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As some may know, in addition to being the President and Founder of Auto Auction Review, I am a buyer for a dealer group in Atlanta, Georgia. I buy product from the usual places, fleet companies, Manheim, ADESA, OVE, Dealer Block, ACV, Openlane, Smart Auction, wholesalers, etc. Recently, I came upon Dealer Club through LinkedIn. Will Morris, Director of Dealer Sales, reached out to me and we struck up a fast acquaintance. He explained to me the premise of Dealer Club, highlighting its user-driven approach to wholesaling inventory. Rooted in a reputation-based platform, Dealer Club allows members to list vehicles quickly and accurately, uploading up to 100 photos at a time for clarity. Selling dealers are required to provide up to 17 guarantees on the unit, ranging from mechanical condition, structural damage, paint work, and the like. This capability allows the buyer to see the vehicle for what it really is, not clouded by the subjectivity of other platforms' condition reports (one man's 4.7 is another man's 2.9 as an example). Bidding dealers can then interact in real time with the seller, asking questions and generally conversing with the seller to secure a comfort level with both the vehicle and dealer. I immediately liked this approach, as I come from the years of buying cars in the street with envelope drafts and a handshake.
Will invited me to sign up for the club, and I did. Now, signing up for any new auction/online platform takes a minute- master tags, dealer licenses, POAs, and banking information are all required to get started, but it is nothing out of the ordinary. The sign up process starts online, and dealers are asked to upload the proper forms and answer the usual questions; what type of dealer, physical and mailing addresses, etc. If a dealer needs assistance in finalizing the sign up process, Dealer Club's team of Serena and Terri are quick to respond via text or email, and are efficient in getting any issues handled. One point of emphasis is the response time; any dealer will tell you that this is critical. Anytime problems arise, being able to reach someone for assistance can make the difference between a nasty experience and a great one.
Moving on to the reason I signed up for Dealer Club, it was time to try to buy some cars. Dealer Clubs interface/dashboard is clean, well thought out, and intuitive. Vehicles can be searched for and filtered
by the usual criteria, make, model, mileage, distance, etc. The set up that I like best is you can easily search the "Auctions", "Upcoming", and "Make Offer" units. It easily sorts which vehicles are in active bidding, launching soon (dealers can launch immediately or on a 3:00 pm EST launch, for a 24 hour period), and expired units that dealers can make offers on. The main page also features a "Command Center" which shows transactionally what the dealership have done- its comprehensive and well thought out. One can also opt-in for the usual text or email notifications, as well as manage your account (indicated by your picture) through the main page.
As for the bidding/buying process, it was straightforward and easy to navigate. One thing though- watching the auctions for the last two weeks now, it's obvious that dealers are placing low-ball bids on vehicles- i.e., $500 on a 23 F150 Platinum. I firmly believe that that practice will subside and eventually go away as buyers flood the site. As a side note, we should be here to BUY cars- ok, try to get as cheap as possible, but keep it reasonable. It's unlikely that any dealer will take a $50K haircut on a vehicle, so why throw that out there?
After all of that, I ended up purchasing a 2022 Chevy Trax out of Orlando, FL. I had a little competition on the vehicle, and hit it right below MMR, and ultimately bumped $400 to get the deal done. The seller was quick to use the website texting and let me know what it took to buy it. Will himself got involved, working with the seller and I to get a deal done- similar to what other auction houses used to do- try to put deals together. Once the deal was done, I checked out, and also had the opportunity to use DC's proprietary transport services ( I declined as I have a guy already), but this a simple, but useful service DC provides as often times floorplan companies will finance the transport. DC also provides the buyer with extended protection (up to 20 days), for those that want a longer guarantee- useful for stores with slow service departments.
All in all, I rate Dealer Club (obviously its early, as a 5-Hammer auction (that's the best, btw). Joe Nieman, the founder, knows a little bit about building an online auction, and there is every reason to believe he and his team will hit this one out of the park- again.
See my upcoming review on my Dealer Club's selling experience. Yep, I listed my first unit ( and will continue to do so). Watch for that to land later this week.
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In Sept I bid/purchased a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was deliver with some smoking, upper engine knocking and ticking noise and oil steadily dripping out of the lower engine somewhere. Three different licensed mecha1nics inspected and said that major component failures are imminent. Most likely due to excessive running with very low oil. All mechanics said a complete engine rebuild or replacement is necessary. Arbitrator then “self ” diagnosed and I was awarded about $1300 for lifters and repairs. They would not give any recourse for the major oil leak, I was not given any chance to reject the offer. Of course this did nothing to fix the problem. Arbitrator was made aware of the continuing condition of the vehicle and would not continue arbitration. So this has cost me over $8000 to replace the engine because the selling dealer clearly misrepresented the vehicle. AACE Auto Sales
My brother and I have attended the last 4 or 5 Mecum Auctions in Kissimmee- an annual "Boys Trip". We are both car guys (and me being in the business), I know what a "good" or professional auction looks like. More to the point, I amfamiliar with how a successful auction should be run. All in all, Mecum does a decent job. They (usually) have a good run of collector cars, and they range from $5K- $1M+. This year's auction will have over 4000 cars cross the block between 1/7 and 1/19. The venue is the Osceola Heritage Park, located on the west side of Orlando, and the facilities for the most part are good. So, now we know the who, what, and where, let's look at the good and the bad of this year's Mecum Auction- Kissimmee. THE BAD 1. DISORGANIZED- Mecum is a mess logistically. Starting with their website, it is cumbersome and difficult to navigate. It has plenty of pretty pictures, but the filtering criteria are limited especially when you are on your mobile device. Their map is bad also- you have to cross reference auction days with letters, and then go back to their online map to figure out where the cars are staged. Oh, yes- Mecum (or the park) is cheap when it comes to signage or directions. We have been going for years and are still not sure where everything is. There are a scant number of signs or arrows pointing where the staging areas are. You can spend as much time looking for cars as you do looking AT them. One other thing- even though there are a fair amount of port-a-potties available, this as a rule is an older crowd. WE NEED MORE PLACES TO SIT while walking around looking at the cars. I saw dozens of scooters and golf carts with attendees driving around from place to place. Would it kill them to put a few more benches out so those of us with back issues can take a 2 minute break? 2. THE FOOD- In the arena, you have a choice of Mecum- badged snack bars. The fare is the usual- burgers, chicken tenders, hot dogs, etc. NOTE- the venue serves Pepsi products- so be aware of that. 2 burgers, fries, and 2 waters was $46.85 plus the tip (lowest amount you could choose was 18%). The prices didn't offend me so much (other than being double) in as much as the food was HORRIBLE. The burger and fries were cold (cheese not remotely melted), the bun was stale, etc. Just a miserable experience. Frankly, Dana Mecum should buy his lunch there one time and see what he thinks. Shameful the food was that bad. I was pleased to see that subsequently, there were very short lines at that snack bar. The food choices in the midway were much better- quite a few local food trucks were there, and the quality was good. Horrifically expensive, but good. Again, I expect the price gouging, but there's no excuse for bad food. Note- there was hand-churned ice cream available- $8 for a waffle cone- not bad. 3. MECUM TECH- As I said before, Mecum's technology (IMO), is bad. The best example I have is there is no way for a buyer to make an offer or purchase a vehicle that didn't sell across the block other than going to one of Mecum's "The Bid Goes On" tents to place a bid. In my opinion, Mecum should have some sort of OVE.com or ACV/Openlane technology that permits a potential buyer to be standing at a car and place a binding bid or offer (or in a timed environment). For the resources Mecum Auctions has, the fact they don't have this available in 2025 is shameful. Anyone in the auction/car business knows that IF bids or working no sales is a good way to get deals done. ******UPDATE******. On our way out, I noticed a small sign next to the "Bid Goes On" tent stating in March 2025, they will have a version of this technology available. Good for them- we will see how many more cars they sell. I look forward to reviewing that next year. THE GOOD 1. INVENTORY- Mecum most always has a good selection cars to look at and bid on- this year was no exception. I don't really go for the "Collection Cars" because for the most part they are museum pieces/trailer queens and don't fit the "driving defininition" of a "car". That said, there were plenty of $20-$50K "affordable cars to look at and bid on. My tastes the last few years has evolved from the 60s-70s Muscle Cars to the Modern Classics of the 80s-90s and up. There was plenty of this type of inventory for everyone. Additionally- we did see a small bit (much less that years' past) of the old Caddy's, Buicks, of the 40s and 50s. We all kind of realize that the buyers for those cars are kind of aging out. It's sad, really. 2. PARKING/Entry and Exit- Anyone who attends a function of this size knows that one's experience can be defined by how hard it is to get there, and how hard it is to leave. Thankfully, Mecum and Osceola have their act together with regards to this. Parking was a breeze- (though it went from $10 last year to $15). There were plenty of people to help you get your rig parked, and get you in the door- and, even security was pretty easy. No delays, arriving or exiting. 3. EXPERIENCE- Overall, the Mecum experience is a good one- Barrett-Jackson (its been years since I have attended) always gave me the impression that Craig REALLY didn't want such people as MYSELF there (not being a tech billionaire), so Mecum I always thought was a good fit for my brother and I. I really don't care that much about Duesenbergs or historical vehicles as a LeMans race-winner. I like the ATTAINABLE cars- muscle cars, trucks, modern classics, etc. Mecum provides a really good selection for those type of vehicles. HEAD SCRATCHERS- Ok, these couple of things aren't really good or bad, but I wonder, WTH? How does this happen in 2025? 1. Mecum literally has workers pushing cars up to the auction block. How safe is this? NOT TO MENTION, almost NO ONE is wearing a yellow vest. I'm not the SAFETY POLICE by any means, but EVERY dealer auction in the country has their employees/subcontractors wearing vests. What's really odd is the cars are DRIVEN on the block after they are pushed TO the block. At my age, I am not PUSHING anything. How are they not being perpetually sued by contractors/employees for injuries sustained pushing a 65 Sedan Deville up to the block? I don't get it. 2. I will just type this, and leave this here- HOW IN THE WORLD does Mecum get away with not announcing miles on the cars (EXEMPT ANYONE?) or a federal odometer statement? In fairness, I have never purchased a Mecum unit, so they MAY have one. But how do they get away with not announcing Miles Right, Exempt, TMU on the block? 3. Ok, I could have paid for my next 10 Mecum trips had I thought this through. I was walking around with my phone, scanning the VINS on the later model cars, with my vAuto app, pulling Carfaxes on over 20 units. I could have charged $20 a pull - and there were thousands of people there. Why doesn't Mecum have an onsite Carfax rep there? I saw quite a few different revenue streams that Mecum could have/should have capitalized on. Maybe they will read my review and hire me as a consultant........wishful thinking, I suppose. FINAL THOUGHTS I really do enjoy my trip(s) to Mecum/Kissimmee. It isn't overly expensive ($200 for a bidder badge and 1 guest) to attend and bid. The food, I've gone over. I've covered getting there and getting out, and given my opinion on the inventory, experience, and overall enjoyment of attending. I would really like to give a 4-Gavel (Very Good) rating, because it's better than the sum of its parts. But, I have to leave it as a 3-Gavel (Average) because for all of their resources, it could be MUCH better. They don't have a lot of work to do, IMO- get the food right, get the tech better suited to their clientele, and get the place organized- and let's face it, they PRINT money. So, it's not like they have a lot to fix, or even care to. That said, I look forward to the 2026 version.
