Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

[Tom D.]

http://www.mecum.com/auctions/top_pi...TION_ID=IA0713

[Michael J.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Wow! That's pretty harsh, but I know several states are cracking down on these collector car auctions. I heard Conn. suspected VIN tag alterations and made an auction not long ago (Goodings??) warranty every car sold as genuine or the auction house would have to refund the money if the buyer had any problems titling and registering the vehicle in their states. Too many games being played these days at auctions and much risk to buyers that is not well covered outside of court proceedings.

[Dick W.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

NC requires the firm to obtain dealer license and auction firm license, plus all auctioneers be licensed in NC. Just good basic common sense. Reading between the lines on the Iowa announcement, unless Mecum had a IA dealers license, the requirement would be a valid point

[Paul H.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Looks to me like more unnecessary governmental bureaucracy/interference which will ultimately hurt the economy. There will be more of it.

[Dick W.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Looks to me like more unnecessary governmental bureaucracy/interference which will ultimately hurt the economy. There will be more of it.

Speaking as a licensed auctioneer and former licensed auto dealer, if I have to pay and play by the rules, so should everyone else. As an auctioneer, without a motor vehicle dealer license, I am limited to selling six titled vehicles a year that are consigned to an auction that we conduct. If I own them I can sell as many as I want. Unbeknownst by many, Mecum owns quite a few of the cars in his auctions, and let the games begin

[Terry M.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Looks to me like more unnecessary governmental bureaucracy/interference which will ultimately hurt the economy. There will be more of it.

I have met a number of "innocents" who bought Corvettes from auctions, dealers, and private sellers who brought their car to NCRS for judging only to find out the car was not what they thought it was. We, and here I mean NCRS and its representatives -- the judges, find ourselves in the position of explaining to the car owner this whole sorted story. All too often the car owner then blames NCRS, or its representatives, for their problem. Sort of a "blame the messenger" situation. Less of that suits me just fine.

When/if many of these owners do seek recompense from the seller the local authorities have no interest in helping them because many authorities see collector car fraud is a civil matter. The local authorities are more often overwhelmed by the run of the mill nastiness of society and see car collectors as the wealthy elite and believe we can fend for ourselves. The authorities, often needing the electorate to support them, pick the high publicity low hanging fruit, and collector car fraud is generally not among that.

I personally believe the Iowa authorities actions are a good thing that will, in the long run benefit car collectors. Perhaps it will make other state authorities sit up and take notice. Sadly it will do nothing to help those who have bought something that it is not from a dealer or private individual. An educated buying audience is all that will help across the board, and NCRS is doing its best at that, but I often have the feeling we are fighting the wind in that pursuit.

BTW: Please note I didn't use the word "hobby" anywhere in here. That ship has sailed, and car collecting isn't ever coming back to that port.

[Paul H.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Terry I understand and appreciate your point but it just seems ridiculous to ask sellers to assign their titles to Mecum in order to effect their sale; And if the car does not sell they will "buy" it back. In many states that is not very easy to do. You are right, local officials are not particularly interested in the issues surrounding collector car auctions. I was a Police Chief and we definitely had more pressing criminal matters to deal with. It just seems that these kinds of unilateral rules will effectively end a very enjoyable segment of the hobby. As far as misrepresentation: It is up to the buyer to do his due diligence. There is always the civil venue for remedy in the event of misrepresentation.

[Norris W.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Using their line of reasoning, I wonder if they'll try and require E Bay to have all cars titled to them to be E Bay auctioned in Iowa.

[John H.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Iowa has a number of interesting motor vehicle laws; the example below sets forth the procedure for restoring "numbers" during a restoration, which is a felony unless done by Iowa's government restamper - I wonder how good his pads look?


Iowa Law.doc

[Dick W.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Using their line of reasoning, I wonder if they'll try and require E Bay to have all cars titled to them to be E Bay auctioned in Iowa.

You will notice that the word auction is conspicuously absent from eBay marketing.

[Ronald L.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Very quietly ebay also changed the rules a year plus back on that too, you'll notice its a lot like a buliten board posting where tele and email address are readily shared.

In as much as some high rolling auction chasers don't like it, it sounds like a good start to thwart rapid fraud, how many threads do we have here on suspicious cars Mecum had as super rare one of a kind wonders? Was that not just last week the most recent advert??? There are two names that seem to come up fast when high end faked-up cars come up for sale.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Ebay will not let you post an email address in your listings, they want you to use their censored email system. They will catch it every time.
They also do not like phone numbers to be provided but there are ways around that, such as 5 one three 22 two three 3 five nine.
This technique can also be applied to email address.

[Nicholas L.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

For emails just write at and dot.

[Edward B.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Is Iowa trying to assess a tax on each title transfer as well?

[James G.]

Re: Mecum Des Moines Auction Cancellation 2013

Iowa has a number of interesting motor vehicle laws; the example below sets forth the procedure for restoring "numbers" during a restoration, which is a felony unless done by Iowa's government restamper - I wonder how good his pads look?




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I like your reasoning John. Your IOWA LAW clip is also interesting. Are we having any fun? I remember when we drove these cars and wondered if metal flake paint and shag carpet with tuck and rfoll seat covers and Crager Mags were not original.