beethovengirl said:I just checked kbb.com, and the private party value of a 2007 Toyota Corolla with 10K miles in excellent condition is $2K less than a new 2009 Corolla. That's a savings of 12% off new, not including the cost of inspection, a "useless" CarFax report, the hassle, the worry about whether or not the car was in a wreck, etc.

This is what I have found looking at used Toyotas. According to KBB, a 1 year old base model Toyota Sienna went down about 7%, while a base model Dodge Caravan went down 30+%.

Of course this is exactly why I ended up buying a Mazda minivan instead of a Toyota or Honda as I would have liked... Dodge wasn't even an option for me based on the experience of others in my family.

Mickie3 said:rigor said:you know that eBay is home to alot of scammers. fake/counterfeit products galore. its the worlds largest fence (ie laptops) etc. so i'd never buy a car there. thats almost as bad as craigslist. almost guaranteed scam. people looking for a hot deal. you'll get one all right.

sometimes piece of mind is paying just a wee bit extra.


Amen! I know that I do NOT want to go to the Dr and have him give me an injection of a medicine that he bought off fleabay either. There are just some things that do NOT make sense to buy, sight unseen. Personally, after all the people I know of that have been ripped off buying from there, I am amazed fleabay is still around. My only transaction with a seller ended up having the guy prosecuted for mail fraud, so I know fleabay has never cared if you are ripped off as a buyer on there.

I've bought three vehicles on eBay from three different dealers (two different dealers in my state, one other halfway across the country). All have been professional business people who I would do business with again. The three vehicles all had clean CarFax reports and I purchased them for fair prices (nothing "too good to be true" but under what I could have gotten them for had I had a used car dealer attend an auction to purchase on my behalf).

I haven't been scammed, but I have been careful twice and lucky once. Careful twice means both dealers had excellent feedback, very descriptive auction pages (look at the details!), and a TON of photos. The "lucky once" refers to a situation where a dealer (big, reputable new-car dealer who was new to eBay) with no feedback sold me a car at a very good price without disclosing that the leather seats had been refinished and the sub woofer was blown (and a 10" sub for this particular system was about $600). This was a luxury vehicle and the seat job was not acceptable, and after some back-and-forth we agreed on an amicable solution where the seats were again refinished, this time by a much better technician of our choosing.

Just like anything, there are risks and rewards. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another car under the right circumstances, with eyes open and research done.

I agree - pay with your Visa or MC - especially if you use PayPal - because PayPal will do VERY LITTLE to help you get your money back! This has happened several times to me, and I've gotten a partial refund ONCE, luckily if you use Visa/MC you can get a full refund and they will take care of all the crap.


cyrax78 said:Mickie3 said:rigor said:you know that eBay is home to alot of scammers. fake/counterfeit products galore. its the worlds largest fence (ie laptops) etc. so i'd never buy a car there. thats almost as bad as craigslist. almost guaranteed scam. people looking for a hot deal. you'll get one all right.

sometimes piece of mind is paying just a wee bit extra.


Amen! I know that I do NOT want to go to the Dr and have him give me an injection of a medicine that he bought off fleabay either. There are just some things that do NOT make sense to buy, sight unseen. Personally, after all the people I know of that have been ripped off buying from there, I am amazed fleabay is still around. My only transaction with a seller ended up having the guy prosecuted for mail fraud, so I know fleabay has never cared if you are ripped off as a buyer on there.

Actually, it's quite the opposite. If you pay for you purchases with Paypal and then pay paypal with your credit card you have virtually NO RISK as a buyer. Paypal will more or less always give you your money back if you ask, and if they refuse you can get your credit card company to do a charge back. It's the sellers who are really at risk.

Yet another reason why I hate Hondas. Did you know hondas are the #1 stolen car in America!?! I wouldn't trust a honda as far as I could throw it. I only drive VW's. German engineering is the way to go. nuff said.

My car has had two insurance claims for damage and NEITHER shows on Carfax.

Recently went price shopping (MA is recently deregulated) and the two agencies I went to both saw those claims, and that I had two other claims with zero paid. My inquires to Amica about a stolen bike off the car and a hit/run ding in a parking lot were taken as claims, even though from my part it was just an inquiry.

Don't trust Carfax. See if your insurance place will run a check.

blueiedgod said:yobuttin said:Yet another reason why I hate Hondas. Did you know hondas are the #1 stolen car in America!?! I wouldn't trust a honda as far as I could throw it. I only drive VW's. German engineering is the way to go. nuff said.

Ingenious!!! Buy a vehicle that has a very high chance not starting or not making far from home, so that a thief won't get too far with it.

You know what, I'd rather drive a car that is reliable, starts every day and does not require to have a mechanic or parts shop on speed dial. I owned a VW once, this was the most un-reliable vehicle. This is the vehicle that forced me to learn how to fix cars, or I would have put my mechanic's kids through Harvard, once it was out of warranty.I think Honda makes good cars, but they lack originality and style. In other words, they're just plain common and utilitarian. They lack passion.

By coincidence, wasn't that the original purpose of Volkswagens? Cars for the common people?

With that said, Hondas are great cars for those who just want reliable and basic transportation. They seldom break down, and they deliver exactly what they promise.

By the way, saying that Hondas are the most stolen cars, is just plain deceptive. Read up on it. Based on the number of cars produced, and eliminating the older models (5+ years) that don't have advanced anti-theft devices, Hondas are near the bottom of the NHTSA list.

iBleedGarnet said:OP, was the auction price set as a Buy It Now, or did you outbid others in a No Reserve listing?

Just curious, b/c no reserve car auctions would be highly suspect, I would assume.

In other cases "No Reserve" auctions are used by certain dealers after they have tried to sell it with a reserve or with a buy-it-now. In two of my three eBay vehicle purchases the auctions I won were "no reserve".

iBleedGarnet said:OP, was the auction price set as a Buy It Now, or did you outbid others in a No Reserve listing?

Just curious, b/c no reserve car auctions would be highly suspect, I would assume.

OP: no it was not buy it now option..there was decent bidding on it as it. and there was a reserve price on it..

Sounds like cut and paste. May be just me..
DiMAn0684 said: if the Deal Seems Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is...

ifyouhavetoask said:blueiedgod said:yobuttin said:Yet another reason why I hate Hondas. Did you know hondas are the #1 stolen car in America!?! I wouldn't trust a honda as far as I could throw it. I only drive VW's. German engineering is the way to go. nuff said.

Ingenious!!! Buy a vehicle that has a very high chance not starting or not making far from home, so that a thief won't get too far with it.

You know what, I'd rather drive a car that is reliable, starts every day and does not require to have a mechanic or parts shop on speed dial. I owned a VW once, this was the most un-reliable vehicle. This is the vehicle that forced me to learn how to fix cars, or I would have put my mechanic's kids through Harvard, once it was out of warranty.I think Honda makes good cars, but they lack originality and style. In other words, they're just plain common and utilitarian. They lack passion.

By coincidence, wasn't that the original purpose of Volkswagens? Cars for the common people?

With that said, Hondas are great cars for those who just want reliable and basic transportation. They seldom break down, and they deliver exactly what they promise.

By the way, saying that Hondas are the most stolen cars, is just plain deceptive. Read up on it. Based on the number of cars produced, and eliminating the older models (5+ years) that don't have advanced anti-theft devices, Hondas are near the bottom of the NHTSA list.

Drive a Honda with a manual transmission. Plenty of passion and character. The Automatic versions usually have less horsepower and are usually "dummed down" for the common denominator zombie commuter that only know to press gas to go and press on brake to stop.

Ever run the engine in any Honda past 5000 RPM? Pure animal raw power.