lively14

Has anyone heard of any problems with purchasing a Vette on eBay? I personally haven't heard anything necessarily bad about them, but buying anything off of an on-line auction over $20 tends to make me nervous. I've heard of other scams on eBay (ATVs, Jet Skis, etc.), and I was just wondering if similar problems plagued their auto auctions.

mdhmi

You roll the dice every time you buy online - that's just the way it is. Using common sense and being an informed consumer can heavily mitigate the risks of buying online.

Good luck,

Mark

dizzzzy

I have bought 2 on ebay (03 Z06, 00 convert) with no problems at all.. Just do alittle bit of homework on who is selling it.. If its a dealer your pretty safe. One of mine came from a dealer, the other one, I wound up flying down, looking at the car, paying for it, and having a transporter pick it up before I left. No problems what so ever.

Sold my 98 on ebay also, buyer sent certified funds, and released the car to a transport company. I have had no problems with ebay, and will still use them.

lively14

When you flew down to look at the Vette, had you already won the bid, or were you just doing preliminary homework?

Mr. Wonderful

I see scams on eBay every day. You must be very careful.
Some sellers don't even have the cars they claim to be selling.
They steal other peoples pictures and use them in their own auction.
I've seen this happen a number of times (I'm on eBay a lot).
Even if you see someone has a lot of positive feedback, be wary.
I've seen many STOLEN accounts where buyers have sent deposits
and lost it all.
Not the safest way to buy a car, although most people are honest.
You just have to find one !

dizzzzy

I flew down after I won the auction.. I will agree that some ebay ID's get stolen, but the people who steal them use no common sense.. Come on now, you see a auction for a 03 coupe for 15k "buy it now" , if your that stupid to believe you can buy the car for that, then you deserve to lose any money you put down!! All it takes is common sense, and use the tools you have online to help you out.. Car fax is great, and if its a dealer, check is website and online inventory!! All I can say is I have had no problem what so ever..

cerino2000

Here's one of the scams right now. Won't be up for long once ebay catches on to it. Take note that you have to be pre appoved and also to what the buy it now price is.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...477012811&rd=1

PeteZ06

I almost purchased an '02 Heads/Cam Z06 a month ago, spoke with the seller bunch of times then walked away when the seller wanted me to deposit the full amount to his supposedly lawyers account before laying an eye on it.

Last Sunday I won another Ebay auction for another '02 Z06. Have spoken with the seller many times. Last spoke with him 3 days ago to finalize my flight plans. Havent heard back from him since, have left him 3 voice messages and emails.

So far this has been my experience with Ebay. If this last transaction doesnt pan out over the next couple days then I'm done with Ebay.

West Coast Chris

Heres a couple links to check out at eBay for safe trading, I have bought and sold lots on eBay and have had no problems but none of the transactions were over $1000, learn who you are buying from is. Good luck

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidenc...rotection.html

http://pages.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ser...rotection.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/escrow.html

frenchcu

I have bought and sold cars on ebay. I have sold a few cars that were over 100 grand. I think it is like any thing you have to do your research and homework. I find newer cars are a little safer. I bought an older Camaro described as perfect and it barely ran. The car had a great engine that had never been tuned.

Just be careful and try and talk to the person your are buying it from. :cheers:

repo

Just ask someone in OT to look at it before you bid. :yesnod:

NYYFan

Ive never tried to buy a Vette on eBay, but my one experience was a 67 Mustang that I bought for a lower than normal price. The day before the auction ended the guy wrote me an email saying I won,and to wire a deposit of 50 percent in his account. I wrote him back saying I was flying out after I was sure I won the auction and to pick up the car in person and drive it home. Well, I won, and he called me a few minutes after the auction ended and said "Dont waste money flying out, just wire it to my account and I'll pay for shipping." After I told him I was an airline pilot and I can fly anywhere for pretty much nothing, he said OK - Then called a few minutes later - Literally 4 minutes later - And said he just sold the car for 1000 more than I was going to pay!!! I called BS on him and he said "Well, if YOU want to pay more for the car, just wire it in my account!!" It was a fricking Merry-Go-Round with this guy!!

cerino2000

Ya the other thing they all seem to have in common is that they want the money wired. Never wanting you to be able to meet them in person to whip their butt.

i_york

My experience is that the majority of eBay car sellers put unreasonable demands on the purchaser regarding the payment terms, which fosters an atmosphere of mistrust.

As for sight unseen purchases, it would be VERY easy to rip someone off with eBay. For instance, I have a very good rating on eBay, but there's nothing to stop me (not that I would, of course) putting my car up for sale, selling to someone sight unseen and simply cashing the money and not delivering the car!

I think any large financial transaction that relies heavily on trust is a bad idea.

Cheers,
Ian.
:cheers:

Bob K

eBay now has a deal where they will cover up to 20K on a vehicle purchase that becomes a fraud issue. Thats good for buyers. They know theresa problem out there.

I just pruchased my 2nd vette on eBay. Lets hope I'm as happy as I was with the 1st.

Bob K.

Bacchus

I've sold about 6 cars on eBay, including a '72 Corvette. I ALWAYS list a "money-back guarantee" but do usually ask for an $80 non-refundable deposit to cover the cost of the auction, and that's it. I have also bought cars in off of eBay. In fact, I won an auction on a '69, but after looking at it decided not to buy. I gave the person $80 (he didn't ask for it) to cover his listing fee and we both walked away happy.

Brian

legendzzz

I have seen to many scams on Ebay to really buy anything and if it is not a scam Ebay has turned into a DEALER LOT, which means if you are getting a decent price they end the auction early and say it was sold ??? So why even bother , buy from a newspaper local so you can see the car or go to a local dealer and pay less than what you can get it for on Ebay from a dealer!! What i do now is when I see a scam auction(and there are plenty!!) I e mail them telling I am reporting there auction as a SCAM, you will not believe the E mails I get back from them! When I report it to E bay it takes a day and they take the auction off,We all should do this and maybe E bay will get better at what they put on line, if not they will loose more people and money than they are losing now. :mad :nono: :mad :nono: :cuss