Some advice please re buying a car on ebay?

Saffronsmum

Last night i won a car on e-bay, i payed slightly more than i really wanted to and its the most we have ever spent on a car so i need it to be as described in the listing.

My OH decided to run a check on the car (after winning) and found out the car has had 3 owners (not one as stated in the listing) and the people selling it had only had the car 2 weeks.

Since winning the car i have herd nothing from the seller (i know its early days as i only won it last night), i have recieved an invoice for the full price of the car to be payed by cash or cheque, in the listing it states i have to pay 100.00 deposit by paypal but they have not sent me an invoice for the deposit (it seems they just want me to pay full price in cash).

I have e-mailed them twice asking for an invoice for the 100.00 but havn't herd anything back.

Altogether the car seems to be in good condition with very low millage but i am worried as they have lied about how many owners the car has had and why are they selling a car which they have only had for 2 weeks? Would the even have the documents back from when they bought it?

Does it sound a bit dodgy or am i just worrying about handing over such a large amount of cash (life savings)? :rolleyes:

pinkshoes

When it comes to cars, if anything is even slightly suspicious, I would run a mile!

Them stating it's only had 1 owner when it's actually had 3??? And they've only had it for 2 weeks??

Go and see it, ask to see the log book which should show how many owners it's had. Check the milage in the logbook, as perhaps it's been tampered with... Also check the chassis number and check everything matches. Ask lots of questions. Insist on a test drive etc...

If you have ANY suspicions about it, then walk away.

jonathon

I have brought a few cars off ebay I never bothered with the deposit just paid cash on collection.

Just because you won it on ebay treat it as if you were buying from autotrader if the car is not as described or your not happy with it just walk away.

Dont feel pressured to buy just because its ebay.
It is possible that he brought it to clean up then resell or he is selling quick because he found a fault with it.Ask if you can have an AA inspection.

Saffronsmum

Thank you, they have just e-mailed back saying they will send me an invoice for the 100.00, my OH is going to phone them and question how many owners etc.., i wish we had gone to see it before bidding. We bought our last car on e-bay and got a great bargain. Im thinking he brought it and maybe didn't like it (its the kind of car you would love or hate), its not the easiest car to drive and the engine is small for the size of the car (maybe too sluggish for them).

They say they have full service history, the millage is very low for its age (8 years old and only done 40,000) but as its a large car maybe it was only used for family outings/weekends.

Its a tricky one, i'm quite a trusting person but my other half is the opposite and is thinking that we are going to get taken for a ride and loose our savings.

GSXRCarlos

Unfortunately, i can only advise that you should have viewed the car before committing to buy.

You may receive negative feedback as a result of this transaction, but that's better than losing hard earned cash.

Arrange cash on collection, and if you're slightly unsure, walk away!!! now is not the time to be making a punt on a car that's gonna fall apart in the next 12 months.

My mate did similar with a van, 12 months later he's lost the £1000 value in the van, it needs £800 worth of work to fix, and he's going to scrap it.

Needless to say, he's spent decent money on a newer transit van (£3500) and had it all check out properly.

pinkshoes

GSXRCarlos wrote: »

You may receive negative feedback as a result of this transaction, but that's better than losing hard earned cash.

Seller's can't leave a negative for buyers...

Saffronsmum, you can reject the car on the basis that it is not as described. Stating it has 1 owner when it actually has had 3 is lying!

GSXRCarlos

pinkshoes wrote: »

Seller's can leave a negative for buyers...

Saffronsmum, you can reject the car on the basis that it is not as described. Stating it has 1 owner when it actually has had 3 is lying!

do you mean sellers "can't" leave negative feedback?

is this new to ebay, i've not been able to afford eBay shopping recently, it's too addictive :rotfl:

pinkshoes

GSXRCarlos wrote: »

do you mean sellers "can't" leave negative feedback?

is this new to ebay, i've not been able to afford eBay shopping recently, it's too addictive :rotfl:

Typing too fast whilst trying to do other things at same time.

Sellers haven't been able to leave a negative for a looooooooooooong time!

cyberbob

Saffronsmum wrote: »

My OH decided to run a check on the car (after winning) and found out the car has had 3 owners (not one as stated in the listing) and the people selling it had only had the car 2 weeks.

That was a bit silly! As PS said you could reject the car as not as described.

Buying a car on ebay should be no different to buying a car from a newspaper. Go and check it out before you commit yourself (bidding). Test drive it and do the checks you would normally do when buying a car. Just because its on ebay doesn't make it much different,

Saffronsmum

A bit of an update. My oh has phoned the seller up, his story is ; he bought the car 2 weeks ago but has since lots his license for drinking and driving, he also lost his job and now needs to sell the car as he can't drive it and needs the cash, he says he's selling the car at a loss as he needs the money. Oh has told me to pay the 100.00 deposit (which i have) and we will go and check the car out tomorrow, if its dodgy we will walk away and loose our deposit (i would rather loose 100.00 rather than 2000).

Hintza

pinkshoes wrote: »

Stating it has 1 owner when it actually has had 3 is lying!

Or an error; what is the default on this?

What I don't understand OP is why you didn't speak to the seller before bidding?

When I am interested in a car on EBay the first thing i do is speak to them and get a gut feeling about the seller. Are they being evasive; do they know the car etc etc.