ebay car bid goes bad

[car buyer]

I recently had the high bid on a 67 mustang on ebay. I flew out to pick up/pay for the car, and it was not in safe driving condition. The seller also offered me a bill of sale for less than the agreed purchase price (possibly for tax fraud?) I turned the car down at this point. Seller is in California, I am in Nebraska. He know wants to "have his lawyer serve me" Can he do this based on an EBAY auction?

Thanks

 

[peter]

If you suspect fraud then contact ebay with the deatils....

Too bad you didnt take picture, why was it not in safe driving condition? How was the EBAY ad written? Did the seller say it was in legal drivable condition, or did he mention any defects that needed attention...

Sorry you had a bad experience with ebay...some people do, but first we all must ask, was the car really cheap with a very low opening bid or reserve? or did you pay a fair price?

Too bad you dont have a copy of the bill of sale

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by car buyer:
I recently had the high bid on a 67 mustang on ebay. I flew out to pick up/pay for the car, and it was not in safe driving condition. The seller also offered me a bill of sale for less than the agreed purchase price (possibly for tax fraud?) I turned the car down at this point. Seller is in California, I am in Nebraska. He know wants to "have his lawyer serve me" Can he do this based on an EBAY auction?

Thanks<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[car buyer]

The car was undrivable due to steering. The first several inches (1/8th or so of wheel) had no effect on the wheels. After that 1/8th, the steering was so stiff it was nearly impossible to turn. It had manual steering, but this was ridiculous. No, on EBay he didn't say it was drivable, but he said it had been restored. I emailed him and asked if the car could make the drive to Nebraska (from California) and he said he didn't see why not. Not being able to steer the car seems like a good enough reason to me.

It is too bad I didn't get a copy of the bill of sale, but I did have someone else with me that backs up my account of the story. I'm just worried that he will do something stupid like sue me and I'll have to take the time to beat him in court.

The price was fair-not cheap, not too expensive-for a car of its apparent condition. I bid 4903. That is roughly 75 percent of the MAX possible value for this type of classic car. Several other people had bid on the car.

Basically I'm curious to know if he has a case based on California law.

 

[peter]

I am not a lawyer just a regular guy who buys and sells stuff on ebay.

But did it have a current inspection sticker
someone would have to have driven it to an State emissions place to be inspected, and in most states when a car is more the 10 or 15 years old it must be inspected every year or two, when they get an emissions sticker..

I know you love Mustangs we all do, I'm thinking this was a misunderstanding, he thought maybe you would tow it back to Nebraska, and you wanted to drive it back.

I will let a lawyer answer the legal question.

But for EBAY...i would not buy any really expensive items unless they live close to me in NYC. I can drive over their to see it and then if it was not as advertised i could save myself some grief... but thats makes me feel safer in dealing with the sellers. Yet people all the time do what you do and have no problem. I'm not really sure what else to say, I think you werent really defraused, as much as it was slight misrepresented that it was in great drivable condition. Maybe you still can work it out if he fixes the steering, I really dont think he has a case to sue you for much anyway...

What maybe the $99 featured listing on ebay and their commision charge...

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by car buyer:
The car was undrivable due to steering. The first several inches (1/8th or so of wheel) had no effect on the wheels. After that 1/8th, the steering was so stiff it was nearly impossible to turn. It had manual steering, but this was ridiculous. No, on EBay he didn't say it was drivable, but he said it had been restored. I emailed him and asked if the car could make the drive to Nebraska (from California) and he said he didn't see why not. Not being able to steer the car seems like a good enough reason to me.

It is too bad I didn't get a copy of the bill of sale, but I did have someone else with me that backs up my account of the story. I'm just worried that he will do something stupid like sue me and I'll have to take the time to beat him in court.

The price was fair-not cheap, not too expensive-for a car of its apparent condition. I bid 4903. That is roughly 75 percent of the MAX possible value for this type of classic car. Several other people had bid on the car.

Basically I'm curious to know if he has a case based on California law.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[car buyer]

The car did have a current inspection sticker as near as I could tell. However, this was not a simple "drivability" issue. The car wandered all over the road.

He was clear that I planned to drive it home. I contacted him prior to my bid and he claimed it was safe for that type of drive.

The lesson I learned is don't trust anything you can't see. I took a chance, and lost. Oh well, so much for EBay.