auzivision

Rereading the intro, sounds like the question was not regarding the deal or ebay or bidding... just commentary... which may be water under the bridge. Sounds like the guy can afford it, bought it, and already bought a pair of tickets.

So the question is, will the car make it from Chicago to Boston. Honestly, in my estimation.. yes, most likely. From the pictures, it appears to be a fairly well cared for 928 which one could reasonably, but not always, deduce the maintenance was probably decent too.

I bought my one and only 928 sight unseen off ebay, flew to Cleveland and drove it home... and it was the first 928 I've ever sat in let alone drive. Would I do it again, probably. I have to admit I was nervous, but in the end it was a fun adventure.

He could always join the 928 OC and get the roadside assist list if he is inclined. I'd just make sure the check timing belt light works before startup and shut it down if it even flickers while driving. And for the record, I happen to like the burgundy interior.

docmirror

Ebay Motors is not binding contract. Full recourse. It's been tested intra state and inter state.

hacker-pschorr

He bid, he won, he should buy the car.

I'm simple minded that way, unless there is some gross misrepresentation in the auction.

Nobody forced him to bid that much.

danglerb

Bidding does not look fishy to me, it looks like the seller had a reserve price and when the second highest bidder stopped at $7500, the buyer decided to pay the reserve amount and increase their bid to meet it.

Having done so the winner should indeed buy the car, never exceed the speed limit, pay taxes on out of state purchases, and confess nightly to his wife any impure thoughts.

Back in the same world he should have a full inspection prior to handing over a dime, and walk at the first discrepancy.

Sorry if the Burgundy comment offended anyone, but we all know a burgundy interior reduces the value by about 1/3.

snoz

If ebay bid reporting works the way it used to, you are incorrect. Only bids that were the high bid at one point are reported. It's possible that the zero feedback bidder bid several times before giving up at 15,000, and it's not in the history because they were never high bidder. Only ebay and the Seller would know for sure. I would absolutely ask ebay to investigate someone with 0 feedback bidding something up to 15K. As I said before, I'm all for getting as much as you can. Also, I have no issue paying whatever my max bid was unless it ends up I'm bidding against the seller.

chitown928s4

If you need help looking at it gimme a shout...rguzman224@gmail.com

Hilton

If the car has been maintained fastidiously, then its worth $15k based on mileage and likely condition.

If not maintained by a fanatic or someone with deep pockets, it likely still needs $5k in parts, plus labour, and thats assuming the interior and paint is in good shape (no pics of driver's bolster?). In which case its a $7-9k car with carefully selected photos and lack of description.

No sense getting butt-hurt about the valuations - we like these cars, but thats what the market seems to value them at. If you get upset because you've put $20k into your 928 and people here who watch the market say its worth $10k or less, thats not our problem.. it just means you're not driving your 928 enough

The_Remora

Thanks that's really cool, maybe he could use that help in Chicago.

chitown928s4

when is he due over here...

chitown928s4

I'm not too far from the airport if he needs a ride...

h011yw00d

Word... we need boots on the ground on this one. Without enough info the emotions reign supreme

The_Remora

Update: Friend still intends to buy the car IF it checks out as being in the condition it was represented as. He's delaying his trip a week or so to have it checked out, condition it was represented as verified and to have it serviced.

Here's what he txt'd me as an update:
"I'm having the seller/broker take it to the best shop in Chicago or if can't get in there then to a dealer to do a PPI early next week... If the car has a ton of deferred maintenance, I will reduce the price by that cost to meet the representation in ebay. Otherwise I bail at a loss of $700 bucks to me."

So I think that sounds like a good strategy. If he were paying less I'd just say roll the dice and have fun, but I just don't want to see him get screwed as he's new 928s and that could sour his whole experience. I'd like to see 928s values rise and I'm sure my friend would too, but that's not the issue here. We're not trying to beat up a seller over price. The car just needs to check out, and based on the little amount of info available and a couple of red flags, I urged him to do more research before making the leap.

As a counter-point to some of the folks who are saying that bailing on a top dollar purchase (if it's misrepresented) could hurt the market value, I'd say that having folks who should otherwise be thrilled with the experience of quality 928 ownership ending up with lemons and then thinking these cars suck and spreading that opinion around sure wouldn't help increase the general impression and hence value of these cars very much either...

I mentioned the 'burgundy interior may be harder to get full dollar' thing to him too, and I'm not always been the biggest fan of burgundy, but I've got to say that this combo in this particular car does look pretty awesome. I'm having him verify the original paint as I haven't seen any black on burgundy before (and that should be done anyway), but it's really pretty sharp looking.

Thanks again guys, this has been hugely helpful.

The_Remora

Roger that my friend

Hilton

Good move - thats the way to do it. Could be a very cheap $700 loss if the car's not as represented.

If it doesn't check out, tell your friend to join Rennlist and watch the classifieds - plenty of good cars in his price range get listed.

https://rennlist.com/forums/marketplace/cars/search/

chitown928s4

eurosport motorworks in bensenville maybe a good option near the airport