the_boy

I'm just wondering if anyone has done it before?

There's a car become available that's exactly what I'm looking for but I don't have enough time to go down and see it (173 miles) or enough time to arrange an independent inspection. The car has lowish miles and a claimed full Manufacturer's service history. The car is a little bit high performance so there are some expensive bits that can go wrong.

The pictures both internal and external look great but we know how misleading these can be.

It's also HPI clear according to the owner.

I did make a bid the other day and although I as gazzumped there is still a couple of days left before the end. I reckon it will hit about £8000
My question is would I be crazy to bid again on something I've never seen (bearing in mind I'm not made of money.) It's a car I've been looking for quite some time and they don't come up very often. I'm prepeared to spend some money on it if I got it having a local inspection / check-up etc

If it doesn't have full service history etc when I get there I can always walk away can't I?
And although it's a private seller the car must not be dangerous?

I also don't want to waste cash getting it HPI checked unless I've managed to get it. That should be OK too since he claims on his advert that it is definately clear.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

^OPM^

I brought my current car of ebay-but it was localish to me-so i went and viewed/ test drove etc before deciding to buy.


I wouldn't buy any car without viewing and driving regardless of value.

Karl-AL

I bought a 23k Bmw X5 off ebay and everything was as decribed in the listing and the car was fine.
If you want the car just bid on it, and if you win the auction, and it is not as discribed in the listing when you HPI it or go to pick it up just walk away, i know you would of had a wasted journey, but thats just how it goes sometimes when buying things off ebay you are taking a chance on the guy being honest.

RobEvo5

iTrader: (9)

I have brought a few cars from flee-bay over the years. Generally all bad experiences for one reason or another. Some of which I walked away on the day after travelling long distances, and others I was suckered in purchasing as I didn't fancy the train drive home and thought I could make good. Only to later realise I should have walked away.

Generally you can spot the dodgy sellers. Adverts that are lacking in pictures and finite detail are hidding something. Nearly all second hand cars have some niggle or other and should be detailed in the advert. Any car claiming no faults,scratches,mechanical niggles I would be wary of.

Younger normal cars, that have full dealer history are probably OK. In my experience it always tends to be cars that are a bit special or older that seems to have problems.

As said above though, if the car is cheap enough and its what you want, if you arrive and its not as described then walk way - Don't even think about taking it, if thinking you can sort out what ever issues there may be it- The issues you spotted on the day are likely to just be the tip of the iceburg.

I would now personally pay the extra for an example thats nearer and one that I can look at and drive. If your buying private and local, you will still do much better than a trade forecourt.

The old saying = 'you getting nothing in life for free' is largely correct.

Adidas

Likewise, I bought my last but 1 off Ebay. Guy lived near to work, so I popped around and viewed it first.

I'd never buy a car just on the owners own description

sbk1972

Snap, I brought a car from the pics, as it was miles away. Had it delivered, turned out to be a pile of ****e! Spent £££ trying to sort the problems, to then sell it for a loss.

90% of car solds on ebay have problems and the owners selling them choose ebay becuase of the " you bid / you buy " policy. However, Ive gone to a car IVe brought, looked at it, decided I didnt want it, telling the owner that if you want the money, you will have to pull it out of my dead fingers ! Negative feedback ? hahaahah bollox to that, just create a new account.

Best way to see ebay motors, is to consider everything as iffy. Not so bad if your spending £1K tops, but £8K ?? Mmmmm I think I would pay more, go local, probably saving you money in the long run.

SBK

daves_scooby

when i was looking for mine i looked at loads on ebay, but at the time a mate of mine worked for autotrader doin hpi so i give him the reg of about 5 that i was interested in and all come back with either being in a crash/wrong miles/still owing finance. to be honest mate i would not even bother unless you hpi first after all its better to waste £30 ish than 8k plus. and dont go by the owners hpi, have it done yourself.

fatherpierre

I've bought 70+ motors on ebay, from an £80 cavalier to a £22k Merc - sold most of them that way too.

I've never had a problem. As long as you're wise as to what you're buying and don't take any sily risks then it's a good way of getting a bargain.

You have the option (as mentioned above) to walk away if it's not 100% as decribed.

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

Don't forget you can question the owner via ebay and keep the responses (if he doesn't reply leave alone i'd say). Then if it isn't exactly as described you can always get any bad feedback pulled as you'll have all the evidence via ebay.

Also if you win a HPI report via ebay is just six quid or something as long as he has filled all the details in, if he hasn't ask him if he can....

5t.

MK5

i bought my current car via Ebay over 2 years ago.

i bought her without seeing her as she was 300 miles away. a friend viewed her for me (and stored her for 2 months after my purchase) and gave me his opinion

I knew that if she was cr@p i could easily get my money back in parts.

turned out she wasn't - not bad for a car that is 25 years old...

the_boy

Cheers for the replies guys.

Decided to go for it and bought it last night. 1995 E34 M5

Car looks mint in the pictures / judging by the description.
Ran a HPI check in it
Phoned BMW UK and got the service history and then phoned up the last 3 dealers for more information. Seems to check out.

I've decided that it's not too much of a risk. I got the car cheaper than I expected and I could probably get my money back in parts if something went wrong.

However, if the car is not as described when I get there or there is something not right then I will walk away. I'd rather take the hit on my account than pay over the odds for a shed.

Don't get me wrong if the car's decent enough I'll honour it, after all I definately want the car which was why I bid in the first place.

Fingers crossed for Sunday pick-up!

fatherpierre

Got the link? Always fancied an old M5.

You can always use any faults not listed in the ad to knock a few quid off the price - or walk.

CrisPDuk

I bought this on ebay;



Sight unseen from a guy in Richmond (Surrey) and went down on the train to collect it all the way from Manchester. for eighteen months it was the best car I have ever owned, and I only sold it (via ebay) because I moved out here.
It even managed a trip all the way down to just outside Hastings and back in a day (on a single tank of diesel), to collect this;



Another sight unseen ebay purchase that I still own and am pleased as punch with

The key is correspondence, and plenty of it, both sellers were more than happy to provide me with whatever information and photographs I requested, and neither held back when asked about faults

fatherpierre

Nice looking 124. Cheap as chips and take massive abuse

Nash_Impreza

I bought a Toyota MR2 1991 off ebay - no service history at all, no receipts, just Log book and old MOT's

I won the auction for £820!! i was over the moon....went to collect it, all was as it should be, till i tested the flip up headlights....only one popped up, so i said to the seller "you didnt mention this" so he gave me £20 back! which i was absolutely fine with.

i had that car for close to 3 years and sold it with 170,000 miles on the clock and it had not had any mechnical failures at all in the time i owned it.

i sold it on for £1220

so you can get some absolute bargains on ebay.

my advice is this...

If your paying big money for a car - dont go and view it alone, take someone with you

Dont view in a random location like a pub carpark or "on the corner next to the chippy" always demand a home address.

If possible, avoid taking cash, use Bankers Drafts (they are as good as cash and are only payable to the name on the front).

And it's their job to sell, not your job to buy! if you turn up and it really is a **** box then politely tell them that unfortunately it's not for you and you wont be buying it today, sorry, negative feedback is not that bad, it's an honest reflection of a sale's outcome.