BAT worth it?

I have a unique car that there are several options of ways to post it.  It appears that BAT only charges the Seller $99 and the Buyer 5%, but it takes a while to sell.  So for those of you who have done it was it worth it and did you get more money than just listing it in FB car specific forums?

I'm the original owner on a 2002 S2000 in Spa Yellow with low mileage and in impeccable condition.  The only mods are mods that I felt Honda should have done in the first place.  I have a CAI, butterfly brace and JIC FLT A2 15 way adjustable coilovers.

From what I've heard, BAT is the place for low mileage, super clean examples of cars. Sounds like yours would do well on there.

Yes, that's a perfect BaT candidate if it's as described. But do yourself a huge favor and at least put stock suspension back on it.

Dad just sold a car on BaT.  I guess because they're trying to keep cars from missing the reserve there and then showing up in other venues, they're covering the difference between the sales price and the reserve in at least some instances.  The high bid was about $800 less than Dad's reserve so BaT just sent him a check for the difference after they accepted the high bid.  It did take a very long time for it to finally get listed, though.

dps214 said:

Yes, that's a perfect BaT candidate if it's as described. But do yourself a huge favor and at least put stock suspension back on it.

^ This

Not going to change suspension although I have the stock one.  It needs the coilovers.  Car is totally balanced and drives well even on rough roads.  These were well researched additions not Baller add ons.

wae said:

Dad just sold a car on BaT.  I guess because they're trying to keep cars from missing the reserve there and then showing up in other venues, they're covering the difference between the sales price and the reserve in at least some instances.  The high bid was about $800 less than Dad's reserve so BaT just sent him a check for the difference after they accepted the high bid.  It did take a very long time for it to finally get listed, though.

How long did it take to get it listed?

In reply to carguy123 :

Include the stock parts in the BaT sale. It further solidifies the "original owner" and not "hacked" portion of the story.

Good "story" or verifiable story seems to be a big part of BaT sales or at least for getting the long dollar. 

carguy123 said:

Not going to change suspension although I have the stock one.  It needs the coilovers.  Car is totally balanced and drives well even on rough roads.  These were well researched additions not Baller add ons.

I understand. I own a 2006 S2000 from new as well so I know these cars well. 

The point is that in order attract the most bidders and therefore bring the most money, the car should look stock. 

I think you will leave money on the table by not reverting them back to stock. If you are ok with that, then no problem. 

How many miles are on the car?

Is the top factory or has it been replaced? If replaced, what brand?

Get good photos. That's important for any sale, but especially if you're going for the top of the market. Also, participate in the auction when it goes live.

I just submitted a car for listing (anyone want a one-owner 95 M edition with 400 hp?) and it'll take a month before they can even get started on the alleged writeup. FYI.

Also, S2000 owners now have a "butterfly brace"? Man, that name goes back to a joke I made about the center section of ours 15 years ago :)

carguy123 said:

wae said:

Dad just sold a car on BaT.  I guess because they're trying to keep cars from missing the reserve there and then showing up in other venues, they're covering the difference between the sales price and the reserve in at least some instances.  The high bid was about $800 less than Dad's reserve so BaT just sent him a check for the difference after they accepted the high bid.  It did take a very long time for it to finally get listed, though.

How long did it take to get it listed?

 

It's currently about 60 days from start to end at the moment. 

In reply to Slippery :

Top looks new.  It was a factory replacement under warranty.  Car has been garaged since new.

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Too long so I guess I'll just go the traditional route.  That's the kind of thing I was trying to figure out, the hidden gotchas.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

It's really called an X brace, but so many call it a butterfly brace that is what I've started calling it.

In reply to carguy123 :

I'm claiming responsibility for that. I posted a picture of our center section calling it a "stainless steel butterfly" and we decided to use that name for ours because it was cooler than "X brace". Looks like the S2000 crowd picked it up.

carguy123 said:

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Too long so I guess I'll just go the traditional route.  That's the kind of thing I was trying to figure out, the hidden gotchas.

They have way more submissions than they need. You'll get top dollar, but if you need the money fast, they're not the way. 

carguy123 said:

wae said:

Dad just sold a car on BaT.  I guess because they're trying to keep cars from missing the reserve there and then showing up in other venues, they're covering the difference between the sales price and the reserve in at least some instances.  The high bid was about $800 less than Dad's reserve so BaT just sent him a check for the difference after they accepted the high bid.  It did take a very long time for it to finally get listed, though.

How long did it take to get it listed?

 

It was a 4 month long process.  Some of that was my dad, but once he submitted everything they asked for it was 2, 2.5 months before it went live.

That's a BaT car for sure.  When the time comes I'll try to list my Corrado on BaT too.

My son sold a e46 touring on BAT earlier this week. He got a pretty good price for it. It took him quite some time for it to be listed after first asking BAT to list it. All in all, it was satisfactory for him.

In reply to Steve_Jones :

I don't necessarily need money fast but 60 days (to 4 months) is way too long a process with no guarantees.

Any time one of our customers is looking to resell an FM-built car, I point them to BaT. We used to list them ourselves but they do just as well on BaT if not better. It's worth the wait - only one has failed to meet my expectations, and it was a real outlier of a build.

Every Miata that has sold for more than $40k on BaT has been one of ours :D

My cousin may be the buyer you're looking for. He's been snapping up all the low mileage, interesting Japanese cars he can get his hands on and a top tier S2000 is still on his shopping list. 

How do I put him contact with you?

You can look at the stats here for S2000 and see if it might be worth waiting. I think for the car you describe, depending on the mileage,  it definitely is. 

S2000 BAT results