Question About Buying a Car off "Ebay"

[bigslim]

Can someone tell about their experiences with buying cars off Ebay. A co-worker of mine just won a bid on a car and wants to know the best way to pay for it. Does PayPal take an amount ($20,000-$25,000) this large? Should he send a certified check? How can he really tell if it is legit? How can he protect himself against fraud? Please tell me the best way he can handle this transaction. Thank you.

[DEFYANT]

He could send a deposit with Paypal. Then go there to complete the deal in person. He should look into having the banks set up a wire transfer to make the final payment.

The details are probably spelled out in the ebay listing too.

[LILALLEYKATT]

Advise them to utilize the 3rd party inspection service which for a fee goes to where the car is and inspects it. Then talk to tech after the inspection is done and get his opinion of the car and the owner.

[mrjones]

I got my Marauder and my wife's Durango from ebay. Completed them just like a regular car buying experience, by having my credit union do the wire transfer when I got to the dealership and checked out the cars. I wasn't really worried about the Marauder, since it was new.

[2003 MIB]

I've purchased three cars from eBay (P71,Focus, XJS). Deposited via Paypal and paid the rest when I picked them up.
I'll admit to being little nervous about flying in and driving back in an unknown vehicle. I never had any issues with the return trips. They were kind fun actually.

[TooManyFords]

I've done it three times now. Take CASH with you, no deposit. Then, when you get there and it turns out to be a turd you can just walk away from the deal. Period.

I did that once and the car was clearly misrepresented. We both agreed and I had a nice drive back from Indy.

John

[Mikeenh]

You can make the deposit with PayPal. They will back you up if the car is bad to get your money back. A wire transfer is the best way after that.
If you thought a certified bank check was as good as cash, Wrong,it can be CANCELED.
If you are ever the seller use a bank transfer. It's tighter than a frog's butt hole, and that's water tight.