Question was asked earlier what one should do when purchasing a car on ebay to insure they're not getting duped. Well my suggestion would be to purchase the car via escrow services offered by Ebay. Basically the buyer sends the amount owed to the escrow service and the seller sends the title to the escrow service. The seller then has the car shipped to the buyer and the buyer has a chance to look the car over in person. If the car is not as represented the buyer at his/her own expense ships the car back to the seller and cancels the deal. If the car is as represented the escrow company releases funds/title to the appropriate person. Charge for this transaction is typically .89% of transaction amount. If a seller is not willing to do this caveat emptor. The buyer can also come to an agreement with the seller offline and purchase the car outside of Ebay after a proper PPI, again if the seller doesn't want to do this caveat emptor.

Sometimes the reason something looks like a good deal is an underlying problem not easily visible through digital pictures or description.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Bern, that's what i thought too, but he only denied it verbally,
although i think his description rules out accidents. Then again
like somebody pointed out, that might just be my opinion but not
a judges opinion.

The laywer is on it and hopefully we will get a response soon,
might be some days since there is a new hurricane coming in FL.
But I can't let this go, the car is in such a bad condition, I don't
really care if I have to spend money to set it straight.

oh, forgot to mention when confronted the seller said something
along the lines of "I have no idea" or / and " I don't know anything about that"
It's pretty obvious to me that I need to take it to court, although
the laywer wants to touch base with him first.

placo1 - I think escrow is probably the way to go on Ebay, personally
I wouldn't buy anything long distance though. Although I did
I thought my dad would catch the bad apple.

I saw a case on TV exactly like yours.

Young kid buys a used car. She has her boyfriend's father (a mechanic) check out the car before buying (he test drives it and checks it out at the seller's house...doesn't take it to a shop for complete inspection). After she buys the car, her attempt to register the car fails. She is instructed to to fix all kinds of stuff just to get it registered and on the road.

I thought the kid would win the case.

Judge ruled in favor of the crook/selller
1. Someone came to view the car before buying (same as in your case)
2. Buyers beware...according to the judge when buying a used car from a private owner (vs a dealer) you're buying something AS-IS unless you get something in writing.

My advice is to sell the car if you're that unhappy. Better to take a small loss than to have a car you don't like.

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JR
1986 Gold 300E 4Dr automatic

Right it's about the same situation, I might have the upperhand with
his description on Ebay, which is in writing and I believe it's legally
binding.

See ->
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2486430909&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

That's good info, hopefully others can learn from my mistake

Thanks,

"I GUARANTEE THE CONDITION OF THIS CAR."

Yep, you got him. You should win your Lawsuit just on that statement alone in the seller's ebay description. Although you'll have to get a body shop to put in writing that the chasis is bent (hence the car is "defective").

Try to get a refund first, if he doesn't want to work with you then let him know you plan on taking him to small claims court. I'm sure soon after he recieves his suboena he'll try to settle out of court. It's too much of a hassle taking time off of work to go to court. He'd be better off just giving your money back they try to sell the car again.

Let us know how everything works out.

Good Luck.

jrmd01@yahoo.com

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JR
1986 Gold 300E 4Dr automatic

at www.FTC.gov there is an excellent section on automobile purchasing.

Really good info for used or new or service contracts