general opinnion on ebay car shopping?

depends on what u are wanting out of it. I was looking for a V8 mustang for $5000. I mean, what all do you expect for $5000 ya know? So I bought mine in colorado, sight unseen except for 6 600x800 pictures on ebay. Couldnt be happier. No rust, good daily driver paint, no big leaks, just a slight drop every week or so, good strong motor with good vacuum, motor smoked on startup when i first got it, now that i drive it daily, smoking is gone, nice tires. Basically, I got what someone would give $8000-$8500 for for $5000 plus shipping. Sometimes it pays to take the chance, if no one else is and you are, you might be getting the deal they missed, i did, and I would try it again.

BUT, if ur trying to get a very for $10,000 ish, id be skeptical. Heres the deal, the nice #2 17-20 grand cars are what u see and are SUPER nice, the cheap 5 grand ones like mine, what all do you really expect outta it??? But the 10 grandish ones, those are the ones people are trying to cheat you on, get more than what its worth. The 20 grand ones arent worth more, and the 4-5 grand ones arent worth less so their prices are pretty right on, is that middle 8-11 grand where people can go higher than its worth.

Generally the 7 days that a typical auction lasts isn't enough time to get enough info to make a wise purchase. By that I mean to get a video tape of the car (still pics, even good ones are usually taken at angles that show the good stuff while being careful to NOT show the bad), or to have a pro see the car and evaluate it. A friend of mine bought a '57 Chevy a few months ago off ebay, paid $9,000 for it had it shipped from Wisconson (why the hell would anyone buy a 50 year old car from the rust belt is beyond me) for $1,200, then spent over $700 at the DMV for a total of $10,900. For that he could have bought a nice car LOCALLY that he could personally inspect. Instead he bought a real sad case, rust everwhere, motor knocks (yes people selling on ebay lie) and ebay is NO help at all, regardless of how the claim to "protect" their members, so he has a car that he can't even sell for anywhere near what he's got into it. I realize lots of guys buy cars off ebay with no problems, but I wouldn't.

I bought my car off ebay sight un-seen for $2500 and got a whole mess of issues (engine blew out the seconded day cause it wasn't built right, horriable body damage under the tons of bondo). All in all it has been a good "project" and learning experence; both with working on the car and with buying a car sight un-seen.

I'm going the ebay route, but I don't plan on spending more that $1500-$2k, max. Basically, I'm expecting to get a pile of chit, so I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky...but probably not.