Second ebay car purchase complete
[Long post, pictures at the bottom]
I love ebay. What I can buy on ebay, I do. This may be attributed to the fact that I'm a cheap bastard, but it's also so much more fun then normal shopping. So when we had to buy our last car, I turned to ebay first.
As you can imagine, buying a car on ebay is even more involved then most ebay purchases. There are many factors that come into play, namely financing and delivery. There is also the fact that usually, the car would be purchased sight unseen. Purchasing a car sight unseen doesn't really bother me all that much. This is a small concession to possibly saving thousands of dollars, especially when the appearance of the car doesn't necessarily speak to its mechanical condition.
Financing can be an interesting question. Without going into details here, I would highly suggest you nail down financing, as well as a set top end before you even begin shopping. The shopping process could take a while, though, so be mindful of that when you choose your financing options.
Delivery can be almost as involved as financing. The most obvious answer is there are many companies that ship cars, but the cost of delivery can quickly cut into any savings you may be hoping for. Picking up the car is also always an option, but there are some things to consider. If purchasing from a dealer, then usually they will get you at the airport if you fly, or you can rent a car to get there, and they will take care of the paperwork for you so you can drive your new car home. When purchasing from a private party, though, make sure to take registration into consideration. Here in CT, there was no way that I could find for us to get a temp plate without a bill of sale and the title, so look into your local regulations. Your seller may also be willing to work out delivery, which I will get to in a few.
We bought our first car on ebay almost two years ago now. We were looking for an economical sedan with side impact airbags. We set our budget, and I started looking. I first made a list of the models that we could pull off, and started watching auctions nightly for anything that we would be interested in. Watching the auctions nightly, or as often as possible, is very important, and I will get to why in a bit.
I looked for a long time. I think in the end, it was probably 2 months of nightly ebay visits. I would watch many cars, keeping track of how much the models were closing for, and the distance from home. I also asked the sellers alot of questions about the cars, and their process in regards to dealing with ebay. Many sellers have different policies, so make sure to ask about it.
After about two months of looking, we was a Kia Optima with 8700 miles (the the remainder of the 60k bumper to bumper/100k powertrain) listed with a very lucrative buy it now price. I ran the carfax, all looks good. Emailed the buyer a few questions, and asked for a phone number, and within 30 minutes we were talking on the phone. One question I asked was could we walk away from the car when we got there, and the seller said yes. Within hours of the auction being listed, we hit the buy it now button.
The car was in Cleveland, an estimated 8 hour drive. So we rented a car, and took a little roadtrip. Without going into details, do not buy a car from Cleveland (or anywhere around the great lakes) in the winter, and expect to drive it home. Holy cow the lake effect snow was horrid. The estimated 8 hour drive turned into 12 there, and probably about 20 home. I had never seen a 2 mile long accident before that, but let me tell you, it will hold you up.
So the net of the purchase, an almost brand new car with a savings of about 7 grand from local dealerships. The only cost to us was the 200$ rental car, and one night in a motel.
It was time to buy a car again, so again I turned to ebay. This time we had the same side impact airbag requirements, but an added requirement of all wheel drive. Within our price range, I could really only find 1 option, and Audi A4. This, of course, is not something I was unhappy about :) So the hunt started. Again, I would say it took about 2 months of searching, but a couple weeks ago there was a no reserve A4 in NY closing, so I added my auctionsniper, and watched as the seconds ticked down. w00t, we win. After a little happy dance, we started to plan how we would get this car, as this time the purchase was from a private party. In the end, the seller agreed to deliver the car for a fee, which was fantastic. It was delivered yesterday, and now I'm having a card time just staring at the car, wishing I could even just take it around the block again :)
So once again, we are very happy with our ebay car purchase. Again, we feel we saved thousands from local dealers, although this time we will need to sink a little money into the car (needs a good cleaning, headlight, maybe shocks, and after some research looks like it may be time for a timing belt change). But all in all, very happy once again.
Now, some tips on buying a car from ebay
- Search alot. The good buy it now deals will close very quickly.
- Don't be afraid to make an offer on the vehicle. Alot of cars close before the end without a buy it now.
- Use carfax. This is an absolute must if you are buying on ebay or locally.
- When it's time to pull the trigger, do it. Don't wait. We missed a couple cars with a gunshy trigger finger.
- Know the market before you buy. Watch auctions close before you decide it's time to buy.
- View your searches/categories as both "ending soonest" and "newly listed" daily.
- Nail down financing before you pull the trigger.
- Communicate with the seller before you pull the trigger. Make sure any and all questions are answered before bidding.
- Look at seller feedback carefully when buying from a dealer, but dont let it dictate the purchase from a private seller. For example, this seller had no feedback, but I think that contributed to the savings since others may have put more emphasis on that.
Now the pictures. Oh I can't wait to register it :)
