buying a car on ebay

sarahmoon_2

My OH recently won a car on ebay at a good price! The thing is we were sent an invoice immediately and emailed back to say my OH was working all week and could we arrange pick up at the weekend. Then today we got an email saying sorry the seller was rushed into hospital on Saturday (we won the car Wednesday) and hadnt been able to contact us about the sale of the car. Then how did he manage to send an invoice?? Im quite concerned about whether we should go through with it. Maybe we're panicing but it also says that the v5 is still in the previous owners name and not his name? Is he legally entitled to sell the car??

bonvonnie

Sellers, can set their setting to automatically send an invoice once auction has finished.

cant help about the V5 bit

aj3001

If the V5 is in someone elses name, its not his car and it should be the owner of the car you ask, also run an HPI check on the car to check it hasn't been reported stolen.

And as for being rushed to hospital what a load of crap, if the HPI comes clear, pay for the car in CASH DO NOT USE PAYPAL FOR THE TRANSACTION

sarahmoon_2

Thanks aj, will look into hpi. OH is working tonight so might leave it til he's home tomorrow.

sebastianj

Hi aj3001, Don't see the logic behind not paying through paypal, do they charge?

seb

lazymoezy

Best to deal with cash when dealing with cars. Im no expert but my friends father and older brother are car dealers and sell a few cars on eBay.

Maybe they didnt set a reserve on the price and wernt happy with the final price so have decided to make an excuse? Maybe or maybe not.

toozie_2

sarahmoon wrote:

My OH recently won a car on ebay at a good price! The thing is we were sent an invoice immediately and emailed back to say my OH was working all week and could we arrange pick up at the weekend. Then today we got an email saying sorry the seller was rushed into hospital on Saturday (we won the car Wednesday) and hadnt been able to contact us about the sale of the car. Then how did he manage to send an invoice?? Im quite concerned about whether we should go through with it. Maybe we're panicing but it also says that the v5 is still in the previous owners name and not his name? Is he legally entitled to sell the car??

When you go and see it, ask for the V5C and check the 17 digit chassis number stamped onto the vehicle (not just the VIN plate) matches exactly with the V5C, and doesn't look tampered with.

aj3001

sebastianj wrote:

Hi aj3001, Don't see the logic behind not paying through paypal, do they charge?

seb

Its horribly insecure and if you get scamed you will mostly never see that money again

zappahey

aj3001 wrote:

Its horribly insecure and if you get scamed you will mostly never see that money again

Maybe I'm missing the obvious but how is paying by cash any safer?

It seems to me that the seller is taking all the risk when Paypal is used as he/she has no evidence of delivery, the Paypal account could be hacked or the card used to fund the transaction could be stolen.

I'm struggling to see the downside for the buyer, he gets a car and has a couple of avenues to attempt resolution if the car is dodgy.

Iowa_Lot

I can't see how cash is better either??

david29dpo

never buy a car that is not in the sellers name. the name on the v5 may or may not be the legal owner. only buy from the legal owner.