The Daily Vroom

YESTERDAY’S TOP 5 SALES

Want to dive deeper into any of these listings? Just click on the car to take you directly to the listing.

Sale of the Day

While the top five sales of the day pushed well into six figures, the smartest buy came in quietly at just $14,300.

A 2005 Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata, unmodified, 33k miles, and finished in Velocity Red — sold on Cars & Bids. No drama. No reserve. Just a clean, enthusiast-owned example with nothing to hide.

It didn’t look like a standout… until you looked closer.

Just two weeks earlier, a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata — same color, similar spec, even lower mileage — sold on Bring a Trailer for $10,000.

On the surface, that looks like the better buy.
But comparing cars solely on mileage or price often misses the point.

The BaT car came with baggage:

• Total loss history

• Multiple accidents including tree and undercarriage damage

• Repainted panels

• A duplicate New York title, which can mean registration or resale issues depending on your state

The $10K number made headlines. But it came with a long asterisk.

The $14.3K C&B example, on the other hand:

• Clean Arizona title

• California and Arizona ownership since new

• Completely stock

• Documented service, 2 keys, all original hardware

• Light cosmetic wear, nothing structural

The seller had owned it since 2019, added just 2,200 miles, and clearly kept it cared for. No disclaimers, no drama.

Why This Matters

When comparing cars, even with close mileage, you have to look at the full picture.
Title status, accident history, mods, geography, seller transparency — it all adds up. And often, it’s the less obvious car that turns out to be the smarter buy.

Mazdaspeed Miatas aren’t unicorns, but they’re aging into scarcity. Especially unmodified ones with low miles and no stories. And when those come up, the market tends to reward them.

$14K might not seem like a bargain next to $10K — until you realize what each one actually was.

New Owners, New Reality?

Any time a platform changes hands, two questions come up fast:

What’s going to change?
And how quickly will we see it in the numbers?

That’s where PCarMarket finds itself in 2025—under new ownership, new leadership, and, at least from the outside, a different rhythm.

I started noticing fewer listings this spring. Not dramatically fewer, but enough to raise an eyebrow. Was this a strategic shift? A push toward more curated, high-value consignments? Or was it a sign that the new team wasn’t moving as fast—or attracting as much inventory—as their predecessors?

There’s no official word either way. But the auction numbers from April and May give us a snapshot of what this transition looks like in practice.

So I ran the data. Every sale. Every fee. And here’s what it tells us so far.

📉 First: Volume Is Down

That’s 33 fewer cars across two months, with May in particular dropping off sharply. On volume alone, it looks like a step back.

But volume doesn’t tell the whole story.

💰 The Sales Prices Tell a Different Tale (rounded up)

This is where the numbers swing.

May 2025’s average sale price nearly tripled year-over-year. Even April showed a 23% jump. So while fewer cars crossed the block, the ones that did were worth a lot more.

Which brings us to revenue—and PCar’s real business model.

🧮 The Buyer Fee Trap

As is the standard in this industry, PCarMarket charges a 5% buyer fee, capped at $5,000 per sale. And that cap matters—especially in a month like May.

Despite more than $3.2M in additional sales this May, buyer fee revenue actually fell slightly.

Why? Because those higher-priced cars triggered the $5K cap again and again. Instead of earning 5% on a $150K or $200K sale, PCar hit the ceiling early—and stopped earning.

We’ve seen BaT ‘recently’ increase that cap to $7,500 and I suspect PCar will eventually do the same.

🧠 So What Are We Looking At?

Right now, it feels like PCarMarket is in transition.

The listings are fewer, the cars are more expensive, and the fee revenue is… flat.

Higher fees per car. Fewer cars. Similar money.

It could be a smart, high-touch strategy. Or it could reflect the growing pains of a team that’s still aligning. From the outside, it’s hard to tell. But the structure looks different.

📆 A Snapshot, Not a Verdict

This is just two months. A short window in what will likely be a long transition.

PCar doesn’t need to match Bring a Trailer’s scale. But I imagine it does need to show stability, seller confidence, and predictable throughput.

Whether this is a one-off or a preview of their new model—time will tell. And I’ll be watching it closely.

📈 Meanwhile, Over at Cars & Bids…

Another platform, this one under new CEO leadership—Cars & Bids, has taken a different route: cut the team, boost the volume. And in recent weeks, they’ve seen a noticeable uptick in activity.

Listings are up roughly 25% in the last month alone.

How that translates to sales and fees is something I’ll be digging into next.

Stay tuned…

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