Last Wednesday I decided to head to the car auction in Ardiya. They were auctioning the 60+ cars I posted about earlier that week which were confiscated from one guy. Many of the cars were now classics and so I went with a friend who was interested in one of the cars so we could try and bid on it. The experience was pretty interesting to say the least.
This must have been the most popular car auction ever held in Kuwait due to all the hype built up around the cars. I’d guess 99% of the people there, and there were A LOT of people, had never been to an auction before including myself. Due to the number of people they were expecting to show up, a makeshift setup was put together across the street in an empty lot.
The auction was meant to start at 3PM but ended up starting shortly after 3:30PM. Basic rules were announced at the start, if you win a bid you must come up to the front and give them your civil ID card. You then get it back once you pay for the item. You need to pay on the spot. Knet only, no cash. Pretty simple although no idea how you can pay KD30,000 for a Ferrari Testarossa on your Knet card since I thought there was a 10,000KD limit? No idea.
The whole experience was really casual. The cars weren’t there, so if you hadn’t seen them last weekend in person at the police lot and noted down details like the license plate number, then you were pretty much screwed. There was just a list to go by which you had to print out yourself from their Instagram account or just keep looking at your phone. Most of the items on the list were misspelled and many lacked any details. For example, there were three BMW 8-series for sale and the only way to tell them apart on the list was with their license plate number. So if you hadn’t written down their plate numbers when checking the car out you were out of luck.
The auction moved fairly quickly but because we were right next to the mosque they had to stop twice for a prayer break. Not sure if that’s what they usually do or if they had to do it because we were right outside the mosque and the mosques speakers were louder than the auctions. By 7PM we had gone through two pages worth of cars and it was getting pretty chilly. There were no outdoor lights so the auction turned into a moonlight auction. The majority of the people must have been there for the two Ferraris since most of them left once they were sold. By the time I left only the first few rows of seats were filled.
My friend didn’t win the car, he was interested in a Volvo which he was willing to pay up to 2,000 for but it ended up going for 2,700. I had my eye on a 1997 Alfa Romeo Spider but I wasn’t going to pay over 250KD for it and the car ended up going for 350. Overall I had a good time, it was an interesting experience for sure.
If you ever want to go to a car auction you can find out about upcoming ones on the Instagram account @mzadmoj. The location of the auction is at the Deposit Reserve and Judicial Arbitration Sector Building in Ardiya, here is the location on Google Maps. They usually have the cars on display there it’s just this specific time that things were a bit different due to the circumstances. Let me know if you have any questions below.
17 replies on “My Car Auction Experience”
I’ mean I’ve seen the videos and the cars were in bad shape, but didn’t expect them to go at such low prices if they’re rare.; then again I know nothing about cars so.., would have been intresting if you took notes of some of the cars and for how much they went.
Ummm quite the opposite, the cars all sold for higher than expected most likely because of the hype. The prices weren’t low at all, they were actually strangely high. The bmws I mentioned in my post all got sold for prices you’d expect if the cars were in running condition. The testarossa got sold for 31K in unknown condition. There is one for sale now running for 25. None of it made sense.
Actually, with how the Kuwaiti hype machine works, it makes perfect sense.
A lot of people dig between known people who have seen the car, boat or whatever it is and sort of already know quite a lot about the car and they go with an estimate of how much they will spend in repairs included cause the courts don’t assist you in telling you the conditions
Then you get others bidders who are sent by the person who’s assets are seized to buy back his assets through friends (I’ve seen that happen in previous auctions where things got sold at ridiculous prices). Some wealthy owners don’t like seeing their things go away
Yeah there was a rumor before the start of the auction that the original owner was planning to purchase 20 of his cars back through proxies.
De Tomaso went for a good deal but it needs a lot of work
Some KNET cards take up bigger amounts and usually people go with 2-3 cards for it like my friend did for the one of the boat auctions
De Tomaso went for a good deal if the condition of the car was known. The interior looked brand new when I saw it but it also didn’t look like it had been moved since the 80s. So maybe there was a mechanical issue which is why it got parked in the first place and add to that all the other issues that would have be been caused by parking the car for so long, so not sure I wouls say 7,100 was a good deal. But I’m not a car dealer so I’m sure whomever bought it already has a plan in mind.
There is a running one with 50k mileage selling for 13,500KD in Europe (and that includes their high prices and VAT). https://www.classic-trader.com/uk/cars/listing/de-tomaso/deauville/deauville/1972/229691
I’m sure the car has a lot of mechanical issues and restoring it will take at least 2years to source parts etc but given the mileage on the original engine block which i’m sure isnt played around once restored will fetch a good amount
This is one selling for done 4k is asking for $130k
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/de-tomaso/deauville/1980/852277
Tbh I’d spend if I had that budget to buy and fix it cause I love the DE Tomaso’s
Yeah I saw that one earlier when I was checking online prices, but also, how long has it been listed for sale? Just because someone is asking 130K doesn’t mean it’s worth 130K. This super rare DeTomaso was originally listed at over 250K a few years ago, still hasn’t sold and price much lower now. https://www.gallery-aaldering.com/detomaso-pantera-gt5-rare-factory-gt5-1985/
Don’t think De Tomaso is a very desirable brand. But thinking about it now I think the engine and gearbox are from ford so maybe restoration isn’t that difficult…
Yeah most of the engine components could be easily found or made on order but the prices don’t really make too much sense online cause people who like a proper old DeTomaso are not many so demand is quite less
But I like the blend of american power and italian styling
Like your alfa you need to be that guy to love it even though the old alfa’s have so many issues but they have a unique soul
The story about the idiot who bought a busted Testarossa for 30K is already circulating among the local car enthusiast community lol
The owner was the person who most likely bought back his Testarossa, along with the Maranello, the Rolls Royces and a bunch of his other cars.
You can pay upto 30,000 from knet. My card from nbk works like that 30,000kd knet and 20,000kd international outside kuwait. Just contact your bank and they will sort it out for you. I wonder how they were continuing without lights 😂
Ah interesting
What other auction places are there, I would love to see auctions for antiques, carpets, watches, jewelry, vintage things and furniture. My mother and I were always scavenging flea markets back home and going to all kinds of auctions.
Anyone got any suggestions?
Hello. How often are the cars auctions and how do we hear about them
Hi ,i would like to know about upcoming car auctions please.
I want to buy a car so i would like to see in auctions too but i dont know any information on auction *when and where it takes places).
Please reply as possible.