Want a Pontiac G8 but can’t find a decent one? Can’t wait for the new Holden Commodore to get here? If you live close to Connecticut and you have a dealer license, I have some great news.

Sort of.

Southern Auto Action is a rather large independent dealer auction house. It receives cars from all over the tri-state area as well as  from New England and as far south as Philly. Cars are sold by manufacturers, rental companies, dealers, and similar, but only to other registered dealers.

Different sellers arrive on different weeks, whenever they have a certain amount of cars to they need to move. This week, General Motors will be auctioning off a handful of its cars, and that’s where I found the gem seen above. Auctions are held on Wednesdays and sales are posted before the end of the week. This got me thinking…

[Source: SAA.com – account req’d]

This white 2011 Caprice is sold being auctioned off by General Motors. No history was provided: could have been a test vehicle, a sample vehicle, auto show vehicle, it could have been on a loan or a lease, or perhaps a show car GM took to different police departments for demonstration. No one knows for sure. It has been “in service” since 09/15/2011, and with only 10,000 miles on the clock, how much abuse could it have taken?

From the spec sheet, I highlighted some of the more important stuff:

* TRIM COLOR SEAT ONYX * TRIM COLOR DR PANEL ONYX
* POLICE CAR * JET BLACK
* HD FRONT & REAR FLOOR COVERING * FRONT AUXILIARY DOME LAMP
* WIRING-IGNITION & MAIN POWER * SPECIAL SUSPENSION
* DRIVER HALOGEN SPOTLAMP * POLICE PACKAGE
* ADJUSTER FRT ST POWER, 6 WAY VERT / * LOCK CONTROL RR COMPT.
RECLINE, MANUAL HORIZONTAL, DR IVER * VINYL REAR SEAT AND FLOOR COVERING FLOOR
* ADJUSTER PASS ST POWER, 4 WAY, VERT COVERING
* AIR BAGS, DUAL STAGE FRONTAL W/PASSENGER * SENSOR INDICATOR INFLATABLE FRT PASS
SENSING SYSTEM, THORAX SIDE-IMPACT, HEAD PRESEN DETECTOR
CURTAIN FOR DRIVER AND FRONT PASSENGER * SEAT FRT BUCKET, PASS, DRIVER
* REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY * KEY COMMON, VEHICULAR UNIQUE
* VEHICLE TYPE PASSENGER CAR * LOCK CYLINDER RR COMPT
* CLUSTER COLOR INST, IC BLACK * AIR CONDITIONING – ELECTRONIC
* HANDLE O/S DOOR BLACK * MIRROR, INSIDE REARVIEW WITH COMPASS
* DEALER INSTALLED * MIRROR O/S -LH & RH REMOTE CONTROL,
* TRIM SEAT FRT ST CLOTH – ECLIPSE / RR ST ELECTRIC, HEATED, MANUAL FOLDING, BLACK
VINYL – COMPANION * PLANT CODE ELIZABETH SA, AUST
* EQUIPMENT ENGINE, V8 * TRIM DOOR POLYPROPYLENE
* VEHICLE FUEL GASOLINE E85 * DIFFERENTIAL, LIMITED SLIP
* HERON WHITE * REAR AXLE, 2.92 RATIO
* BRAKE PARKING FOOT APPLY * BRAKES- 4 WHEEL ANTILOCK, 4 WHEEL DISC
* AUXILIARY BATTERY * SHIFT KNOB, URETHANE
* ALTERNATOR, 170 AMPS WITH IDLE BOOST * ENGINE, 6.0L V8 E85 CAPABLE
* DUAL EXHAUST SYSTEM * POWER STEERING
* STEERING WHEEL 4 SPOKES * EMISSION SYSTEM CALIFORNIA BIN 4
* TIRE & WHEEL- SPARE, FULL SIZE, STEEL * TIRE ALL P235/50R18 XL 99 W BW AL3
* WHEELS, 18 HEAVY-DUTY STEEL * LAMP SYSTEM DAYTIME RUNNING REDUCE
* HEADLAMPS, HALOGEN INTENSITY LOW BEAM
* HANDLING CHARGE ELIZABETH ASM TO KERR * ANTENNA ROOF, RADIO
INDUSTRIES, BENICIA PORT, CA * AM/FM STEREO WITH CD PLAYER AND MP3
* DISPLAY INSTRUMENT DRIVER INFO ENHANCED PLAYBACK
(ONE COLOR GRAPHIC) * TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM
* VEHICLE STATEMENT US * CALIBRATION DAYTIME RUNNING LAMPS
* MODEL CONVERSION * FREQUENCIES RATING 315 MHZ, LONG DISTANCE
* FILTER POLLEN * 50-STATE EMISSIONS

Looks like some minor damage on the roof from a light bar, possibly?

I am very curious how much this vehicle is going to sell for. Unfortunately one of the notes says that this vehicle, even at this auction, can only be sold to Chevy dealers. That is probably because it is being sold directly by GM, and they cannot sell it to anyone else. Regardless, let’s say you’re Chevy dealer and you have  the option of buying this car.

On one side, it’s very unique and in very low supply, and never for sale to privateers. On the other, while under warranty, it’s a car with an unknown past. It is also a vehicle with a very limited target audience; Jack and Jill won’t buy this as a family vehicle, just like Slick Rick won’t replace his ’02 A6 with it. There are people out there who would be willing to buy this very car, but where do you find them, and how much would they be willing to pay for it?

Let’s pretend you’re a Chevy dealer and you:

1. How much do you pay for it?
2. How/where do you resell it?
3. How do you advertise it?
4. Let’s just add the fact that unless you make $1500-$3000 on this car, it isn’t worth your time.