spazaddict

Just wondering if anyone out there has purchased a car off ebay. A lot of times you can find really good deals, but is it worth buying a car you've never driven? Can you back out if the car is not as good as it looks on ebay?

Any info would be cool.

Chris

Spyder_Venom

I have purchased a car on ebay, twice actually. You technically can't back out unless it is really mis-represented. It is very important to talk with the owner and get a feel for them, I walked away from a couple cars becuase it didn't feel right even though it was a really good price. I personally have had very good luck, as well as many other people. Keep in mind, if it sounds to good to be true, it probley is.

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a1t3r3g0

No, but I sold one on there. It was really quite simple. Buyer flew in and drove home... I called them like 30 days later to check up and they were thrilled with the car.

I was thrilled to get as much as I did for it!

forseti-6

I've considered buying cars on ebay before. The problem is I don't know enough about cars to know if I'm getting a good deal or getting the shaft. It would seem that buying cars from the "big sellers" would be a safe bet, however, they tend to charge more for their cars. So the way I see it, all ebay motors does it increase your variety and save you a little money at the expense of testing the car out.

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Scorps

I might try and find a good car on there this summer, the only thing is all the cars are probally american....and I hate to drive over the boarder!

HeLLVieW96

we bought our 73 Chevy Monte Carlo off ebay and had it transported from Canton OHio to here in TUcson AZ, we had no problem, and everything went nicely. you just have to get in touch with the seller.

forseti-6

Are logistics of transportations and registering the car tough? This is actually my main concern about buying a car on ebay.

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svt

I sold an 1952 airstream(i believe, it was my dads) trailer and a massey harris tractor. It was nice, I'd definitely buy, just make sure everything is on the "up and up"

arch13

In a word, No.
I like fixing up busted jeep wranglers and buy early 80's through early 00's often and have bought 3 off ebay. If you want to play the fix up game like i do, you need to be educated in salvage title, flood damage titles, and such, as well as what states will give you a legit title once you've fixed the car and had it checked out by the state to meet code.
For the average buyer purchasing a non salvage vehical like your talking about, it's as easy as taking the bill of sale and title the selling will give you to your local tag agaency, paying the tax on what you paid for the car (you pay it in your state if different from the state of sale, and yes you HAVE to pay the tax even if you bought in online), and having the buyer sign over the title to you on the dotted line at the bottom. Your state will then print up a new title and dispose of the old one with the sellers signature.
If the car is driveable, just drive it home like mentioned, or google for car transport companies. You can have a car delivered from within about 800 miles for $450.00. Over 800 miles in the same region is about 600.00, and coast to coast will cost you as much as 1500.00. You need to take that into consideration if your looking at a car in california and your on the east coast. Bid the maximum you can after taking that into account for what you have to spend.

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forseti-6

arch,

Thanks for the information. I was doing some searching on ebay last night and found a car that I really liked, however, it looks like the car has a flood title. The seller claims it's not bad, but not knowing a whole lot about cars and things going wrong would you suggest I pass on it?

Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEBWA%3AIT

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arch13

It's a rebuilt title.
As it's flood damaged, you should ask for a mechanical assesment to know of any damage. If they do not disclose glaring defects or poblems they would have to have noticed in comon sense (mold comes to mind), you can sue for breach of contract. Such things as the engine and transmission will have been drained, dried, and inspected before you can get a new title. In this case it's about 500.00 worth of work by a mechanic you trust and another 100.00 or so to get a state inspector to check the car out for a new title. They're portraying it as running and functioning fine. confirm that in email. If it is, then that means the fluids where drained, the car was left to dry, and then refilled. For a small drive like 200-300 miles from chicago to NY, that will do until you have your mechanic look at it.
The instructions for obtaining a brand new title for this car, as well as the inspection critieria and required forms for New York state can all be found HERE
Your in luck because NY is one of the few states that will re-title a flood damaged car. Florida won't. In fact, it's the only damage they won't retitle in florida. Everything else is fair game, which makes it a haven for classic cars and good cars on the cheap. They're all rebuilt
I would also email some of the people who left positive feedback and ask them if thet're still happy.

*edit*
I'm telling you to get in writting that it runs because i buy cars that don't run. Bent axels, frames, accident cars, etc. If it's really a car with lite flood damage, it will need some work but mostly just needs an inspection of the engine and tranny to check for water damage to the components. rebuilding a tranny is a 300.00 job for basic servive and something i won't even do myself. Your primary concern in buying a flood title is the powertrain. If that's in good shape then your good. no other area will costs you as much to deal with as that.

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forseti-6

Arch,

Thanks for the information. I'm going to email the guy and see what he says.

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blockmaan2000

I sold my bike on there. '00 R6. The buyer got in touch with me before the end of the auction and we talked on the phone for about 15 minutes. He felt good and placed the winning bid. Smooth transaction.

Scorps

If you got something on the bid can you pull it out at anytime??

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arch13

If you mean your the seller and you got a better offer off ebay, you can only pull out if you stated that it was for sale localy and you reserve the right to end the auction early. If you have not stated that before a single bid was placed, you are legaly bound to sell it to the highest bidder (assuming no reserve), and ebay will take you to court over this. don't tempt fate.
If you're a buyer and want to retract a bid you made, you can do so, but ebay notes in your user profile that you retracted a bid so other sellers can see that you've been know to pull out of a bid. many car auctions ban those that have pulled from a bid in the last six months. Also, the selller has the right to refuse your bid retraction through an appeal to ebay, and ebay takes seller retraction requests very seriously. the have a seperate staff devoted to this. Ebay can deny your bid retraction, in which case you will be required to follow through on any amount you bid.
Failing to follow those rules will get you banned from ebay, both by name and email address.
If and when ebay discovers that a banned member has rejoined using another name/email, they will ban you again, and may persue legal action. Again, Ebay has a full staff devoted to this issue as well.

The lesson here is that anything on ebay is a legal contract (the courts have found in favor of ebay nearly everytime, and ebay is rummored to file at least 25 lawsuites a day on failure to pay on winning bids), and you are legaly bound to it.

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Confederate

I have only bought car parts on ebay, never cars. I mentioned in another thread my reservations about buying cars online. Personally it can be a really great experience with a legit buyer and a legit seller, but too often you get a shady guy that writes up this nice summary about a car that is very low quality

Scorps

well thanks

I just wondering, because I was thinking of using ebay to buy my next car...and just wonder if I could pull out of one bid to enter another on a better car!

So I guess it will help to look and read before setting any bids.

Ilow

I've bought and sold a motorcycle on ebay. On the whole it was a pretty pleasant experience. I feel like if you keep the "too good to be true" awareness close around you at all times you will be somewhat protected. Best case scenario is living near the ebayer and getting to check out the product. I think if you want out of a transaction and the item has been egregiously misrepresented you can back out, but you should have a valid reason beyond "Uh...I can't get financing..." or something.

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Cordachine007

I am currently looking at ebay for my next auto as well. I am looking at a 02 Acura 3.2 TL. I will save an average of about 5k over a dealer by buying from ebay. Many are out of state, so I plan to fly out and drive home. Shipping a car across half the country is quite expensive, $500+. I would recommend a carfax on the car(S) you plan to buy, especially if you look at autotrader!!! I have carfaxed 3 cars on autotrader that were salvage titles!!! Watch for this. Happy Bidding.

thisGuyIsCool

i bought my car off ebay. I didn't get it shipped though and I didn't bid on it. I just went down and looked at it and then made him a cash offer two days later and he canceled the auction for me.

Scorps

Must have been a good offer!