Buying and Selling Vehicles - autos on ebay

what do u think about the idea of canvassing or maybe buying cars from ebay.. do you think it's ok or safe? let me know

I asked myself the same question. I then drove some vans at small car lots to get an idea of what condition an auction car would be in. I also drove a couple at the Honda dealer. With out a doubt the vans at the Honda dealer were better. They were smooth and drove nicer. On top of that the one I bought had all the maintenance done at the dealer and they had the records. On top of that I did some hard negotiation and got them to take about 750 dollars over what a similar Auto on ebay was selling for. Plus I wrote it in the contract i could return it for any reason within three days for a full refund no cost to me. It has been a great car and I think I did better that ebay considering there was not shipping. I think there are good cars on ebay but go to the dealers first and do some hard negotiation then you will know for sure.

It's like anything else you buy on ebay, both good and bad. Several years ago we bought a tow truck (rollback) from a guy in Oklahoma via ebay. My business partner then flew out there and brought it back. We did not have to put up any money until he got there and checked it out and it ended up being a good deal.

Just reading the auto listings on EBay can be entertaining -

Look at some of the collector, custome, exotic, classic, foreign or rare cars. Many of the have dozens of detailed professional photos of everything from different angles. As an example, you may even be able to see the bottom of a brake pedal on an old Rolls Royce.

There are hundreds of these type of cars that are for sale, but the reserve might be pretty high.

Just enter a brand name and you will be surprised.

Dick

they have a deal where you can have a local mechanic check it out .Ive known several people who where happy with their eBay auto purchases.

you can also search on eBay for auctions within a distance range of you . we did that last time we where looking for a car

we searched auctions within 75 miles and inspected the cars we where interested in personally before bidding

we wound getting a car elsewhere but it is a option.

my son found a BMW online from auto trader he liked , hes in Orlando , car was in Brownsville TX , he hired a mechanic in Brownsville to look at it , took a bus from Orlando to Brownsville (with 6k cash strapped to his leg :rolleyes: )(but hey hes a collage student )

inspected the car ,drove it home and its worked out great for him

My Dad has bought 2 cars on Ebay recently and he also did the "local mechanic" thing. He did all his price/quality research locally. He lives in Wisconsin and flew down to Florida for a Toyota Avalon in 2006 and to Texas for a Toyota Highlander this year. He drove both vehicles home and there were no problems. It was great for him to buy cars that don't get exposed to as much snow/ice/salt like in the midwest. Hope you have as good an experience.:D

The local mechanic deal is good.
I also use Carfax to check a car out.
Ebay or private.
Gives you pretty good detail as to mileage, any service done to it.
Recalls on it.
Wrecks it has been involved in, etc.