Am I About To Be $crewed?

[Crusty1]

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[marlon08901]

I have bought many things on ebay and as per my experience I would say if you are buying through ebay..do "ALL" your transactions on ebay! That way you will be protected if anything goes wrong. I have gotten a few items that did not match the description at all or where defective and I got my money back every single time......but only because I completed eveything throu ebay. Sometimes you have to go throu a long process so they can investigate but it worked for me. I had also sent money for items that I never received and they also got my money back. Don't trust the dealers! If there was no "buy now" option..they will just sell it to whomever gives them the most money!!

[landar]

You are wise to be concerned. If you can keep the payment on credit, then I believe you would have recourse with the credit card company if the deal fell thru.

If it were me, I would want to drive/fly to wherever this gem is located and eyeball the thing in person before plunking down the rest of the money.

Or at the very least, have a trusted mechanic check it out if you are not able to travel. Most cities have such persons.

Finally, if something smells the least bit fishy, just let it go. There are lots of fine cars out there. Another will come by shortly.

Its just not worth losing much sleep over it.

[Crusty1]

You are wise to be concerned. If you can keep the payment on credit, then I believe you would have recourse with the credit card company if the deal fell thru.

If it were me, I would want to drive/fly to wherever this gem is located and eyeball the thing in person before plunking down the rest of the money.

Or at the very least, have a trusted mechanic check it out if you are not able to travel. Most cities have such persons.

Finally, if something smells the least bit fishy, just let it go. There are lots of fine cars out there. Another will come by shortly.

Its just not worth losing much sleep over it.

3000mile jaunt. I'm feeling they might be bidding this thing up for whatever their motivation might be. I feel the bottom line is if they don't cancel the auction then somethings is up and I might have to pass and let the CC company deal with it. Unfortuatenly I used my visa/debit so I might be $crewed anyway. I'm going to the bank tomorrow to tranfer money just in case the thing goes through. I jus can't imagine that a dealer with over 776 feedback on ebay would get themsevles caught up in a "breach of contract" suit or not delivering the vehicle once they took full payment for it. They'd lose their license for that and be banned from ebay for life I suppose....with a good attorney!

[TexasLexus94]

I don't understand. Who's going to "pull their license?" Do you really think EBay will do anything other than kicking them off their website-and that they won't open again under another name/license/website? EBay sure won't give you real money back-I've bought disappointing junk over the years with EBay, but never a car. I cannot imagine buying a car without checking it out first-even though there are people here who will tell you that they do this all the time. Remember that episode in Sienfeld when the parking guy stunk the car to high hell? I mean, if the car smells like Fidel Castro, what do you do to get it right? And you're using a debit card, which is the same as cash, and just as foolish. It's like the time I wanted a new HDTV a few years ago, and a guy had a new one for $500 on Amazon. 42 incher. One problem-he was in Verona, Italy, and would only accept Western Union money. Right...Funny thing is that later I bought a 2 grand 50 incher from Amazon, no sales tax, no delivery. But it was directly from Amazon's warehouse in Fernley, Nv. No Italy, no NYC.

Best of luck. I would bail. And make sure they cannot access that debit card-You lose if you get charged fraudulently. If you don't believe it, try and rent a car with a debit card. It might be the cheapest $1,000 you ever lost. You talk about PROVING things like deposits and payments-sure, drive 3,000 miles to whatever state. and sue them? From another state?

I actually think you are pulling my leg. And I'm an attorney. I believe in anything to make money....

[OmarG]

pay a deposit through paypal. If the car doesnt turn out what to be what you thought, charge it back and call it a day. Never send cashiers checks or wire transfers without seeing the car dude. COME ON! Ebay will just kick them off. They'll still have your 11k. Ebay is full of scams, on both sides, buyers and sellers.

If you're gonna buy a car on ebay, fly out on an airtran ticket and drive it home. If you dont like the car, just fly back home. If the car isnt as described when delivered, they'll still have your money. and getting a refund... will be tough.

trust me. I've bought 4 cars on ebay. 3 ls400's and 1 es300. All went pretty smooothly. Paid a deposit with paypal, then when i picked up the car, paid the rest. no scams.

Don't be put off by this! ebay made my dreams come true. I buy almost everything on ebay. cars, car parts, clothes, shoes, electronics, everything.

[Crusty1]

pay a deposit through paypal. If the car doesnt turn out what to be what you thought, charge it back and call it a day. Never send cashiers checks or wire transfers without seeing the car dude. COME ON! Ebay will just kick them off. They'll still have your 11k. Ebay is full of scams, on both sides, buyers and sellers.

If you're gonna buy a car on ebay, fly out on an airtran ticket and drive it home. If you dont like the car, just fly back home. If the car isnt as described when delivered, they'll still have your money. and getting a refund... will be tough.

trust me. I've bought 4 cars on ebay. 3 ls400's and 1 es300. All went pretty smooothly. Paid a deposit with paypal, then when i picked up the car, paid the rest. no scams.

Don't be put off by this! ebay made my dreams come true. I buy almost everything on ebay. cars, car parts, clothes, shoes, electronics, everything.

First of all, for the "free legal counsel" from our Lexus attorney friend. Thanks, I'm sure to sleep like a baby tongiht after those encouraging words. My concern here is NOT THE CONDITION OF THE VEHICLE. I'm buying it for $3500 less than what I can here where I live. I can do a lot of repairs for $3500 and still break even compared with buying a car around here. My concern is with

1. Having the car sold out from underneath me with no return of deposit.

2. Plunking down $11k and not ever seeing a car arrive at my driveway. Irrational, even by Ebay standards.

So tell me, what dealer is going to risk his entire business over one $11k profit? Dealers have to be bonded and insured to be registered with their state...even in Florida. They would no longer be able to be a dealer if they lose their license. They can't even be assoicated with the car business for x amount of years if the infraction is serious enough. Would I sue someone and fly out to do so even if it's 3000 miles away. Hell yes!!

We'll see how this mini drama unfolds.

[VMF]

also look at the papers then sent you, right now if you decide to walk away from the deal, you are breaching the contract, not them, so they can keep your money, while if they dont cancel the auction and give the car to some1 else you can claim your money back since they breached the contract. if you dont get the car, call and if they refuse to give you the money back, threaten to take them to small claims court. make sure you have copies of all the papers and read the fine print on your contract.

best of luck in resolving this.

[scottmcc]

First,, Always use credit cards when purchasing over the internet.. NEVER debit cards... Second always use credit cards with buyer Protection on them..

I made a purchase on ebay that went bad. Called my credit card company and sent them a letter regarding the transaction and they credited my money within 30 days.

So, Long story short.. If your credit card has buyer protection on it.. They will refund your money if the transaction does not go through.. (assuming you do not default on any paperwork they sent you) and the default was on thier side. They will go after the fraudulent seller..

I would not worry about the car being sold underneath you and them NOT returning your deposit.. Make sure you keep records of paperwork, Emails, conversations as this will be necessary if you need to have your credit card company return your money..

However, if you back out of the deal now you will most definately lose your 1K.. So what do have to lose..?

I would be concerned about the delivery of the vehicle.. Are they going to have someone drive it to your house.. Trailer it? I would not want someone I don't know driving my new car 3000 miles...

Good Luck.. What car on ebay are you looking at?

[scottmcc]

FYI

Crusty, Not sure where you live but it says PNW I assume that is Pacific North West.. Have you checked Craigs List..? As a quick search this one came up..

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/car/599059673.html

Maybe you can work a local deal and offer them $11k and somehow recoup any loss you may incur on ebay..

[Crusty1]

FYI

Crusty, Not sure where you live but it says PNW I assume that is Pacific North West.. Have you checked Craigs List..? As a quick search this one came up..

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/car/599059673.html

Maybe you can work a local deal and offer them $11k and somehow recoup any loss you may incur on ebay..

Good guess re. local. Ad says perfect. So I drive the car and notice it pulls to the right. Over bumps there's a squeak from the rear pass. strut/shock. Visible wear on the door side panels. Check why the car pulls hard to the right: front pass. wheel has nasty scra%pe. Hard curb hugging going on here. Next I pop the hood to check engine: hood hits me in the back of the neck and about decapitates me has the force pounds my face into the shroud: struts are shot. I have the guy hold the hood up: there's JB weld on the shroud about 18" long where I'm guessing it cracked. From what, who knows. Strangest thing is there's hay, I mean a bunch of hay stuck down on the lower part of the shroud. I live in the country and drive some pretty rough roads with my Suburban. Never had hay up inside my engine compartment. Sooooooo.....this car is the definition of "perfect." And last but not least, because the car is perfect, there's no negotiation on price. It's 100% firm! So that was my experience trying to buy off Craigslist so far. Buy hey, thats just one guy so I'm not writing off this as and option.

[Exec]

Hello,

Sorry I'm late to the party, however, I want to share an experience about purchasing on Ebay. I just (3/12/08) purchased a 2004 LS430 on Ebay from California (I live in NC). It was a pretty smooth transaction! I hired SGS to check out the car for $99 and give me a full report (pretty inclusive), also I financed it through my bank for extra security. I also called the dealer ( he is part time and works out of his home) did a car fax, and also had the local Lexus dealer give any information they could. The car arrived about 26 days later, and in GREAT condition, I was not worried about a long distance Ebay sale. I personally think Ebay will be selling a lot more cars, and it is the only way to go. The seller sent me many (50+) pictures, the SGS inspection, and the Lexus dealer all said GREAT CAR.....so I bought it! I may have been lucky, but the car is in perfect shape, it is everything it is supposed to be, and I saved about 10k buying it on Ebay.

I feel that if you check things out you can actually find out more about a car's history than you could purchasing from a dealer....plus 'ya don't have to go through all that BS buying a car from the local dealer!! The sales guy from our local dealership called me recently to ask what I was doing about buying a Lexus...I showed him. He can not believe what he saw. Touche! :D

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[cjmeyer]

I bought my 95 Ls over ebay recently and also a 91 caddy a few years ago .Both were smooth transactions