Is it wise to buy a car on ebay without seeing it first

onejontwo

aztec21 wrote: »

I bid to buy but if I turned up to collect a vehicle and it had lots of faults that weren't mentioned I just wouldn't pay.

I totally agree with Anewman, buying a car from a garage or a private sale is totally different than buying on e-bay auction, as you've already "bought "the car if you are the highest bidder on e-bay, before seeing it!
Whereas in the other cases you aren't commited.Also there could be many many faults that the seller considers too numerous to mention, and possibly unaware of!
Whatever I buy I would never commit myself without inspecting the goods first as is not the case on e-bay.
I see is as a big gamble!!!

C_Ronaldo

If you buy a car from ebay you can text the reg plate to a certain number and it will give you information regarding the car, i saw an ad the other day but cant think of the name, it may have been dvla but not sure

jeannieblue

onejontwo wrote: »

I totally agree with Anewman, buying a car from a garage or a private sale is totally different than buying on e-bay auction, as you've already "bought "the car if you are the highest bidder on e-bay, before seeing it!
Whereas in the other cases you aren't commited.Also there could be many many faults that the seller considers too numerous to mention, and possibly unaware of!
Whatever I buy I would never commit myself without inspecting the goods first as is not the case on e-bay.
I see is as a big gamble!!!

But you've not 'bought' the car - really, all you have done is reserve it by bidding on it . If when you see the vehicle - its not what you want/or have had it checked over and find its cr*p. You don't buy. Simple.

zappahey

onejontwo wrote: »

I totally agree with Anewman, buying a car from a garage or a private sale is totally different than buying on e-bay auction, as you've already "bought "the car if you are the highest bidder on e-bay, before seeing it!

Nonsense! If you're the winning bidder, you have committed to buy a car matching the description. If it doesn't meet the description, you walk away.

The only caveat to that is that you must ask questions about anything that you think might not be mentioned as sellers are understandably reluctant to detail the negative aspects. I specifically ask if there are any faults or work needing to be done so that I can walk away if they are not disclosed.

codger

Just to clarify here. . .

eBay is a commercial site on which people buy and sell everything from tat to stuff of actual value.

eBay has no legal standing whatsoever.

You can bid for what you want and buy what you want. Or not.

eBay "may" throw you off for reneging on your bid but in truth it's always desperate for more and more money and generally couldn't give a sod where it comes from (otherwise its listings wouldn't be filled with scammers and sleaze-bags making life difficult for a majority of buyers and sellers who're actually honest.)

So please: forget "you bid, you buy". And forget anything eBay says in its T&Cs about "entering into a contract": you haven't entered into an ything of the kind (and besides, eBay runs as fast as it can from anything truly legalistic, hence its eternal bleating that "we're only a venue, only a venue, only a venue. . .")

As to buying a car on eBay, there's no definitive advice that's worth having other than this: never mind inspecting the car that's for sale, what you should be doing is inspecting the person who has it for sale. If you can't do that -- by visiting the person / the car -- then risks are going to mount.

I've bought a motor on eBay before and done all right. That's because I concentrated on the seller rather than what was being sold -- so only went ahead on the basis of a visit to a seller who fitted the criteria, viz: eBay membership in excess of 5 years; minimum 99% positive feedback; private, not business; a record of intelligent feedback left for others.

Though cars can be made to look however the seller wishes, sellers can't be as easily cosmeticised.

NOTE:

And don't fall for eBay's line (or anyone else's) that HPI checks make buying a car on eBay as safe as it gets.

Rubbish -- as in this most recent case ("buyer beware" letter):

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/invest-save/readers-letters-799250.html