Buying Porsche on eBay?

[nel]

Hi - I've just put in a bid on a 993 targa on ebay (in France), just 19 hours to go to closing of bids. Has anyone else at PH bought a car through ebay? Interested to hear any experiences, good or bad, as they may be useful to me (and others I guess).

Fingers crossed....

[Stu_924S]

Hi,
Didn't buy a Porsche but a Saab Convertible (classic), turned out to be an excellent buy but beware, photos can be deceptive and you are reliant upon the sellers honesty when it comes to mechanical condition.

I sent plenty of e-mails asking a multitide of questions and in the end the seller even delivered the car for me! this was a bonus as clearly he had confidence it would do the 200 mile trip without a problem.

Best of luck with your bidding

[nel]

Thanks Stu - have spoken to the seller and asked loads of questions. I feel protected by the fact that he's written "impeccable condition" and "full sevice history", so if anything doesn't chime when I see the car I can pull out on the basis of mis-representation.

This is my interpretation of how it works - they're obliged to be honest, and if they have been then you're committed.

Anyway - we'll see.

[ultimasimon]

I have bought a few cars from ebay and so far, no problems at all.

Ebay is more about common sense when buying than being a car dealer. You are covered by the seller's description, as you have already said, and ebay are very good at resolving descrepencies IMO, so you should be ok. I always had very long and thorough phone conversations with the seller before I hit the bid now key.

Good luck

[POORCARDEALER]

I have sold approx 100 cars through ebay with only a few bad experiences......my advise is ask loads of questions....read the descriptions carefully, sometimes its whats missing out of the descriptions that matter, ie you bid, then find out its had 23 owners, then its too late you are legally bound.

Some real bargains to be had though.

[markburnt]

just a thought, what about the auctions that state 10% or similar via paypal upon auction end.

Can that make things a little sticky?

[POORCARDEALER]

Yes can be a problem, as if the car isnt as described you may have problems getting funds back. my advice is go collect quickly with cash........hopefully the car is as described and there are no problems.

[mightydquinn]

My boxster is on now so I will let you know if selling is any good

[POORCARDEALER]

good luck Mighty.............ive found selling Porsches a real pain........seem to attract idiots.

[bif]

I brought a 944 2.7 last year on ebay, kept it a while and then sold it again on ebay, worked for me

[nel]

Just to close out this thread.......I "won" the auction, but the reserve price was not achieved. When I called the seller and told him that I'd been prepared to go up another 1000€, he told me what the reserve was. Seems that he was in cloud cuckoo land as he was definitely aiming 5k over market value. So no sale, but a far from negative experience of eBay.

Nevermind - now have my sights on a LHD 993TT - going to see it next week and am finding it hard to sleep at the moment !

Nel