Author Topic: Buying a car off eBay (Read 1957 times)

martini · « **on:** September 08, 2009, 08:32:38 AM »

Hi all,

I'm having my mid-life crisis and have decided that its time for me to but the MGB I have always wanted to own. Without a doubt the MG's listed on ebay are far and a way superior to any I can find locally. My questions are thus, who has bought a vehicle off eBay, how does the transaction normally unfold, any pit falls to be aware of and of course how to avoid the scams? My plan would be to likely fly to where ever the car is a drive it home.

Any thought are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Martini

tramp · « **Reply #1 on:** September 08, 2009, 08:37:21 AM »

be very sure you can drive it home
get lots of pics
ask the owner lots of questions before you bid

andy750 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 08, 2009, 08:40:05 AM »

Quote from: tramp on September 08, 2009, 08:37:21 AM

be very sure you can drive it home
get lots of pics
ask the owner lots of questions before you bid

+ 1.

I bought a car off Ebay in 2001. It was in Maine and I was in Boston. Easy enough. 2 hr drive. The photos didnt show the fist size rust hole in the door....no big deal though...old car, easy to patch up and it was black so eays to spray paint over. Ran fine. Cheap.

If I were you Id pick a restorer who has spent a lot of time on the car and for wahtever reason wants to sell it...make sure it runs! ;-)

good luck
Andy

BeSeeingYou · « **Reply #3 on:** September 08, 2009, 09:01:58 AM »

I would want lots of pictures and maybe a video of the car running and driving. It is amazing what some people consider excellent shape to be or what "in drivable condition" is. Maybe stick with a seller that does this regularly instead of some clown who just pulled it out of a barn and is looking for a quick flip.

Gordon · « **Reply #4 on:** September 08, 2009, 10:00:20 AM »

Maybe it's just me, but I would never buy a vehicle that I hadn't checked out myself. There's just way too much room for "creative" picture-taking and leaving out of important details. If you decide to go ahead, at least spend some time on the ebay motors community forum message board. The people there can tell you what to look out for to minimize your risk, and you can also read other people's horror stories about how they got screwed.

Uncle Ernie · « **Reply #5 on:** September 08, 2009, 06:33:38 PM »

Find someone on a site you're a regular at (like here?) who lives close and is willing to go over it with a fine tooth comb- including a magnet. Or, locate an appraisal service / mechanic you can pay to do it.

I've bought 2 vehicles long distance by taking the word of the buyer. I'm incredibly stupid; I should have learned my lesson the first time. Pictures aren't going to show the windshielf wipers that don't work, the suspension that's shot, the holes in the floor that are puttied just enough to keep the mats from falling through and painted over, the bondo that's 3 inches thick, the drum brakes that don't, the carb that is held together with JB Weld, the registration problems because it was owned by a trust and he never titled it in his name and now you can't get a title in your state...

Well, I could go on. I hope you get the picture.

martini · « **Reply #6 on:** September 09, 2009, 07:55:01 AM »

Thanks all.

Uncle Ernie - sounds like you were buying a B as well?

lynchj · « **Reply #7 on:** September 11, 2009, 01:57:49 PM »

Be very carefull about any old car buy on Feebay. I have 3 MGB's and they are notorious for severe rust in the sills that is hardly noticible from the outside. I bought an "online car" once and will never do it again, it was a 1970 B from a guy in Arizona thinking "great an Arizona car" come to find out it spent most of it's life outside in Chicago. After a few hundred hours of work and several hundred $$$ (thousands?) it is now a sweet car. I love MG's but try to find one that you can look at. Check your local area for a MG club, they are all over the place. I live in CT not sure if I could help but I'd be glad to help in any way

Uncle Ernie · « **Reply #8 on:** September 11, 2009, 03:05:43 PM »

One was a Morris Minor Traveler (he said it was restored- HAH), the other was an allegedly restored BMW R67/2.
I
have
learned !

lynchj · « **Reply #9 on:** September 11, 2009, 04:36:13 PM »

I don't want to alarm you or stop you from getting a "B" by any means, they are awesome cars and they are pretty easy to work on, parts are readily available at reasonable prices (kind of like our CB 4's) but they are all old, the last production year was 1978. Pre 1974 are the most desireable, these are the chrome bumper years but the rubber bumper years can be converted if so desired. I could go on and on.....
The picture I posted earlier was a "before" picture, pretty much as I bought it. Looks good from far but is far from good. Like I said, the sills are notorious for rotting from the inside out. The sills are the backbone of the car, they are made up of 4 sheet metal pieces spot welded together. The picture below is what I uncovered after cutting off the outer sill piece of the same car. In this you can see the middle piece of the sill with many holes. The next picture is the inner sill, lots of rust.
There are lots of really nice MGB's out there. One old saying is "you will pay $6000 one way or another, if you buy a $3000 MG you will put $3000 into it". Learning to weld is one of the things that comes in handy with a LBC (Little British Car). Again I'd be more than happy to assist in any way.
Good luck! Safety Fast (it's the MG logo)

bucky katt · « **Reply #10 on:** September 11, 2009, 05:05:56 PM »

i finally got old british cars out of my system 10 years ago. i decided poking myself in the eyes with toothpicks were less painful. is victoria british auto parts in kansas still around? i paid the owners kids, colledge educations and orthodontists bills between 1986 and 1998.

Damfino · « **Reply #11 on:** September 11, 2009, 05:45:20 PM »

Quote from: lynchj on September 11, 2009, 04:36:13 PM

I don't want to alarm you or stop you from getting a "B" by any means, they are awesome cars and they are pretty easy to work on, parts are readily available at reasonable prices (kind of like our CB 4's) but they are all old, the last production year was 1978. Pre 1974 are the most desireable, these are the chrome bumper years but the rubber bumper years can be converted if so desired. I could go on and on.....
The picture I posted earlier was a "before" picture, pretty much as I bought it. Looks good from far but is far from good. Like I said, the sills are notorious for rotting from the inside out. The sills are the backbone of the car, they are made up of 4 sheet metal pieces spot welded together. The picture below is what I uncovered after cutting off the outer sill piece of the same car. In this you can see the middle piece of the sill with many holes. The next picture is the inner sill, lots of rust.
There are lots of really nice MGB's out there. One old saying is "you will pay $6000 one way or another, if you buy a $3000 MG you will put $3000 into it". Learning to weld is one of the things that comes in handy with a LBC (Little British Car). Again I'd be more than happy to assist in any way.
Good luck! Safety Fast (it's the MG logo)

Wow! Are you sure that car isn't swiss?

bucky katt · « **Reply #12 on:** September 11, 2009, 06:53:18 PM »

Quote from: Schmthaus on September 11, 2009, 05:45:20 PM

Quote from: lynchj on September 11, 2009, 04:36:13 PM
I don't want to alarm you or stop you from getting a "B" by any means, they are awesome cars and they are pretty easy to work on, parts are readily available at reasonable prices (kind of like our CB 4's) but they are all old, the last production year was 1978. Pre 1974 are the most desireable, these are the chrome bumper years but the rubber bumper years can be converted if so desired. I could go on and on.....
The picture I posted earlier was a "before" picture, pretty much as I bought it. Looks good from far but is far from good. Like I said, the sills are notorious for rotting from the inside out. The sills are the backbone of the car, they are made up of 4 sheet metal pieces spot welded together. The picture below is what I uncovered after cutting off the outer sill piece of the same car. In this you can see the middle piece of the sill with many holes. The next picture is the inner sill, lots of rust.
There are lots of really nice MGB's out there. One old saying is "you will pay $6000 one way or another, if you buy a $3000 MG you will put $3000 into it". Learning to weld is one of the things that comes in handy with a LBC (Little British Car). Again I'd be more than happy to assist in any way.
Good luck! Safety Fast (it's the MG logo)

Wow! Are you sure that car isn't swiss?

thats worse than the tr250 i had in the mid 90's

martini · « **Reply #13 on:** September 11, 2009, 07:54:13 PM »

Thanks for the advice guys - appreciate it. I'm not in any big rush to get the car so I think I'll wait and buy local.

Lychj - I've been doing a fair bit of homework and am determined to try and get a rust free B if I can find one, especially as I don't weld. With respect to the sills, what is the best way to check these for rust, aside from the magnet?

Cheers,
Martini

Uncle Ernie · « **Reply #14 on:** September 11, 2009, 08:08:32 PM »

See how far a screwdriver sinks in.

74cb750 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 12, 2009, 06:00:18 AM »

Mybrother had an MGB, I had a Midget.
The MGB needed lots of work , but was a sweet car.
The Midget cost me more in parts in 6 months than I paid for
it before the motor actually Blew Up!

I'll never own another MG, no matter what the price.
But If I ever have the $, I'd buy a Sunbeam Tiger....now there was a car.
peace,
michel

lynchj · « **Reply #16 on:** September 12, 2009, 01:12:22 PM »

Quote from: martini on September 11, 2009, 07:54:13 PM

Thanks for the advice guys - appreciate it. I'm not in any big rush to get the car so I think I'll wait and buy local.

Lychj - I've been doing a fair bit of homework and am determined to try and get a rust free B if I can find one, especially as I don't weld. With respect to the sills, what is the best way to check these for rust, aside from the magnet?

Cheers,
Martini

There are a couple good ways to check the sills. The first is the jack recepticle, it's located just under the sill in the center, if it's all rusted out there is a good chance that the sills are bad. There are a couple drains built into to the sills, they should be clear, if they are filled up with crap then water is sitting inside.
There are definitely many solid MG's out there. Check the web for local British car shows, there will be lots of people with good cars and good advice. Next weekend up in Stowe VT is the "British Invasion" there will be hundreds of beautiful British cars, it's the largest all British car show on the east coast http://www.britishinvasion.com/index.html
Since I live in CT I'm a member of the CT MG club, there are cars for sale that are posted on our website that will never go on EBay. not much right now http://mgclub.homestead.com/ but check your local area club or even the MG registry http://www.mgexperience.net/registry/

lynchj · « **Reply #17 on:** September 12, 2009, 01:29:03 PM »

Wow! Are you sure that car isn't swiss?

Good one, No but it does look like swiss cheese

This picture shows the locations of the drains and the jacking point. This is the new inner sill and bottom piece of the sill (I had to do both sides and the floor boards to) you can see the internal brace for the jacking point.

Damfino · « **Reply #18 on:** September 12, 2009, 01:36:09 PM »

Wow! Outstanding job on the repair Lynch!

martini · « **Reply #19 on:** September 12, 2009, 03:58:28 PM »

Lynchj, that's awesome thanks a lot for the tips and the photos, great stuff, and yes, nice repair job!

Uncle E - I'll try the screw driver method during my next test drive!

Cheers,
Martini

Uncle Ernie · « **Reply #20 on:** September 12, 2009, 08:17:20 PM »

Just so we're clear; I meant the car- not the seller...

martini · « **Reply #21 on:** September 13, 2009, 12:07:21 PM »

Quote from: Uncle Ernie on September 12, 2009, 08:17:20 PM

Just so we're clear; I meant the car- not the seller...

LOL

mark · « **Reply #22 on:** September 13, 2009, 01:24:47 PM »

Quote from: bucky katt on September 11, 2009, 05:05:56 PM

i finally got old british cars out of my system 10 years ago. i decided poking myself in the eyes with toothpicks were less painful. is victoria british auto parts in kansas still around? i paid the owners kids, colledge educations and orthodontists bills between 1986 and 1998.

Ha!

VB is indeed still around. They were advertising repro complete body tubs(!) for MGB a few years back.

I got rid of the Sprites before they even got started eating cash.

on flebay.

I made dam sure they knew what they were buying.

bucky katt · « **Reply #23 on:** September 14, 2009, 12:13:51 AM »

Quote from: mark on September 13, 2009, 01:24:47 PM

Quote from: bucky katt on September 11, 2009, 05:05:56 PM
i finally got old british cars out of my system 10 years ago. i decided poking myself in the eyes with toothpicks were less painful. is victoria british auto parts in kansas still around? i paid the owners kids, colledge educations and orthodontists bills between 1986 and 1998.

Ha!

VB is indeed still around. They were advertising repro complete body tubs(!) for MGB a few years back.

I got rid of the Sprites before they even got started eating cash.

on flebay.

I made dam sure they knew what they were buying.

i remember my last brit roadster as being a 1976 spitfire. what a TURD that car was. i hit the turn signal and the horn would blow. i had no end of trouble with the overdrive units so i #$%*canned it and had a straight 4 speed. then the rear axles liked to twist under lots of power and traction (big bore, i forget HOW big, a head and cam from paeco and dcoe webers, mallory unilite distributor and hy-fire ignition box) the thing absolutely flew but i never did get it electrically right. i finally sold the bastid to a scottish guy in tampa that owned a shop working on these nightmares.

Uncle Ernie · « **Reply #24 on:** September 14, 2009, 05:30:13 PM »

I suspect the Spitfire may have been even worse than a Fiat. At least Fiats handled well.

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Author Topic: Buying a car off eBay (Read 1957 times)