Buyers, sellers, and consignor representatives turned out in force to celebrate the August opening of Brasher’s Northwest Auto Auction’s all new facility in Eugene. The two-day event began with an open house during which owner John Brasher and general manager Lisa Larkin welcomed more than 450 customers for a tour of the auction’s new home. Brasher’s new 26-acre facility, located two miles from the previous auction, includes a 12,000 square foot auction arena with four double-blocked lanes for eight lanes of selling capacity. Offices are located in a two-story, 5,000 square foot office building. The facility also features covered check-in, six lanes of transport parking, and three acres of customer parking. The auction served guests a barbecued steak dinner and entertained the crowd with music provided by River City Rhythm and Blues Band. The band was led by one of the auction’s own dealers: Vince Lombardo of Oregon’s Best Cars. The next day’s grand opening sale included a 1,330-vehicle consignment, the largest in the auction’s history. “We sold 851 vehicles at the sale, a great sale rate in itself, but even more remarkable when you consider the fact that we sold more vehicles than we’d ever run in a single sale at the old facility. We sold more vehicles at the grand opening than would fit on our old lot!” said Larkin.

Larkin reported that nearly 400 vehicles ran in the fleet/lease and repo lane. WFS Financial kicked off the event, selling the first car to Dan Woodruff of Oregon’s Best Cars. Bank of America followed with 89 vehicles. Other featured fleet/lease consignors included ARI, Capital One, Fleet Lease Disposal, Key Bank, RSA, MMH Leasing, Oregon Community Credit Union, OSU Federal Credit Union, PHH, Qwest, Pape Group, Reliable Credit, Selco, United Finance, Wells Fargo, Volunteers of America and Goodwill. “Our consignment from local dealers was equally impressive,” said Larkin, who noted that individual lanes were devoted to Kendall Auto Group, all Oregon Lithia stores, and major new car stores in Central and Southern Oregon. “We had cars lined up down the street for more than a quarter mile waiting to check in at 8 a.m. on the morning of the sale. We were able to process them quickly in our new check-in area, and had them all ready for the sale.” More than 530 dealers attended the grand opening sale, most staying to the very end for a chance to win a plasma TV, ’04 Honda Sport Trac, and ’04 Honda jetski. The first 200 dealers received pullover jacket commemorating the grand opening, while the auction gave away 40 leather jackets during the course of the sale. Free breakfast was served courtesy of the Oregon Independent Auto Dealers Association. Brasher’s Northwest Auto Auction holds a consignment sale every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. In addition, the auction hosts RV auctions every second Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.