3 Ways to Get a Collector Car Home When You Buy at Auction
Posted on: 10 June 2019
Collecting cars has always been a popular pastime. Whether they show their love by going to car shows or by checking out cool cars in the drive-through on a Saturday night, Americans love their cars—the more horsepower, the better. The annual televised Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, has pushed this popularity to dizzying new heights. In fact, the televised auction has grown from a brief highlight show in 1996 to over 100 hours of live coverage in 2019, viewed by over six million car enthusiasts. The excitement of seeing so many beautiful cars drive across the auction block and watching bidders drive the price up to record-breaking amounts can make anyone add buying a collector car at auction to their bucket list of life experiences.
While you may need a spare hundred grand (or more) to play with the big dogs, how do you get a car home once you win the auction? Assuming you flew to Scottsdale or, in the case of many bidders, placed your bid online, how do you arrange to get your newly purchased collector car home to your garage in one piece?
Luckily, in this day and age, you have quite a few options. Some choices are wiser than others, however.
1. Drive It: If you happen to be at the auction in person and have a spirit of adventure, drive it home. Sure, you risk adding miles to that odometer, but what a story to tell your grandkids (and every other person you know). Many people feel that cars are meant to be driven, not just polished every Sunday afternoon. Plus, nothing could bring greater joy to a car lover than to drive a classic across the country, perhaps even along Historic Route 66. Turn up the radio and live out all your Jack Kerouac "On the Road" fantasies. You could cross two bucket list items off at one go. You only live once, right?
2. Hire a Driver: If work or life commitments are holding you back from adventure, you can always hire a competent friend or family member to drive the car home for you. This is certainly one of the less expensive ways to move a collector car from one part of the country to another, but you need to really trust the person you ask. You don't want them to treat the experience as one big joyride on your dime.
3. Use a Transportation Brokerage Service: The most logical and safe way to get your car home—and one recommended by most auction companies—is to hire a transportation brokerage service. This is essentially a moving company that specializes in transporting different types of cargo, like collector cars. They are experienced, well insured, and prepared for any obstacle.
In fact, unlike your friend, a transportation brokerage service uses GPS to track drivers and knows where your "baby" is at all times. When you hire an experienced company, you know that they will be able to handle any problem that arises with transporting a valuable classic car, such as unexpected breakdowns or schedule changes due to weather, and communicate the information directly to you. Knowing what is happening each step of the way is reassuring.
While a transportation brokerage service has insurance, you will want to contact an insurance agent that specializes in collector cars and buy your own policy as soon as you finish the auction and before you take possession of your car. You just crossed an item off your bucket list and spent a lot of money in the process. You need to protect that purchase from any damage.
Call a transportation brokerage service for more information.
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