Over the past couple of years, many new car dealers have begun to sell their trade in vehicles on eBay motors. The main reason behind this practice is because the general public is likely to pay much more for a vehicle than a wholesale vehicle dealer. They are abandoning wholesale auctions for eBay in the attempt to recoup lost funds from new car deals due to the highly competitive market.

An individual looking to buy one of these vehicles must understand a couple of basic things before placing a bid.

1. These vehicles are generally traded in to a dealership because they have been used up and the owner decided not to put any more money into the vehicle

2. Dealers who take these vehicles on trade do not plan on selling them as a retail unit and basically want to unload them with the least amount of effort and cost.


When purchasing one of these vehicles on eBay, a potential buyer must consider these facts into their buying decision. You are not buying a unit that needs nothing no matter what the seller states about the vehicle. You should be prepared to invest between $500-$1000 into these vehicles and consider that into your bid price.

...read the full guide with pics here

 

My 2 cents................I would never buy a vehicle or any other large ticket item ie: boat, motorcycle, engine,etc. without looking and touching myself.The only exception would be a good friend or trusted someone could check it out for me. On the very rare occassion someone makes out on e-bay (to my knowledge). I have friends that were in to the hot rod phase for a while and each bought one on e-bay. How tragic. I don't think this is old school, I think it is smart.

How many allantes have we seen on e-bay only to know the car was misrepresented? We only knew because of our expertise in that area. The guy who didn't know spent thousands only to find out he had to spend thousands more.

I love car auctions, and at least I can kick a tire.

 

One very important thing.

In my area, ALL American cars dealers do one thing in unison .. any and all cars over
10 years old are not to be shown, offered or sold under the name of the dealership,
regardless of the model. That includes their own used car areas.

They are dumped into the used car dealerships, no dealer plate frames, any maint records in
the car dumped and all aftermarket electronic components removed.

There are probably exceptions, but Allantes are not excempted.
I know of one used car dealer that picks up the "prime" used Cadillacs from those dealers.

I spotted an '91 Allante at a SAAB dealer, half hidden behind the building and they refused to even open
the doors as it was being sold off to the used car guy. I didnt know SAAB was also complying with the practice.