buying from ebay

[mal c]

Has any found a good Morris on ebay or are they all old dogs? From reading various forums it seems a lot that sold in the past
have been podged up wreaks.

[chesney]

I bought unseen twice, one I was aware was a complete resto, and one that is my daily driver. I would recommend going to see if possible, I got the seller to send me as many pics as poss, sills, underside etc. Just make the best effort you can to see the car, if you see what I mean ;)

[peetee59]

Mal c dont be a fool like i was!!!I bought a car from e bay without asking and getting the right answers.It was up for sale at auction,well i offered him a certain ammount,the only thing was ,i would not have the money for around 3 weeks.I did talk to him on the phone and he did sound very honest to me,however when the time came to travel,(by train) to scotland,the car was what he picked me up in,and i have to say,it seemed not too bad to me,i knew it needed a paint job,which is what i do,(from home)!!!!When i got to his house we had a chat,and then he said,by the way the clutch pedal only needs to go down half way to engage all gears,he said it was easy to adjust,but he just never got around to it,NEW CLUTCH NEEDED).Well anyway,i had travelled all that way,and it did seem apart from the clutch to be pretty ok to me,had a lot of MOT on it,so it must be pretty sound,(OH MY GOD WHAT A FOOL AM I ) I decided after the trip home,which incidentally was fine,not a problem all that way!!!!I started to strip the panels off and do a good job painting her.........Well when i took the sill cover, or kick plate as some owners call it,i did not realise that it just comes apart with nuts and bolts underneath,well this one (and the other side) was welded on,i really did not know this was how it was on the MINOR I had to cut it away and when i looked,( what a shock ) to see what a mess it was.When i finished stripping it all off,in the end i needed 9 separate panels to put this side back to being what it should have been,have had to cut everything out back to the floor (everything).I still am on with it as i type this message....Never ever buy any minor unless you can get access to the real sill,and outer undersill,arches pillars.If it has a sill cover that you cant remove,(WALK AWAY FAST) even if he has a full MOT,,,,them sill covers are their for unscrupuless people,who try and fool people into a false belief that the car is fine.I could go on and on,I have been a fool,dont you or anyone else,be a fool like me.For parts alone on this side only is around £280.00,and i still need a hinge,and then the otherside to open up,and more cost!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please be guided by the people on here,they are so helpful,i have had lots of help from this site,i am so glad it exists.....If i had to let someone else weld this for me,it would be better scrapped,this has really upset me and p----d me off,if you look at some of my other posts you will see the car as it goes through the dismantling process,,,,,,,,,,,,,I wish you luck,not everyone is like this,,,but be extra careful. By the way i paid £1450.00,should have paid half of that
Pete

[bpr81a]

We've bought 2 off ebay - 1 without seeing it first. No unexpected problems with either of them.

[peetee59]

Well you where very lucky,i am pleased for you,,,this was my fault

[jagnut66]

Hi,
I bought mine via eBay. I had it on 'watch' while I got some cash together and it didn't sell. So when I was ready to buy I rang the guy up and we had a very long chat, as he was in Manchester and I am in Milton Keynes. The upshot was that I knocked his original asking price down from £1700 to £1300 over the phone. When I arrived and inspected it I knocked him down to £1200.
How the car ever got an MOT with the chassis legs in the state they were I will never know...............
Still it sat and drove okay, so I took a very steady drive back home................
At the end of the day you set yourself a budget and you buy within it.
Taking in the overall price range of classic cars, I knew I was buying a project / rolling restoration for that money.
Have a look around and go into it with an open mind. If you love classic cars as I do then you will learn to accept that they will need some TLC along the way.
And if buying a rolling resto, be prepared for it to break down a few times until you have sorted out the 'teething problems' that you will inherit.
eBay is as good a place to buy as any, you may even get a bargain!
From my point of view, it was worth it, as I now drive a car that makes other people smile (as my passengers point out as I'm watching the road) and is, overall, a pleasure to own.
The only thing I want now is a second moggie............... I feel some financial pain coming on.........
Best wishes and good hunting.
Mike.

[leafie]

My advice for what it’s worth is never buy without viewing first no matter how tempting. I can’t believe how many misdescribed cars there are out there, a traveller sold for over £12k not so long ago described as possibly the best in the country. I was offered the car for considerably less by the seller before they listed it. Drove 150 miles to view, on inspection the car appeared to have a major structural issue regarding door/wing/ A post/ floor/front panel alignment and was nowhere near as good as it looked in the pictures. If you buy without viewing you may be lucky but don’t be surprised if your not.

[kennatt]

one question you should ask yourself,why is it on e bay,if its a good one then it will sell one here or through the motoring press,if the price reflects the condition.

[mal c]

Thanks for the interesting comments,they confirm my own feelings. I am looking to buy a traveller but not in any hurry and can wait for the right one.
Have paid my registation fee and waiting fo membership to arrive .

[Trickydicky]

Hi,

As everyone has expressed there opinions regarding Ebay, take a look at this thread on another site for the worst that can happen.

http://morrisminorowners.co.uk/The_litt ... t5843.html

My advice is, Dont jump in Do your research and take someone with you who knows what to look for.

Richard

[mal c]

Hi Richard, I had already spotted that horror!

[ASL642]

Bit heartbreaking all the same for the owner

[chickenjohn]

I agree with the above comments, I know of a few people who have been lucky and some who have not. Never buy a car till you have inspected it carefully in the metal. Ebay photos will not do!

[chrisd87]

Always remember that despite what some sellers might like to think, if the car is substantially not as described, then you're under no obligation to buy it. Therefore, even if you've won the auction without seeing it, inspect the car to make sure there are no major faults that the seller hasn't mentioned. If you find any, either negotiate on price or walk away. At the end of the day, it's better to risk getting an unpaid item strike than to pay over the odds for a lemon. In many instances, though, the seller may have been unaware of the fault, so I wouldn't immediately assume bad faith.

That said, if I were to spend more than say £1000 on an ebay car, I'd want to go and see it first. A few hundred quid, however, and I probably wouldn't bother unless it was reasonably nearby.

I've never bought a car on ebay before, but I have bought several motorcycles. Generally I've been fairly lucky, although they've all been old machines with known faults anyway. Inevitably you find a few more things when you get it home, but that's kind of to be expected when buying old, tatty vehicles.

A lot of the time, ebay doesn't seem to be the 'bargain market' that it once was. Some things seem to go for surprisingly strong money. If you're looking for a car, be sure to look at classified ads (such as Classic Car Weekly) as well.

[ampwhu]

ebay is a gamble. there are people out there that waste £1,000's on the horses/dogs/football etc. take it for what it is, a gamble. if your not prepared to go and view it before laying your £1 notes on the auntie mable, then don't complain.

i have purchased several cars from ebay without viewing them. you need to have luck..... be there at the right time and know that if it all falls apart and the water starts to leak in....... don't get burnt fingers a 2nd time.

[robberred1993]

Brought all mine from Ebay (all unseen), Never paid more than 500 quid for them. Always made money. Offsets the student loan nicely.

[Dean]

I don't understand why people treat ebay so diferent to buying from a classified ad.

[carlosramalho]

Hi,
I have bought 2 Minors <(traveller + Pick up) via ebay, no seen, when I win, take the plain from Portugal (Lisbon) strait to London área ,same day back to Portugal by road and after 48 hrs we are át. Home safe and without problems. I suggest to All my Friends the delas via ebay, but ofcorse you must doing the correct questions to de seller and also to ask a lot of pics from several sides.
Cheers
Carlos

[kennatt]

its no diferent than buying from a garge or classified or private sale,look before parting with money,but more importantly you must either know exactly what you are looking for or take someone who does with you.If you don't,then the only safe way is to buy new or nearly new from a main dealer.and forget about classics or cars older than a couple of years.Peetee's expirience is a typical example,he is a good painter of vehicles with a lot of expirience but has never been involved in chassis repair,the car he bought looked very reasonable from the outside( I've seen this car,and photos of it from a previous owner looks realy fine),I have seen it since and had a bit of input into what he need to do with it.Now can anyone who has rebuilt a minor explain to me why a previous repairer would make a totally new and different box section under the car,made up section from about 6" under the floor,about 3" deep welded to the floor and then to the bottom of the outer undersill,reaching from the crossmember to the front of the car,then welded to the bottom of the cover sill to form one large box section,but leaving all the original sills, boxing section,or what was left of them( Not a lot)Inside this new box,absolutly unbelievable,Of course it would still pass an mot,because the mot is not about looking at what was original ,only that is the underside rotted out ect.Ironically it has had a lot of other work which is fine including new front chassis legs.But the moral being any knowing minor enthusiast would have seen the obvious additional box section and walked away from the car.The answer to reduce the cost ,Just weld it up, cover it up, and sell it on. Typical bodge it and scarper,hope the guy who did it ,is on here because if you are you should be ashamed of yopurself