Any - Auction grade standards

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Tue 5 Nov 2019 09:44
Any - Auction grade standards - catsdad
Out of curiousity I ran a check on my traded-in 2012 Civic which is being sold by a major auction house. I was surprised that they picked it up on poor paint repairs on one door and the rear bumper. During my ownership these have never been repainted (not even stone chip touch up) and I have hand-washed and polished it many times over the last 6 years without noticing anything untoward. So while I have to accept their judgement that it was previously repaired, it was not evident to regular close inspection.

It made me wonder why they would record this invisible damage and grade the car as "3", on a scale of 1-5, as a result. Trust me, whoever buys it and resells it will not need to do any repairs on these areas.

It's of no consequence to me financially now but can anyone explain what might be going on? Is there a counter-intuitive benefit to the auction house if they are picky and then achieve a better than expected price for a grade 3 car? .......Maybe I am over-thinking it.
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Tue 5 Nov 2019 11:46
Any - Auction grade standards - bathtub tom

Perhaps whoever grades it wants it for themselves and by downgrading it they hope it won't fetch a premium? Also, I believe some auction houses allow staff to purchase lots at the reserve price.

I'm a cynical ole git.

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Tue 5 Nov 2019 12:04
Any - Auction grade standards - pd

Auction gradings are, erm quite variable and the mechanical reports hopeless.

That said they tend to be pretty good on spotting paint so if they say it's been painted it probably has.

Grade 3 is a good grade for a 2012 car so won't hit the price at all.

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Tue 5 Nov 2019 12:23
Any - Auction grade standards - catsdad
Thanks for the clarification on grades. I didn't realise these were absolute grades irrespective of age and I assumed that an older car would get a lees strict age related grade. So grade 3 is pretty good.

While they may have eagle eyes they didn't spot the sill repair my local bodyshop did a couple of months ago. It was an immaculate repair of a long kerbing dent and he achieved a perfect match across both the shiny finish and the rough underseal type paint. He operates from an old shed but there are lots of fancy cars as testament to how good he is. And only £300. Try getting that from a glass palace!
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