Eclipse off Ebay

[drewh4386]

I was wondering if buying off of ebay would be a good idea. My dad tells me people put cars on there that are about to blow-up.

[JoeWagon]

Ebay is an easy way to unload a lemon, but it has the same chance as a used car dealership to get a good one or a bad one. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything that I didn't inspect myself.

[joemathews]

Ebay actually has a 30 day warranty given by accel warranty co. for many cars that are less than 8 years old and under 100k miles (or something very near those specs). Granted, this warranty is for the powertrain only, and there is a $500 deductible, but it is better protection than nothing--certainly better than buying from a dealership with no warranty at all.
Sure $500 is a lot of money, but if you buy a CW'd eclipse, if it is covered by the warranty you'll get a new engine for $500 if you can get it to blow up within 30 days

I was driven to look on ebay for my car, and I discovered a few ways to reassure yourself before bidding, especially if the car is too far away for you to take a look at:
1) You can have someone go to the seller's home, inspect it, test drive it, and fill out a comprehensive report for you for about $75-100 I believe.
2) You can convince the seller to take the car by Pep Boys, a and for $24.99 they will do a full inspection and test drive the car. I had this done for the Talon i just bought, even though I checked out the car myself. It is just an inexpensive way to have someone else (who is also certified!) give their opinion on the car. If the seller refuses to take the car by a Pep Boys, I wouldn't buy it. They are probably covering for something, or just afraid of what they might find out.

One of the nice things about these examinations is that you just get the results; sure, it doesn't beat inspecting the car yourself if you feel comfortable doing that, but they give you pass/fail ratings for stuff you would probably neglect to check: turn signals, wipers, power equipment, mirrors, etc.

So basically, ebay has several ways that you can make as safe a purchase as possible. I have never felt so uncomfortable with worrying about a lemon on ebay that I didn't bid; it was mostly that I didn't want to bid without actually seeing the car, body condition, cosmetics, etc. Like I said earlier though, if you are willing to pay another $500 over your bid ($750 to be safe, in case you need to replace non-powertrain equipment), then go ahead and bid. That way you can afford to let the warranty cover you, pay the deductible, and hopefully still end up with a deal. I hope this helps you out!

~THE END~ sorry

[drewh4386]

Thanks for the info!