Life is like... I mean buying cars off of eBay is like a box of chocolate.... you never know what your gonna get!!!  I wanted to warn the eBay community about buying cars off of eBay.  People do lie so don't trust anyone selling vehicles on eBay!!  I have never had a successful buying experience when it comes to buying cars on eBay due to people never notifying me of the problems with the cars being sold. 

First car purchase, motor blew a hole in side of block within 45 miles, brakes did not work, parking brake frozen solid, severe rust damage, left me stranded 500 miles away from home, one of the worst days of my life, many other numerous mechanical problems not reported about truck, spent two weekends getting truck, had to get my dad to drive his friends surburban, rented tow dolley, dad had to waste a weekend traveling with me, lost $2500 on the deal (cost of truck was $1975).  It was not all bad I mean me and my dad did get to spend some time together.  The seller told me this truck was in perfect mechanical condition.  After the whole engine blow up thing.  I told the seller about this and his response was well it started up and ran when you bought the truck so therefore it was in perfect mechanical condition until you blew up the motor.  He tried to make it sound like it was a minor problem.  He was like umm I think the birds must have made a nest because it was cold outside and the nest was in the engine compartment so that is why you had a fire in the engine compartment.  Hmmm so what explains the knocking of the engine and the loud bang when the engine blew up, what explains all the oil and engine fire?  What explains that huge trail of smoke rolling out the back when the engine blew up?  I really saw the sinful nature of mankind when this guy sold me a junker for almost $2000.  The seller was like well I have four kids and I would not lie because I know how they would feel if I did.  Sounds like a sob story to make himself look innocent.  I truly think this guy was some kind of con man because he was so good at selling junk.  My dad was telling me that people can put sawdust into the engine to quiet a knocking motor.  Of course this is not good for the engine and now it's a ticking time bomb. 

Second eBay car purchase: spent two miserable days riding on a greyhound bus, spent $150 on traveling expenses, found out that engine and transmission were leaking a considerable amount of oil and fluid, engine was smoking (burning oil), no parking brake system, no reverse lights, might have been a few other mechanical issues not reported with truck but at least this time I lost only two full days and $150.  Did not purchase because of all these problems.  I thought I learned my lesson from the first junker I bought on eBay.  Well it keeps on going...maybe this time I will finally learn to stop buying these seemingly perfect cars which are actually junk cars.  I had the seller get the truck inspected so that I knew I would make it home without any problems.  He told me that it was inspected and that everything was fine for the 500 mile trip home.  He did not have any receipts for the inspection and likely he never did get any inspection done.  If he did get the inspection done, the mechanic would have told the seller to get these things fixed before going on a long journey like this.  I told the seller to not waste my time or money and don't waste your time or money.  I told him to be honest with me and tell me if there was anything wrong with the truck.  Well I guess he liked to waste peoples time and money. 

Third eBay car purchase:  This time was better than last two: car seemed very good and exactly as described, me and my dad checked everything over or so we thought, drove home just fine and thought it was a real steal of a deal, a week later I noticed that we overlooked an oil leak, cost of replacing front seal was $200, seller said he did not notice leak but it sounds like the reason he sold the car, he would not help me out with repair cost, eBay could not do anything about this.  Fourth eBay purchase:  I will get to this in detail later on but essentially this last eBay car purchase was a complete waste of money, it will take more money to fix what's wrong with it than what I paid for the truck, maybe twice as more or it could be five times the cost of what I paid for the truck.  Sellers always make things sound good so that they will get the most for their vehicles.  Did not do so bad on this car KBB was $600 and I spent $600 on the car including the repair.  I have been driving it at college and have not had any other problems with the car.  However I would not have bought the car if I had noticed the oil leak.  I would have told the seller to fix it and let me know when to pick up the car or just forget about it! 

I always end up with junk cars when I buy vehicles off of ebay.  In my latest buying experience the seller assured me that I was getting a truck that had no problems.  He even got it inspected after the auction and said that everything was perfect.  I think he got an inspection sheet from his friend and filled it out himself so that he could get the extra money from me. 
I urge everyone here on ebay to get an inspection done by someone with an unbiased opinion (independent) such as SGS.  Spending $100 on a 150 point inspection is better than spending thousands of dollars on fixing up your vehicle and all the nice surprises that the seller lets you have. 

Here is what the seller said in the auction:
Q (from  me):  Any problems with the truck?  Does the speedometer work?  Would I be able to get a 150 point mechanical and cosmetic inspection through SGS automotive before purchasing the vehicle to make sure it's a quality vehicle?
A: hello, no problems with the truck, yes the speedometer works, but i am new to eBay and i don't have a clue about the inspection part.  i just started selling on here but if you can explain what it is then maybe i can help find out.  i have made many long distance trips in the truck and have never had any problems at all.  thank you.

I must admit eBay member j_m_backyard_sales is an excellent liar.  He is so smooth at lying that you don't know what to believe from this guy.  It sounded like everything that he said at first was true but then when I received the truck, I quickly learned all of the problems with this project truck.  This has been the same way with everyone of my past vehicle purchases on eBay.  Sellers will promise you the world and then you are sadly disappointed when you find out that they lied to you and you lose hundreds or thousands of dollars because of their lying.  I really was not looking for a project truck with all of the problems associated with them. 

Wow!  It’s been over a month since the auction ended but I still don’t have a title for this vehicle. 
I thought there would be no problems with the truck because the seller assured me there were no problems with it.  I specifically asked if there were any problems with this truck (in the auctions question and answer) and the seller said there were no problems with this truck.  The biggest problem I am facing right now is that I have no title for the truck.  The truck is worthless because I cannot do anything without a title.  More on the title issue later on in this guide. 
 
Here are the problems I have found thus far.  NO TITLE FOR THE TRUCK!  Side marker lights do not work.  Right front turn signal stays on when headlights are on.  Reverse lights do not work and never will because there is no hole for a plug to go into the transmission and no wires for reverse lights.  Tag lights do not work and are not even where they are supposed to be.  Passenger rear brakelight and turn signal do not work. The defroster and all the fans in the cab do not work.  Parking brake does not work.  Rust damage to the body including rust holes in doors.  Passenger rear hazard light does not work.  No catalytic converters (illegal to take off).  Transmission leaks fluid.  Engine smokes (burns oil) so there must be some damage to the engine.  I have only seen the white/blue smoke coming out which means it is burning oil.  Headliner is missing cloth and is cracked.  No spare tire or jack.  Passenger side headlight holds moisture inside of it.  Imperfections in the paint and inside of bed is beat up, scratched, and dented.  Temperature gauge does not work when headlights are on.  Radiator is leaking and not cheap since it's a performance truck.  The shop said it would cost $500 for a new radiator.  There might be many other problems with this truck but these are the ones that I could find for now.  Truck is illegal to drive in the state of Virginia and would probably be illegal in every state because of no catalytic converters.  This truck is not safe for driving.  The seller should have stated in the auction that this truck was not road worthy.  He should have said it was suitable for racing only.  My friend who is a race car builder said this is no race truck.  There were many different things that he commented on.  He said that I got taken and he is right I did get taken by this jerk.  He told me that it looks like someone slapped a engine and transmission in there and that's all they did.  I believe he is right about this as there are many things wrong with the truck.  The seller probably just put the engine and transmission in to make some money off the vehicle. 

The seller promised new items on the truck such as this truck is almost new from the ground up, new front suspension, new 383 stroker engine, new transmission, new exhaust,new rear axle gearing, new edlebrock intake, new holley carb, new chrome valve covers, new header conversion kit, and new shift kit in the transmission.  Honestly I would not be able to tell the difference between these so called new items and items that are five or ten years old.  Some parts look original like the suspension, engine, transmission.  Then after I paid this guy he says that the engine is from a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.  If something is too good to be true, then it probably is.  A new 383 stroker engine can be seen on eBay starting at around $2000 so I should have figured that the seller was a liar even before placing any bids on this truck. 

When the seller got the vehicle inspected he said that the engine had really good compression at 150 psi.  I somehow believed him.  When I received the truck, the engine was smoking and burning oil.  I took it to the shop and had them diagnose the engine.  They said that the piston rings were bad and the #4 cylinder was bad (26psi compression).  The cost of them repairing the engine would be $3500 plus however much the machine shop charges for machine work.  Machine shop work is not cheap as most of you know.  Who knows the machine shop work might cost another $3500? 

The cost of getting the truck legal and passing inspection would most likely cost $1000-$2000 plus the engine might cost $5000-$6000.  I have spent $3000 for the truck and shipping etc..  The cost of everything might be around $10,000 to make the truck drivable and street legal. 
Since the engine is bad, I am now going through the process of vehicle purchase protection.  I am hoping that maybe I could receive something out of this horrible deal. 

The minute after I won the auction, I was sleeping and kept getting call after call, on and on it went until finally I got out of bed and answered the phone.  The seller told me to send the money (deposit) right away because it was due within 24 hours.  This was no small chunk of change as the deposit was $500.  I wanted to get an inspection done through SGS automotive but the seller with his cunning style persuaded me to get the local shop to check this thing out.  That was a big no NO!  He told me that I would have to send the money or else he would have to take legal action against me.  All these threats to send the money right away.  The full amount was to be paid in three days so that I would have no time to look at the truck.  He also wanted me to send money using Western Union which is a really big NO NO here on ebay as it's not traceable and best to be used by trusted family members only.  Why I sent any more money after the deposit is beyond me.  I should have known that through his talking about wire transfer that this was some kind of scam.  He is really good at talking to people and getting them to go along with what he wants.  I might not have been able to get my deposit back but at least I would not be stuck with a junker truck.  Well that's a lesson learned.  Look for vehicles that do not require a deposit or have a small deposit like say $50-$100 for example.  Look for a vehicle that will not be in a rush to get paid so that you can look things over in person.  If the seller keeps harassing you to send the money right now, it might be better to get some negative feedback for not paying than to risk losing hundreds or thousands of dollars on the deal. 

I finally got the title for the truck after 37 days of torture with this seller.  You would not believe all the struggles that I went through to get this title.  Just a summary of what I went through: seller was very manipulative, controlling, and intimidating,  he accused me of trying to steal his truck because I was trying to get a title for it, he harassed me on the phone saying that we would end up in court, he told me that he taped all of our conversations on the phone (my dad says thats illegal to do unless you notify the person being taped), he told me that the only way to get a title for this truck is to drop the paypal dispute, paypal told me to do the exact opposite- to keep up the dispute to get the title, I could not eat or sleep because of this deal, lost 10 pounds and did not have any strength left, never knew what was true and what was yet another lie, thought that I spent almost $3000 on a stolen vehicle because it had no title for it, constant worry, constant doubt, feelings of worthlessness, suicidal tendencies, I mean this guy was just killing me (not literally of course).   I would just lie at home doing nothing but try to sleep and stare at the wall.  My parents even asked me if I needed to go to the doctors because this guy was making me sick.  I just told them I was not actually sick just feeling bad because this guy really screwed me over.  This all serves to show that people will lie to you.  You can't trust people selling vehicles on eBay.  I would suggest finding a vehicle that is close to you so that you can check it out before buying it.  If it's not what was described, then don't buy it. Or maybe you could buy it after the seller fixes everything that is wrong with the vehicle. 

Maybe something will work out and I will get the money I need to fix up this truck from eBay buyer protection.  Even if I do get some money from vehicle purchase protection, it might still be a bad deal. 

 Hope this has helped steer  you away or at least be very very cautious about buying cars off  of  eBay.  As a word of caution, DO NOT BUY A VEHICLE SIGHT UNSEEN!!  You have to test drive the vehicle, you have to find out the problems with the vehicle, you have to find out if the seller was honest in his or her description, you should maybe get a second opinion by an INDEPENDENT mechanic or vehicle inspection place.  Please do not fall for the trap of I am getting your vehicle inspected by a trusted buddy of mine or the shop down the street is the one I always use.  Use a mechanic that has no affiliation with the seller so that you get an honest inspection done with NO bias. 

To top it off I get negative feedback for somehow trying to steal this guys truck (what the seller said it was).  I used paypal dispute which basically is for buyers and sellers to work things out.  I used this so that I would have some hopes of getting a title.  The seller immediately made my dispute into a claim, claiming that I was trying to steal the truck.  He called me and threatened me with all kinds of stuff just to try and get me to drop the dispute.  This guy was furious  and cussing at me.  He was so intimidating and it was hard to tell him what was wrong with the truck.  I would be like well half the lights don't work and...the seller cuts me off with this truck is perfect, there is absolutely no problems with this truck, the truck passed inspection flawlessly, and the trucker doing the shipment even checked every single thing on the vehicle before being taken from my house.  Hmmmm... so after a little shipment, this s10 is a piece of junk?  It just does not add up!  He lied to me before so I can't believe anything that this guy says.  He's got a really bad reputation now.  I kept the dispute up and paypal denied my claim even though I still did not have a title for the vehicle. 

        After this whole ordeal ended, I emailed the seller and asked him politely why he lied to me.  This is what he responded with:  I dont understand what you mean by the word lying but i know some one who needs a truck and has $500 to spend.....but anyhow this is over have a good life....
The only one that lied was you...paypal proved that. And am i poor, hell yea i'm poor....but i don't need the money of some insecure pompus jack-ass that does not have any common sense. I told you everything about this truck up front. You wasted my time talking on the phone about so much that you didn't look at the whole picture, and the whole picture is
*** IT IS NOT A NEW TRUCK *** it was built in 1985.*** IT DOES NOT HAVE THE ORIGIONAL EQUIPMENT***IT IS FOR DRAG RACING*** If you wanted bells and whisles you should have went to a new car dealership and really spent some money!!! So don't come crying to me about what you think. IF YOU CONTACT ME AGAIN I WILL MAKE SURE THAT EBAY FINDS OUT THAT YOU CAN'T QUIT HARASSING ME!!!! SO GOOD DAY AND HAVE A NICE LIFE.....

The whole picture is that you defrauded me out of over $2200 paying for this truck.  The whole picture is that you lied to me.  You lied to me about almost everything with this truck.  The whole picture is that you cheated me and not just a couple thousand but many more thousands to fix up this junk/project truck that you said had no problems with it.  If I had known the whole picture of this truck when I asked you if it had any problems, I never would have bid on this truck.  Yes you might not have stolen all that money from me but at least you could sleep peacefully at night knowing that you were honest in your dealings. 

After all of this I cannot believe this guy insulted me with calling me a lying, insecure, pompous, jack-ass, without any common sense.  Well maybe I should expect something like that come out from this liar because he is just so intimidating, so evil, and so vile.  This guy stops at nothing to bring the fellow ebayer down and make him or her feel like dirt.  Like the other sellers this guy tries to act innocent and will not admit lying.  He claims the truck was in perfect condition but then contradicts this with saying it's not new implying that there are problems with this truck.  If this truck was in perfect condition as the seller claims, then why is this guy telling me to go out and buy a new car that does not have problems with it?  If it's for drag racing, why did the seller say that it could be used as a street machine?  If it's used for drag racing, then there would be problems with the truck such as the truck not being street legal.  This should have been noted in the listing.  This guy is truly intimidating and will not let you have your way or let you say what you want to say.  If it contradicts what he wants, then automatically he says that your wrong.  He is right it is not a new truck and as such you can expect problems but he would not tell me any of the problems with this truck.  One thing to look out for is how does this persons house and property look?  Does it look like some poor person or does it look like a person with some money that can properly maintain a vehicle?  If the seller does not have money to keep up with his house and yard, what makes you think that he as money to keep up the vehicle he is selling you.  I should have expected something less from this seller because his house and property looks like it's in the poor community.  The seller claims that he is poor so you can expect something that is not kept up.  You can also expect some lying because he wants to get all the money he can out of this deal and does not care what you suffer through. 

Who would you believe in this story?  There would be absolutely no reason for writing this 4,620 word (six pages in Microsoft word) guide and review if I was happy with my purchase and the seller had not lied about the truck.  If the seller kept his word and the truck had no problems with it, I would probably be writing about how great this seller is, about how honest and trustworthy he is, about how he kept the vehicle up so that it did not have any problems etc.  I wish it was that way but it's not.  Writing this guide has been very depressing for me but hopefully it will become helpful to you fellow ebayers and it might actually help me kick the bad habit of buying vehicles off of ebay.  There would be no reason for wasting my precious time to warn other ebayer's about these vehicle scams if this was not a scam.  Who would you believe more, the seller which has every reason to lie about the truck because he wants to get the most money for it or me who was taken in this deal and is stuck with a junker truck?  It seems very obvious who the liar is in this story, well at least to me it is 100% obvious who the liar is. 

If you buy a vehicle off of eBay and the seller calls you after the auction demanding the money NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW, then you might have bought a vehicle from a scammer.  Just think about that for a minute if the seller gets you to send the money right then and there, you don't have time to inspect the vehicle to make sure it's everything that was described.  If you buy the vehicle and it turns out to be a piece of junk, well guess what, IT'S YOUR PROBLEM NOW AND NOT THE SELLER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think what really makes these scammers happy is that they can be five hundred miles away from you and get the vehicle shipped to you so that they can describe the vehicle however they want to.  Then you go back to the seller and your like well what about all these problems with the vehicle that you did not describe?  Well sorry but that's your problem not mine.  You see eBay does not want to protect consumers from these fraudulent sellers.  Well maybe I should not be that harsh on eBay but if it's not a specific problem like a bad engine then you might be screwed!! Let's say for example that the vehicle you just bought has a fried computer and it costs $2000 to repair or replace, that money will be coming out of your pocket because the seller is sure not going to help pay for your troubles. 

I looked at a car that eBay member j_m_backyard_sales had up for auction here recently.  You can see in the photos how the garage needs paint and is falling apart.  You can also see there is a lot of junk and trash sitting in the yard.  There are old broken down cars in the driveway.  The house is old and in need of some repair.  The driveway needs work.  If you see something like this on eBay, you might want to look for someone who does not have all these problems.  Look for a seller that has his yard and house kept up.  Most likely the car will also be kept up.  Of course the seller might be spending too much time and money on the car so he or she might not have money to spend on the house or yard.  It's probably not like this all the time but from my experience the people who can take care of the house and yard are the people who take care of their cars and the people who do not take care of the house and yard are the ones trying to sell you junk. 

You might not want to buy a car from a person whose yard looks like these pictures:


















If there are parts missing from the truck as in the following picture, you have to ask yourself what else is wrong with this truck?  I do like a little heat in the winter time and the seller assured me that the defroster and cabin air worked perfectly but when I got the truck half the blower element was gone so the fan just blows air into the engine bay. 

I plan to add more content to this guide as I get more time to write and as I learn of more problems with this s-10.

Hope you have a safe and successful eBay buying experience. 

If this guide was helpful, please vote that it was.