
a great thing going and I think he'll
continue to build it and I'd love to
keep giving him business and we do give
him business. Um, but I think it's just
different collector bases. So, it would
depend on what car you have and what
you're looking to market.
>> Mhm. Uh, two more username says, "I'm a
small independent dealer selling 5 to
35year-old enthusiast cars, some online,
and despite doing a full inspection,
full service, addressing possible
mechanical issues, road testing them
myself, I still have vehicles that sell,
get shipped across the country, and
arrive off the truck with random issues
that never happened while the car was
here. Do you experience similar
anomalies, and how do you deal with it?"
>> That is the the neverending
uh thorn in my side. We always joke that
cars know when they're changing hands.
Like they it doesn't matter what it is.
I had an XK that I was driving myself
for a long time. I drove it everywhere.
Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. This just
happened the other day. Perfect car. And
I told the guy and I we've done business
before and and I said, "I've driven it
everywhere. I was actually going to
drive it to Pebble Beach. It's been
lovely. Enjoy the car." He made it like
10 miles and broke down. Oh my god. And
but you can't plan for it. It's you have
to do everything the right way. My
[snorts] my suggestion would be like
anything is document everything. Be
transparent and and be forthright. Hey,
here's everything. Here's our
documentation. I tend to really lean
into, hey, it broke. Hey, let me help
you out. Keep me posted. Like, I can't
plan for all this stuff simultaneously.
There's there's a no warranty warranty
in my opinion, right? You buy the car,
something happens.
>> Something happens right away.
>> Yeah, let me help you out. But, you
know, two weeks down the road, I I can't
plan for some electrical component
failing. We can't sit there and test
every relay or what? You just It's
impossible, right?
>> I'm real. All I need in my whole [ __ ]
life is someone to go on [ __ ] Reddit
and go on a rant that Matt Ferris sold
him a piece of [ __ ] and wasn't honest
about it. Yeah,
>> you're in a really tricky position
because I I I am so I I I'm not I refuse
to lend my reputation to anything but my
business's honesty. And so I'm really
honest about stuff that sometimes maybe
my customer wouldn't like, you know. Did
you have to tell him that there was a
stain on the
>> Oh, I've had that conversation.
>> Yeah, I did, man. Cuz I'm not [ __ ]
dying on this hill for your stained
carpet.
>> Yep. Exactly. My reputation is worth
more than making you an extra two grand
because somebody thinks Yeah.
>> So yeah. Um uh for We have never had a
problem where we've sent a car across
the country and something happened, but
I could totally see it.
>> You will eventually and you work through
it because it's their cars. They're
living breathing things, you know.
>> And also like man, if you've had it,
like
>> the guy, the person you sell it to, they
drive different from you. The car
respond. They don't% Oh, the car was
fine. Well, this guy doesn't know how to
[ __ ] heel toe and he's blow he blows
the clutch. You know, your fault.
>> Uh, last one. Matt and Zach, romance
fanfic, author. Is there such a thing as
too much attention for a listing such as
bringing too many uninformed eyes to the
conversation or is all publicity good
publicity?
>> I would actually say largely the latter.
I think you even if the conversation is
contentious, even if people are saying
you're right, you're wrong and and
there's a lot of post, as long as you
did your due diligence going into it and
you know what you have and you embrace
it and you do well with it, right? This
is what I have. This is what we know and
everyone can, you know, poke around and
suggest whatever they want to do and and
let them have the conversation.
Sometimes the the post that I just make
is I love watching this conversation,
guys. Keep it going because have your
opinions. here's what we believe and we
encourage people to do their independent
research and we'll present every bit of
fact that we have. But again, they're
cars. There's always going to be nuance
to them. There's going to be little
things. Well, why are your paint meter
at seven or eight mil? These cars are
usually five or six mil. Well, maybe
this color was a little thicker. Have
you paint metered this there? I love the
conversation. It's what makes us
enjoyable because if this was just
cookie cutter, every sale was the same.
It wouldn't be fun. So, embracing it is
is I think part of it. So, I think all
press is good press in large part,
unless you have people nefariously
trying to grenade an auction. I had a
car
>> Well, that's So, when someone talks [ __ ]
specifically to drive the price down so
they could maybe get it for cheaper,
right, that's mega shitty.
>> Yeah, 100%. We had a car that was it was
um who was it? Bobby Ray Hall's car,
whoever's it was. and we bought it from
him and somebody went this wasn't his
car and I'm his best friend and he never
owned this with like 30 seconds left in
the auction and we're like what we
literally like bought it from him like
[laughter] it was on his showroom floor
like it was it was something ridiculous
and and I'm kind of piecing it together.
>> No what I earlier when I the story about
the guy who came to do a PPI and the PPI
found something and then the guy called
me a liar. That guy then was [ __ ]
battling to the end with somebody to buy
the car.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And that that car incidentally set did
set a record. It was the highest uh for
a a paddle shifted Ferrari 612. And even
the other guy who called me a liar as
the losing bidder bid more than anyone
had ever bid for a Ferrari 612 before.
>> It's sometimes it's transparent. [ __ ]
that guy.
>> But here's the thing too. I mean all of
our like [snorts] chromoginly gripes
about all this, the fact remains is that
we've got this platform and whether
bring a trailer cars, whoever it is, uh
but we've got this platform that is
completely different than selling cars
in the past that is so unbelievably
inclusive both nationally,
internationally, whatever you're looking
for, it's unbelievable. So to somebody
who's trying to think about approaching
selling a car online and all these are
great, hey, I'm either putting a foot in
the water, I'm trying it, or I'm trying
to figure out my way, it I'd say without
a shadow of a doubt, it's the way
forward. I think brickandmortar dealers
are going to slowly become kind of the
dinosaurs. I think they're still
necessary. Um, and they're still guys
are going to do great business, but we
still we see this shift of these guys
who are the brick and mortars selling on
bring a trailer
>> that well that for sure. Shout out to my
boy Doug at Switch Cars in Ohio. But but
uh and we but we need we I don't want to
be in a world where every new car is
being sold like this either. Like
>> that would just be [ __ ] horrible.
>> Agreed. And there's no point in that.
That's that's a different story.
>> Like I and I a couple of times you you
know you've seen a dealer [ __ ]
selling a brand new you know when the
GT3 first comes out. some dealer is just
going straight to this and you go,
"Guys,
even if it only goes to your best
clients, like, come on. I I don't I
don't like I don't like I don't like
where this is going." [snorts]
>> Yeah. And we're we're part of that
problem, but in in a way that I think is
also important. And I think being able
to see these cars as they transact in a
public manner is important. On a dealer
end, we're pitched cars constantly and
people don't realize how many of certain
cars are out there. um particular I
won't name them specific because I know
people who own these kind of cars.
>> They're well well you know you could
name that that's a good one because now
that it's settled down a little bit but
>> everybody in LA got their all their STS
were on the same boat. So in in one week
out of nowhere there was about 35 911
STS that fell on Los Angeles
>> and every single one of them if if I
pitch something to somebody in the
dealer world I promise you it will go to
900,000 people by the end of the day. So
much so that a lot of times you get your
own cars pitched back to you and
everyone's trying to get involved in it
and take their piece.
>> Everybody needs to middle of the world.
>> So what I love about putting those cars
up is, okay, great. Maybe they're over
MSRP. Maybe it's not a car that, you
know, oh, how dare this guy flip this
car. I'm not I mean, look, flipping
flipping sucks. I'm not talking about
flipping. I'm talking about just like
new new
>> new this [ __ ] This car is on MSO.
It's never been titled. It's never been
sold. I feel differently. I like seeing
those get exposed because it allows the
market to actually consume what's going
on instead of speculating and because
take a GT3 auction, especially with the
new twos that just came out, right?
Everyone, oh well, my friend can get
them for this. Well, I know you can get
them for this. Well, my dealer will sell
them for this. Well, here you go. Guess
what? Here's an auction. And now you
know what it actually
>> What did it go for? Have you done?
>> We did three tourings. I think we're the
only one that's put any two tourings on
BAT. Uh, one was R&M. We sold it
afterwards. is if I'm not going to
disclose a number, but it was it was a
healthy number. Uh the second one I
think we sold for
>> like aren't like somebody was somebody
was reaching it didn't meet reserve but
it stopped at a number you were happy
with.
>> Yeah. Well well it stopped at a number
that we weren't going to sell it. We
sold it afterwards and and it did well.
There was an excited buyer on the other
side and it was the first one publicly
available really in in any capacity. The
second one we sold I think it did I
don't know 80 or 100 over maybe
somewhere in there. I don't remember off
hand 90 over and I think the third one
was something similar to maybe
afterwards. So that market I think has
established itself in a place that's a
little bit softer than the one market
right now for more uh desirable specs
of.1. I think people are looking to see
what settles down with tariffs and so
forth before they really know. But now
here's a concrete example whether I like
it or not whether my clients like it or
not the greater market here is this is
the market right now. Here it is. And
the first car we went was interesting
because it was an R&M car, but we had
some other, you know, stuff in the
background and we knew that there was a
little bit more meat on it and you got
to operate in your best financial
interest. You're you're, you know, a
business and you're working for your
clients in a lot of point. So,
>> um, but I like those cars being able to
be publicly consumed. I think it's
important that they are because
otherwise it's all speculation and
speculation leads to a really stagnant
market because then everyone thinks,
well, he bought it for this and I heard
this. So, I I do have my qualms about I
I don't like how they are immediately
back on market from a buyer from an
enthusiast perspective, but from
[snorts] a hey, we're part of a greater
market here, I think it's important.
>> Sure. Okay. I I'll I'll I'll take that.
Uh you got what do you got? Four cars up
right now.
>> I got a quiet week right now.
>> You got a quiet We got a We got on on on
bring a trailer for Wob. We've got an
Aston One DB4. We've got a a 24,000 mi
Bentley GT. We've got some cab chassis
[ __ ]
>> That thing's awesome truck.
>> It's so cool.
>> Uh, and we've got a 33,000 mi E320 cab
in Imperial Red over tan
>> mile.
>> Well, I just got one of these.
>> Did you? They're great.
>> I got one for free uh as a as a project
from my wife's uncle.
>> Okay.
>> 60,000 mi, but it's been parked outside
in Long Island for 2 years. So, it's
very scruffy. So, we're taking it up the
road to CMS Motorsports and we are
turning it into the E500 Cabriolet that
Mercedes never built.
>> And you don't want to make that a
monoposto slammed on the ground.
[laughter]
>> Yeah.
>> Just go all the way off the deep end.
>> Yeah. We'll make it look like an SLR.
No, actually, one one thing we have
discussed
>> is doing a rear tano speedster style
cover like a like a '9s saline Mustang
with that [ __ ] roll bar. in
>> I think I we were we were both at
Radwood and we were like and he's like
what if we do the [ __ ] styling bar
[laughter]
>> in
>> I was like that's great until you roll
the car he's like oh it'll crush like
tissue paper [laughter]
>> instant death
>> that was great Rob thank you for coming
down appreciate your time uh and your
insights um
>> selfish a little bit for me because I
wanted to pick your brain on on some
strategy stuff but also I hope the
audience uh learned something. Thank you
to our uh patrons for such good
questions uh today. We certainly
appreciate you. I'm sorry you're not
catching it live, but without a Zach, I
simply cannot manage that. It is too
much for my little [ __ ] monkey brain
to handle. I can only do a couple things
at once and and managing a live stream
while having a good conversation is not
one of them. Uh wobcars.com
if you uh want to see what they've got
coming up on the auction sites. Uh, and
if you'd rather pay uh uh cash instead
of commission for your listings, we're
here for you at Westside Collector Car
Storage 7 days a week. See you guys next
time. Thanks very much.
About this episode
Rob Dietz, a leading seller on Bring a Trailer, shares insights on maximizing car auction success. He discusses strategies for engaging with potential buyers, the importance of storytelling in listings, and the evolving landscape of online car sales. The conversation touches on the nuances of auction dynamics, the significance of transparency, and how to handle buyer inquiries effectively. With a wealth of experience, Rob also reflects on the challenges and quirks of the auction process, making for an informative and engaging episode for anyone interested in the online car market.
Acura NSX
BMW 6 Series
Cadillac STS
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Power Wagon
Ferrari 296
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Ferrari F40
Ferrari F8 Tributo
Ferrari LaFerrari
Ferrari SF90
Ferrari Testarossa
Ford GT
Ford Mustang
Jaguar XJ220
Lamborghini Countach
Lancia Augusta
Land Rover Range Rover
McLaren P1
Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss
Porsche 911
Porsche 918 Spyder
Porsche Carrera GT
Porsche Cayenne
Porsche Macan
Porsche Panamera
Ram Power Wagon
Original notes
Rob Dietz sold $175M worth of cars on Bring-a-Trailer. How and why did he do it? What are the changes he sees coming the car market? All that and more!
https://www.instagram.com/wob_cars/
https://wobcars.com/author/wob/
https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-i-sold-252-million-in-cars-on-bring-a-trailer-2022-1
Recorded October 28, 2025
Show Notes:
Smalls
For a limited time get 60% off your first order when you head to smalls.com/tire
Rula
Thousands of guys have already used Rula to finally get the care they needed. Don’t keep putting it off - go to Rula.com/tire and get started today. Take the first step, get connected, and take control of your mental health.
Factor
Eat smart at FactorMeals.com/tire50off and use code tire50off to get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year. Get delicious, ready-to-eat meals delivered—with Factor.
New merch! Grab a shirt or hoodie and support us! https://thesmokingtireshop.com/
Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! For a 10% discount on your first case go to https://www.offtherecord.com/TST
Want your question answered? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast
Instagram:
https://www.Instagram.com/thesmokingtire
https://www.Instagram.com/therealzackklapman
Want your question answered? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast
Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! Enter code TST10 for a 10% discount on your first case on the Off The Record app, or go to http://www.offtherecord.com/TST.
Watch our car reviews: https://www.youtube.com/thesmokingtire
Tweet at us!
https://www.Twitter.com/thesmokingtire
https://www.Twitter.com/zackklapman
Instagram:
https://www.Instagram.com/thesmokingtire
https://www.Instagram.com/therealzackklapman
The Smoking Tire
Zack Klapman, Matt Farah
0:00
90:53