Finally, two 'hot' cars sold at third Customs auction

After two failed attempts, the Bureau of Customs was finally able to sell yesterday two of 10 luxury vehicles put on the auction block.

The bidding, however, was far from lively as there were only two bidders - Julius Lim who offered P2,713,000 for a 1998 Toyota Land Cruiser VXR colored light brown, and Danny Paz of Simplex Industrial Corp. who tendered a bid of P2,438,000 for a gray 1998 4200 cc. Land Cruiser VX.

Lim's offer was merely P276 above the floor price set by the Customs, while Paz's was P839 higher.

Rumors had it that some Customs men tried to influence the bidding process, but bidding committee chairman Felipe Bartolome shrugged it off saying it was illegal for Customs personnel to interfere or participate in the process.

Customs sources said Paz, believed to be more of a car dealer than an end-user, was the same man who offered the highest bid in Customs history during an auction held in the mid-90s.

The sources said Paz quoted a price of P7.4 million for an original 1994 Mercedes-Benz S600 made in Germany with a floor price of P6.8 million.

The sources also said the car keys alone, featuring computerized serial numbers, cost the buyer an additional P30,000.

Lim's new vehicle was initially offered at P3,767,671 during the first auction, but reduced to P3,390,904 in the second bidding, and further cut down to P2,712,723.20 in yesterday's offering.

On the other hand, Paz's new acquisition was originally priced at P3,384,946, slashed to P3,390,904 in the second auction, and finally offered for P2,437,161.60 yesterday.

Despite the anemic turnout of bidders, Bartolome said a fourth bidding for the unsold vehicles has been set on Feb. 9 with two more seized luxury vehicles coming up from Subic freeport.

Independent brokers and traders who showed up at yesterday's bidding said the prices remained high despite two failed bids.

Subic Customs district collector Phil Carreon recalled that the first auction produced four private bidders who paid a registration fee of P1,000 each, but backed out during the bidding proper.

The second bidding, Carreon said, was a dismal failure.

Customs special assistant on legal affairs Imelda Cruz, who acted as auction officer, said the vehicles will be tagged the same prices they had yesterday in the Feb. 9 bidding.

She clarified that the prices do not include the 25 percent allowance for profit and the allowed additional reduction of 20 percent from the floor price.