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Car Wars
Organisers deny classic car auction was 'a disaster from start to finish'
Attendees vented their frustration after yesterday’s event didn’t go quite to plan.
SOME ATTENDEES AT a classic car auction were less than happy with how the event went down in Swords yesterday.
They’ve taken to Done Deal to vent their frustration, claiming the auction was poorly run and only sold one of the 81 cars on offer – something that has been disputed by organisers.
One attendee labelled the event as “nothing more than a money-grabbing exercise by ignorant scam artists”.
Another said people “couldn’t make out what the fella with the mike was saying” [sic], adding that it was a “disaster from start to finish“.
Dermot Flynn from CarShows.ie, who organised the event, said no one has been in touch with him directly to criticise the show.
Flynn said it was his first time organising an auction and admitted there were some “teething problems”.
“We definitely do apologise for the sound quality. The PA system was not up to it. It was difficult to hear, but you could hear,” he told us.
Flynn said he couldn’t understand why some people labelled the event “money-grabbing” as there was no fee for people to apply to sell their cars, just a “small commission charge” if they did.
There was a €10 entry fee, and about 100 bidders paid a deposit of €200 which Flynn said was returned if they didn’t purchase a vehicle.
He said the claim that one out of 81 cars was sold is incorrect, adding that about six of the 70 lots on offer were sold.
Flynn said the reserve on several cars was too high, although this was a factor outside his control.
People there expected to get things an awful lot cheaper.
He described some of the reserves as “outrageous”, noting that one Mercedes had a reserve of €45,000 when it was “worth a fraction of that”.
Flynn said “eight or so” people have been in touch with him since the auction to follow up on buying cars – with one man purchasing a vehicle this morning.
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