Regarding buying a car on Ebay - that's probably the best option for some people who are very specific in what exactly they want.

What other option is out there for us who live in the snow/salt/rust regions of the country...?

It's a risk, sure. But I've looked at a lot of cars for sale in my area - and the selection is extremely limited. Generally, everything that I've looked at within 500 miles of my house is all rusty...

So for me (and a lot of other folks I imagine), buying on Ebay and then catching a flight "south" is about the only way to do it. Catching a flight to "go look" at a car isn't a realistic option (for me, anyway).

So for me to take the time and $$$ to get on an airplane and go look at a car - I have to be darn near 100% certain it's a car that I'm going to buy. "Winning" it on Ebay gets me closer to that degree of certainty.

- Patrick

PS - my family thinks I must be a little bit nuts for considering buying a car "over the internet", but what the heck? They already think I'm nuts for driving a car with a diesel engine anyway