beware Car Buyers

[dave220452]

I am not in the habit of getting involved with what others do. But I feel a word of warning is needed to anyone looking to buy a minor of E-Bay at this present moment.
Though my own experince I strongly advise anyone bidding on Morris Minors to e-mail the seller and ask if the photo in the listing is a current photo showing the cars true condition as it is at the point of sale.
Long journeys to collect cars that are not as you would expect is neither funny or cheap any member wishing to know more can P M me and I will gladly discuss this matter further.

[rayofleamington]

Hi Dave,
It sounds like you've been messed about recently.
The advice regarding any car on ebay applies at all times - make sure you find out as much detail as possible before bidding and if the car is too far away to view then make double efforts to know what you're getting.

Emails are better than phone calls for this as the seller has to put his/her answers in writing and this gives you a clear exit route for not buying the car at end of auction if any of their answers are not factual. You may end up with a wasted journey but mostly if you badger the seller with questions, the dodgy ones will be very obvious to spot and the genuine sellers will normally answer all queries.

I recently looked at a Minor local to me on behalf of a member at the other end of the country - I'm really glad I did as the car was a real mess and sold for at least twice what it was worth. Ignoring the money side of things it was a lot more work than the potential buyer wanted so he was really glad to find out before it was too late.
Just as a reminder to people - it can often be possible to get a member of local branch to view a Minor if it's a long way away... This relies on a lot of goodwill as it takes time and effort and on the other side it's not always easy to know if someone else's 'ok' matches your own idea oof ok - however in cases where the car is wildly different to what the potential buyer is expecting it really is worth the effort to avoid a lot of dissapointment.

[les]

How to buy a car---- Go and look at it! Simple.

[mmjosh]

when i go i take a screw driver and if the seller asks just say checking if the body is good underneath most of them have said carry on to me but some people dont want you to poke about so i just walk away as in my opinion they will probably be hiding something.

[frosty]

How to buy a car---- Go and look at it! Simple.

Correct !

Ebay equals 2 words

Caveat emptor

[Wal]

Dear all,
can I also add that if you do bid, on ebay or where ever then, don't muck the seller about either. If you don't ask questions or don't look then that is a decision made. Deciding you can't be bothered to turn up or subsequently deciding perhaps I'll have a look after all but don't really want to buy costs the seller money. Therefore this is a 2 pronged fork, decent buyers suffer from silly sellers but also decent sellers suffer from silly buyers.

Also I don’t recommend a screwdriver, taking a screwdriver to my car would end up with you having a bad case of piles. Some people understand restraint others do not. I would suggest a magnet as this can, without damage, identify filler repairs. Good on bodywork, unlike screwdrivers.

Regards,
Wal

[charlie_morris_minor]

i tend to use the handle end of a screw driver to tap the underside of the body work, you can hear the difference, taking the pointy end of a screw driver to the underside of my car would less than impress me

[robbiesmith]

Ebay is a very dodgy place to buy cars, there was a Minor advertised recently in Shropshire which I was initially interested in. I e-mailed the seller for more information and photographs, his response was:'The photos are on eBay'

The car was relisted for 3 months but is no longer apparent, I do wonder if anyone bought it and what kind of state it was really in....

Cars have been 'sold' on eBay by people who have downloaded a few photos from the web and then listed the car, buyers have lost thousands. The situation is made worse by eBay's indifference to users' concerns, their 'Buyer Protection' is hardly more than a fig leaf.

There are much better places to buy and I would always advise an actual viewing first (without the screwdriver - if you want to keep your teeth, although I do think a magnet is a good idea) and a personal visit is far better than lumbering someone else with the responsibility. If the car is too far away let it go, there will be others.

[rayofleamington]

How to buy a car---- Go and look at it! Simple.

ah yes, but if you're after something difficult to find e.g. a bargain or something very specific, then with ebay you'll end up running all over the country and no guarantee of buying anything as it's a gamble on highest bidder, reserve price etc..
Getting someone local to view is a really good fall back option as long as you're serious about buying the car. I've viewed cars for complete strangers in the past - nobody twisted my arm and it was my choice.

There are a many thousands of helpful and generous members in the club - which is the point of having this club! [some may think the club is for their own personal arguements, but they may be totally missing the point]

a personal visit is far better than lumbering someone else with the responsibility.

That's your own choice and not everyone's. I've offered to view cars for overseas members - I hardly think it is fair for them to waste days and hundreds of pounds on travel to check out a car, when people can help them out instead. Making a friend in Minor circles somewhere around Europe is never a bad thing. I remember when I was chasing LHD parts and got sent some from overseas without even paying postage from someone I'd never met or spoken to!

The world is by majority an honest place - the dishonest are by far in the minority, but they do exist and can make life tough for anyone who doesn't observe some caution. There are dodgy sellers out there and also some genuine sellers who have very thick rose tinted glasses and/or an immensely limited knowledge of cars. To make up for that I'm happy to try and help restore the balance in favour of the honest folk whenever there is an opportunity.

[mmjosh]

i dont use the pointy end i ude the handle to tap about

[les]

i dont use the pointy end i ude the handle to tap about

Maybe when you used the word poke in your first post, it sort of implied using the pointy end! Not usual to poke with the handle!

[nigelr2000]

Commenting on the statement "Ebay is a very dodgy place to buy cars"

I take it you have had first hand experience of this. I have used ebay since 2001 and if ever I have had a problem it has always been sorted out and the from what I see the people who lose large amounts of money deserve too as they would never hand over thousands to a stranger they have never met on an unseen motor they have not seen in any other situation (or perhaps they would !). Its always a case of if it looks too cheap there is always a reason for this and leave well alone. After all you would not buy a car from a bonafide car dealer just on looking at a few photo,s paying them, and sitting back to await delivery would you ? so why do it online ?

The threat of being ripped is very much a perceived one and in fact very few peole actually get ripped on ebay. Its people who feel they have too slag ebay off at the first opportunity that give it an undeseved bad name, you are just as, if not more likely to get ripped buying from the small adds in your paper as you would buying off of ebay and would have less buyer protection.

Rant over

[irmscher]

far better to buy off an owners forum off an enthusiast on ebay pictures could of been taken at anytime in the cars life .There have been a lot of minors on lately saying worth £5 -10,000 restored i havent seen a £10,000 minor? ever sold

[LouiseM]

on ebay pictures could of been taken at anytime in the cars life

There's a Minor on e-bay at the moment where even though the seller has made it clear that the photo in the ad is not of the actual vehicle people are still bidding on it! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MORRIS-MINOR-1000 ... 41540afcfb

[d_harris]

Thing is Lou, I'd be tempted by that as it has a long MOT and not having pics it might go for peanuts. So I can understand the logic on bidding on it.

That said, I'd not go a great deal higher than where it is at the moment without seeing it.... (£256)

[SGTBILKO]

"There's a Minor on e-bay at the moment where even though the seller has made it clear that the photo in the ad is not of the actual vehicle people are still bidding on it! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MORRIS-MINOR-1000 ... 41540afcfb"

What a cheek! It looks like the photo is of a car on the premises of a well known Morris Minor dealer!

My experiences with Ebay have been, in the vast majority, positive both as seller and buyer. Only one transaction out of nearly 300 turned sour and that left me out of pocket by less than a tenner. Having said that I would not buy a car off Ebay. It's just too much trouble going chasing after something which might be no good when you get there. Time is money and travelling is expensive these days. Has anyone had a positive experience with buying a Minor off Ebay? It would be interesting to know.

[MarkyB]

Any transaction involving money beware, is a better rule.
Most people are honest, it's the others you have to watch out for!
This includes companies, as well as private individuals.

[Kevin]

Its a fact that's its buyer beware wherever you decide to buy from, the number of cars I have seen that were not like there discription or photo's does not just apply to ebay, normally I tent to take a spanish inquisition approach to the questions I ask the seller and if they are genuine its not normally a problem, you do however get the enthusiast that just drives the car and has it maintained by someone else and apart from the looks of the car they cannot give you a soundly judged picture of the car, these I have found tend to be 2 types of car rose spectale viewed ones that are past there best and those that are much better than expected.

[aupickup]

i have allways had good deals on ebay for cars

[robbiesmith]

'far better to buy off an owners forum off an enthusiast on ebay pictures could of been taken at anytime in the cars life .There have been a lot of minors on lately saying worth £5 -10,000 restored i havent seen a £10,000 minor? ever sold' - irmscher

Ah, but I have.

Just for general interest, a few years ago a rather nice looking Traveller was listed on eBay and it went for £10,500!

The reason for this was that the car had originally been bought in the 60s by a man who drove it for about 125 miles then put it in his garage and went back to using his bicycle as he didn't feel safe driving a car. When he shuffled off his executors found the car under a sheet in the garage. It was recommissioned and then listed on eBay, pretty much a brand new traveller complete with delivery note, plastic seat covers and all other documentation. It had never even been run-in.

The buyer was an American. I wonder if he promptly put it into a specialist car auction in USA or here and reaped the profit. Given the prices asked by CW for reconditioned Minors it may well have achieved £15,000 or so that way. A rather odd-looking rhd Traveller with wooden panels between the woodwork on the back has just sold in the USA for just under £7,000. It seems that anything is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. I remember being rather cross with the executors for listing the car on eBay as a specialist auction would have yielded a better profit for the inheritors.

Incidentally, I take back what I said about eBay Buyer Protection as, coincidentally, I have just had a problem with non-arrival of an item and eventually (after a month) received a full refund from eBay themselves. So it does work. BUT - if there had been a lot of money involved, say I was buying a car, a month is a long time to put everything on hold while the problem is sorted out and you are waiting to get your money back. Also this was a cut and dried case and five of us had been ripped-off by the seller, if it was simply a case that you didn't feel that the condition of the car was quite as described I am not sure that the process would not have been much more involved and have taken even longer.