Buying a car on EBay

Dagon

I'm seriously considering getting my next car on Ebay. There are some serious deals up there. Not only that but for a lot of the cars you can get a full vehicle history report. Also, if you buy from someone who has a 100% feedback and a lot of transactions under their belt, it's highly unlikely they'll be trying to sell you a dud. They don't want to tarnish their reputability. As a result the car descriptions are usually quite honest, and most of the negative points are noted. Tbh, even though the "Importing a car from the uk" post advises not to buy privately, I reckon EBay might actually be better than some of those "dodgy geezer" UK backyard dealer types.

Prices are ultra low compared to over here. For example, a 97, 98 Civic Coupe over here will set you back around €7000. But you could get it for around €4500 (including vrt, ferry, etc.) here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-HONDA-CIVIC-COUPE-1-6I-LS-SILVER_W0QQitemZ4585641750QQcategoryZ18206QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm so tempted. Any advice for buying off EBay? Any bad experiences?

Dagon

On top of all that, the Brits actually take care of their motors, in general anyway! Unlike us Irish idiots, who trash cars and don't bother with regular services, keeping receipts, etc. I'm very weary of buying a car of an Irish person my age, cause I know how they trash their cars.

Seth Brundle

...and on top of all that...
whilst you may be getting a good motor, you will also have to pay VRT.

Mailman

There are bargains to be had but I have reported a number of adverts to Ebay where identities has been stolen. Often the details of a legitmate advert are copied too.

A lot of accident write off vehicles are sold through ebay too - some declare it, some are found out becuase the number plate is left visible in the pictures and forced to declare it, others don't declare at all.

Be very careful but yes there are bargains to be had.

Dagon

Mailman wrote:

A lot of accident write off vehicles are sold through ebay too - some declare it, some are found out becuase the number plate is left visible in the pictures and forced to declare it, others don't declare at all

EBay provide a vehicle history report for a fee, and apparently this info is from a reliable source. The report should show if the car was accident damaged, etc.
Sample:
http://www.vehiclestatusreport.co.uk/check/sampleResults.do

As for VRT - yup, I've factored that in, and a Civic coupe is still under €5000 (all in) as oppoed to the Irish going rate of €6500 to €7000.

seamus

That particular car has been driven 5,000 miles in 2 months. No mean feat...

jayok

Hi Dagon,

I bought my current car a 00 Civic VTi from the UK with no problems at all. It had only 6,600 miles on it and was basically still shrink wrapped. Came fully loaded with factory-fitted red-leather interior and reverse parking sensors. It had a fully Honda service history (with a stamped book to boot) it was one of the last made. You will not get one of these over here ever. How much did I pay for it (including VRT, ferries, etc). Just under €10k. (Even sold a 2004 Civic Type R to buy it!). You will definately get much better bargains over in the UK than here - but only if you can find them.

I too was a bit skeptical of buying (particularilty with the low mileage) but in the UK the requirement for the MOT means that on a car that a few years old you can track the mileage and usage fairly well. I done a fully search on the VIN number and it revealed that the car was clean, never stolen and verified the mileage. With the search I done (for £39.95) it guaranteed the car for upto £10,000 if any of the details were misreported! Once this was good I then just bought and collected the car. Couldn't have been easier.

E-bay have a lot of protection for buyers just make sure that you are 100% comfortable with the car before bidding remotely.

<edit> The only concern I'd have would be that there's 4 owners on the car after only 58k miles, why would that be?

Cyrus

any pics of that jayok sounds nice

jayok

Sure, I will take some photos tomorrow - it's too dark now.

Interceptor

Yes, there are bargains but the same as with any car - you must be very careful. Try and get pics of the whole car and ask tough questions of the seller. Any vagueness or obvious inaccuracy - walk away. I've seen a couple of folk fall foul of eBay but they hadn't done their research and the seller was blameless from this aspect.

Good luck with your quest.

'c

Dagon

Cool post JayOK, you've pinpointed all the positive aspects of buying on Ebay. I will more than likely get my next motor on there, as prices over here really are too high. also, can sell the cars we get over in the UK later on for not much less than we paid.

Yeah, I definitely also agree that you've got to be careful. But no more careful than you would be buying off a lad out the road! Only thing is a lot of UK car enthusiasts really are obsessive about keeping their cars in good nick.

Johnny Storm

FWIW - I have never bought a car on EBay but I know a guy who does. He arranges for the RAC or AA to do a report on the car before he bids. (cost ~~STG150) If the seller wont cooperate with that then it's obviously dodgy. Plus he does that VIN check (HPI?) already mentioned.

jayok

jayok wrote:

Sure, I will take some photos tomorrow - it's too dark now.

Since I went through so much effort to upload these things, I'm dragging this post up from the dead!!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=50753242#post50753242

5500

Thats a mint looking vti you've got there Jayok
Did you buy on ebay source the car anotherway from the uk?

jayok

Well spotted it on e-bay but it was a dealer listing so I just contacted the dealer and agreed a price straight away. Used e-bay to place my deposit. (These things can go for silly money in the UK)

IrishRover

Yeah, what Interceptor says - get as much of a "virtual inspection" all around the car as you can before travelling and ask the all the relevant questions and speak to them on the phone before travelling, make sure they are aware of when you are travelling and that you are serious about travelling from another country to get the car.

I've only had one negative experience of buying on ebay and that's where the car wasn't as described - blatant headgasket leak (Honda engine before you ask) and quite bad rust (photos were old photos). I had to get there to find this out, which obviously inconvenienced me a lot, so the biggest drawback I can think of is the potential for a wasted journey and needless expense and time spent on a car you don't want. Of course, if the car isn't as described you are under no obligation to go through with buying it just because you "won" the auction.

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

seamus wrote:

That particular car has been driven 5,000 miles in 2 months. No mean feat...

lol, in my first car I drove just over 4000 miles in the first 6 weeks!!