Bidding for a car without seeing it first...

emmell

I can't believe that people don't want to see a car before buying. I got stitched up buying a silvercross pram on ebay, looked mint on the photo's, described as very good condition, the trouble was they only photographed the good side, the other side had a dent in the side and the hood doesn't clip tight. £240 down the drain but never mind, I'll chalk it down to experience.
I think it boils down to trust, relying on honest descriptions, but I've seen so many cars advertised as excellent condition that have been a load of rubbish.
ML.

cyclonebri1

As stated earlier, you bid, you go to get it, if there's anything wrong and undeclared you walk away. "Item not as described" in ebays terms ;)

A spares or repair car is also much less of a risk for obvious reasons.

Lum

Not ebay, but I bought my car off a website based only on pictures and an auction grading sheet, and I paid good money to have it shipped over here from Japan. Didn't even see it until 3 months after I'd paid for it.

Not sure I'd do that for a car off eBay though.

david29dpo

Bidders dont bid to buy, they bid to view!

Inactive

david29dpo wrote: »

Bidders dont bid to buy, they bid to view!

They do, if they are happy to breach eBay T&C's.;)

They should view before bidding, or not bid at all.

cyclonebri1

Inactive wrote: »

They do, if they are happy to breach eBay T&C's.;)

They should view before bidding, or not bid at all.

Should? maybe, but there's nothing wrong in refusing if it's misdescribed ;). There lies the difference between an online and a real auction.

Inactive

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Should? maybe, but there's nothing wrong in refusing if it's misdescribed ;). There lies the difference between an online and a real auction.

Fair comment, however many time wasters refuse even if the item is accurately described.

mcjordi

i bought my current fiesta without looking.. although he did say some work needed etc.. got there and wasnt too bad.. worse case was i scrap it for the money i paid.. still going without any real problems

mikey72

Inactive wrote: »

They do, if they are happy to breach eBay T&C's.;)

They should view before bidding, or not bid at all.

I'll only bid on one's that look right, that's both the cars and the sellers.
But it's my money, not ebay's, and it's staying in my pocket until I've had a good look and a test drive.
If it's all as they said, no problems. I've bought a few, and sold, and it's all been fine so far.

Jo_R_2

We're looking for a car and have agreed we wouldn't buy one (from Ebay) without viewing first.

I'm a bit of a cynic me anyway, though having read through maaaaaaany listings in the last couple of weeks or so, you do get a feel for those who seem to be genuine -as mentioned, a comprehensive description listing good points and conversely faults. Some don't bother to include basic info like mileage which is a big issue to us as we're on a v. limited budget for what we want, I am gathering this is because they want you to contact them, thus showing an interest etc etc but it does put me off on the whole.

Another thing is that I'm massively pregnant at the moment and tbh I'd rather know what we were buying was what we thought it was rather than travelling hundreds of miles only to find out it's not as described and coming back without a car. So just in case we're looking 'fairly' locally (so can easily do viewings and speak to the owner) although OH is happy to drive further and can always rope in my dad or similar if needed if we did find something further away.)