Buying a car on Ebay

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Old 05-13-2009, 03:41 PM
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Buying a car on Ebay

IF I were buying a car on Ebay, would you guys have any suggestions for me?

Sometimes I consider the fact that "why isnt the car selling normally or locally there must be something wrong with it so its on ebay?"

I'm just kinda weary of doing this, but the deals are awesome!

I had a friend pay for a third party inspection service, and they did it for 200 bucks and that was pretty nice I guess. I wouldn't be shipping it either, I would pay the deposit, then go pick it up and pay the balance then. I was told to do it this way in case there was something severely wrong with the car at least all I would lose would be the deposit *and just some negative feedback.

Thanks guys

Oh and btw...I'm looking for a 2003-2004 G35...
Old 05-13-2009, 06:41 PM
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The fact that it's on eBay means nothing. There are people who own and run their own businesses on eBay buying and selling cars exclusively. A lot of dealers also sell cars on eBay as it's a way to reach a much broader audience.

I've personally have bought and sold cars (and one motorcycle, although technically I found the bike on the forum and just had the guy create an eBay Buy It Now to protect me) on eBay and I've never had a problem.

Especially if it's local. You can go check it out like a regular transaction, then have it listed on eBay for added protection.

If it already passed inspection you should be ready to go!!
Old 05-13-2009, 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by juniorbean
The fact that it's on eBay means nothing. There are people who own and run their own businesses on eBay buying and selling cars exclusively. A lot of dealers also sell cars on eBay as it's a way to reach a much broader audience.

I've personally have bought and sold cars (and one motorcycle, although technically I found the bike on the forum and just had the guy create an eBay Buy It Now to protect me) on eBay and I've never had a problem.

Especially if it's local. You can go check it out like a regular transaction, then have it listed on eBay for added protection.

If it already passed inspection you should be ready to go!!


When you say "if its already passed inspection" are you referring to the particular state's mandatory inspection? or the inspection by the seller's mechanic?

I just know, a lot of scams are out there, promising a "clean car fax" and inspection by their mechanic but when you go check it out theres definite previous accident damage..
Old 05-14-2009, 07:59 AM
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we bought a lexus lx470 on ebay... amazing deal. it had a long scratch, a bit of torn leather and a chrome trip a little messed up but it was resolved by the people we bought it from... make sure where you buy it is at least somewhat local... id advise checking out the car first. also, it wasnt listed, but there was some aftermarket items such as strobes and xm radio harness that wasnt listen and i could tell they were there before.

some lights were out in the interior, etc those are the things often overlooked by online car sellers. if you take that into account, you should get a good deal
Old 05-14-2009, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by thevikas87
When you say "if its already passed inspection" are you referring to the particular state's mandatory inspection? or the inspection by the seller's mechanic?

I just know, a lot of scams are out there, promising a "clean car fax" and inspection by their mechanic but when you go check it out theres definite previous accident damage..
You said you already had an inspection...
Originally Posted by thevikas87
I had a friend pay for a third party inspection service, and they did it for 200 bucks and that was pretty nice I guess.
Old 05-14-2009, 09:08 AM
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Originally Posted by thevikas87
IF I were buying a car on Ebay, would you guys have any suggestions for me?

I'm just kinda weary of doing this, but the deals are awesome!

Oh and btw...I'm looking for a 2003-2004 G35...
Why are you weary? Is you clicking finger getting tired?
Old 05-14-2009, 11:24 AM
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Originally Posted by juniorbean
You said you already had an inspection...
oops! Thats my fault, I should have clarified.

When my friend bought HIS car off of ebay, he had an inspection done!

it cost him $200, but I guess it was good for peace of mind
Old 05-14-2009, 11:40 AM
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^ Ahh, gotcha.

When buying an auto on eBay first thing I do is look at the auction, the pictures, and the description. The more detailed those are... the less he's trying to hide.

The next thing I look at... and probably the biggest thing in my mind is the feedback. If he has a lot of feedback with a very high positive number, that's usually a good sign. I then go through and read most of the feedback to see what other people who have purchased a car from this person had to say. Are they very excited giving great reviews, just giving general feedback, any negatives and if so, what was it about and how did they resolve it, and so on. Someone who has a feedback of say 1000 and has a 99% positive rating and sells all cars is usually a good person to buy from. Someone who has a feedback of 100 and has a 92% feedback rating is someone you would likely want to avoid.
Old 05-14-2009, 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Acuraluvr
we bought a lexus lx470 on ebay... amazing deal. it had a long scratch, a bit of torn leather and a chrome trip a little messed up but it was resolved by the people we bought it from... make sure where you buy it is at least somewhat local... id advise checking out the car first. also, it wasnt listed, but there was some aftermarket items such as strobes and xm radio harness that wasnt listen and i could tell they were there before.

some lights were out in the interior, etc those are the things often overlooked by online car sellers. if you take that into account, you should get a good deal
I agree, I'm going to need to look into cars that are at least somewhat local. I think the farthest I would really like to go would be about 300 miles...I still need to sell the CLS and am going through that process right now
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