Buying on E-bay

[Sams '66]

Has anyone bought a car there? How did you handle it, inspect it, etc.? What were your experiences?

I bought my 66 on EBay......worked out great!........I did get a great deal!payed $29900.00........was just offered $47000.00......my wife SELL IT!....lol. no way, not yet anyway.......I still have a burn for a big block

 

[wiscane]

I bought my 65 Vette off Ebay from a dealer in PA. All I can say is inspect the car before you send money. I didn't. My car was nothing as presented on Ebay. It turned out to be a good deal for me .... not thanks to the seller. Everything turned out fine. I have bought a lot of trim parts off ebay. You need to know what the retail cost is before bidding. I'm seen many used repro parts sell for more then new!!!

 

[dlrshort]

wiscane,
what made it a good deal, and did the seller misrepresent the car???

Dave S.

 

[wiscane]

It was what the seller(dealer) didn't say! For instance.... he mentioned the car did not have the correct year seats. He failed to mention that the entire interior was wrong! You couldn't tell from the photo. A lot of other missing parts. The dealer mentioned that the cars 65k miles was not documented.
What saved the day ... I found a scrap of paper with the old owners name. He had a lot of the missing parts .... AND ... he sent me documents that showed he owned the car for thirty years and the mileage was correct. If the dealer had been able to get those parts and the documents to show the mileage was accurate AND the engine had just been rebuilt (matching)... I am sure he would have charged an extra 10- 15 K. IT WAS JUST LUCK ... I found that little piece of paper when I cleaned under the seats

 

[atmmac]

i bought my 94 camaro winter beater off of ebay. Worked out awesome i got a great deal and just had to drive for 30 minutes to pick it up. Havent taken to a mechanic or anything it runs flawlessly. I havent even had it inspected since his sticker was good till march!!

-Andy

 

[wiscane]

That's great! I'm glad it worked for you. The problem is ...as the cars you buy get older, their is more of a chance things can be missing or wrong. That's just the nature of the beast!!

 

[wiscane]

Andy... By the way ... how's the weather in Mass. I just came in from outside where I was washing my car !!!

 

[dlrshort]

You guys in the south and west constantly rub it in about the sh----weather here in the north!!!

 

[atmmac]

Andy... By the way ... how's the weather in Mass. I just came in from outside where I was washing my car !!!

Thats low my car hasnt been washed since december its been sitting under a cover in my garage since.... The weather sucks we are getting a foot of snow tonight!

-Andy

 

[wiscane]

I know how it is.... I just moved to Florida in the last year from the Chicago area!

 

[firstgear]

couple of years ago I bought a 2000 BMW Z3 M roadster from a guy in Denver. I really wanted the car...so I was trying to think how to get it checked out since I live in Ohio.....turns out my sister has a good friend who has a nephew that was in diesel school that would check it out for me. I got a 3 PAGE typed summary of the car from him stating the car was as advertised.


Next was how to do the money....I was terrified of getting stung. So I got a national bank that was in ohio and in Colorado to do the financing. Ohio banks usually only deal with Ohio titles so I had to get past that. His car was financed through a credit union. With that sorted out, took some frequent flyer miles got on a plane and the guy I bought the car from was on vacation and had his partner pick me up at the airport. Took me over to his house opened the garage and there it was with a huge green bow on it.

Got in it.....and headed home......at one point I was doing 82mph coming out of Colorado with the top down and saw some headlights coming up my backside VERY VERY fast, so I moved over and a M3 went by me like I was standing still. I hit the gas....got up to 130mph and never did catch up with that M3.....but that car sure scooted! Oh, by the way, the owner let me use his plate to get home. I later mailed it back!

Bought a 2001 Corvette on Ebay from a dealer in Dallas. This time I took a certified check for the whole amount and flew down again on frequent flyer miles. Figuring if I didnt like the car, I would just walk away form the deal....turned out the car was supposed to have 21,000 miles on it....but when I got in it, they had read the odometer wrong, it was 21,000 km, or about 14,000 miles....my lucky day! Drove the car home, they provided a Texas temporary tag.

Sold the BMW Z3M on Ebay to a guy from Dallas....he had to get financing and sent me a $500 deposit. Had already tried to sell it in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, with no luck, not even a phone call over a month! It got sorted out and his bank paid off the loan. We had an agreed upon amount for the sale and he brought CASH with him to pay the difference from the loan and sale price. IT was about $3k.

I picked him up at the airport, took him over to my house....about 80 miles away and he drove home with my plates. He later mailed them back to me.

So....I am not against buying or selling on Ebay for cars....but you have to protect yourself....and be preapred to walk away from a deal if you get there and it isn't what it is supposed to be!

 

[dlrshort]

Have any of you noticed how few cars ever reach their selling reserve? It seems that either people are very skeptical of how cars are presented or it is a buyer's market on Ebay. The only cars that sell on the high side are documented low production or special cars.

 

[Eric]

Have any of you noticed how few cars ever reach their selling reserve? It seems that either people are very skeptical of how cars are presented or it is a buyer's market on Ebay. The only cars that sell on the high side are documented low production or special cars.

That does seem to be the case on many of the collectible types of cars. The newer run of the mill type cars tend to sell though. - Eric

 

[72LT-ONE]

E-Bay Buy

Although I did not buy my car on E-Bay I did purchase it online. It's was a '72 Corvette Roadster, LT-1, 4-speed w/AC. Trust me, it was one of the most nerve wracking experiences I have ever had. If you plan to do so, I suggest you find the vehicle you like and hire an appraiser/agent to act as a go between. The cost is not prohibitive ($400-$600) but if you cannot check it out yourself, this is the way to go. Of course this all depends on how much you are going to spend for the car. In my case, I found the car I wanted and then hired a gentleman by the name of Gary. The car I found was located in Georgia and I am in California. He had represented the car with an unbiased opinion and was quite knowlegable when it came to Corvettes. He had also bargained the price!! When the car arrived it was exactly as he had stated. A 1972 LT-1 survivor! Sure, it needed work, but he had explained this over the phone as he was inspecting the car. Even with a agent, there are going to be differences in what you think of the car and what they think. Make sure they get plenty of pictures. Along with checking out the car he was very instrumental in arranging shipping. This may be more of a headache than you think. The company I chose was a "reputable" transporter, but you could have fooled me. They treated me as though they were doing me a favor instead of acting like an employee, which is what they were. Be careful of who you choose. If you have enough cash, have the car shipped on a single car enclosed carrier instead of a multicar transport. This would have cost me another $400.00 but it would have been worth it. When all was said and done, I have my 72 Corvette Roadster, a few more gray hairs, and I am loving every minute of it!!


Michael

 

[dlrshort]

Here's a question for E-bay car sellers. Why sell on E-bay? I went through all the midyears for sale and all the late model Z06's. Not one of the cars in those catagories which has a reserve had the reserve met! Not all were what I would call outstanding cars, but some looked worth owning at what I thought were reasonable reserves. For those of you who have followed corvette sales on E-bay for a long time now, has this always been the trend? Does anybody know what percentage of cars are listed are sold?

 

[wiscane]

I think the sales and prices for Corvettes on Ebay is seasonal. I suspect as Spring approaches prices/sales will spring up also! ...Ed

 

[Rain]

of course Ebay is the cheapest way to let the entire globe know you have something for sale.
Just becuase it doesnt reach its reserve, doesnt mean it doesnt sell off line.

 

[dlrshort]

I would guess that more gets sold off line than online.

 

[Rain]

In high dollar cars, Id say yes.

Several CAC members have indeed picked uptheir vettes off of Ebay.
So some auctions do meet reserve.

I would guess that more gets sold off line than online.

 

[Denney]

The last item I bought was a turn signal lever for a '65/66, it was a GM replacement in original GM sealed wrapper. Only paid $6.00 for it, turned out to be a piece of crap like a lot of the GM replacement pieces for these earlier cars. It was apparently made in Mexico or someplace, was stained and almost rusty (even though it was in a sealed unopened clear plastic pack), and didn't have the turn signal knob. (Made like a '63 where a plastic knob is to be placed on the end). The picture shown on the seller's site didn't display the product well (still in the wrapper) and oriented in such a manner I believe, so as to purposely conceal the fact that the lever had no knob on the end. They are still on E-bay if you wish to see what I mean. Only cost me $6.00, so it was a cheap lesson, could have been much more!! So, caution is the watchword . . .rlm :cool

Oh crud, I bought one of them for $6 too. Haven't received it yet but now I expect the worst...ad