I'm a little reluctant to publicly admit it, this being my first post and all, but I purchased my '02 986 S through eBay last August. And, yes, it was a no reserve auction for a car that had 54k miles, with no service records, that I had never seen in person, much less driven. Can you see this all going pear shaped, very quickly? I was nervous, to say the least, but had found a 2000 540i through eBay in 2003 so it wasn't unknown territory.
Here's the story, sorry if it's a little long: I was looking around for a car most of last summer. I wanted to either replace or augment my '99 Explorer with something that was a bit smaller, more enjoyable to drive and had better fuel economy. I looked at a number of new and used cars and stumbled on a used Boxster on a local Honda dealer's lot. Hmmm... I had always wanted a convertible, hadn't I? Sure. And a Porsche, too? Yes, indeed. Gears were beginning to turn but the dealer wanted more than I was willing to spend so I kept on looking at local dealers but no joy.
I started looking on eBay at the same time and found a number of candidates around the country. Most were at dealers and they either had "buy it now" prices that I thought were unrealistic, or the reserves weren't being met. After a little while, this clean-looking '02 triple black car turned up without a reserve. (A brief detour here to answer Brucelee's question -- seller's have no reserve auctions because there are people, like me, who have no intention of bidding on an item where the reserve is unknown. Also, my experience has been that no reserve auctions
typically end at, and reflect, market prices. This seller seems to think along the same lines; he's sold other p-cars and high-end brands as low- or no reserve auctions.)
The car was a color I liked, had most of the options I wanted, and looked to be in fair shape so I watched. I called the seller several times and we discussed the car at length, including key problem areas I picked up from this site. I probably was on the phone for about two hours all told and the seller answered all of my questions. Not once did I get the impression that he was being anything other than honest and truthful about the condition of the car, even pointing out the problems. Yes, I know, that's how a really good salesman should be but so many of them come across like snake oil salesmen.
After speaking with the seller, I had a hunch that my local dealer might have sold the car initially. I stopped by to see if they could shed any light on the car's history. After waiting for 20+ minutes for the service manager to finally talk to me, I found out that he couldn't tell me if they were the selling dealership or only prepped the car for another dealer. He couldn't tell me what work they did on the car, only that they didn't do the routine service. This, despite, scrolling through some info on a terminal that obviously had *
some* information. I wasn't impressed.
I also went to my insurance agent to find out what claims had been filed against the car. Combined with eBay's equivalent of CARFAX, I felt comfortable that the car wasn't involved in a major collision.
Anyway, the seller mentioned that another bidder had made an offer on the car but hadn't come through. I offered him about $1000 less than the first offer. He said he would talk it over with his business partner and get back to me. Later that day he called back to say we had a deal, but since it was so close to the auction's end that I needed to be the high bidder. "Don't worry," he said, "you'll get the car at the price we agreed on regardless of what the high bid is as long as you win the auction." No faxed paperwork, no written agreement, not even a handshake. But I bid, well above our verbal agreement, and won the auction. When it was all over, I called again and we worked out the details of the transaction. I sent a deposit the next day, along with money for new tires which he was going to replace at his cost, and worked out the travel arrangements.
A week after the auction ended, I jumped on a commuter flight to Buffalo and the seller picked me up at the airport. We went to look at the car and I must have spent another couple of hours going over everything I could think of. Everything was as it was described; the body was clean and straight, and showing some small stone chips and other marks that you'd expect on a car with 54k miles; the interior looked great; I couldn't find any glaring mechanical problems (it was over a mechanic's pit so I had plenty of time to look around underneath for mechanical problems and problems) and the new tires were mounted and balanced. I gave the seller the balance I owed him and drove the 400 miles back home. If it was a flea-ridden dog, it was now
my flea-ridden dog.
Fortunately, it turned out not to be a flea-ridden mutt, but a pure-bred Porsche. There are some issues -- I'll be due for a 60k service this spring and new brakes not long after -- but these are the kinds of issues you find with
any used car. Oh, I just found out that one wheel has a slight crack, but this may have happened recently with all the potholes around here. Otherwise, the car has been solid and reliable and I've had a blast putting nearly 4000 miles on the car in six months. Even considering these things, I still think I paid a fair price.
Would I do it again? Yes, I think so, but with a few differences. Even though I researched Boxsters before buying, I know a lot more after six months of ownership. I would probably look for a car with fewer miles (30-45k) and I would have have the final sale be contingent on a PPI. I would also insist on getting two keys. Maybe next time I'll look for a different color, too.
Used car salesman have a saying, "There is an ass for every seat." Well, this one seems pretty comfortable so far.
