jonathank2000

I bought my 993 on Ebay in 2000 from a broker. Flew from S.Cal to Houston to check it out and do the PPI. I found out later that the so-called service records were bogus but I did my homework, contacted PO directly and so it all turned out okay. I also sold 4 cars, jet ski and motorcycle on e-bay with all great results.

GeezC4S

I bought both of my cars, M3 and 993, off Ebay. Both were great experiences with no issues. BTW, the M3 was from a broker and the 993 was from a reputable dealer.

Richard1

I bought my wife's range rover over ebay...no PPI, but looked over the car carefully before buying...still very, very happy with it.

Norske

Bought my current car on ebay and am very pleased. Sold my last two P-cars on ebay and both buyers are happy. Look at the sellers feedback before bidding and contact thme directly with questions. You can usually tell if the are BSing or not.

wheelguy

I have sold two cars over the net with great experience both times. As long as the seller discloses any flaws and you have the car inspected or fly out to inspect the car, you should be able to get what you pay for. If you are buying a higher end car and win the auction it is worth the flight out to inspect the car. It is almost always cheaper to buy a round trip ticket even if you end up driving the car home. Almost every sale is contingent upon the buyer's inspection, so if you know what to look for you should be OK. You also should be able to tell from the amount of other bidders, how much interest there is in the car you are bidding on. Good luck.

billh1963

Have bought on ebay....

2001 VW GLX (Turbo Beetle)
1999 Saab 9-5
2000 Infiniti I30

Have sold on ebay....
1980 Triumph TR8
1961 AH 3000 Tri-carb
1999 Saab 9-5
2001 VW GLX
1995 Nissan Altima
2003 Ford F-250
1999 Ford F-150
1998 KeyWest 2020WA (boat)
1974 Boston Whaler Montauk (boat)

Believe it or not all have been good purchases. No problems with buying or selling. The trick is to buy from someone with good feedback, get lots of pictures, and ask the right questions!

Patricia

We bought a Ford Focus for our daughter off eBay. Had many phone conversations with the seller (a young man who bought 1 car at a time from a dealer's auction, using his dad's license, fixed it up, and sold it), he faxed us all the info we asked for. The car was still under dealer warranty. We put a minimal amount in escrow, with the agreement we could walk away from the deal and get the money back if we didn't like the car. We flew to Florida (had to be in Atlanta that weekend anyway), liked the car, and drove it home after the weekend in Atlanta. The car is still going strong, no problems, two years later. We think we got a great deal.

Pat

David Danhof

Yes & No...

I found both my 993 and M3 on ebay. No way was I going to commit funds until I saw, drove & PPI on each. Ebay is a great place to put sellers & buyers together, way risky for site unseen expensive to repair/maintain cars IMO.

I have purchased numerous parts & accessories on ebay with positive experiences (sans 1 where a certain 944 shop cannot measure rim widths)

Chuck W.

A friend of mine bought a Range Rover on a “buy it now” auction for a great price. Through email the seller asked for 10% of the sales price in the form of a cashiers check to hold the car. My friend told him that instead of sending a cashiers check he would fly out the next day and pay for the car in full in person. The seller never got back to him and did not return my friends emails.

blackcat

The sister of a co-worker 'bought' a BMW 330ci for something like $9000

She was a newbie to EBay and as you can probably imagine, things did not go well - she didn't get a PPI, sent the money to the seller (in Europe), who said the car would be at the "EBay warehouse" in a month... things that are too good to be true probably are.

I bought my 993 on EBay last year - surprisingly trouble-free.transaction.

Folks are right about asking for pics and getting a PPI. One Targa I was looking at on EBay was in such bad shape the PPI mechanic said 'don't walk, _run_ away from this car'...

Pete

MikeAlwaysWins

My sons and I have purchased 5 used p-cars on ebay. No ppi's, just talks with sellers... no complaints. Note: 4 were from dealers. We still have 3 of the dealer cars...

jda407

I am a car dealer, 80% wholesale (dealer to dealer) - 20% retail, and I use e-bay a lot (Ebay ID: dealerauto_com). E-bay has actually improved the car industry as dealers are being required to disclose more and more in order to sell online. Don't get me wrong, the car industry, as many other industries, will still have it's fair share of scum-bags that just want to screw someone. However, in order to sell online, car dealers are having to disclose more and more and basically be more realistic. Face it....they won't be selling many vehicles for very long if they sell many cars and ship them to the customer only to have the car not be what they advertised. Eventually they are going to get a reputation or be kicked off by E-bay itself. As far as selling prices, it's the same as any other form of advertising...if the dealer (or private individual for that matter) thinks their $30,000 car is worth $35,000 - they're gonna try. Me being a wholesaler, I've gotten to the point that anything that I don't already have sold to another dealer before it gets to my warehouse, will get run on E-bay. It only ties the car up for a week and if there is a "retail" buyer out there looking for that car they will get a great deal just above wholesale value yet below retail value. I do my best to disclose everything possible when I do an e-bay auction because I don't want to have any "surprises" with my customers. I'd rather have the repeat business over the next 10 years rather than never sell another car to the same individuals.
But that's just my theory....I still agree that there are a lot of scum-bags in the car industry that create the reputation.
Just my 2¢

Jim

1997 993 Cab. Arena Red/Black
1999 996 Coupe Black/Black

ceboyd

you forgot to allow 2 choices in the poll!

we bought the 95 993 off ebay and have sold 2 cars on ebay as well as a motorcycle that we sold on ebay

Rezal

Bought my Audi Coupe off eBay and had a very bad experience. Seller claimed car was in "mint" condition. Turns out that there were rust spots, overbuffed paint, completely rust exhaust, AC needing a new condenser, etc. The only thing that was disclosed was the inoperative parking brake. Interestingly, the pictures did show a car in "mint" condition. Additionally, there were maintainance records on this 147K miles car from day one! Proof that half a truth is worse than a lie. I will never, ever, ever buy a car on eBay again although I may put the Audi up for sale on eBay, and in my case, actually disclosing the issues with it.

Blue S2

Virtually everything i own is from ebay!! I have sold cars on ebay, and those transactions went VERY well!

My S2 was found on ebay as well! I will make this clear though, DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!!! If you cannot physically see the car, have some one else check it out, AND interrogate the owner until you know the car 100% in and out. I had the owner take it for a PPI, and while it was getting worked on i called and spoke with the manager and mechanic doing the PPI. I wanted to know results and condition before the owner saw them. I had them fax me the PPI while we were on the phone as soon as they were finished and we went over it item by item. I had also spent the previous days going over the whole car with the owner as well. Do a carfax, try to get copies of service records, get as much as you can!

Basically you want to know the car in question as if you were there. If its all good, and the seller checks out as well, I say go for it! Dont be afraid to contact other people the seller has dealt with. Its even a good idea to do that!

OH OH OH.....and MAKE SURE the title is clear, and that means NO LOANS or DEBT left on the car!!!!! It creates crappy ordeals if there is and you are not informed. (which is also against UCC rules or something...cant sell something that aint yours!)