Would you risk buying a car off eBay even if you couldn't get there to view the car before hand. Car is in Ayrshire and I'm in South Wales!! Has anyone bought a car off eBay? What are other peoples thoughts?

 

DO NOT DO IT.

Travelled for miles to view motors in the past, only to find heaps of crap when I got there, photos can hide so much, and owners who are polite and say the right things can also be decietful.

Also a lot of people aren't into the standard of cars that most of us on here are, so what they believe is a belter, is probably a cut and shut with a layer of wax on

I travelled four hundred miles to see my Blob, but I bought a return train ticket just in case, but I did get lucky, it was exactly what the owner said it was, but it was a Pistonheads ad not eBay, ive never had any good ones come out of eBay! However I have sold card on eBay, two to people who never saw them beforehand, but I do list every fault known to man , i.e tiny hairline 1cm paint scratch on ns wing, etc

 

I personally would not buy a car with out viewing it first and checking it over. If i was interested in a car so far away I would pay for an aa inspection

 

Good call, Ive never had one, but a lad who bought one of my VW Corrado Storms had an RAC one done. God I was terrified, he spent three hours inspected it, it was so thorough I really thought 'its a 15 year old car (at the time) your going to find a few faults'....but no, only the ones i had already told the perspective buyer thankfully! but definitely worth the money when shelling out serious cash.

 

Have you considered putting a request for someone to go and look at it for you? I'm sure one of the local club members wouldn't mind.

 

Good shout

I bought a 95 WRX through Ebay, travelled to Stoke to view.
No probs with it, until the hg went 2 years or so later.

The seller answered my questions 'correctly' and that convinced me it was worth a look, and it was.

It's about asking the right sort of questions (why selling, what are they having next, what did they like about the car etc.) so you get a feel for the sort of owner and person the seller is.

 

I've purchased a good few munters through ebay over the years (over half a dozen without seeing them).

If the car is really cheap it can still be worthwhile. I always keep a decent slush fund to fix all the niggles they don't tell you about. To be fair, apart from the last one (Clio 182) they weren't too far off what was described. Remember, if the car is absolutely hanging and they described it as 'minted mate' then they are attempting to sell an item not as described and you can pull out (and ebay will side with you to refund any deposit). Had this years ago with an old Jag XJ6 that the seller couldn't get started when I arrived...

As above, ask as many questions as possible (preferably over the phone) and suss the seller out.

 

I bought a Golf GTI from 25 miles away, owner picked me up and brought me back to his house too so I could drive it away! He even took me for a quick spin in it to show me what was what..

 

What are you after? I've just put mine up for sale on here and am just down the road from you

 

Ebay cars terrify me. I put a £100 deposit on a WRX that was 100 miles away. When I got there it wasnt fit to transport dogs. Filler, rattle cans, trim missing, rounded bolts, scotch locks etc etc etc.
I drove there in a car the same age and pointed out to the idiot "that's what a decent car looks like" his car was fit for scrap.
If I didn't have my son with me I would have landed him one. I feel sorry for the poor sap that bought it.
So the answer is No I would never buy a car from eBay without viewing; unless the scrap/breaking value was greater than the asking price.

 

I've bought a few cars off eBay over the years and never had a problem, ask the right questions and view the pictures and you generally get a good or bad feeling.