I've also bought a fair number of things on Ebay, the largest being a Ford LN8000 truck with hydraulic boom. It was substantially mis-represented, but the buyer made it up. The most successful trade I've made on Ebay was for a $10.00 sailboat ratchet block. Cheap enough that if it was no good you could throw it away and mark it down to experience. A car that can cost you a lot of money, or crash on you, doesn't fit that description. Unless a seller agrees that the deal is contingent on inspection after the auction closes, then I don't bother. It's impossible to bid intelligently on cars in FL, TX, CA, unless you own an airline.
This is a fairly big deal for me, because in northern New England (Maine), cars rust out pretty quickly. For a Mercedes, it's about ten years to when the paint begins to blister along the panel joints. This means that if I'm going to find a good, reliable ten-year old car, it's essential to travel.
So far, that's meant Philadelphia-Washington, because it's pretty easy to travel there by train, and I have a brother in law who lives there and will lend me a car. I keep looking at all the ads for Mercedes and Lexus cars on Craigslist in Dallas, and think that it might be worth flying down there to buy a car. Better do it quick, before airline tickets go through the roof.
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