The pandemic upended vehicles sales, sending used car prices skyrocketing due to a shortage of new car inventory.

Used car prices have stabilized since then, said Cliff Smith, general manager of Pasco’s Trucks & Auto Auctions, one of the sister companies making up Musser Bros. But recently, Smith said he’s noticed a growing demand for cars under $10,000.

High interest rates have affected the market, and many people can no longer afford new cars, he said.

“There’s just not enough people with a bunch of disposable income right now,” to buy new cars, he said.

Some of Trucks & Auto Auctions’ customer demographics have seen a shift as well. 

While dealers as well as individuals can buy the cars, “it used to be that the dealers bought about 70% of our cars here. And now it’s flipped the other way, it’s about 70% retail buyers, just mom and dad looking for a cheap car going back and forth to Hanford, or looking for a car for the kid,” Smith said.  

Auction process

When it comes to buying a car or RV, this Pasco company does things a little differently than traditional dealers. 

Trucks & Auto Auctions auctions off used vehicles every other Tuesday in an online format. It’s been in the Tri-Cities since 2018.

The vehicles range from trucks to trailers, motorhomes to motorcycles. Anyone can place a bid from anywhere in the world.

The business sells about 120 to 150 vehicles at auction, drawing the interest of 700 to 800 bidders each session. The auction’s vehicles come from bank repossessions, dealers and private parties.

One week before the scheduled auction date, the lineup of vehicles is posted online. Interested parties can visit the lot and check out the vehicles in person the Monday and Tuesday before the auction. 

The vehicles are sold as-is, and the staff flags issues, such as engine problems, in online descriptions. 

After that, “it’s up to (the potential buyers) to come in and preview the two days before and check it out, decide what they want to do,” said Smith, who is one of the 10 employees running the auctions.

At 6 p.m. the night of the auction, bids begin to close on the vehicles, two at a time.

Each time someone places a new bid, 30 seconds are added to the clock. Whoever bids last when the clock runs out becomes the owner. 

Another vehicle will move into that slot and begin to close out, and the bids continue in sets of two until everything has been sold.

The whole process can take between an hour and a half to two hours, Smith said.  

‘It’s fun’ 

Trucks & Auto Auctions has held its auctions online since the Covid-19 pandemic, a format that benefits both employees and bidders. 

In-person auctions require a large staff and a certain level of insurance. But with an online platform, only 10 employees are needed to run the auctions. 

“So basically, online is the way to go,” Smith said.

It also gives bidders flexibility – they can bid in an online auction from anywhere, and notifications are available to update bidders when another bid has been placed.

“It’s fun to go to an auction and bid and you can be at home,” Smith said.

Once the auction closes, the highest bidder must come in to do their paperwork. Smith said it takes only 15 minutes. 

And if someone’s preferred vehicle went to another bidder? In two weeks, there will be another auction and a chance to bid again.

There’s another benefit of buying a vehicle in an auction format: “Auctions are also fun. They’re fun,” Smith said. “It’s fun to bid, matter of fact.”

“We just try and make sure everybody that comes in and buys a vehicle they just have a good time. So, they enjoy the experience,” Smith said. 

Trucks & Auto Auctions' upcoming Northwest Collector Car Auction on Aug. 31 will feature a 1937 White Model 706, one of the red buses famous for carrying sightseers through Yellowstone and Glacier national parks.

| Courtesy Trucks & Auto Auctions

Selling vehicles 

Trucks & Auto Auctions makes selling a vehicle easy, too. The owner only has to bring it in and pay a $100 sale fee, Smith said. 

“You don’t have to worry about going and putting it on Facebook Marketplace or anything like that. They can just drive in here, drop it off, and we will put it in our auction,” he said. 

Trucks & Auto Auctions takes care of the rest, including professional photographs of the vehicle.

Once the vehicle is purchased, some fees go to Trucks & Auto Auctions while the rest of the purchasing price goes to the owner – or, in the case of repossessions, to the bank. 

Musser Bros. also owns Estate Details and Real Estate, offering avenues to sell every part of an estate in one place.   

Seasonal demand 

Despite recent market shifts, some vehicles, like RVs, have always had seasonal selling cycles. Smith said that these trends haven’t changed in his years of experience.

“April, May, June – people are trying to get RVs and take kids on vacations and stuff like that,” Smith said. “But after the Fourth of July, the demand really goes down and so do the prices.”

That means it’s better to buy RVs later in the summer or even in the winter, he said. 

Likewise, sports cars tend to sell better in the spring, with a transition to SUVs in the wintertime. Older trailers often peak around hunting season. 

Collector Car Auction 

Every year, Trucks & Auto Auctions holds a classic car auction. Bids are already open for the sixth annual Northwest Collector Car Auction, which is both online and in-person and closes at noon Aug. 31. 

A Show-n-Shine with $5 admission will be held at 4 p.m. Aug. 30 to preview the vehicles. 

In years past, some of the cars at the auction have sold for as much as half a million dollars, and buyers from all over the world have placed bids, including from Montana, Wyoming, California and France. 

The auction will include a 1937 White Model 706, one of the red buses famous for carrying sightseers through Yellowstone and Glacier national parks.