| Author |
Message |
    
Larry Grubbs (Larryg)
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 02:01 am: | 
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I'm sure that some of you have either done this or heard of people who have done this. what experiences good or bad do you know of? Obviously there are some risks involved. What does everyone suggest to minimize these risks? Their seems to be some great deals on Land Rovers here. Specifically I am looking for a '95 LWB for my wife.
Thanks,
Larry
'90 RRC |
David
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 03:26 am: |
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I have. In 2000 I bought my dad a '92 county from longdeal.com advertising through ebay. I paid $7500, very good price for two years ago, and the car was just as advertised.
Only thing though, they were local to me, so when I went to go pay them, I had a chance to check out the car prior to payment. Not that I would of, but I could of backed out if the car had been mis-represented.
My only advice is to check out the sellers profile IN DETAIL!!! If they have a website, check it out. Contact the seller prior to bidding and ask any questions before hand. Ebay offers an escrow service, so it's hard to get burned these days, even though it would tie your money up if there happens to be a problem.
All in all, I'd say you should have no problem, but cover all bases before bidding. Lastly, contact previous winning bidders, ask them if they were happy or not, that should paint a very clear picture as to the sellers reliability.
As ebay would say, "happy bidding!" |
Tommy Dougherty (Skydiver)
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 07:32 am: |
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I bought a Disco II off of ebay. Had no problems and got a killer deal on it. I bought it from a car dealer, not an individual, though.
-Tommy |
mateu
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 11:24 am: |
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I got my D1 off eBay last year. The price, even with cross country shipping beat the crap out of absolutely anything I saw in three months of scouring the papers, dealers, and auto rags. Many of the sellers on eBay have money back guarantees if the car's not what they said it was, and you have ten or thirty days to send it back. Just make sure the dealer has been well established on eBay with a good rep. |
Evan
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 02:23 pm: |
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Bought my 98 Disco LSE of eBay and I've sold on eBay as well. Saved big over anything locally even with shipping costs. I can recomend the seller I bought from. He has a 1995 classic for sale right now. He was excellent and the Disco was as stated in the auction. He even helped me resolve some small problems that were encountered during shipping that were not his fault and at his cost.
View his auctions by searching eBay sellers for this ebay name: keessa
He is one of the only used car dealers on eBay without a single negative and over 400 positives. He also is a recognized power seller.
Post a question if you're curious about more info.
Evan |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 02:35 pm: |
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Bought my 97 Disco off of e-bay. Worked out great. Know what you are looking for and be sure they pay for the flight back if vehicle is not as described. Ken Topham was who I dealt with. Pretty good, but once you drive it out of Dallas, Tx, you are on your own. You can call with 20,000 questions and they will answer them as truthfully as they can. I did. Damn good deal over all.
Jay |
derek (Vortrex)
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 04:49 pm: |
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personally I would stay away from ken topham (autoshowcase) on ebay, especially if you are out of state and buying sight unseen. I just bought a '95 D1 from there, needed plenty of work. ken paid for $500 worth of it. I was stuck settling for their prices on the fixes, and not what my mechanic charged (and autoshowcase even said he was very reasonable for CA prices). this was also after autoshowcase admitted to not catching these before selling the car. they told me that scheduled maintenance is not something they would cover. example, my D1 had 66k miles on it. the 60k service was not done (an expensive one). ken wrote back and told me they don't cover scheduled maintenance because they could not make money off the cars if they did. I only bring this up because all their ads say "100% ride and drive", which is totally false. just little things too like, no jack with car, spare tire bald with plug in a hole, no radio code, broken window regulator and power lock when it arrived, cracks in exhaust downpipes, vaccuum advance not working, etc. then the really little things like...they put on their license plate frames with their advertisement and strip out the threads in the rear. on the front they can't get the plate back on so only put a couple screws in the bottom holes. not a very professional service at all.
one more thing, they almost didn't pay for any of my repairs because I paid for and got the items fixed before letting autoshowcase know. I took it in for an inspection 2 days after it was delivered, and had everything fixed then, as it was already there and undergoing work. autoshowcase did not like this at all. they wanted to talk to the mechanic and barter with the prices. they also were skeptical at first of who I had working on the car (certified land rover mechanic)!? they made this whole situation out to be a really big deal. they made me settle for "their" prices or none at all. they paid for wholesale prices on parts and no sales tax. again, after admitting they were wrong by not catching these before it left TX. the whole time this is going on the person I spoke to was stressing about 10x, "now if we give you this $500 you promise to not leave bad feedback, right, right"? |
JMcD
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 05:36 pm: |
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I have an open mind but I still just don't get one thing, Why are the deals better on ebay than elsewhere? I know a little about the car biz but several people (mateu,evan) have said they "Saved big over anything locally even with shipping costs." I believe you when you say that but I don't see why that would be, except for pure coincidence. The seller(probably a dealer) has to buy the truck, he has overhead just like anybody else, he has to prep it, store it. With the possible exception of lower advertising costs as a result of ebay, how can he sell cheaper than the guy down the road from me or you?
I am not trying to be a dick, really, I just don't get where the savings come from. I would love for someone to fill me in.
I admit, I have been shopping for a older Camaro for some time and have bid on a few, but I can tell you this, if I were to buy one there is no way in Hell I would have it shipped to me after I pay. At the very least I would Fly out to inspect it before forking over $20k.
That is just my opinion, subject to change
JMcD |
ccdm3
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 05:50 pm: |
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I bought mine over the internet but not from e-bay, I went with www.bvlr.com. The car was just as the seller posted. It was my 1st internet purchase and I will never go to a lot again! |
ErikS
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 06:39 pm: |
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JMcd,
The reason why there are such good deals is because these dealers are going for quantity. They can sell 10 cars and only make say $1000 per vehicle online in the same amount of time it would take to sell 5 cars on the lot with a profit of say $1500(profit amounts just a guess, car salesman could tell you better) So 10,000 vs. 7,500. Not a huge difference but adds up especially when you only have one guy that gets paid by the hour instead on commision to watch the ebay account. |
Paul Long
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 07:52 pm: |
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Bought my '99 DII last year while still under warranty. No problems with the seller, an individual in Calif. Shipping to PA was a real horror. The shipper I paid to move it turned out to be a shipping broker. The company they paid to have it moved was a week late picking it up. After another week of not seeing it, I finally found out the broker owed the shipper for a few moves prior to mine. The shipping company held my truck as hostage for their payment. Found out working with US DOT that it happens all the time. A trucker that had worked for them at one time was slightly disgruntled with this company and knew where their storage yard was near Boston Mass. Unlocked, keys under mat in parking lot! He stayed in contact with me on his own cell phone till he picked it up on the back of his half loaded trailer. Called me to let me know my truck was on his and we met at a truck stop in NJ. I gave him $100.00 for "stealing" my truck, got my money back from Master Card since it wasn't delivered door to door as promised and went the paper work route to BBB, Ca. Attorney General, and US DOT. He was also able to get the bill of lading and gave it to me. Since this shipping co. no longer had one for this move, oops, they lost it! US DOT had a field day with them. You don't have to worry about that one anymore... At least I got it shipped cross country for 100 bucks. Not worth the month wait. I should have flown out and drove it home. Since I had never driven one before, I didn't know they were such a great highway cruiser and never thought of driving it as an option. Very happy with the truck and price. $49,900 new, $26,000 was the pay off I got it for at 1 1/2 year old. |
derek (Vortrex)
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 08:11 pm: |
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oh yeah, shipping. mine took a month to get from TX to CA. that is a month on a truck, as it left autoshowcase on time. when it got here, it was on a different drivers truck. every week I called the shippers and they were like "oh yeah, billy bob is down in LA, he'll be up there any day now". they did that 3 weeks in a row. have no idea why it took so long, didn't ask any questions, was just happy it made it without damage. you'll find out that a lot of cars get scratched, dinged, etc in transit. |
Tommy Dougherty (Skydiver)
| | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 08:37 pm: |
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I bought mine from a car dealer (not LR dealer) in Springfield, Missouri. It was going to take 3 weeks or so to ship it, so I cashed in some freq flyer miles and flew myself and future brother-in-law to MO and we drove it back (14 hrs from MO to VA). Only cost me a few tanks of gas and 1 night hotel to get it home, and I saved a good 4k+ over what local dealer was asking for same model, same specs, etc. |
doug james (Dgj95lwb)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 12:05 am: |
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I too,bought my 95 lwb from eBay seller 'keessa', in Brooklyn. I live in Seattle. The seller represented it just as it was; I'm very happy, love the truck.
I did a lot to get the maintenance up to my spec and schedule. Most folks would have just driven it and taken it to the dealer.
I did a cross counry drive, saw sights, and fell in love with it along the way. Your wife, I hope would love it too. You need to be handy in the diy dept...
Would do it again, same seller too. Check them out on eBay.
How are prices lower?
Lease returns from finance companies, banks and finance divisions is the answer.
Here's what's great: the broker gets it on consignment. His basis and investment? Nothing. He charges the seller a fixed amount.
The Seller/lessor? : they depreciated $$$ value over the lease period, they have no ongoing love affair with just another unit; what's more they get back 5-15 of these every week ! So they gotta get 'em outta here. They are in the finance business, not in the car collecting hobby.
So, who is 'personally invoved with the truck ?
NO ONE ! That is how prices are lower on 'No Reserve' ebay vehicles - disposal of units !! |
Larry Grubbs (Larryg)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 12:48 am: |
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Thanks everyone. I was looking at the '95 LWB offered by "Keesa". They had a green one that did not sell. They also have a Black one currently for sale. I am considering placing a bid with the intention of flying out to drive vehicle back if I win.
Thanks,
Larry
currently '90 RRC |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 05:08 pm: |
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Vortex,
I would have been po'd if that would have happened to me, too. I had a good experience with autoshowcase, but just because I got a good deal doesn't mean they don't suck. If anyone else is wondering about them, they should look at what happened to you in your situation. My situation may have been a fluke.
Jay |
derek (Vortrex)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 05:23 pm: |
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I'm not saying the truck is bad, but it is SURELY not a great deal. once getting everything fixed, the truck is actually in decent shape. I wouldn't be expecting so much if they didn't brag so heavily about their rovers to begin with. of course buying a rover privately could very well have left me with the same situation, but I guess since they sell so many rovers, and have their own mechanics, these things should be fixed long before it leaves TX.
here's my theory on autoshowcase, they want to sell as many as possible in the quickest time possible. they know darn well they are selling trucks with "issues", but are working with statistics and chancing it. if they sell 15 rovers a month, 10 with problems, but only 2 people complain or want some money back, then they are still doing alright. |
Hammerhead
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2002 - 02:45 pm: |
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An alternative to eBay, is buying direct from a broker. I purchased my '98 LSE from a broker in Orlando, FL during the week of 9-11. They are across the street from the 2nd largest auction yard in the country and have a HUGE selection of Rovers to select from. In fact, I just received the list of Rovers up for auction for this week and there are 153+ available, the majority of which are between 1-3 years old. In the case of brokers, you tell them what you want as far as model, year, trim level, equipment, color, etc. and they bid on it for you. They can tell you what you can expect to pay and then they add their fee (around $600) and can arrange shipping.
I was very happy with my purchase. The bank value of my truck was $26,800 and I purchased it for $18,835. Still under factory warranty and I added the cost of the new warranty to my financing and still payed around $20k for my Rover. Can't beat that! I would be happy to recommend my broker (and another) if anyone is interested.
John K.
Tampa, FL |
Ken
| | Posted on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 11:05 am: |
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John
I will be in the market for a used Discovery in a couple of months and would like to like to get your broker's name. Also would like to know how you found your broker so maybe I can look for one in my area.
I have heard of using a broker to find a car but have not talked to anyone with first hand experience. Sounds like it worked for you.
thanks
ken |
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