Buyers Beware Of This Car.....ebay - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

kamil · #1 10-01-2004, 03:26 AM

Hey...

This car looks really good and I was curious to see how much it was going to go for. Someone finally decided to bid on this car so I figured to check what the bidder was all about. I clicked on the "ME" icon so I can see where this person is from. This girl is from EDMUNDS, OKLAHOMA which is the same town that the seller is from. It can be a coincidence but not likely. Nobody was bidding on this car for a few days since the price is set to 5,999.00 so the seller is trying to attract buyers by showing that this vehicle is desireable.
Check it out for yourself...

EBAY 300D

sixto · #2 10-01-2004, 04:02 AM

You might be reading too much into it. I would think many eBay cars sell locally. How many people trust a long distance transaction?

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

bill murrow · #3 10-01-2004, 08:39 AM

Well, I don't know if it's a bogus bid or not but that surely is a nice car and I don't think the seller is trying to hide anything but thats hard to tell for sure.

Did you notice the tripometer reads 195 and the fuel gauge reads 1/4 tank? Not very good mileage or they don't bother setting the trip when they filled 'er up.

What a super clean engine bay. I wonder if the PS hoses were replaced recently? The close up makes them look brand new. No big deal, just an observation....The only thing I can see to pick at is the price but I guess we all want a car like that for $1000

I'm sure some other members will find things-lots of well trained eyes here.

Cheers,

Bill

TX76513 · #4 10-01-2004, 08:50 AM

Silver Star (the seller) has quite a few cars on Ebay over the years - Their feedback looks pretty good - but by no means a substitute for a personal inspection.

oldnavy · #5 10-01-2004, 10:39 AM

This car was not bid on the last 10 day listing. It is I believe on at least its third listing, because I sent it to a local friend who has since bought another car and he had already seen it the listing a week or so before I first saw the car. I think the car is just about $2000 too $2500 over priced. I send a private offer for a more realistic price and never had the email answered.

d.delano · #6 10-01-2004, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldnavy

I send a private offer for a more realistic price and never had the email answered.

That's because it's against Ebay rules to make offers like that. You have to win the car by bidding just like anything else. There is a fee and a process to go through to list a car on Ebay, and if your offer wasn't sufficient to offset all the trouble it took to list it AND make a few bucks off of it (the seller is entitled to a profit, after all this is the USA) then you shouldn't be surprised that there was no response to your offer. Furthermore, the asking prices for these cars are subjective to their respective condition and just how badly somebody wants them as you are well aware.
I believe that a car that has been maintained like this one is worth the asking price. There aren't very many good ones around. You look at these good ones and you think 'boy I'd like to have that' but you think you ought to be able to steal it from whoever is selling it. That's not right. It took a lot of TLC to keep that car in that kind of shape, so if you want one like that be prepared to pay for it.

nglitz · #7 10-01-2004, 11:37 AM

I bought a Merc through eBay. The auction caught my eye & I thought the pictures had a familiar background. I found he was only 4 miles from my house & went to look at the car. I'd much rather buy a car that I could kick the tires on.

Auctions that start out too high typically don't attract too many bidders, but I prefer that approach to the inscrutable "reserve" routine.

Bidding,

Habanero · #8 10-01-2004, 11:55 AM

As far as I know Silver Star has a pretty good reputation with local MB'ers. I talked with them about doing the head on my SDL and they were really nice and straight-forward. Unfortunately they quoted me a grand over what the place I ended up taking it to quoted.

And by the way, it is EDMOND, not EDMUNDS.

oldnavy · #9 10-01-2004, 12:09 PM

My email was about contacting me after the 10 day period was up. He didn't do that, he just renewed and started over. And as I said this is probably his 3rd 10 day run without bidders, unless someone bid on the car yesterday. I haven't checked today and don't intend to check. Car is not worth near that $$$$ to me.

bill murrow · #10 10-01-2004, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d.delano

That's because it's against Ebay rules to make offers like that. You have to win the car by bidding just like anything else.

I believe that a car that has been maintained like this one is worth the asking price. There aren't very many good ones around. You look at these good ones and you think 'boy I'd like to have that' but you think you ought to be able to steal it from whoever is selling it. That's not right. It took a lot of TLC to keep that car in that kind of shape, so if you want one like that be prepared to pay for it.

Actually if you read the terms of the auction most reserve the right to cancel the sale at any time. The terms are set by the seller. Sure, Ebay has its own guidelines but the seller usually reserves the right to cancel due to a local sale, the seller decides to sell to the current high bidder, etc. I've even seen auctions canceled "due to an error in the listing". I have bought cars after the sale had ended and nobody bid due to the high "buy it now" price. I got one a year ago with a buy it now of $5600 for $3200.

Boy, your second paragraph is right on target. Finding a great example is really tough and auctions are all about how bad you want it and how deep your pockets are.

Cheers,

Bill

d.delano · #11 10-01-2004, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldnavy

My email was about contacting me after the 10 day period was up. He didn't do that, he just renewed and started over. And as I said this is probably his 3rd 10 day run without bidders, unless someone bid on the car yesterday. I haven't checked today and don't intend to check. Car is not worth near that $$$$ to me.

Fair enough. It is worth that to me. Someday the ridiculously low value on these cars will go up. After all they are only like the coolest cars on earth, besides the 1973 Porsche 911S Targa 2.4 CIS w/ 915 transmission, Irish Green.
Seller is exercising his prerogative to relist the car in the event that the auction does not bring a satisfactory price. It is a high price I will agree, but for a car like that I'd seriously have to fight the temptation. Seems like a really good one. So good that I'm feeling bad about mine now that I've seen this one. Nice cream color too. Schpankity. If it were mine it wouldn't even be for sale, but if I were to sell it I'd ask 7k at the very least. It likely would not sell at that price at first, and if not I'd be more than happy to keep it until somebody coughed up the correct amount of dough. It's simple- you want the best you pay like the rest.
Hey Old Navy I'll give ya $50 fer yer 240. Whaddya say?

Eskimo · #12 10-01-2004, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamil

Hey...

This car looks really good and I was curious to see how much it was going to go for. Someone finally decided to bid on this car so I figured to check what the bidder was all about. I clicked on the "ME" icon so I can see where this person is from. This girl is from EDMUNDS, OKLAHOMA which is the same town that the seller is from. It can be a coincidence but not likely. Nobody was bidding on this car for a few days since the price is set to 5,999.00 so the seller is trying to attract buyers by showing that this vehicle is desireable.
Check it out for yourself...

EBAY 300D

Kamil,

It's all well and good that you noticed the location of the first bidder. It's all well and good that you mentioned it in this thread. I think that you're way out of line, though, with respect to the certainty with which you state that this is a case of shill bidding. You don't know that, and although it might be so, I don't think you make a very convincing case.

From comments made by others here, and from looking at the seller's history on eBay, it seems that the seller has been around for quite a while, and has done a fair bit of business. You're suggesting that this seller has decided it's worth the risk to engage in shill bidding. This would also mean that the seller is too lazy or stupid to even bother to do a good job of it - couldn't be bothered to arrange for someone to have a bogus account with a different location. Sorry, it's too thin, and I'm not buying it.

You dismiss the possibility that it's a legitimate local bid, as that would be an unlikely "coincidence". Nonsense! Count me among those who would be far more willing to make a serious bid on a car that I had seen in person.

Could there be shill bidding? Sure. Is this a case of it? I don't suspect it here, but I'm certain that neither of us knows. If I don't know something, I'll usually at least qualify my statements. These are real people that you're so casually accusing.

Eskimo · #13 10-01-2004, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nglitz

Auctions that start out too high typically don't attract too many bidders, but I prefer that approach to the inscrutable "reserve" routine.

I agree. I don't sell cars, but I've sold some other stuff, and it didn't take me long to pretty much stop using reserves. I usually stick to stuff I know fairly well, so I have some idea of what I want for it. I may relist several times without dropping the minimum bid. Successful auctions often end with only one bid, which is fine with me.

I often also use a reasonable "Buy it now" price, and have sold a number of items that way. It also encourages some buyers to commit to making the minimum bid. The message there is, "Wait and see if you feel lucky, but don't cry if one of the big kids takes it away."

oldnavy · #14 10-01-2004, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d.delano

Hey Old Navy I'll give ya $50 fer yer 240. Whaddya say?

:p

You only wish. You should see how clean my daily driver is under the hood. Everything still shines and is new looking, that's the linkage, valve cover, aluminum airfilter housing and PS pump. Heck I still have all original glass in the car, including windshield. Did have the original spare, but it was dry rotted. The real kicker is I have an a/c that will give icecream headache in mid summer here when it's a 100F outside.

The only thing that does not work is CC, and that's a super low priority as I don't cruise the interstate.

d.delano · #15 10-01-2004, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldnavy

:p

You only wish. You should see how clean my daily driver is under the hood. Everything still shines and is new looking, that's the linkage, valve cover, aluminum airfilter housing and PS pump. Heck I still have all original glass in the car, including windshield. Did have the original spare, but it was dry rotted. The real kicker is I have an a/c that will give icecream headache in mid summer here when it's a 100F outside.

The only thing that does not work is CC, and that's a super low priority as I don't cruise the interstate.

Your description fits my car also. My car is even the same color as yours. However my CC works flawlessly! Boy wouldn't it be great if yours did.

How about $100?