I've bought several cars on E-Bay, and if a car is materially misrepresented
(which amounts to fraud), there is no legal obligation to go through with
the purchase.
Where the problem arises is a) trying to get your deposit back from the
seller, if you've sent one, and b) you have no way to get back the expenses
and time that you spent making a trip to buy the car.
All my e-bay purchases have been good ones: an RX7, a Jaguar, and a TR6 (the
latter bought from an Indiana collector car dealer and shipped at my expense
to Virginia, sight unseen). All have been honestly represented ... but I
asked a LOT of questions and got a LOT of answers before I bid.
Unfortunately, it is mostly auto sellers who get victimized on E-Bay (and
I'm not one of them, since I've never sold a car through the service.)
People bid on cars who have no intention of buying. Not only do these
deadbeats (mostly newbies) "win" auctions and then fail to follow through,
they also discourage other bidders ... if I'm seriously interested in a car,
I'm not going to bid against newbies, because I have no interest in
competing against somebody who is bidding up the price but who has no
intention of buying.
--Graham
-----Original Message-----
From: jack williams [mailto:jackandangie@attbi.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 7:12 PM
To: Jsut4fun@aol.com
Cc: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: The TR6 I Didn't Buy
Well, if you asked pointed questions and got answers that were misleading, I
don't think you would be contractually obligated to purchase it. I think
that is where the term fraud would come in. Still, I wouldn't place my final
bid until I got a good look at it.
Jack
----- Original Message -----
From: <Jsut4fun@aol.com>
To: <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 5:21 PM
Subject: The TR6 I Didn't Buy
> Well, welcome to the world of buying car that you haven't seen. There is
a
> 76 TR6 in Hemmings (yellow car in Michigan) that has only 6,500 miles on
it.
> He sent me some photos and just about everything under the hood is rusted,
> the driver's door is stained by some chemical spill, he mentioned that
when
> he washes the car the black paint on the back comes off, and he painted
> everything under the hood with a flat black spray can without masking
> anything!! It was amazing how bad it was for so little miles. Just
imagine
> what is lurking beneath fenders, carpets...etc.
>
> This is why I'm amazed at bidding on a car through ebay and then being
> contractually obligated to get it.
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