eBay Motors UK - Grrrrrr

[hmmz]

OK so I won a car in auction 'great' I arranged with the seller to collect the car a week later, giving me chance to sort out insurance and travel to their City from mine.

All seemed to be going well till I got to see the car ... upon arrival it seemed apparent that the car passenger window had been smashed and the stereo had been stolen 'obviously this had not been mentioned in the auction'

The seller was playing dumb and insisted he knew nothing of it and that it must of happened over the last few days thus making it my problem not his?

I was not happy about this and told him but remained calm thinking hey this can maybe be sorted out at not to much cost (the window) and the stereo I did not care about being that I had my own high end Alpine at home waiting to go in ... But it then become apparent that the car wouldn't even start and the seller claimed the battery must be dead as it had been sat there for 2 weeks.

I thought OK this is getting a bit of a joke now but hey I'm covered with the AA so I suppose if it is just the battery then I can call them for a jump start.

Not happy about what was going on but hey OK ... well lets get down to the paper work - and now for the next joke of the day that made me finally walk away ... Seller informed me he'd lost the v5 log book and was waiting for a replacement to be sent out.

At this point I said look I'm sorry but I'm going to now walk away, I wouldn't mind but the car had no road tax so I was depending on the v5 so I could go stick road tax on the vehicle for the journey home.

The seller did not seem happy but seemed to reluctantly understand.

Now this left me out of pocket being that I had to pay for train journeys not to mention the hassle of having to go back and fourth and having to cancel the insurance I'd taken out on the car and to top it all off today ... today the seller has opened an unpaid item dispute for the auction?

eBay are saying I have to pay for the item or I get a strike, or contact the seller ...

Now it seems obvious to me the seller is not going to cooperate so what do I do?

[GreenBean]

Tricky! What was the specific wording of the listing?

Shoot me a pm with the item number if you want.

How do you know the seller is not going to co-operate? Have you asked?

[GTB]

get on the phone to eb ay

see what they say

[hmmz]

Here is the description (word for word)

Originally Posted by Seller's description

Item specifics - Cars & Other Vehicles
Manufacturer: Mitsubishi Colour: Silver
Model: 3000 GT Engine Size: 2,970 cc
Type: Standard Car Power: --
Mileage: 28500 Seats: 4
Doors: 2 MOT Expiry: Jan 2012
Model Year: 1994 Drive Side: Right-hand drive
Reg. Date: 01 Dec 2003 Road Tax: Sep 2011
Reg. Mark: L*** *** Get the Vehicle Status Report VSR Exterior: Alloy Wheels, Catalytic Converter, Rear Spoiler, Tuning
Previous Owners: 6 V5 Document: Present
Transmission: Automatic Manufacturer's Warranty: --
Fuel: Petrol In-Car Audio: AM/FM Stereo, Cassette Player, CD Player
Service History: Yes Interior/Comfort Options: Air Conditioning, Auxiliary heating, Climate Control, Cruise Control, Power-assisted Steering (PAS), Power Locks, Power Seats, Power Windows, Tilt Steering Wheel
Safety Features: Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS), Driver Airbag, Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Passenger Airbag, Rear seat belts, Safety Belt Pretensioners

"Hi and welcome to this Auction for this Mitsubishi GTO 3000 im not going to write a whole essay about the car but a brief description about it.

The car was imported in 2003 since it states on the logbook that it has had 6 owners which a few were family to family transfer

The car has £3000-£5000 worth of bills and reciepts which means the car has always been well looked after

It has 5 motnhs MOT and 1 months road tax

It drives absolutely 100% engine is mint as a lot of GTOs make a tappety noise when you start them this one doesnt at all sweet engine.

It has only got around 28500 miles on the clock and this is fully documented with all previous MOTs and other bills and reciepts so you know its a genuine classic car thats not been abused.

It has an exhaust system which is worth around £1500 alone sound very aggressive.

It has 17" Alloy wheels with good tyres

few marks whcih is usual for this age car but genrally probablly one of the best living examples of the GTO with this sort of mileage and age"

[GreenBean]

Saw you coming, that seller.

1994 year of production? Would hardly be a GTO in the UK as good as that.

Re-read the ad.

Road tax had expired....did you not notice that?

Welcome to view BEFORE auction end. Did you do that?

Whoever's name is on the registration is responsbile for the state of the car

[hmmz]

Road tax was done last day of August so needed renewing September. I never viewed before end of auction no, was far to far to travel just to view.

He claimed v5 registration was present in auction under 'Item specifics' but hey said he misplaced it, but whomever was registered keeper it was not me.

[GTB]

proper lured you in this guy

just explain to ebay that it was not as described,but first try to explain to buyer in detailed messages

[GreenBean]

For the money you were thinking of paying nowhere was far too far to buy.

How could you THINK everything would be fine? It was on ebay for starters.

Contact ebay. Tell them the item was significantly not as described Car was damaged but that had not been mentioned in the listing. Paperwork to have the car legal in the UK was not at hand.

Try the seller one more time. He's bluffing you.

Did you give him that deposit?

[hmmz]

No never paid the deposit, strictly cash only for a car I hadn't seen first. I'll contact ebay and explain to them the situation.

Fingers crossed I wont get a strike :(

[GTB]

good luck!

let us know the outcome

[hmmz]

Originally Posted by GTB

good luck!

let us know the outcome

Will do mate and cheers

[stevebills]

walk away move on and learn from it! always try and view the car first and ask to see the v5 on ebay or by email and get the v5 ref number and go to vosa website and type it in for all the mot history!

[GTB]

good bit of advice there from our stevo bills

[mattytman]

The seller seems like a pleb to me. He probably wasn't aware of the mutual consent form to end the transaction. Instead he has opted for a system that will leave him out of pocket on sellers fees for ten days or more. Seems a little odd when he has nothing to gain - because it's not like you are going to suddenly change your mind and pay for the car.

Maybe tell him to send the mutual consent form and end the transaction and let him know his final value fee will be returned quicker. If he doesn't go for it then give me his address and I'll go dent the sh@t heap car....