Did you buy a car though ebay before and what was your expereince? Did you have to use there auction insurance protection program and if so, how did it work out?

Would you do it again?

I will reveal later on why I am posting this message (to minimize bias etc.)

Yes,
I have bought and sold over Ebay, no problems. The vehicle that I bought was in N.C. , I made sure deal was to be finished after complete satisfaction of inspection, Drove up to N.C., looked at what I had won, liked it, towed it home. Sold another vehicle over Ebay to a buyer in Greenville S.C. (approx. 250 miles north of Chas.). He had it towed from my house to his shop in town for inspection. My point it is, just don't buy sight unseen, good luck.

Bought 4 cars on eBay.

1- 2000 Camry from NC
2- 1994 E320 from TX
3- 2000 E320 from TX
4- 1999 C280 Sport from TX

Bought them all sight unseen, non inspected.
Had them all trucked out to California.

Would I do it again? Yes!

Just deal with trusted sellers.

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2003 E55 AMG
2007 FJ Cruiser

Bought my '72 over E-bay. The dealer was very honest and the transaction went smoothly. I bought the car site unseen, but had lot's of converstations with the seller. Even when I went to trailer the car home, the seller did not enforce the fact that I had to purchase the vehicle; he let me look at the car and then decide.

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1992 500SEL 25K
1995 E320 40K
1995 SL600 120K
2002 JX8 Sport 43K
2005 Volvo S40 95K
2006 Isuzu NPR 304K (Frankencamper)
2007 Crown Victoria 150K
2014 Smart Electric 20K

YES. why? the exact MB i wanted well under market value.
this was a w202 to replace my W124 that was hit and totaled.

what i did was secure my bid with seller with a refundable deposit. arrived to inspect car, took the car to put on rack for through inspection. seller (high-end import indy) had the few items i didnt like repaired on the spot. went back to office and signed over bank draft and left with car and title. they sell almost exclusively on ebay. MB, BMW, porsche, fer, lex, etc.

items that helped me decide: all maint records, carfax, extensive photos, accurate description, ebay feedback, inspection.

smiled all the way home, approx 700 miles.

note- i am in atlanta if anyone ever needs me to take a quick look at a car for sale in the area as a 1st evaluation for you. i could tell you if you should take your money and run, or if i thought the car was worthy of further professional inspection.

I've had mixed results, but would still buy a car from Ebay again. Most of my problems have been from being impatient and buying vehicles that I should have passed by.

What I've bought:

1982 Volkswagen Rabbit TD. - Timing belt bad, neither me or seller was aware of this, and car died catastrophically.

1980 Mercedes 240D. - Car itself was excellent except for huge appetite for oil.

1975 Mercedes 240D. - Seller sold as project car, and he wasn't kidding.

1980 Mercedes 240D. - Rough looking, but ran great. Threw harmonic balancer a couple of months later, and died.

2000 Daewoo Lanos SX. Almost brand new car, and by far the best Ebay find I've ever seen and snatched up.

With anything Ebay, buyer should always beware, look at seller feedback, and try to go look at the car if at all possible.

ThrillBilly, was that Schmitt in St. Louis? They have a lot of nice cars, but they got reamed for their business practices on Rennlist (the Porsche list), many complaints.

Everything you see in my signature was an EBay car.

In all cases they were within 25 miles of where I work or live, and I inspected all of them (and took a test ride in them) before actually paying. There was also a GMC pickup truck in Atlanta, that I rode in and inspected before paying - then driving back home.

In addition, I made sure to see the title before paying and matched up the VIN on the title with the VIN on the car.

They were all individual sellers, not used car dealers. Never trust a used car dealer.

Correction: Cindarella was an EBay car on an auction that ended unsuccessfully due to a -3 feedback bidder. So I made an offer.....


Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

wow I'm surprised at how many of you guys bought cars on eBay!

Though you guys bought older models, so we're talking $5k each or so, but in my cases, it was always in 5 digits, therefore a little more scarier!

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2003 E55 AMG
2007 FJ Cruiser

I did buy my 400e on ebay. I think ebay is a great place to "window shop" but unless you can see the car yourself or have it checked out by someone you trust, I WOULDN'T do it.

the saying among car dealer about auctions is:
" not every car at the auction is bad; but every bad car is at the auction"
Knowing that I did buy my 300 sight unseen. The seller had a very high rating. There were several inaccuracies regarding his decription of the car. Which I thought caused the car to get bid up higher than it should have. I told the seller I was willing to keep the car but he needed to make up for the discrepancies or I would have to give the transaction an negative rating. He refunded $200.00 and after all was said and done I ended up with a very descent driver for under 2K.
You need to keep your eyes open and deal only with reputable people if you cant go and see the car for yourself.

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Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

I bought a car off ebay and the seller was pretty much a newbie and not trustworthy. Due to final exams and the fact hes over a 1000 miles away, it wasnt possible for me to examine the car in person prior to making the bid.

The guy that sold the car took pictures of all the good things but negelected to mention the bad things and took the pictures at an angle so that i couldnt see the bad things. Like holes in the carpet, cracks in the leather, stuff like this...

Then when i got the car here, i emailed and called him and he tried to bull**** his way out of it saying its normal wear and tear and that it wasnt his car so he didnt know, etc.

Ebay didnt do squat for me because they have such a restrictions list. So cosmetics is not covered, normal wear and tear is not covered and if it is, it has to be 50% of the purchase price. Rust over a 10 year old car is not covered, etc.

So if i wanted to screw somebody on ebay, i can sell a car with holes all over the carpets (and not mention it or take pics of it) and get away with it. I could buy a car thats older than 10 years and has rust all over it, and keep my mouth shut and could get away with it. Kind of like what the bastard did to me, lol.

I dont think that is very fair how there policy is setup. They said, that i could give the guy a negative feedback. Big deal, i have over 10 grand in damages that should have been mentioned but were not. A couple months ago i was pretty pissed and wanted to sue the guy, but now my temper has calmed down and i decided to just spring the money out of my pocket.

BTW, i live in st.louis so if anybody wants me to look at a car here, i can. And yes i know of schmitt.

I found my '85 300D on ebay and the seller lived about 4 miles away from me. Went over and took a look at the car, we agreed on a price and he pulled the ad and sold it to me.

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Jim