Ebay Motors UK www.ebaymotors.co.uk Review

Overall Rating

Always had a good response for selling.

Not really E-bay's fault, but several cars I've won the bidding on have not been 'as described' at all.

I have used E-bay quite extensively for buying and selling cars over a number of years. I'm not a dealer, just a private enthusiast. I have to say on the selling side of things, it has been very successful indeed; Huge amounts of exposure over the whole country. I've had people travel a long way to collect cars. I've found the way you sell on E-bay is very important to the end result - the best for me has been making sure you have a very detailed and honest description, excellent photos (NOT from a camera phone), and price wise all my auctions start at next to nothing with no reserve. This way, only 1 out of about 20 cars has not reached what I saw as a fair price (it was really worth a lot more, but as I say that was the only one I was disappointed in). Keep it honest, look out for the obvious scammers and all should go well.
As far as buying goes, 65% of the cars I've won the bidding on have been great - as described or even better, genuine cars and decent, honest sellers. These have pretty much all been a real bargain too, winning the bidding for a lot less than the average Auto trader asking prices. However this leaves 35% of cars I've won the bidding on which have been a problem one way or another. Mostly, I've traveled to collect the car, only to discover that a sparsely detailed advert was for a reason - the seller didn't have anything good to say about the car they were selling. I look at it that significant information being withheld from the description still deems the car as 'not as described'. All the ones like this I've simply told the seller I'm not willing to complete the purchase on these grounds, and every time if they had been honest about the car, it wouldn't ave made the money it did in the auction. More worryingly, quite a number I've won the bidding on have come up as having been written off previously in their lives - none of them stated this in their adverts. Again, on discovering this I simply contacted the seller and explained I was not willing to go through with the sale. All denied knowledge of the writing off. So, make sure you HPI check car you 'win'.
Finally, people stating in their adverts 'if you win the bid, you win the car no excuses' and such like... rubbish. They cannot re-write the sale of goods act or E-bay rules. You are obliged to purchase the car ONLY if it is 'as described'. When I sell, I state on my ads that if the car is not as described, the winning bidder should walk away and I'll be perfectly happy for them to do so. Any truly honest seller should feel the same.

Members' Comments onpilotx's Review

• pilotx on 17th Dec 2008

  Just a quick addition to my above comments; I believe the sale of goods act only applies if you buy the car from trade. However, if bought privately, trading standards say this:
  Private sales... There are some situations where your legal rights will be reduced. The general rule is ' let the buyer beware 'when you buy from a private individual. It is up to you to find out whether the car is of satisfactory quality, to make your own checks on what you are told and to take responsibility for your choice, as the seller is not liable for the satisfactory quality of the vehicle. You are still entitled, however, to expect the car to be ' as described ' . If the advertisement says ' 2000 Ford Focus 'or ' excellent condition 'then it should be exactly that. It is important to remember that it may be much more difficult for you to enforce your rights against a private individual.
  Whether you buy privately or from a motor trader, you are entitled to expect that the car is roadworthy when you buy it, unless you and the seller clearly agree it is to be sold as scrap. You should take note that a car sold with an MOT Certificate does not necessarily mean that it is roadworthy.
  Hence, again I stress, if a seller describes their car in a particular way, please do check it when you go to collect the car - The words 'you bid your buy' in any seller's advert means nothing to me. If it is not 'as described', regardless of whether or not I viewed the car before the end of the auction, I wouldn't buy the car.