We bought our last 2 vans and 1 old truck on eBay and were able to get EXCELLENT vehicles at EXCELLENT prices there! Besides reading the auction well, viewing every photo carefully, and writing to the seller (or calling them) to get a feel for how legitimate they are, here are a few ways to make sure you're getting a good deal:
1.) Don't pay upfront, unless there is a small fee for "good faith". Get yourself to where the vehicle is within the timeframe listed (eg. 10 days to pay -- get to the car within 10 days), so that you can see it without having already paid. If you don't think it is as good as listed, back out! They were not following the auction contract by listing it wrong, so you're under no obligation to buy at that point. We always see our vehicles before paying anything! Keep in mind that you are buying a used vehicle, so don't expect perfection, but if there are any glaring dents or if there is a loud noise coming from the hood, that should have been mentioned in the auction.
2.) eBay insures (for FREE) most vehicles (with a Service Agreement) for up to 1000 miles or 30 days. Look at the auction and you should see this offered. Our 1966 truck that cost only $400 did not have that insurance, because of the age and condition. We didn't mind. On our 2 vans, we did have that insurance. We didn't have to use it, but it was nice to have.
3.) Buy a Vehicle History Report for your vehicle. You'll see this on the auction pages, too. For $14.95 you can get 10 reports. For one, it's under $8. A Vehicle History Report lets you see the vehicle's history. This tells you if it has been in a flood, when it was registered, if its been in an accident, etc. When you buy this report, they give you free buyback insurance that what they've said is correct. When we bought an Explorer from a local dealer in 1999, we were not lucky enough to be offered this information or the insurance. What we bought was a vehicle that had been in the middle of major floods in the MidWest. The dealers up there sent their cars down South, where people didn't know about the floods! We had a lot of problems with that lemon.
4.) Check on the Kelly Blue Book value of the car you're bidding on. With both of our vans, we bid --and won-- only at trade-in price. That's great! We lost many vehicle auctions that went too high. It's worth waiting and watching. You dont' have to wait long, though! Within 2 weeks of our accident that totalled our other van, we had received the insurance check on it, bid on an eBay van, flew on a plane from FL to OH to get it (the auction price was worth the $150 ticket), and drove it home!
5.) Get the title in your hot little hands. With our truck and one van, we bought the vehicles from a regular person on eBay. With both of those vehicles, the title was transferred to us and handed over on the spot. With the other van, we purchased the vehicle from a dealer who had listed the auction. They did not have the title on hand, but the transaction was the same as if you went to your local dealer and picked up a used car. They gave us a temporary title, all the papers needed, and a note that the title would be arriving in the mail from Ohio's vehicle department. Within a couple of weeks, the title arrived. Some people have bought vehicles on eBay and neglected to get the title from the seller, by accepting the seller's excuses. Do NOT allow that to happen!
We've had MUCH better luck on eBay than we have with local used car and new car salesmen. It might be the same for you!
by Lori Seaborg
Friday, July 22, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Wow - great advice, thanks!
Enjoyed your post about eBay vehicles. After two years, on and off, of van hunting, my husband challenged me to find a big van in our area that wasn't white. I, the Internet guru, found two within minutes. One was listed on eBay.
We went to the dealer, test drove it, patiently listened to the pitch, looked at his "best price", then mentioned that we'd seen it on eBay and that was a better price. The salesman was so upset that he might lose the sale to the guy across the hall that he brought his price down to the eBay price and threw in tinted windows and a nice hitch to sweeten the deal. We drove it off the lot that day. We were fully prepared to buy it on eBay but ended up with an even better deal.
By the way, they didn't remove the listing from eBay, but let a bunch of people keep bidding and bidding. It never hit the reserve price (set the same as the Buy It Now price) so they didn't have to tell anyone that they no longer had the van.
Post a Comment