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The chance to nab a deal on a luxury car - or just see what all the fuss was about - attracted a sizeable crowd to Turners Auctions in Auckland yesterday, where 33 high-end vehicles went under the hammer.
More than 600 people packed out the Penrose branch. About half of those were registered bidders.
The biggest drawcard was a 2003 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet selling at no reserve, but those hoping to see the car go for peanuts were out of luck. Estimated to sell for $80,000-$90,000, it was snapped up by a private bidder from the Bay of Islands for $96,000.
The buyer, who asked not to be named, said that he was pleased with the deal. "There were a lot of excellent buys here today. I'm going to go home smiling."
He came to Auckland especially for the auction but said he wasn't attracted by the no reserve listing, but by the car itself. "Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolets don't come up very often."
Many of the lots had been repossessed from finance companies, and buyers made the most of the tough economic times by snapping them up for well-below market value.
A bright yellow 1995 Lamborghini Diablo, tipped to go for up to $300,000, struggled to attract a bid but went to negotiation and was sold for just over $160,000.
Turners sale manager Chris Broadhurst said his pick for the best buy of the day was a 2005 Bentley Continental GT, which sold for $139,000.
"I think it's more than $400,000 new and I don't think you'd find one in a car yard in Auckland for under $200,000."
The highest price was $219,000 for a 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo, but Broadhurst was most impressed at the price reached for a metallic blue 2007 Audi RS4. Tipped to sell for $50,000-$60,000, it went for $87,000. He credited the low price for setting off a bidding war. "It's just an Audi, but it's a very popular car and a very rare car. If you headed down to a car yard you'd probably pay $100,000."
Broadhurst said the calibre of cars sold showed despite the credit crunch, there were still buyers willing to fork out big money for the right vehicle.
"We sold a lot of cars at that high end of the market, which shows obviously there's still a lot of money out there and people are still spending it."
