I won the auction for the following car on e-bay:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

The seller requires a $1000 deposit made tomorrow by 7:00 PM. I am going to see if I can get the funds sent via FedEx tonight but in the event that I can't is there someone here who could deliver the funds to him and also verify the details on the car (ie: does it exist)? Obviously I would pay whoever is willing to do this via Paypal, Western Union, Wire Transfer, etc. I would even consider a negotiated "agent fee" for anyone willing to help me out.

Thanks,

Erik

The new car and the new avatar are a good match!

You think? *lol*

The seller is being very difficult in the sense that he isn't willing to bend on any of his terms to facilitate the sale. I had to go out of town on a work related conference the day of the auction and phoned him when I found out I won. I had some questions for him and requested the car be brought to a neutral 3rd party (ie: porsche dealer, aftermarket shop, etc.) where it could be verified that the car exists and is as described. He refused saying that the time for verification was prior to the end of the sale not after. He is probably is within his rights to say so but I've bought cars before on e-bay and have had no problems having a 3rd party verify details for me. In fact most sellers are quite agreeable to taking reasonable steps to get the sale completed.

be careful. being able to verify the car exists, before or after the auction should be within your rights. You still have the right to back out if the car is not as described, even once the auction has ended, so he shouldn't have a problem with you wanting someone to look at it.
personally, i would risk letting someone else buy the car, if the seller would not allow me to have someone verify its existence.

good luck

I've spoken to the seller again and it looks like I'm going to be in "breach of contract" as he puts it since without help I won't be getting the deposit to him. My gut is telling me that I shouldn't be too upset about this as it might be for the greater good since I can't get independant validation of anything and all the payment methods he prefers are untraceable and susceptable to being taken without recourse. Too bad because I really like the car in the pictures and could see myself at some time upgrading the 2.7 to something stronger like a 3.2 .... or maybe a rotary! Wouldn't that make the wine and cheese crowd happy

It could be that he expected it to sell at a much higher price and is holding to the letter of the auction in hopes that the winner will default.

While I agree that it is reasonable to verify that the car exists, I don't think it is fair to say the purchase is contingent on a full inspection. It is an auction, and having not had an inspection prior to bidding, you have thrown the dice and agreed to buy it based on the information presented. Obvious fraud is another story, such as having a motor that doesn't run, or a gross misrepresentation of condition or clear title. Just my $.02

Dude, no offense, but you should have done all of that (inspections, validations and such) before the auction ended. Winning an ebay auction isn't an option to buy. It's a contract to buy. The seller is well within his rights.

I've bought a few cars on ebay. Happy or not, I drove them home.

I agree with both of you and understand completely what you are saying. I also think the guy might not have gotten what he wanted and is not willing to do anything to facilitate the sale. I saw the auction when it had only a couple hours to go and at that time had no real means to get any kind of inspection done. If he was local none of this would be a problem since I could walk down, pay for the car (good, bad or otherwise) and drive away with it. I'm not having any buyers remorse - I just don't believe in sending $15K to someone I don't know for a product I can't verify.

For example, I bought my 914 on e-bay. I contacted the seller and gave him a small deposit via electronic means to prove I was serious. I then paid to have the car hauled to a shop (Vision Motorsports) where they verified everything was as described. I sent the money to Dwaine at Vision and he completed the transaction on my behalf. The seller got paid and the car stayed at Vision Motorsports until transport was arranged. Through it all the seller was interested in completing the transaction and was acting in good faith - as was I.

In the instance of this 911 the seller could easily be a scam. His bidders names are all hidden (possible shill bidding), he offers no proof that the car exists and the reasons he gives would be the same before or after the auction (ie: can't prove the engine has 20K miles or even provide the name of the shop that did the work because of "privacy laws", etc.) I will fly down and pay for the car in full next weekend but he is adament that he get the deposit by 7:00 pm tonight and he only accepts postal money orders which at this time is impossible. I can easily send the deposit via electronic means but he won't accept that.

So I don't know where that leaves me. When I say that I need somones help I really mean it.

PM sent being sent

Don

Again, I mean no offense, and I sypmathize with you and your current situation, but...

There's no way in hell I would have bid on a $15k car on ebay after seeing it for the first time within just a few hours of the auction close. Because that wouldn't give me time to verify anything. You entered into an agreement to purchase a car and by doing so, agreed to his terms (I'm assuming the desire for a deposit was disclosed in the auction). The obligation to verify everything was yours and you didn't do so before the auction ended. That's your fault. The seller has reason to be wary if he posted his terms and you are not agreeing to them.

You waited 3 days to come to us?

Could have sent one of us the 1000$, and gone to inspect and verify that the car is what is stated in the add and given him the deposit...

Andrew.

ps... If you get it... nice steal...

Timing just wasn't in the cards I'm afraid. The auction ended late in the evening the night before I had to head out to a work related leadership conference in another town. I didn't get back home until late Friday - the day before the deposit was due. I contacted the seller while I was enroute to the conference to a) try and arrange a 3rd party to verify details and handle the deal and B ) to let him know that I was serious about the purchase and work out terms that would work for both of us.

Ultimately you are all correct in saying that it's my fault, etc. However, in most cases sellers who are truely interested in selling their cars are willing to be negotiable on some items. For example, I told him that I will fly down next weekend and pay for the car in full. His auction states that he expects payment in full next weekend so the only difference is the deposit. What does he have to lose by agreeing to this other than holding $1000 for a week? He would still get paid for everything in the timeframe he wanted. I honestly think that most people would take into consideration my 106 positive feedback and be agreeable to this as being reasonable solution that gets the job done - even if it's not EXACTLY as he listed.

However, I believe he will cancel the sale and realistically I can only assume he didn't get what he wanted for the car. In which case it's probably better for both of us that the deal is off. I would like to thank those that offered to help - it's good to know that there are people in this world and on this board willing to help out a complete stranger.

P.S. I just offered to pay a bit more than I bid for the car if he was willing to take full payment next weekend. That is about all I feel I can do at this time. If it still doesn't happen I will chalk it up to experience.

It smells incredibly fishy to me. If I were buying an out-of-state car I would definitely ask a club member nearby it to check it out/inspect it as best they could.

But as you said, if you're going to fulfill the "contract" by paying in full within 7 days of auction close... the worst he can do is leave you a negative feedback score, which you open a dispute with ebay, claim he was trying to extort money from you that if you did not pay a $1000 deposit (that was not even listed in the auction agreement) he would leave you negative feedback.

Sounds to me like he wants your $1000 (postal money order? ) and to have trouble providing a car.

Actually the $1000 deposit was very prominently noted in his e-bay auction so the only dispute would be from him saying I didn't comply. He is well within his rights to cancel the sale as it sits. I'm just hoping he will be flexible enough to allow me to fly down and pay in person.

I hope you can't make it work out. If he hasn't sold the car by next weekend, I would think he would be receptive to selling it to you even after all of the fuss. I mean, why not at that point?

Good luck to you.

Really? It must have been garbled in with the 50pt text. I usually scroll past that garbage to the terms, conditions and payment methods at the bottom. Didn't see it there.

Update: So far I have left messages for the seller but have not heard a word from him since last friday. Not even so much as a "No". However, I did notice something a bit strange today. On e-bay the sellers name changed to babymydsl when I look at it from within MyEbay but when I click on the name it says it's not valid. However, if I click on the item and pull up the actual listing the name (Charitykars) hasn't changed however it now lists tomhank@cox.net beside the seller name and I don't recall that being there before. Additionally, the guy I was talking to who was adament on getting payment by Saturday @ 7:00 was named William Lau and he said payment was to be made to him personally and not Charity Kars.

Do you think I dodged a bullet here?