Beware buying on Ebay

I guess I should feel lucky. I bought my 92' 348 (5,600 miles) from them sight unseen and was not dissapointed, except they didn't even say THANK YOU! Which really ticked me off. Wrote them a nasty letter with some suggestions on customer relationships 101, but nothing.

As far as your problem, sounds like you purchased sight unseen also, which I would never do with a high mileage car, especially three of them. You have to bear some of the responsibility, they're just acting as one would expect. Car Dealers = Rat Bastards

 

That pisses me off just reading that!!! You have my sympathy's and note taken.

What BullS$#@!
Mike

 

Have they seen that website? I would LOVE to hear what they have to say about it!

 

you know ive always heard ebay is for sellers and suckers..... i would hesitate to buy anything large off of ebay .mostly nick nacks and gadgets i couldnt get anywhere else....

 

People like that don't care. On the off chance that they'd read it, I suspect they'd have a snide laugh, and go off to lie their way through the next victim.

 

E-Bay is acknowleged as meerly an advertising space for Dealers, anybody who acctually goes through the bidding procees, and believes it's a fair system is foolish it's very rigged, If you find what you like just call and make the deal. That's all.

 

There was a discussion about that dealership on Tom Yang's board not long ago. I think the issue was that they wouldn't allow a prospective buyer to have a PPI done on a vintage Ferrari and lost the sale as a consequence.

 

These guys are notorious for being scammers and bending the truth about the vehicle condition, including refusing to return deposit money after failed inspections, a local newspaper did a story about them - they also have another business name they operate under.

Ebay is just a way to advertise to a broad market, very few high price cars actually get sold (looked at the complete items) when they do sell they pop up again a couple of weeks later because the "buyer" is just webdreamer... I have found several cars through Ebay, contacted the seller directly and did transaction outside Ebay with the normal PPI etc...

 

You've had good luck...I contacted a couple of private sellers post auction regarding unsold cars and got the impression they were up to the same BS as that dealer. I have gotten two or three excellent parts deals on Ebay.

 

I would never buy any car without a PPI, ever. That kind of money DEMANDS PPIs. If they say no, then it's their loss. I am pissed off for you. The fact that they make you sign a waiver is suspicious, but no PPI allowed. NEVER trust a car dealer's opinion outright...my father-in-law is owns 7 new car dealerships..I would not trust his opinion on the condition of a car as he is trying to sell it...and condition is subjective. I went to buy a used Jeep from his (before he became my father-in-law). He said it was in excellent condition with no issues (that's what his salesman told him...he never even saw the Jeep). When I went to look at it, the transmission had problems and it smelled like 1000 wet dogs.

The only one you can trust is yourself. An independant PPI is a must.

Sorry you had such problems and extra expenses...I hope your site gets the message out.

 

Amen to that...............................

 

I have been there a few times...and you are all right...bad news.

I also went to look at a 308 or 328 that they had for someone on this board once...I cant come up with his name right now though. I do not know if he ended up buying it.

 

I have been incredibly lucky. I have bought two cars on ebay - both Fiat 850 Spiders. One because it was in great shape and one to drive and to use for parts. The first one was a New Jersey car from new. Never left the state in 30 years. It had nearly ZERO rust. We brought it back home and I just knew I was going to find a surprise but I didn't. It was as if that thing had been sealed up in a vacuum tube or something. I couldn't believe it. I eventually stripped it down to the metal for a fresh painting and even the battery tray was solid as a rock. I mean how in the hell...?

No kidding, a 1973 Fiat 850 Spider on a New Jersey used car lot, advertised on ebay as mint, no rust etc. and it really was.

It will be at the Mitty this year in Atlanta

 

Reading your story reminded me of getting screwed by another ebayer, a shifty shop in Florida called Don L. Leasing. I bought a Bentley from these guys, same scenario...sight unseen, and with the verbal 'guarantee' that it was in tip-top, perfect shape.
I get the car and it needs almost $10K worth of work get to acceptable condition. Some of the things wrong with it:
HVAC controls didn't work.
Passenger Seat control didn't work.
Auto-ride shocks were bad (these things are like $1600/each!)
Windshield wiper held on by twist-tie.
Front air dam cracked.
Missing covers for headlight washers.
Bad Alignment
Laquer peeling off of wood on drivers door.
Gas tank leak (terrible fuel smell)

I could hear them laughing about moving this turd all the way from Missouri.
Right after I got the car, I called the sales manager who guaranteed the quality of the car with my list of complaints. He said 'Oh, we'll take care of everything!'. Of course, it never happened. After that, he was always 'out of the office' whenever I called. They never paid for anything.
On top of it, on the lease they were supposed to provide a tag to me. It took them 12 months to provide it, so I essentially had a car I couldn't drive legally.

I guess I've adopted the state motto now: 'SHOW ME!'
Thanks for the info on Schmidt. I was considering buying from them. I'll not buy from anyone who tells a customer to F.O.

By the way, I sent that bentley back (I was leasing it), But I'll never buy a car sight unseen again, or from that dealer.

 

By the way, can anyone recommend a good Ferrari dealer?

 

With all the information avaliable on the exotic dealers in South florida you would think that the real bad ones would be OTB. For every buyer who gets burned there must be 2 or 3 new ones who don't know or are willing to take a chance and deal with these guys. Especially for the first time buyer of a Ferrari or Lambo, etc. These guys get so excited about the car they are considering they lose all reason and logic which allows them to fall into the "trap". Shady dealers feast on these buyers and, even though they get blasted on some of these web sites for misrepresenting, lying, etc, they do not worry much knowing that there will always be another sucker along shortly. In SFL it has always been this way.

 

I have bought two cars over the internet. Both cars I have been happy with in the end, but both had major description problems. Apparently honest people with any integrity are in short supply has been the topic today for me. Three weeks ago my brother sold his 1968 GTO on ebay, but sold it to a bidder off of ebay before the auction was over. The new owner has it back on ebay, which does'nt bother me, and has changed the description of it. Now the engine in it (which was a 326 out of a 66 Catalina) has become a number matching 400. The turbo 350 trans is now listed as a turbo 400, and the single tracking rear end is now a posi. Mind you, no changes have been done. This guy has even STAMPED new numbers on the engine - this is out right theft by deception. The original engine is pretty much shrapnel, a rod went through the oil pan . So now there is two number correct engines for that GTO. I don't know if we should contact ebay, wait for the auction to close, or?

 

i would contact the authorities on that one ! wow. thats fraud, like buyng a car with rolled back odometer... make sure you notify winning bidder.

 

I'd certainly notify ebay and send a note to all of the people that are bidding on it. Maybe send those warning notes from a new ebay account in case the guy tries to complain that you're tampering with his auction and kill your account. (If you have good feedback to look out for.)

As for buying cars based on the used car salesman's description... I'm ashamed to admit I did it, too. FOrtunately it was a fairly cheap beater so I learned before buying my Ferrari over ebay. My rules for buying on ebay (or other long distance) are LOOK AT, OR HAVE SOMEONE YOU TRUST THE MECHANICAL ABILITIES OF LOOK AT THE CAR! I was the high bidder on another car that was close to where my Mom lived, so I had her take it to the dealer (arranged with the seller beforehand) who told me not to buy it. And then KEEP THE MONEY CLOSE and MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A WAY OUT. I felt pressure buying that first car in that I was going to drive it back and didn't have alternate return transport. If you're going to pick up the car and haven't had it checked out (maybe they're letting you look at it after the auction and give a final OK), plan on either a round trip ticket or getting to a car rental to drive home if it goes bad. Finally, I learned to be paranoid about things and insisted on taking the car away and arranging my own shipping. I'd hate to give the guy an extra $1000 on top of the purchase price for him to disappear with...
Happily, the person I bought the Ferrari from was a great guy and we stay in touch, but the scumbags I bought that beater T-bird from ...

 

be careful with schimdt/st louis.

couple months ago, i almost bought a convertable TR they have (it is still on ebay today). a fellow f-chatter alerted me of its structural problem and stated that car should be stripped for part and crushed...he saved me $57k.

confronted the saleman next day....he was young and appeared honest. after checking into it, he called back and confirmed....next day he was gone.

buyer be aware

 

I emailed the 4 top bidders and warned them. The seller is shill bidding, got mad, emailed me & said he just changed the engine a week ago (somehow to the matching vin number!). I emailed both listings which are three weeks apart.The top bidder called and was suprised, but still acted like he still wanted to buy the car & said if I was right he would just sue. He probably has been watching too much daytime court junk! I filed a complaint at ebay, which is probably worthless. So to finish this mess off I went to the FBI office today, which is now(?) going to look into it. The FBI agent did tell me that they are having a bad time with cars getting re-vinned, and are mainly coming out of Florida right now.

 

Check out my experience with a south Florida dealer in my recent post "Tried To Buy A Boxer On Ebay".

No PPI before a deposit, no sale. No look at records and books before a deposit, no sale.

Found a better deal out west, and the seller even requested that I should get a PPI at a place of my choice.

The car on Ebay still hasn't sold after three auctions. Or was it four? Wonder why?

 

Once again, I guess the negative exceptions are going to establish the rule for all of us. Whereas there are some great sellers on e-Bay, I will tell my story in much greater detail with pictures in the months to come. I want my experience to be a help to all those who support the reputation of legitimate Ferrari owners.

I bought a car with auction insurance, good references, licensed dealer, records, etc. The only thing it needed was some minor work on the ragtop. The actual car was severely compromised. That's the bad news. The good news is that Dave and Nikki Helms at Scuderia Rampante in Boulder, Colorado are making it perfect. Dave and his family are first class engineers and technicians. It may sound canned, but they truly care about the customer as a person.

Have a great day!

 

I have purchased probably 10-12 cars on ebay. No Ferraris however.

I buy cars occasionally on ebay for my used car lot inventory. Here's the problem: Cars that are truly auctioned on ebay are "wholesale" cars. They need reconditioning, pure and simple. If they were retail units, they wouldn't be on ebay.

That's a problem for most buyers, as most buyers are looking for a retail piece, not a wholesale piece. I recently bought a 1999 Mercedes CLK on ebay for $15,000. Sounds like an awesome deal. And it is. But I also am putting about $1500 into the car to get it "ready for retail," and hopefull sell for $20K-ish.

So the key is, if you are going to buy cars on ebay, examine your expectations. 99 times out of 100, the car will need some reconditioning. If it did not, it would be on a retail car lot, and not on ebay.