Buying a truck on Ebay

Has anyone here ever done that? We live in a very remote area and I'm looking for a specific truck and we've found a few on Ebay. The idea of buying a vehicle off ebay freaks me out for some weird reason. Discuss.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
I have, bought my '98 Dodge sight unseen in New Hampshire. It worked out quite well, I talked with the dealer for nearly 40 min about the truck & had many, MANY detailed pictures sent. I flew out to pick it up & drove it back to CO. I feel like I have made worse vehicle-purchase decisions in person. :(
 
I have, bought my '98 Dodge sight unseen in New Hampshire. It worked out quite well, I talked with the dealer for nearly 40 min about the truck & had many, MANY detailed pictures sent. I flew out to pick it up & drove it back to CO. I feel like I have made worse vehicle-purchase decisions in person. :(

I remember your trip home, I had forgotten that it was off ebay though.
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
Haven't bought any, but sold a couple. I spent hours on the phone with each buyer, but they turned out to be good experiences. Just ask lots of questions and document it. Most of the people aren't out to rip you off, but there are a few.
 

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
Haven't bought any, but sold a couple. I spent hours on the phone with each buyer, but they turned out to be good experiences. Just ask lots of questions and document it. Most of the people aren't out to rip you off, but there are a few.

Ditto...And to add I would wait to pay for it in person. Most sellers will accept this method. Just give them their $500 deposit or whatever and fly out. Worst case you'll be out the $500 and plane fair. Also, send the $500 deposit as a US postal money order, though the US mail. If something happens to fall apart, you have the leverage of a federal crime with the buyer (mail fraud!)

But definately talk to them a lot and get lots of pictures. If they aren't willing to oblige, I think I'd pass..
 

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
I bought a truck on Ebay, and a couple off the AutoTrader site, before Ebay was God. I pay in person, w/deposit sent, lots of pics, a little intuition when talking to the seller.

Haven't had any trouble yet. ;)
 

thelimeyone

Member
i had great success with mine, got a tundra, in PA, flew out, drove it home, saved 5 grand.
good pictures on ebay, got mine through a dealership, only risk you really take is paying for a flight, getting there and finding out its a poo truck, then you have to turn around and go home. i paid with a bank check upon seeing the truck, got to test drive it too.
 

BlackSheep

baaaaaaaaaad to the bone
Supporting Member
I bought my wrangler off ebay. I was lucky and a friend of mine lived nearby, so I got his wife (he was out of town) to meet the guy and take it for a test drive and look it over while I coached her over the phone. I did spend a lot of time talking to the guy on the phone as well. In the end, I wired something close to $11,000 to his bank account and he delivered the rig with all the extra goodies to my friend's house. It worked out well for me, but I had a good feeling about the guy, and he was very cooperative in meeting my friend's wife for the test drive.
 
Good to know. I talked to the dealer and my intuition is that he's a nice guy, doesn't know a ton about trucks, but seems to be on the up and up. The auction ended so we're just buying it through him directly. I'm putting money down tomorrow and sending in the lease documents. We're doing it as an equipment lease so I'll have a 3 day right of refusal once I get there and drive it.
 
Oh, la la! What I'm buying is still a secret! :p I don't want to say anything until it's mine and sitting in my driveway instead of locked in some yard in Las Vegas. But, I will tell you her name: Isadora Grace. I'll give you a hint too...some may consider it to be a 4 letter word...
 

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
Yeah, you haven't dropped any hints, asking about PowerJokes and saying you like MBryson's truck.

Tha RME never forgets.


You're making a big mistake.
 
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