merc a good buy?&Buying on cars on ebay

The LPG conversion was one of the main attractions, aswell as looking in impressive condition in the photos. Thats the thing with these LPG conversions they add almost nothing extra to the sale price of a car for some strange reason. This makes these cars more of a bargain when you think they cost £1400 or more to install.

Brian W (*blank*) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

What's it's chances of having been a minicab?

Looks OK, and I wouldn't worry about 170k miles on anything this side of a Hyundia* these days as long as it's been looked after. The myth about higher mileage cars falling to bits or blowing up at any second still exists though, as I've found to my cost, so use it as a bargaining tool.

Noooooooooooo! I'd be quite happy to buy a car through Ebay, (and have, sort of) as long as the price was right. I'd never buy a car, or any expensive second hand item for that matter, unseen though. You could bid for it on Ebay and if you won, reject it if it's not as described, but it could all end up very messy in terms of disputes, feedback etc.

• - Theoretical, obviously...

Provided its been treated well and has a proper service history that immaterial

MrGrumpy ( snipped-for-privacy@spoofmail.notme) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Did I say otherwise? Big "provided", though.

I've done so a couple of times without any problems, but they were a lot cheaper than the one you're thinking of. Check out the seller's feedback very thoroughly before bidding. Talk on the phone if possible. Try to read between the lines and ask about anything that's not mentioned - eg. does the car stink of cigarette smoke? Then give yourself plenty of leaway by staying well below the book price

- certainly no closer than 2/3. If the car's more than, say, 800 quid pay for an HPI check before leaving home to collect it. Never pay a penny until you've looked it over thoroughly.

Be suspicious of listings that quote a full 12 month's MOT. Lots of dealers seem to do this intending to MOT the car after bidding has ended. Then if the price doesn't go high enough, they use it as an excuse to get out of the sale "sorry mate it failed on something major we hadn't spotted, can't possibly sell it to you in that state". Then they'll relist it again with exactly the same description. Check the seller's completed listings on Ebay to see if they've listed the same car before.

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no snipped-for-privacy@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Too easy to get out of - "Thought you said it didn't smell of Ciggy smoke?" "Oh, does it? Never really noticed"

Instead - "Has it been smoked in?"

Not fool proof - there may well be some numpty who's bid then either decided that the 170k car "doesn't look like brand new" or was just a time waster - always cross-reference any previous sale with feedback for both seller and buyer.

I still don't see why it isn't worth a trip to go see before bidding.

Yup, check everything about the seller and their previous sales first, but as you hint, nothing's fool proof.

If you live in the back of beyond like I do, you're looking at a minimum of 70-100 miles each way for most Ebay items. As you'll probably be outbid anyway you'll have wasted the journey. Whereas if the car's not as described, it'll only be a wasted journey if you're the successful bidder.

I've bought a couple of cars off Ebay withough ever looking at them, and even had the owners deliver them. Never paid more than 100 quid for one though, and work on the theory that if they're willing to drive 20 miles to drop the car off, it'll do me for at least 100 quids worth of motoring. I've also picked up a couple of freebies without ever viewing them first.

However, I wouldn't ever pay more than £100 for something I hadn't even seen, let alone sat in. For 4500, I'd want to take it for a damned good test drive, check everything, get under it, etc.

I bought a car for £3000 ish through ebay a few months back. The seller was

300 miles from me - but obviously I knew that before bidding. I asked the seller several questions before bidding (and winning) the auction. I traveled up by train to collect the car and drove it home. My attitude towards this type of deal is if the car was not exactly as described when I turned up I would only be out of pocket by the train fair. I did a HPI check after winning the auction, and sorted out insurance to start at 12:00 midday on the day of collection, so I could cancel this if I walked away also.

As it turned out the car was fine, and after a test drive etc agreed to take it, and handed over the money.

I'd say as long as you're sensible and don't pay for the car before you've seen it and test driven it (and HPI'd if over £800 ish) then there is no reason why an ebay purchase shouldn't be as safe as autotrader or local paper one.

Alan.

It can be, but trips to see cars take time and cost money, and this could be a fair amount if it's a good few hundred miles away. Far better to ask lots of questions about the car either on the phone, or by email, before bidding, and if there's any obvious issues with it you'll know and bid accordingly. Then, when collecting, if there are any obvious issues you've not been told about, you can use it as a very valid reason to knock the price down. And if the seller knows very little about the car, it might be worth avoiding, as there could be all sorts of things either wrong with it, or simply expensive jobs due.

What book price though. There are 3 online price guides

and . Parkers always seems to give the lowest valuations. There valuations seem good, but there is usually no cars for sale at the prices they give. What Car probably gives valuations closer to what you see advertised. Not all the price guides list all the models though.

For example there is a 2000 CITROEN XANTIA LX DUALFUEL (LPG)

?ViewItem&itemE41434263for sale on Ebay, Currently at £1,850. Parkers says a private good oneat this mileage should be £1295. The other 2 price guides don't listthis model. But still 1295 for a W reg car like this would seem to below to me. Trouble is there is no other models like this for sale, letalone for 1295. Citroën Xantia Hatchback

1.8i 16V LX Bi-Fuel 5d 2000/W Mileage: 106 ,000 miles Original Price £ 16675 Franchised Dealer £ 1910 Independent Dealer £ 1595 Private Good £ 1295

Yet I believe Parkers is owned by the same people who own glass's guide, yet the figures in both books are supposed to be different. Parkers would be good if you could actually buy cars for the prices they say the should be, but this rarely seems to be the case.

But Whatcar for this model says the Citroen Xantia suspension needs a major and expensive overhaul at 5 years old. This just happens to be the same age as the one on ebay. "Reliability Gas/fluid suspension needs regular work and a costly overhaul after five years. Engines are sound, but coolant and electrical glitches can strike "

Yes that seems like a good idea.

Price guides are s**te. End of. Look on autotrader.co.uk and do a national search - that'll give you a good idea of asking prices all around the country.

The one in your head. As Ashtrayman says, build up a picture from all the usual sources. I'll recommend Ebay's completed listings again - I only found the feature recently and it's genuinely useful whether you're buying or selling.

Don't even think of bidding on a car until you've followed a couple of ads or auctions for similar ones and have a proper idea of their values. (advice I might follow myself one day...)

I would never make an offer on a car I had not had a very good look at. Bad idea

There are lots of car-related questions in uk.rec.motorcycles - that might be a good starting point...