Car Buying on E-bay?

I'm going to be able to test for my Driver's license in a couple of yrs and I always see great cars on E-Bay for a relatively low price which I'm willing to work for and possibly get a loan from good ol' Mom and Dad .

Has anyone here had experience buying a car from the internet, like E-Bay or something similiar?

I have, and mine went through perfectly.

Me too.

My sisters car is an eBay car. It was local. We were able to view it in person before the auction ended, but not drive. The place was closed but they had accidently left it unlocked /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif owning it I understand why (The keyless entry can be finicky).

We won the auction but didn't meet reserve. Called the place up and purchased the car.

Good idea to CarFax the things.

I'd recommend it. I haven't bought, but as a side hobby I have sold over 20 cars using eBay. I do it for friends, family, and shirttail acquaintances who are not "eBay savvy" and who got ridiculously low trade-in offers when they bought new cars. I am able to sell their old car for more than they could have gotten if they did a trade-in, and we share the profit. All my transactions have gone well, where everyone goes home happy. All the buyers so far have been nice people to meet and talk with.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks guys! I've been really looking into older cars such as a Dodge Charger (my favorite), a Mustang, or maybe a Plymouth Road Runner which the majority sell for less than 20,000 and are fully restored. I'm looking for a local sale since I have mechnaics in the family so we can go check it out.

Thanks for your input guys! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I do a lot of car selling on e-bay. If there is one type car on e-bay to avoid it's the collector car. Way too many variables and apples and oranges on those type cars. We have sold a few of them and never know if the buyer is going to be thrilled or livid. Eye of the beholder comes to mind. I have 3 guys at work that bought muscle cars off e-bay and were disappointed. If it's a cheap car or if it's a near new vehicle then e-bay is an excellent place to purchase but you still need to be careful who you do business with.

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DieselDave said:
I do a lot of car selling on e-bay. If there is one type car on e-bay to avoid it's the collector car. Way too many variables and apples and oranges on those type cars. We have sold a few of them and never know if the buyer is going to be thrilled or livid. Eye of the beholder comes to mind. I have 3 guys at work that bought muscle cars off e-bay and were disappointed. If it's a cheap car or if it's a near new vehicle then e-bay is an excellent place to purchase but you still need to be careful who you do business with.

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Absolute right! I work for a business that sells cars wholesale. I get the 'honor' of selling the exotic cars we get. The last one I sold was a Rolls Royce.

I don't know how people will react to the cars. In the Rolls case the guy was unbelievably happy when he came from Montana to pick up the car in California. He emailed me later to say on the way back he ran across some main actor from a movie called, "A River Runs Through It", named Robert...something and the actor wanted to buy the car but he wouldn't sell it. Uhh...Robert REDFORD? Well, both of them loved the car as he drove it back home.

But in most cases people are disappointed in the vehicles I sell at Ebaymotors. Why? Because explaining a car over the Net is difficult. I sold a 1973 Mercury Pantera that is in great shape...for its year. It was original...very original. The car is known for rusting and this one was the exception since it lived in California. It was always stored in a garage and under a tarp. The buyer bought it but as he left he complained there was dust, some grease and oil on the frame. He complained there were some minor scratches in the paint. There were some light buff marks in the 100 coats of wax on the car.

Now I thought the car was a great user car and would be proud to drive a car of this age around. He must have expected a showroom stored car.

The cars are road worthy cars. No car is perfect, not even an off the assembly line car.

Most of the buyers I get complain. I have gotten to the point that when an Ebay buyer comes to pick up the car then I disappear so I don't have to look at them in the face and hear them complain.

You should hear me complain as people email to ask about the car or send them personal pictures. If there was something special about the car, good or bad, I would have posted the pictures.

Selling a car on the Net is tough; selling a lot of cars on the Net, to me, is a royal pain in my behind.