A bit late to the discussion here, and maybe I'm in the minority, but I enjoy watching BAT auctions on the cars I care about. There aren't many other auction venues where the car can be vetted online for days ahead of time. Yes, some of the questions and comments are silly, ill-informed or irrelevant, but there are also a lot of helpful discussions for any potential buyer who may not be an expert in a particular make and model. And it's free entertainment when you've got nothing better to do.
That said, I have noticed a tendency for dealer sellers to get what appears to be their dealer friends praising the car to goose up interest and bids. Not sure that always works. And with Pagodas, in particular, there are a couple of "cheerleader" posters who attack any criticisms as "nitpicking." To me, the nitpicking is what helps inform the buyers. And occasionally, even as a longtime Pagoda owner, I learn a thing or two. They are supposed to have a rule about not attacking personalities, which doesn't seem to be regularly enforced. I haven't had any "non constructive" censorship of my critical comments, but I try to be constructive.
As with any auction, if there are two or more bidders who really want the car and get caught up in "winning," prices can go above market. Classic cars often are an emotional purchase, not a rational one. And it does seem that with recent Pagodas, emotion and a nice paint job have overruled common sense. So be it.
