About US

Over the last few years, many car enthusiasts have started turning their attention to recent vehicles – cars from the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. Automotive reviewer Doug DeMuro realized there isn’t yet a specific place that’s focused solely on buying and selling these modern enthusiast cars, but there should be – so he and a team created Cars & Bids, with its simple name modeled after Doug’s famous pursuit of “quirks and features.

We’re focused on modern enthusiast cars: the 1980s to the 2020s. That means anyone interested in the next era of exciting cars will come here first to buy and sell.
We’re focused on modern enthusiast cars: the 1980s to the 2020s. That means anyone interested in the next era of exciting cars will come here first to buy and sell.
We’re focused on modern enthusiast cars: the 1980s to the 2020s. That means anyone interested in the next era of exciting cars will come here first to buy and sell.
We’re focused on modern enthusiast cars: the 1980s to the 2020s. That means anyone interested in the next era of exciting cars will come here first to buy and sell.

Saudi Cars Hubs

Car reviewer Doug DeMuro brings a huge audience to Saudi Cars Hubs — along with his commentary.

Cool Car Auctions

Auction your modern enthusiast
car — anything cool and exciting
from the 1980s to the 2020s.

Low Fees

Buyers pay a 4.5% commission,
capped at $4,500. Sellers list for
free and receive 100% of the sale.

Low Fees

We provide vehicle history reports
for every vehicle listed on Cars &
Bids — for free.

Easy to Use

We’ve developed several new
features that innovate buying and
selling enthusiast cars online.

How It Works

Here's how we make selling, buying, or finalizing the car sale easier and hassle-free.

Buying a Car

Once you’ve found a car you’re interested in, here are the steps you should take to bid confidently and, with any luck, win the auction!

1. Register to Bid

To contact the seller directly and place bids, you must first Register to Bid with a valid credit card and phone number. Winning bidders pay Cars & Bids a 4.5% buyer’s fee on top of the winning bid amount (minimum of $225, maximum of $4,500).

2. Perform Due Diligence

While we’ve tried to make buying a car online as safe and easy as possible, it’s ultimately your responsibility to perform your own due diligence and make sure that the car you’re considering is right for you prior to placing a bid.

Review the listing thoroughly, including known flaws, the vehicle history report, the vehicle inspection report (if applicable), recent maintenance, photos, etc.
Ask the seller – via comments, Seller Q&A, or the “Contact” feature – any questions that you may have about the vehicle.
Arrange to inspect the vehicle in person, or work with the seller to schedule a detailed pre-purchase inspection (“PPI”) at a reputable shop in their area (at your cost).

3. Arrange Financing and Logistics

To ensure a smooth transaction, you should have the following organized prior to placing a bid.

To facilitate your purchase, we’ve teamed up with LightStream to make financing easy and fast for users with good to excellent credit. You can check out rates and payments - and apply for a loan - directly from each auction! LightStream financing is not tied to a specific vehicle, and you can get your loan funded - and money deposited into your account - as soon as the same day you apply.**
As a reminder, if you plan to finance this purchase, work with your lender to get your financing approved ahead of time - and keep in mind that some lenders may require specific vehicle information and may have year and mileage restrictions.
Discuss transportation and storage timelines (if applicable) with the seller, and if you’ll be shipping the vehicle, get a quick and easy shipping quote directly on the auction page before bidding.

4. Bid

We’ve made bidding easy, and we’ve explained it in a short video tutorial:

When you bid, we place a hold on your credit card for the buyer's fee – if you win, your card will be charged and you will pay the seller directly for the vehicle, otherwise, the hold will be released at the auction’s end.
Bids are binding, so only bid if you fully intend to purchase the car and you have performed the requisite due diligence, because you might end up as the high bidder and there are no refunds.
To ensure the bidding process is fair for everyone, bids placed within the final minute of the auction will reset the auction’s time remaining back to 1 minute – giving others the opportunity to bid.

5. Win the Auction

To buy a car on Cars & Bids, you must win the auction by ultimately being the highest bidder – and, if the auction has a “Reserve,” by placing a bid that meets or exceeds the seller’s hidden “Reserve” price. If the auction has “No Reserve,” then the highest bidder wins it regardless of the amount they bid.

After the auction closes, we’ll provide you with a step-by-step checklist to complete your purchase. You’ll also receive the seller’s contact information (and vice-versa) in order to finalize the details and logistics of the transaction. Buyers are expected to pay for the vehicle in-full within a week of the auction closing.
Learn more about Finalizing the Sale.

Selling a Car

Cars & Bids is the best place to sell your modern enthusiast car – and we’ve made the process easy.

1. Submit Your Car

It’s free to submit your car. We simply ask you for a few details – including the VIN, some photos, and a brief description of the car. You can also choose whether you want to set a reserve price, or if you want your vehicle to be sold with no reserve. A reserve price is a minimum value you’ll accept in order to sell your car – and while a reserve auction may seem like an appealing choice, we’ve found that vehicles offered with no reserve get more bids, more interest, and more attention.

If you choose a reserve auction, we’ll ask you to suggest a reserve price – but, based on market conditions, we may ask for a lower one before accepting your car. Keep in mind that all of our auctions start from $0, regardless of whether or not they have a reserve.

Our experienced auction team will review your submission and may ask you some follow-up questions. We will do our best to give you an answer within a business day. Not every car is right for Cars & Bids, but we always appreciate you taking the time to submit your car to us!

2. Prepare Your Listing

Once your submission is accepted, we’ll need some additional information from you – like detailed photos, service and ownership history, etc. Don’t worry – we’re here to help you throughout the process!

Before you can sell on Cars & Bids, your car must not be listed for sale elsewhere – meaning you’ll have to remove any other advertisement for your car and you cannot accept offers outside of the auction.
Take excellent photos of your car to get top dollar – hire a professional photographer or review our photo guide before snapping your own pics.
Film a quick video walk-around and cold-start – just shoot them on your phone in landscape mode and upload to YouTube or Vimeo.
Have your car inspected to get top dollar – you can order your inspection after your submission is accepted, and once you approve your inspection report we can include it with your listing.
Review the process for transferring vehicle titles in your state – and, if you have a loan on the vehicle, review the process and timeline for paying it off with your lender.
Get ready for a thrilling 7-day auction and be prepared to engage with the community and answer questions as they arise.

3. Finalize Your Auction

Once you’ve provided us with all of the necessary information and photos, we’ll create a draft of your listing for you to approve. Once you’ve reviewed and approved it, we’ll work with you to schedule your auction, and it will go live shortly thereafter!

4. Participate in the Auction

Timely and positive seller participation in the auction – responding to comments and questions, providing additional pictures or videos as needed, etc – is crucial to a successful auction. Good seller participation will result in additional interest, more bids, and a higher final sale price.
Interested bidders may contact you directly via email using the “Contact Seller” feature, allowing them to schedule test drives, pre-purchase inspections (at their cost), and ask additional questions.
Enjoy the final minutes – many of our auctions end with thrilling bidding wars, so get ready!

5. Auction End

After the auction closes, we’ll provide you with a step-by-step checklist to complete your sale. You’ll also receive the buyer’s contact information (and vice-versa) in order to finalize the details and logistics of the transaction. Learn more about Finalizing the Sale.

If your auction had a reserve and it was not met, we’ll reach out to you and the highest bidder to see if we can help make a deal!

Finalizing the Sale

Immediately after the auction closes we connect the buyer and seller so they can complete their sale. They can either use our custom checklist to ensure a smooth transaction or use our partner, KeySavvy, to handle everything from payment processing to documentation and licensing for a nominal fee. Here are our recommendations and tips for a successful post-auction sale – and remember, we’re here to help!

1. Submit Your Car

2. Payment & Documentation

Buyers are expected to pay for the vehicle in-full within a week of the auction closing.
If there’s an outstanding loan on the vehicle, the buyer and seller should discuss how it will be paid off and the specific next steps, so that the buyer can complete the transaction safely.
An accurate Bill of Sale should be created, including the terms of the transaction, to be signed by both parties; we recommend checking with your state DMV for Bill of Sale templates and requirements.
We recommend wire transfers or cashier’s checks for payment, but there are many possible options – including meeting at the buyer’s/seller’s bank to draft up a cashier's check, withdrawing the funds directly, or completing an electronic money transfer.
Arrange for the car to be picked up and finalize the transaction. If the buyer plans to ship the vehicle, they can book shipping directly through the winner’s page or by contacting our shipping team at shipping@carsandbids.com or (978) 955-2355. The vehicle and title should only be released once the seller has the full payment in hand. If the transaction is happening remotely, the seller should mail the signed-over title to the buyer via courier service with a tracking number once payment is in hand.

5. Share your Success Story

Email the Cars & Bids team a photo of the handoff to share your success story – we’d love to hear about it!