eBay Motors: Has anyone bought a car off of eBay?

UTweezer · 01-20-2004, 11:05 AM

Ok here is the thing...

I need a second car and a I want this one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6259

Do you guys think it's safe to buy a car off of ebay?

Baqui99 · 01-20-2004, 11:12 AM

Looks good, but it's got 103K miles. Buyer beware. I wouldn't go over $6500 on this one.

Lil Pun · 01-20-2004, 12:05 PM

Do you have to go and pick the car up or is there some sort of delivering they do?

super_mario · 01-20-2004, 12:07 PM

I've never bought a car on eBay but I would be careful about buying a car without seeing and driving it first.

Also, the car is in Cambridge. I've lived there for two years and cars can get kind of beat up there. Lots of street parking and salt during the winter.

Drewdog · 01-20-2004, 12:10 PM

You never know a car until you TEST DRIVE it. It may look freaking money from the pictures, but it might drive like complete ass. This is one thing that always bothered me about buying a damn car on eBay. Just be careful. You never know what you are getting until you get it.

**Castor27** · 01-20-2004, 12:14 PM

I can't say anything about this car but a lady I work with bought a BMW off ebay. It ran fine and she is still driving it 3 years later. Personally I agree with everyone else's comment sin that I probably wouldn't buy anything I couldn't drive first.

ArtV · 12:50 PM

The best (and only IMO) to buy a car on ebay is to only bid on cars that you can inspect before the down payment money is due. That way you can inspect and drive the car before you put any money down. If it's not as described, you can walk and the worst thing that can happen is you may get negative feedback, but since you can leave negative feedback for not being honest or trying to unload a lemon, it hurts the seller more than it'll hurt you. If it is what you expect and want, complete the transaction right there and drive it home.

I purchased a car on ebay a year ago and it's been a great car (no problems) and I got it for $4K below loan value - but I did drive and inspect it before I purchased.

Lil Pun · 01-20-2004, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Castor27
I can't say anything about this car but a lady I work with bought a BMW off ebay. It ran fine and she is still driving it 3 years later. Personally I agree with everyone else's comment sin that I probably wouldn't buy anything I couldn't drive first.

Where do you work and live Castor? The Houston area? The reason I ask is because my girlfriend's aunt bought a BMW off eBay. Might be her, you never know.

thadeus · 01-20-2004, 12:39 PM

I've never bought a car on eBay, but I did get an excellent deal on some condiments.

coma · 01-20-2004, 12:41 PM

My friend just bought a used 97' BMW 525i off of eBay. I checked it over the weekend, it's in immaculate condition. It was basically just an ad to a local car dealership.

**Castor27** · 01-20-2004, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lil Pun
Where do you work and live Castor? The Houston area? The reason I ask is because my girlfriend's aunt bought a BMW off eBay. Might be her, you never know.

I live just outside Beaumont.

GreenVegan76 · 01-20-2004, 12:54 PM

A friend bought a Subaru Outback on eBay a few months ago. He loves it. No problems at all.

But I'll echo everyone else's sentiments and encourage you to be careful. Any seller worth his/her salt will gladly let a mechanic check it out before selling it (at your cost, of course).

Good luck!

Harrisment · 01-20-2004, 01:47 PM

I had a friend that bought a car on ebay, and did not get it inspected. Literally one day later the transmission went out on the car, and the seller was nowhere to be found.

Pezmonger · 01-20-2004, 02:02 PM

Get a CarFax report for $20. It will give you a list of everything that has been fixed on the car.

Supermac34 · 01-20-2004, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pezmonger
Get a CarFax report for $20. It will give you a list of everything that has been fixed on the car.

What if it hasn't been fixed? What if that's the problem?

Master Baiter · 01-20-2004, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Supermac34
What if it hasn't been fixed? What if that's the problem?

Then you are SOL.

Pezmonger · 01-20-2004, 04:31 PM

That's true. Any car that's out of warranty I wouldn't buy over Ebay. CarFax will give you a little piece of mind, but in the end, you really need to test drive it.

bottlerocket · 01-20-2004, 04:49 PM

Never bought a car but I purchases a 128Mb jumpDrive (data storage device) and the seller never sent it. I complained to ebay and they said they are not responsible for purchases. I used a PayPal and I am still waiting to hear back from them.

I am pist off!

mrpaige · 01-20-2004, 04:55 PM

I wouldn't buy a car I couldn't inspect.

There was a really nice looking 1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible I saw on there that I really, really wanted. Of course, I couldn't afford it (it was going for nearly $20K when I saw it), but even if I could, the fact that I had to essentially buy it before I could take a look at the true condition would've made it very hard to pull the trigger on such a purchase.

I've bought plenty of other stuff on eBay and not had any significant problems. But cars are something of a different animal.