951vr4

I bought 2 cars from E-Bay recently- 99 saab 93 and 88 944 turbo. The Saab transaction was smooth and was my first big ticket from E-Bay. I felt safe because the seller happened to be local and I had spoken to him over the phone and he had agreed to bring the car to me for a visual inspection if I won the auction. If it was not as described, I was just going to walk away from the deal and risk a negative feedback and even litigation.
The 944 was a different story, the pictures did not show the imperfections that were on the car nor described by the seller. But the car was in Cali and I am in NY, so a took a gamble on it. The car was supposed to be in top running condition, to start right up, engine spin like a top. The car arrived with a dead battery and empty tank, small crack on windshield, both fog light lamps cracked. I guess these are minor inconveniences, but if you are going to spend big bucks, definitely see the car in person, PPI, and high resolution pictures at the least.

jnj911

I love ebay, I have bought every car i have owned on Ebay since 96. The first three were semi local. I was around a 2-3 hour drive. Since then i have bought two in texas and one in colorado. The only trouble i ever go into was one in texas, two days after purchase the fuel pump went out. The 911 I bought in Colorado was great too, i even took the whole family (wife two kids 3,1) and drove back. I always drive the car back. Back to Maryland. The only problem i had with driving the 911 was carbs set for high altitude so it ran rich and started popping around st louis. Either way, ebay is not wal-mart...you cant buy and bitch about a bad purchase if you are buying a car substantial less than you would if bought locally and if you dont like what you buy put it back up for sale or offer it to next bidder so you dont loose anymoney. Also, it is great to sell. I know that there is no market for porsches in my area. I could put mine in paper and it would never have sold. I just put up my 911 last week and sold to a guy in germany. Some people are willing to throw away $1-$5 daily on those stupid scratch off tickets for what $20 every 6months or so if lucky...now that is stupid. When you buy something good or bad you can always resell it and if lucky for money. I have never lost money reselling even after have car for couple years i always resold higher than what paid for.

Good luck Ebay Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!

SolsburyHill

Just purchased my first car on eBay as well as my first Porsche. I was very anxious about the transaction, but I had numerous emails, telephone conversations, Carfax report, and reviewed service records. The sellers feedback is crucial. Everything went much better than expected. Just use your common sense.

I had my friend that lives in the area take delivery and is storing the car until I get the opportunity to pick it up. The hardest part now is just being able to look at pictures of MY car but not driving it.

David Ray

I've purchased two cars off eBay and sold another. The first an '97 XJ6 was just as described. I paid extra to make sure it arrived unscathed. (Worth it) The other purchase was a '89 944 S2 (this week) - this was the steal! Incredible and thankfully it was a local buy. Almost bought one out of NC that would have cost me 1200 to ship.

Sold a '72 Jag XJ6 and it was a great transaction. Most people I find on EBay buying/selling cars are genuine and really are interested in the car they're buying or selling. Most sellers give you more than enough info and will bend over backward for you. Before the S2 I was looking for 911s paid 500= for 4 PPI along the way but saved me 20k in the end. The sellers weren’t pissed either. I think in the end the local used car sells person will be a dinosaur.

Digital music and eBay have a lot in common – don’t need to go to the store and pay the overhead.

BTW: Hughett that S2 in Seattle was a killer deal - you should have gone for it!

H2

David,

I paid for a prepurchase inspection on the S2...and got money out of the bank in preparation to buy...and actually traveled to Seattle...but after more questions and the PPI, I didn't even bother following up. In my opinion, it was not what I thought it was going to be. Hughett
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BTW: Hughett that S2 in Seattle was a killer deal - you should have gone for it!
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umfan866

I recently read a newspaper article about buying cars on Ebay and it mentioned that for legitimate sellers, you can go look at the car after you win the auction, and if you don't like it or it is not what you expect, they only require that you pay them $80 (the fee to re-list it?) I can't quite remember so not sure--is this standard?

Also what is a good bidding strategy--to try and bid it above reserve but below the ' buy it now' price? Is it legit to email sellers and ask them what their reserve is?

The article I read talked about people getting great deals on E-bay, especially Northerners wanting to buy southern (e.g. rust-free) cars. Thanks for any more tips. Marvin.

bjzorn

When I was looking for my 944 S2 I looked on ebay and found some really nice low milage cars but where alittle more then I could afford. I did find a higher milage car(130,000) in the autotrader 200 miles away. The transaction was totally smooth and the seller knew I worked for the local Porsche Dealership in in Seattle and told me and handed mer a signed note saying this as well that if I found anything thing majorly wrong with the car I could refuse not to buy it. In the end it was just as he said it was and has all maintance records on the car since new. Will I buy another car on ebay on online again..yes

Good luck

Brandon

911Dave

No, it is definitely not standard. Typically, you can only refuse to buy if the car is "materially misrepresented", meaning it is significantly different than the auction description. You can't back out just because you don't like it.

A lot of people ask sellers what the reserve is, but it is inappropriate. Reserve prices are a secret for a reason, and asking the seller to reveal it defeats the purpose of having a reserve in the first place. The best strategy is simply to bid what you are willing to pay for the car. If it is over the reserve, you'll be the high bidder. If not, then forget it and keep looking. BIN speaks for itself. If you don't use it, somebody else might. It all depends on how badly you want the car. Personally, I think using a reserve is stupid. I never use them. I think more bidders are attracted to an up-front disclosure than a low starting bid with a reserve that could be anything. My view is, if there's a minimum price you're willing to accept, then why not just start the bidding there? The ones with reserves get tons of bids but the reserve is never met. What a waste of everyone's time.

H2

I've heard that some "dealers" put up a buy it now price and then call potential vendors and tell them that they will drop the BIN price if they'll buy the car right now at the lower price. Ethical or not, it happens.'

H2

hook682

Hey! Bought my 83SC Targa on ebay in Dec 2003. No PPI, Ran the Carfax which came up clean. Dealer documented any problems and there were many photos. Paid $8700. Car had 97k miles. Took care of any minor problems myself. Added Dansk 2 into 2. Runs great. I have never looked back but you must be careful. I live in NJ and the car was in Newburgh NY. Took MetroNorth up and drove it home.

theasphaltgambler

That is a very good price for that car, compared to what they go for in the DC area.

hook682

bump