I recently purchased a vehicle off of BAT after seeing many others do the same to varying degree of success and satisfaction.
I am a reasonable human, and I understand that my experience is anecdotal and a test group of one. However, I wanted to post this to hopefully prevent others from falling into the same pitfall of dissatisfaction as me.
The first thing I want to cover is that Bring a Trailer is working for only the seller. They offer no protection and will almost do nothing for you in the event that things go wrong. Even if a vehicle shows up completely not as advertised they (BAT) will NOT be supporting you in any way.
Second thing I want to bring up is that Bring a Trailer is NOT a binding auction site. What does this mean? It means that you have NO legal obligation to actually go through with a purchase once you have bid. If something isn't right, walk away. BAT will try to intimidate you, just simply walk away. They can't do anything besides ban your account and keep your "fee." If you're worried, consult your lawyer and have them communicate with BAT.
Thirdly, BAT has no mechanism for controlling who is on the site. You can create new accounts and bid on whatever you want. There are even testimonials of BAT showing that the same IP was used to bid on the same auction using more than one account. Beware that the bids may not be legit. They present as a polished no-bull sort of site, but really they are just trying to post vehicles and get commissions. After all, it is a business.
My story.
I have been bidding on a lot of vehicles lately. My kid is getting older and I wanted to get her into something Toyota or Lexus and I figured why not give BAT a try.
I bid on a Toyota Sequoia and won.
Looking back at the auction I can see now that the seller and BAT was intentionally ambiguous about certain aspects of the vehicle. Pictures at the right angle, using language that was intentionally not direct to conceal certain features or allow you to assume certain things. I got distracted and honestly I was a little worn down from months of searching for the right vehicle. I bid on it and thats on me. Looking back now, I honestly should have just walked away and offered to pay for the sellers fee for the listing and the fee to relist. It would have saved me a ton of headache.
So I went forward with the deal...
First mistake I made. Was using BAT/CARAMEL and opting for their "Full Service" option. Also was a mistake to process my payment through them. Do not feel pressured to wire the money.
Just know that even if the seller is pressuring you to wire the money, there is nothing stopping you from saying "no" so that you can inspect the vehicle in person (which I recommend) and paying them then. If the seller has been honest, they should have no issue with waiting.
Once you begin the secure checkout, you are locked in. Again my recommendation is that you do NOT send any funds until you have inspected the vehicle. In my opinion you should NOT have someone ship the vehicle without you seeing it first on this website. There is NO recourse for you as the buyer if things go wrong.
BAT/Caramel cleared the payment to the seller when the car was picked up which shows even more that they do not care what happens to the car in transit. (We will talk about shipping below, but know that I didn't even know that the vehicle was picked up.) When you sign your paper work you are agreeing to not sue anyone and only process through an arbitration process of their choosing. So just beware, you are signing away any real legal recourse that you would have in this situation.
So I made the mistake of opting for shipping. I called BAT and was placed on hold multiple times where I waited for over an hour and never got a representative. The staff at BAT was a mixed bag of very unpleasant to pleasant to deal with. I was finally able to get a rep on the phone to set up the shipping details. (Remember, I paid extra to have BAT do all of this.)
Took forever for BAT to get the shipping set up. BAT farms your shipping out to multiple companies which I assume are bidding for your transport. 2 of them backed out and the third one was pretty terrible. No communication from anyone that the vehicle had shipped (not even the seller.) BAT finally called me to inform me that the car had shipped (many days prior), but that it was delayed because the shipping company had a "DOT" problem.
Over the next few days I got calls from BAT telling me that the vehicle was on the way and would "be here tomorrow." The BAT person would always say "The shipping company should have reached out to you" or "They will reach out soon." The shipping service never once reached out to me to let me know any details of the transfer.
Finally, at 9pm on a random day that was not scheduled, I get a call telling me the car would be dropped off in an hour. An hour later my purchased vehicle comes rolling up the driveway under its own power, not on a trailer. The driver hops out, hands me the keys and literally just walks down the driveway and hops in a pick up truck (with no trailer) and just leaves.
No paperwork, no acknowledgment, no nothing.
Still no word from BAT on a registration, title, etc. It's like pulling teeth to get ahold of people and they love to play mom an dad between BAT Customer Support and Caramel. Be advised that some of the Caramel people call and tell you they are with BAT, pretty confusing when you're trying to figure out who to call to resolve anything.
Bottom Line and TL;DR
BAT is a tool and understand how it works and how to manipulate it in your favor is important. They are there to make money, and they are there for the seller not the buyer. There is NOTHING you can do to correct any issues after you send the cash. Once they have it, you are SOL unless you go through arbitration which will cost you money and probably amount to nothing.
Know your rights, and your left and right limits. You must understand how you are restricting yourself if something goes wrong. Keep your options open by hanging onto the cash.
If I were to purchase again I would not use any of BATs services. They're expensive and just create delay and confusion. It has taken 16 days for my vehicle to arrive, and I didn't even know it was picked up until a few days before it came.
Process your own payment through a wire after you have flown to see the vehicle in person, and drive it back or schedule your own transport. If anything is wrong, just walk away or negotiate with the seller directly. BAT doesn't offer any room for correction if things are not what they seemed to be. You will be banned for walking away, but honestly it doesn't matter because I am fairly certain you can just open a new account.
Process your own registration and title. Dealing with the DMV is simple and you can do this more efficiently than BAT will, plus you will know what is going on a why.
Bummed about my experience, but hope others will learn from my mistakes and not fall victim to the pitfalls for BAT. You can keep a lot of control over your purchase if you do NOT allow BAT to get in the middle.
I am a reasonable human, and I understand that my experience is anecdotal and a test group of one. However, I wanted to post this to hopefully prevent others from falling into the same pitfall of dissatisfaction as me.
The first thing I want to cover is that Bring a Trailer is working for only the seller. They offer no protection and will almost do nothing for you in the event that things go wrong. Even if a vehicle shows up completely not as advertised they (BAT) will NOT be supporting you in any way.
Second thing I want to bring up is that Bring a Trailer is NOT a binding auction site. What does this mean? It means that you have NO legal obligation to actually go through with a purchase once you have bid. If something isn't right, walk away. BAT will try to intimidate you, just simply walk away. They can't do anything besides ban your account and keep your "fee." If you're worried, consult your lawyer and have them communicate with BAT.
Thirdly, BAT has no mechanism for controlling who is on the site. You can create new accounts and bid on whatever you want. There are even testimonials of BAT showing that the same IP was used to bid on the same auction using more than one account. Beware that the bids may not be legit. They present as a polished no-bull sort of site, but really they are just trying to post vehicles and get commissions. After all, it is a business.
My story.
I have been bidding on a lot of vehicles lately. My kid is getting older and I wanted to get her into something Toyota or Lexus and I figured why not give BAT a try.
I bid on a Toyota Sequoia and won.
Looking back at the auction I can see now that the seller and BAT was intentionally ambiguous about certain aspects of the vehicle. Pictures at the right angle, using language that was intentionally not direct to conceal certain features or allow you to assume certain things. I got distracted and honestly I was a little worn down from months of searching for the right vehicle. I bid on it and thats on me. Looking back now, I honestly should have just walked away and offered to pay for the sellers fee for the listing and the fee to relist. It would have saved me a ton of headache.
So I went forward with the deal...
First mistake I made. Was using BAT/CARAMEL and opting for their "Full Service" option. Also was a mistake to process my payment through them. Do not feel pressured to wire the money.
Just know that even if the seller is pressuring you to wire the money, there is nothing stopping you from saying "no" so that you can inspect the vehicle in person (which I recommend) and paying them then. If the seller has been honest, they should have no issue with waiting.
Once you begin the secure checkout, you are locked in. Again my recommendation is that you do NOT send any funds until you have inspected the vehicle. In my opinion you should NOT have someone ship the vehicle without you seeing it first on this website. There is NO recourse for you as the buyer if things go wrong.
BAT/Caramel cleared the payment to the seller when the car was picked up which shows even more that they do not care what happens to the car in transit. (We will talk about shipping below, but know that I didn't even know that the vehicle was picked up.) When you sign your paper work you are agreeing to not sue anyone and only process through an arbitration process of their choosing. So just beware, you are signing away any real legal recourse that you would have in this situation.
So I made the mistake of opting for shipping. I called BAT and was placed on hold multiple times where I waited for over an hour and never got a representative. The staff at BAT was a mixed bag of very unpleasant to pleasant to deal with. I was finally able to get a rep on the phone to set up the shipping details. (Remember, I paid extra to have BAT do all of this.)
Took forever for BAT to get the shipping set up. BAT farms your shipping out to multiple companies which I assume are bidding for your transport. 2 of them backed out and the third one was pretty terrible. No communication from anyone that the vehicle had shipped (not even the seller.) BAT finally called me to inform me that the car had shipped (many days prior), but that it was delayed because the shipping company had a "DOT" problem.
Over the next few days I got calls from BAT telling me that the vehicle was on the way and would "be here tomorrow." The BAT person would always say "The shipping company should have reached out to you" or "They will reach out soon." The shipping service never once reached out to me to let me know any details of the transfer.
Finally, at 9pm on a random day that was not scheduled, I get a call telling me the car would be dropped off in an hour. An hour later my purchased vehicle comes rolling up the driveway under its own power, not on a trailer. The driver hops out, hands me the keys and literally just walks down the driveway and hops in a pick up truck (with no trailer) and just leaves.
No paperwork, no acknowledgment, no nothing.
Still no word from BAT on a registration, title, etc. It's like pulling teeth to get ahold of people and they love to play mom an dad between BAT Customer Support and Caramel. Be advised that some of the Caramel people call and tell you they are with BAT, pretty confusing when you're trying to figure out who to call to resolve anything.
Bottom Line and TL;DR
BAT is a tool and understand how it works and how to manipulate it in your favor is important. They are there to make money, and they are there for the seller not the buyer. There is NOTHING you can do to correct any issues after you send the cash. Once they have it, you are SOL unless you go through arbitration which will cost you money and probably amount to nothing.
Know your rights, and your left and right limits. You must understand how you are restricting yourself if something goes wrong. Keep your options open by hanging onto the cash.
If I were to purchase again I would not use any of BATs services. They're expensive and just create delay and confusion. It has taken 16 days for my vehicle to arrive, and I didn't even know it was picked up until a few days before it came.
Process your own payment through a wire after you have flown to see the vehicle in person, and drive it back or schedule your own transport. If anything is wrong, just walk away or negotiate with the seller directly. BAT doesn't offer any room for correction if things are not what they seemed to be. You will be banned for walking away, but honestly it doesn't matter because I am fairly certain you can just open a new account.
Process your own registration and title. Dealing with the DMV is simple and you can do this more efficiently than BAT will, plus you will know what is going on a why.
Bummed about my experience, but hope others will learn from my mistakes and not fall victim to the pitfalls for BAT. You can keep a lot of control over your purchase if you do NOT allow BAT to get in the middle.
