Buying a Ferrari on Ebay.

Ebay is not "terrified" to deal with bad transactions, they are too busy. At any given time there are over a million auctions on ebay. They can only babysit a tiny fraction of those.

 

In my case the ticket was $454! I'm flying out to CA next week to look at the car, and a mechanic will be standing by. The owner is a long time Ferrari man (whose other car is a TR) and he says he has all the service records, including a recent compresssion check. I think all will be fine, but I agree that with any purchase this large, look at the car before you hand over the money.

Incidentally, I had passed over another 328 on eBay because it made no mention of service history (and the car had over 30k miles) and the owner did not leave any way to contact him. I left several messages for him on eBay but none was answered. The car went for less than I paid for mine but the owner of "my" car believes that the other one had never received a major service. Let the buyer beware.......

 

I always take a VERY close look at the feedback as well as the item related to that feedback. I find that individuals with a number of sales/purchases and stellar feedback tend to be awesome people to deal with...although I am sure that is not always the rule, but a good indicator.

Cheers,
Travis

 

I bought a BMW 330I, BMW M Coupe, BMW M Roaster, Audi TT, Harley Davidson Bad Boy on Ebay all turned out great. But one time I dealth with Texas Toys over ebay and they turned out to be the biggest crooks ever.

 

Anyone ever deal with these guys?

 

OK here's one for ya. I bought my 92' 348 Speciale on E-Bay sight unseen. It only had 5,600 miles on it. I told the dealer I expected to see a NEW car when it was delivered, and it was, except for the sticky interior pieces, which I replaced or refinished. Maybe I was lucky.

If you find a car you like, just call the seller and make a deal, don't go through the bidding process, because it's rigged, I've seen several sellers jerk the car with no reserve minutes before the auction is up, obviously because he wasn't going to get the price he wanted, or his buddy wasn't available to bid it up for him (ha).

I also believe it's just a advertising spot, your not going to get a STEAL of a deal. All products pretty much seek their market price.

 

It would appear that this car fell victim to an overzealous mechanic who decided that he had to repair the car back to new condition. I don't get it - seems to be a popular pastime with these cars.

-Wayne

 

I've had great luck on Ebay- but never purchased a car. Bought a yo Cannaondale R3000si (<17 lbs) race bike for half price (lists at $3000+). Sweet.
Work mate purchased a VW last year w/ no problems.

 

I have my car on eBay right now I can assure that it is legit. I'm just having issues about whether I want to actually sell it now. We'll see.

 

All that "PPI at the Ferrari dealership" is fine and well if the seller will give you the time. I have a rule that I won't buy a car unless it is at least 20 percent below market. That means I have to find a very motivated seller. And there's 100 other buyers like me, looking for that motivated seller. There's no time for any PPI's at the dealership unless you are just flat-out lucky.

Take my 348 for example: The guy posted it on cars.com at a very aggressive price on a Thursday night. He needed to sell the car badly because he needed quick cash for a real estate deal. I called him Friday morning, agreed to buy the car right then pending my personal inspection within 24 hours, and I was in L.A. that day to inspect the car - a 2 hour flight. I bought it right there for an awesome price. If I would have said "Can I take it to the dealer for inspection," he would have sold this car 15 times over.

If you are buying at market, you can do all of that PPI b.s. If you are buying significantly below market, look at the car yourself and trust your gut. An average idiot can figure out in about 10 minutes whether you are buying a potential lump of coal.

KSullender will tell you the same thing.

 

When I'm selling a car, I typically won't waste my time with sellers who want a PPI - it's a smart move on their part, but I'm typically way too busy to take the car somewhere, and wait for it to be done. On the other hand, I won't buy a car without inspecting it myself first, and/or having someone else do it...

-Wayne