eBay Motors - Ever try it?

[Holyoak]

Have always been curious about the experience, buying something like a vehicle w/o seeing it in person first.  Not sure I could, having had a professional auto service background, seeing what I have.  So, anyone ever purchased a vehicle from eBay motors, and care to share your experience?  Thank you. 

[acroy]

Yes, Bought and sold several. No issues.
3 of the 4 transactions ended early when the other party and I made contact, dickered a bit, and settled on a price. This is common. ebay still charges a listing fee or something, so you don't avoid the fees.
Ebay is great for sellers of oddball / rarer vehicles, it is an excellent advertising platform hosting high quality pictures etc.
good luck!

[katsiki]

Same here.  Bought and sold vehicles through ebay.  It has been a number of years for me.  Purchase was probably 2003 and sale was 2005.  Both went great.  I was buying from an out of state dealer so I didn't have any concerns.  Be sure to check out the seller.

I think I fedexed a cashier's check for payment.  Now, it is probably easier (wires, etc).

[Just Joe]

Yes, bought and sold vehicles.

Purchase: basically we were buying a vehicle unseen. It was 90% of what I expected. Turned out fine. Saved some money b/c it was not a popular brand/model and we were willing to travel.

Sale: antique vehicle. Buyer was real antsy which I understand. He bought it unseen, sent a truck for it - and I had to delay him to make sure his checked cleared my bank. Once that happened, the truck came and loaded up. He was happy, I was happy (and a little sad to see it go).

Talk to your bank about best ways to protect yourself in these transactions. Electronic money transfer? Cashier's check? Don't want to pay 5% to transfer car money. Also don't want to lose control of the money (buyer) or car (seller). 

Read a few articles about eBay vehicle scams to educate yourself. I heard a few back in the day, don't know if they are still active.

[dcheesi]

My brother sold his car that way. It was in poor condition, but kind of a specialty item, so he was able to make a lot more money by selling to a collector online than he would have gotten in a local sale.

[mtnman125]

I bought my motorcycle off Ebay a couple years ago.

Paid deposit through paypal, and cash for the rest at pickup.

Not ebay, but I've bought a car sight unseen before (flew to pick up and drive back), I probably wouldnt do that again though.

[SC93]

I know a few people that sell cars on ebay motors. They seem to like it and they seem to do well at it. They would even do MUCH better if they knew how to write an ad that made you want to buy the car instead of writing a salesman ad.

[sokoloff]

I bought 3 cars on EBay Motors over the years; all were as I expected. I sent a buddy from another car club to look at one of them before sending the money. Another one was close enough that I could fly out and inspect and the last one was a $800.01 parts car that was about 30 miles away.

You need to pay attention to the finer details on some of the listings. The one I sent a friendly to inspect had some oddities and things that were "cleverly hidden" to put it mildly, but the purchase price reflected that. ('66 Mustang convertible, metal dash was cut to install a modern radio and it was built as an inline-six, later converted to a 289 V-8. They made some attempts to seem to inadvertently conceal both facts, but if you're looking for those things, they're pretty hard to hide, so I paid the "right" price for a car in that condition and just had my buddy check it out.)

[Holyoak]

I'm surprised by the generally good results; really surprised.  For those of you that sold, did you feel the final price was fair (set a reserve/high starting bid?), the ratio of hassle-to-final price worth it, and did you find it worth it compared to CL tire kickers, Carmax offers, dealership trade-ins/buy outrights?

For buyers, any BS with altered, or hokey titles (clips, flood, salvage titles), undisclosed things that maybe not as bad as rod knock/slipping trans, but messed up front ends way out of alignment, bad tie rods, shot struts, etc.  Did you have some form of warranty, or recourse if the car was truly not as listed?  I admit, when I look over a car to buy I have a very, very long and thorough checklist; legacy of a fella who helped perform state inspections, turned wrenches for a living, and was a dealership service manager.  Thanks.

[swampwiz]

I have a friend who collects classic cars (perhaps that should be "used to" since he had lost most of his cars in a hurricane flood, and with his daughters now going to a 5-figure private school he doesn't have the "cash flow"), and he bought a few that way.  He asked a lot of questions and made sure that he felt that the seller was a guy like him that just had to "think the herd".  I think he was satisfied with his purchases.

[sokoloff]

For buyers, any BS with altered, or hokey titles (clips, flood, salvage titles), undisclosed things that maybe not as bad as rod knock/slipping trans, but messed up front ends way out of alignment, bad tie rods, shot struts, etc.  Did you have some form of warranty, or recourse if the car was truly not as listed?  I admit, when I look over a car to buy I have a very, very long and thorough checklist; legacy of a fella who helped perform state inspections, turned wrenches for a living, and was a dealership service manager.  Thanks.

Here's Ebay's VPP description: http://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/purchase-protection/

Bad tie rods, out of alignment, bad struts, worn brakes, I wouldn't get too worked up about. Those are wear parts. You're buying a used car. It's reasonable to expect wear on a used car. I also do all my own work other than exhaust and paint/body, so my perspective on those being minor and expected repairs comes in part from the parts prices being reasonable and the labor price (for me) being free. Even for alignments, I've found that I can get them "close enough" with a tape measure and digital protractor and then can make minor adjustments to toe as/if needed. If it's good enough for racecars I used to work on, it's good enough for street use.

In general, I'd look out for the biggies (flood cars, rebuilt wrecks, ex-taxi usage) and not sweat the small stuff. If you're buying a 3-4 year old car with 50K miles, you're probably going to come out OK, just like buying from a private party over Craigslist or similar. The car is likely to have wear consistent with the miles and be a screaming deal compared to what you'll find on a new car showroom.

[HipGnosis]

I bought a motorcycle quite a few yrs ago.  It was a low production model of Triumph (which was a low production or import brand at the time).  The seller was 700+ miles away.
Lots of Emails and lots of pics - even some specific requested pics, to 'prove' to me he was actually taking pics of the bike.
Cashiers check for 70% of the agreed price with an additional agreement that the cash / final price would be adjusted if I found anything that wasn't disclosed.
I took a trailer and picked it up - paid the full agreed price as it was in really good shape.
I wanted to park somewhere along the drive home and ride the bike for half a day, but the weather didn't cooperate.
I really enjoyed the bike and wish I still had it a few times a year.
 

[Just Joe]

I've done Carmax as well. CarMax came with a warranty that could be extended for a price. CarMax was closer than the car we drove to buy from eBay.

You get to see it before you buy it at Carmax. CarMax require ~45 mins the first visit to test drive, ~45 mins the second visit to complete the paperwork. We had our own money. We were able to see the CarFax details on the car and knew it was a former lease vehicle. Very clean. ~50K miles.

I always hear people complain about CarMax being expensive but the certified used vehicles from the brand that we eventually bought had prices starting $5K+ and higher. Plus like any normal dealer experience we all know it would require negotiation, "promises" and stalling to see who would blink first during negotiations. Plus we would have to drive to two different cities to shop that were a significant distance from here (smallish town).

CarMax ended up a little under NADA value estimates. No problems whatsoever since the purchase a year or so ago. No stress, no pressure.

I think all solutions are good solutions. eBay, Carmax, CL, etc. All tools to connect you with a seller and their car.

[Cadman]

I've also bought and sold several times through eBay motors over the years. As a buyer, if you temper your expectations and bid accordingly, you'll generally do alright. Of course, that means asking the right questions, cajoling the seller for additional photos of particular areas, and so forth.

As a seller I did have one bad experience selling a rather unique vehicle where I got burnt waiting at the airport on a weeknight (1 hr+ drive each way) for the buyer to show, strung along with excuses, etc. Guy never did come through. Relisted and sold to a standup couple from a neighboring state.

Biggest thing to watch out for are buyers that close the deal through eBay (BIN or high bid), show up, and then kick the tires or try to dicker. At least requiring a deposit within 24 hours curbs some of this.

[headwinds]

I bought my vehicle on ebay motors, had a very good experience. Had to fly to Houston from California but got a vehicle with 1/4 the mileage of any that year in Cali and for thousands less. It was worth driving it back, a good first road trip.