Buying a car unseen?..what do you think?

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Buying a car unseen?..what do you think?

Joined
Apr 6, 2006
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Yorkshire
Looking around at auction sites, ebay & stuff.Wondering what people's experiences are of buying, were you happy with what you got, or do sellers tend to use ebay because they can sell unseen, and might have something to hide. Or is it generally good, as it reaches a wider audience.
The cars Ive seen, dont tend to have long mot & tax, otherwise I wouldnt be so worried, but looking around for an old panda, so rust is obviously an issue.
I remember, when you bought autotrader etc, looked at the car, before you haggled and spent well earned cash,and didnt travel too far to see it.
If anyone has any tips, cos Im sure thats lots of people have used ebay and read this forum.
(Thats how I found out about fiat forum).
 
My parents have brought both their JTD's from eBay and Rob got his also got his Tipo 16v from eBay. I would highly recommend you see the car first before you bid. We did a 400mile round trip to view Rob's Tipo 16v. Also ask the seller questions about it's history on servicing e.g when was the cam belt changed etc...
 
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You would be a bit of a plank if you bought a car without inspecting it first....in most cases
 
Yeah can't reccomend enough actually going to have a look. Ask as many questions as you can. Do some browsing of this forum for issues to ask about. I spent an hour or more chatting with the Tipo's owner. Obviously it was a bit of a special case where there was a lot to talk about.

I've seen cars on autotrader advertised as 'excelent condition' and when I've got there to view it was a shed. Wouldn't like to be tied in to buying it if it was through ebay.
 
Thanks..
Has anyone actually bought a car from ebay, or just use if for parts?
Dont suppose anyone from the forum is selling either the panda colour or a parade thats on ebay (bit of a long shot I know).Or know of the cars or seen them driving around.?
 
Fozzybear said:
Thanks..
Has anyone actually bought a car from ebay, or just use if for parts?

Ebay...
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someone brought my cinq of ebay without viewing last week

they brought it friday afternoon and picked it up saturday morning

to my suprise there were no questions asked and they didnt even take the car for a spin

i was as honest as i could be with my description, i detailed all the faults but i was still expecting people to come and view it

i would never buy a car this way, i would want to see what i was letting myself in for
 
ive bought without viewing.. never had any problems really except for one of the cars which was completly misadvertised.. i scrapped it in the end as it was horendously rusty. Not a single mention of rust in the advert, just that it needed a but of TLC.

I find that if you ask the right questions by email and you get a good answer then it should be ok. sometimes you get completly half arsed answers and questions missed out etc.. stay away.

again, if they arent willing to take extra pictures or pictures of areas you want to see then stay away, they are probably trying to hide something. if you were trying to sell a car and someone was interested, you would bend over backwards to make the sale, if they arent willing then youve obviously hit upon a dodgy part of the car :)

just stick to the general rules of buying a second hand car. give the seller a ring and ask questions. easier to tell a lier by voice :p

the only car I didnt buy on ebay was my first black cinq :).
 
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I've bought 5 cars off Ebay and not viewed any, but will only pay cash on collection and no deposit. I give it a quick check over on collection to make sure it's as advertised; a Panda 1000CL I went to collect was described as mechanically sound but the oil filler was full of mayo, the seller admitted he'd been told the headgasket was on the way out so we agreed to knock £100 off; I ended up paying £55 :) and the actual problem was only cold running due to a faulty thermostat (y)

Both my current cars were off ebay, 97 Punto 75sx with 49k miles for £650 and a 96 Brava 1.8 ELX with 54k miles and full service history for £350; can't really go wrong at those prices:)
 
Bought my coop from the bay. I'd say be careful though, there are some really dodgy cars on there. There was a coop for sale last week and the reg plate that was on it related to a Peugeout 807. Was being sold by a friend of the seller as he was in prison. Now you'd really have to be shot if you bought that!
 
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i bought this on ebay i got on a coach for four hours and drove it back from cricklewood to manchester no probz (y) (y)
 
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