ebay shed buying?
Discussion
I'm thinking of trying to buy a cheapo shed - bottom feeding around the 500 quid mark (!). It looks like ebay has some choices at this price point, but I've never used ebay to buy a car. So could you experienced PHers help with a few questions?
- Do you guys always view the car before bidding? Or is it acceptable to bid, win the auction, then view the car and potentially haggle if things aren't as described/inferred in the ad? Or even walk away if it's a total sh*tter?
- I see quite a few car dealers outing PX's in ebay ads. Can you get good deals from these sellers? Or do you always stick to private sellers?
- More generally, do you experienced shed purchasers use ebay a lot? Or do you prefer Gumtree, Autotrader or anywhere else?
Cheers
- Do you guys always view the car before bidding? Or is it acceptable to bid, win the auction, then view the car and potentially haggle if things aren't as described/inferred in the ad? Or even walk away if it's a total sh*tter?
- I see quite a few car dealers outing PX's in ebay ads. Can you get good deals from these sellers? Or do you always stick to private sellers?
- More generally, do you experienced shed purchasers use ebay a lot? Or do you prefer Gumtree, Autotrader or anywhere else?
Cheers
Any old heap that you buy for £500 is likely to be a liability. I've sold quite a few of our cars on ebay over the years and it always astonishes me that people buy cheapies without seeing them and checking them over first. I have a conscience and I wouldn't sell a wreck, I would prefer to scrap it, but I am not desperate for money and I am not motivated to sell my old car because it's about to cost a fortune to repair! Many people sell cars because they can't afford to fix them...or don't want to spend the money. You see them on Gumtree and ebay all the time - they used to be in the LOOT and the Exchange and Mart!
However, it's easy to check the MOT history with the registration number now, so at least you can get some idea of condition at the last MOT and whether the advisories have been attended to each year. You can also verify the mileage to some extent. If you are not an experienced car person with specific knowledge of the brand of shed you are considering, then it's a real gamble.
I have bought several cheap cars from the motor salvage auctions - if you buy a freshly written-off old car, you can be reasonably sure that it was recently worth a lot more and if you choose carefully, the dents and scratches will not hinder its use. I bought a one owner, fsh, 2007 Panda with a dented driver's door. It still had a few months of MOT left and ran nicely. It has done about 6000 miles for us in the last 8 months and it's earned its replacement door! All in, with Winter tyres and a fresh MOT and the used (correct colour) door, it's still under £600. It is probably the ugliest car we have ever owned, but it's an excellent tool.
My friend bought a 2009 diesel Mondeo with 82000 and fsh with scrapes on both rear arches for £800. It's a nice car that without the scrapes and CAT D status, would have been worth, perhaps £3000, or £2000 to the trade.
What do you want? How long does it need to serve you? Can you do your own maintenance and repairs?
Good luck!
However, it's easy to check the MOT history with the registration number now, so at least you can get some idea of condition at the last MOT and whether the advisories have been attended to each year. You can also verify the mileage to some extent. If you are not an experienced car person with specific knowledge of the brand of shed you are considering, then it's a real gamble.
I have bought several cheap cars from the motor salvage auctions - if you buy a freshly written-off old car, you can be reasonably sure that it was recently worth a lot more and if you choose carefully, the dents and scratches will not hinder its use. I bought a one owner, fsh, 2007 Panda with a dented driver's door. It still had a few months of MOT left and ran nicely. It has done about 6000 miles for us in the last 8 months and it's earned its replacement door! All in, with Winter tyres and a fresh MOT and the used (correct colour) door, it's still under £600. It is probably the ugliest car we have ever owned, but it's an excellent tool.
My friend bought a 2009 diesel Mondeo with 82000 and fsh with scrapes on both rear arches for £800. It's a nice car that without the scrapes and CAT D status, would have been worth, perhaps £3000, or £2000 to the trade.
What do you want? How long does it need to serve you? Can you do your own maintenance and repairs?
Good luck!
Toed - many thanks for the info. Taking your time to give some of your hard earned experience is much appreciated.
I know what you mean about these cars being a liability. In the past I've tried to assess the car and owner and sometimes I got it right but sometimes not. I don't expect a £500 car to be maintenance free. From your reply I guess the answer to the viewing question is that I should view before bidding (and certainly before parting with cash)?
The motor salvage auctions suggestion is a really helpful pointer. I'd seen a couple of low price cat N writeoffs in the ads and figured it was a good way of getting a cheap runner. Didn't think that there were specific online auction sites for them. Having googled it, I can see some sites like Motorhog. As Tim was asking - any pointers here? Also - I assume you always view before bidding on salvage sites as well, or do you trust them and just bid unseen?
In reply to your last questions, I want basic transport, reliable & economical. It lasts as long as it lasts - I expect to scrap it when it gets uneconomical to repair. Throw it away & start again. I've got some experience with mechanics (and finally I now have garage and tools) but it tends to be old school - pre-2000 ish motors. I get a bit nervous with talk of DPFs or DMFs!
Cheers
I know what you mean about these cars being a liability. In the past I've tried to assess the car and owner and sometimes I got it right but sometimes not. I don't expect a £500 car to be maintenance free. From your reply I guess the answer to the viewing question is that I should view before bidding (and certainly before parting with cash)?
The motor salvage auctions suggestion is a really helpful pointer. I'd seen a couple of low price cat N writeoffs in the ads and figured it was a good way of getting a cheap runner. Didn't think that there were specific online auction sites for them. Having googled it, I can see some sites like Motorhog. As Tim was asking - any pointers here? Also - I assume you always view before bidding on salvage sites as well, or do you trust them and just bid unseen?
In reply to your last questions, I want basic transport, reliable & economical. It lasts as long as it lasts - I expect to scrap it when it gets uneconomical to repair. Throw it away & start again. I've got some experience with mechanics (and finally I now have garage and tools) but it tends to be old school - pre-2000 ish motors. I get a bit nervous with talk of DPFs or DMFs!
Cheers
Motorhog and Copart are the biggest online auctioneers.
Motorhog represents lots of salvage companies with sites all over the country. They have about 2000 salvage vehicles listed every week. Their auctions run rather like ebay, but with an auto-extend in the last few minutes allowing bidders to knock the price up in the last few minutes and compete against each other, so last second sniping is a serious affair.
Copart have quite a few of their own depots. They list something like 8000 vehicles each week. I believe that Joe public can register with Copart without too much difficulty, but their auctions are a bit of a faff - online bidding until the day of each auction and then bidding on a count-down goes live. Rather like youtube, it's easy to waste hour and hours!
The damaged-repairable cars advertised on ebay have frequently been bought from these sites - I've spotted quite a few and those that do this, often clean up quite a significant profit.
I have been to look at a couple of vehicles before bidding, but I have also taken an educated guess at the severity of the damage. The salvage site operators give a very basic description of the damage, but will often describe the car a bit better if you call and ask politely. I bought a Smart car for my wife a couple of years ago. When I called the yard before the end of the auction, one of the gents there told me that I'd be safe to bid knowing that it could be driven home - its only fault was that the horn did not work. However, I would suggest steering away from old Smart cars - they are complicated and fragile.
Motorhog represents lots of salvage companies with sites all over the country. They have about 2000 salvage vehicles listed every week. Their auctions run rather like ebay, but with an auto-extend in the last few minutes allowing bidders to knock the price up in the last few minutes and compete against each other, so last second sniping is a serious affair.
Copart have quite a few of their own depots. They list something like 8000 vehicles each week. I believe that Joe public can register with Copart without too much difficulty, but their auctions are a bit of a faff - online bidding until the day of each auction and then bidding on a count-down goes live. Rather like youtube, it's easy to waste hour and hours!
The damaged-repairable cars advertised on ebay have frequently been bought from these sites - I've spotted quite a few and those that do this, often clean up quite a significant profit.
I have been to look at a couple of vehicles before bidding, but I have also taken an educated guess at the severity of the damage. The salvage site operators give a very basic description of the damage, but will often describe the car a bit better if you call and ask politely. I bought a Smart car for my wife a couple of years ago. When I called the yard before the end of the auction, one of the gents there told me that I'd be safe to bid knowing that it could be driven home - its only fault was that the horn did not work. However, I would suggest steering away from old Smart cars - they are complicated and fragile.
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