Buying a charger sight unseen on Ebay

[Charger440RDN]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and I am searching for a running, driving project charger 1968-1970 although I prefer 1968. I live in Illinois where chargers are almost never seen at all, not even project cars, you just do not see them here. I like the convenience of ebay but I just don't feel right buying a car sight unseen. Has anyone here bought a charger on ebay sight unseen? Did it turn out OK?

[Ghoste]

Lots have but it's not something I think I would ever do.

[1970Moparmann]

Welcome....

Don't do it!  Did that, won't do it again.  Look in the classified section and you will probably find something.  Look on Moparts also....

Good luck.

[Khyron]

Never ever buy sight unseen IMO

[Charger440RDN]

I also considered a rust free rolling shell that's missing everything, but I know it would probably be impossible and expensive to find all of the parts to reassemble it after body/paint. There is a clean white 68 charger on ebay right now that looks almost rust free top to bottom, except the rear valence has some collision/rust damage. If had noticed the auction sooner I could have driven over to Indiana to look at it.

[Blown70]

Never sight unseen.  Sorry that is a HUGE risk, most that do that never do it again.  Pictures can cover a lot.

Personally as well, I would get the most solid car you can for the money and if possible something that runs/drives.  You cannot believe what it MAY take to get some cars roadworthy.... often $10,000 or better and that is often before paint.....just drive line, radiatior, electronics, dash, shifter seats etc.....

Best of luck,

Tom

[twinscrew698]

If you are close to Ohio i would try the Mopar Nats first. and use that as a very last resort..

http://www.moparnats.org/

Save yourself some headaches...

[Mike DC]

    
One thing to help you along -

DO NOT buy a Charger from a dealer in Lake Villa, Illinois.  

There's a place there that basically makes a business out of ripping off uninformed buyers for Chargers and General Lees.  They have changed names a few times trying to stay ahead of the bad word-of-mouth about them, but it's always a Charger/GL-heavy old car dealer in Lake Villa.  They do lots of pushy internet & media advertising (which usually sounds like it was written by Robin Leetch).   


-------------------------------------------------------


The problem with buying a car sight-unseen is that you just can't evaluate it through pics.  The bodywork and all around fit/finish is SO VITAL to determining a fair price for these things.  Pictures can lie too much.  





Hang round here though.  Sometimes you can find a website member here who is local to a car that you're considering.  You may be able to get someone to go take a look at it for you.  People around here have done it for friends before.  

Someone else's word is not enough to make a $25,000 decision, but it can help you whittle down your choices in the basic broad strokes.  

   

[dodgert68]

Stay away from M&M Classics out of St. Louis MO. also they put together some hacked up cars. I know this first hand because one is sitting in my driveway that they sold to Make a Wish and took them to the cleaners because they bought it site unseen. It even had me fooled from the pictures i recieved of it before the car arriving here ,then i could what a bondo bucket it is. Every time i go look at it i find more things wrong with it. So either hire someone reputipal to inspect the car you're looking at or check it out yourself. You can PM me for my personal info and i be willing to help you find one i have friend here that buys sells alot of Chargers i could probably get you a decent one at good price.

[Old Moparz]

If you don't pay attention to what the others have posted & end up buying a Charger, or any other car, without seeing it first, you'll be sorry. You could get lucky & buy from an honest person, but the chances of being lied to, or simply just being on the wrong end of a difference of the interpretation of what "good condition" or "restored" means, are much greater. Be patient & look at as many cars as you can before you buy one. The more you see, the more you will learn, & the better informed you'll be in determining what you get for your money.

If you have to have a car RIGHT NOW & click a buy it now, then stock up on some KY so it won't hurt later. 

[Foreman72]

you could also ask if there is anyone on the site near a charger you find on ebay and have them scout it out for you...

[Belgium R/T -68]

Bought a -70 Charger unseen on ebay last year. Should have been a matching 383, was a -400 from a 73 truck.
Will never do it again......

Per

[MichaelRW]

Never, never, never, never, never buy a car unseen. And unless you know what to look for don't buy a car you do see. Take a knowledgeable person with you.

[bearbqd]

Well, I do agree with others in that it is very risky to buy site unseen. However, I bought my showcar Cuda this way off ebay back in 06 and came out pretty well. Aside from telling me that a front fender had been replaced when it in fact had been reworked, I haven't found much on this car that wasn't pointed out in the description. I did, unwisely pay a high "buy it now" price for the car, but I still think what I paid was well worth the vehicle I received. I was one of the lucky ones for that car. On the other hand, I bought a 68 Chevelle from ebay that was supposed to be a very restorable car and was stated as being a daily driver as a car parts deliverer. On receiving this hunk of rusted junk, I was thoroughly discusted at how someone could describe a vehicle one way and it be completely different from the description. Thank God I only paid a couple grand for it, but I lost money in getting rid of it. The body was literally sinking over the body/frame mounts from all of the rust. It barely ran, and their was loud bearing noise in the front wheels. There's no way this car was being daily driven for anything. Buyer beware as always. I think if you choose to go this route to at least make sure you get as many pics as you can and make sure the seller has a very high, if not perfect, feedback rating with lots of sales. Good luck in finding one. I wish you the best.

[charge-it]

I don't even buy a parts car site unseen. That's just me but do some reading on this forum and you'll discover many horror stories about cars that people bought that weren't quite what they looked like in the pictures. Even when I sell a car I insist that any potential buyer come over and inspect it. My definition and descriptions and a buyers definition could always differ. I usually don't describe things as good as they look and have always found that a potential buyer say that the car I'm selling is better than described. I sold my 64 Sport Fury a few years ago and a gentleman took the day to drive to Maine from Ohio. He had a check list and took over four hours checking the car over. He said that he usually doesn't spend that much time to look over a car but he was suspicious after not being able to find anything wrong with the car. He told me that the car was way better than I described and it looked even better than all the pics I sent him. I had no problem selling the car to him for my asking price. He still owns and enjoys it to this day! Now I have seen just the opposite happen to people. Apersoson takes the time to check out a car and finds out that it is an over priced rust bucket. My advice is to spend a few bucks by taking the time to look or to have a trusted friend look at whatever car your interested in. It could save you thousands of dollars and years of fustration and misery or you might get lucky and find yourself a great deal.

[JT01]

I bought mine off ebay 2 years ago the car was all original with some rust but they had good pics of all the bad places everything went really good.

[suntech]

I got mine of ebay, but i had a buddy of mine go have a look at it. I live in Norway, and i found a car in Burlington, WI. My buddy is not a car guy, but i had him on the phone while he was there, and i told him what to look for.
I ended up buying the car, and it sat there for 4 months before i went over to pick it up. Checked oil and cooling water, jumped in, and drove it from Chicago to Reading, PA, without problems. I was lucky, and met an honest seller, and i got what i thought i would get.

Would i advice anybody to buy something unseen?? NOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Dans 68]

Don't do it.    Have a friend or member here check out the car first.

Dan

[Charger440RDN]

I guess if I do the Ebay route it will have to be a local car. It really would be a pain to take off work, spend money flying to Texas or California, decide you like the car and still lose the auction. Then again I still need to convince my wife that bringing another car home is a good idea I will try and have patience and look for the best car and not jump at the first thing.  Dodgert68 I'll get in touch with you on getting that Charger when Im sure it's safe to bring it home! thanks everyone for the advice.

[Silver R/T]

I wouldnt do it, money comes hard into my wallet

[69bronzeT5]

Don't do it.    Have a friend or member here check out the car first.

Dan

Everybody is correct, don't do it unless you or a friend/member of this site has checked it out in person.

[69 OUR/TEA]

I have only bought one car thru the internet sight unseen,well, had pictures but did not go in person to check out.I bought it from moparts not ebay though.I did not choose to go see it because I knew what I was buying was a car that had to be restored and did'nt run,and did'nt want to take the chance losing it since it was in Florida,and buy the time I would get there it probably was going to be gone.Rolled the dice,everything worked out perfect,it was everything the seller said it was and more.But that was the one exception,I have to agree with most and either go in person to inspect,or don't do it at all.
Besides getting to see what you are possibly buying,you now havce the chance to swing a deal to end it right then and there!!!!!Hence,when my triple black car was on ebay,looked like a scam all the way,went in person,it was evrything described in the auction,sealed the deal that night,and he pulled the plug on the auction!!!!!Works to your benifit in two ways!!!!!!Good luck!!!!!
 

[Old Moparz]

I guess if I do the Ebay route it will have to be a local car. It really would be a pain to take off work, spend money flying to Texas or California, decide you like the car and still lose the auction. Then again I still need to convince my wife that bringing another car home is a good idea I will try and have patience and look for the best car and not jump at the first thing.  Dodgert68 I'll get in touch with you on getting that Charger when Im sure it's safe to bring it home! thanks everyone for the advice.

You can do what I did, & that was plan a vehicle inspection around a family weekend trip. Depending on where you & the car are, it may only be a few hours away & can be a lot of fun making the car inspection a side trip. When I wanted my Charger it was in Indiana while I was in New York. You won't be able to do a cross country trip in one weekend, but you can broaden your area to be more than just a local car, & increase the number of cars there are to see. I bought the car I went to see, but I wouldn't have if I didn't see it first. I did the same thing with parts in Ohio, & a parts car in Maryland.

Yes it cost money to go look, but which is worse, a weekend somewhere with the family for a few hundred bucks on gas & a hotel, or getting a car that may cost you thousands of dollars more than you initially planned, or budgeted for?

[deputycrawford]

If you find one you are seriously thinking about. Post it here. I hope I speak for any one of us is saying we would be honored to go look at the car if it is close to one of us. I would use any excuse to look at an old Charger. Let us know we can be eyes for you if you want.

Jerry

[Old Moparz]

If you find one you are seriously thinking about. Post it here. I hope I speak for any one of us is saying we would be honored to go look at the car if it is close to one of us. I would use any excuse to look at an old Charger. Let us know we can be eyes for you if you want.

Jerry

Don't post the details about the seller's contact info, PM them to whoever can look at it for you. Too many people browse sites that aren't here to be friends, they're deal hunting & you could lose out on a car to one of them. 

[PocketThunder]

I wouldnt do it, money comes hard into my wallet

Ummm....      Khyron, you wanna take this one?         

[Khyron]

not the only thing going hard in the back of your pants huh? ZIIIIIINNGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

*rimshot*

*bows*

Thank you....try the veil!

[472 R/T SE]

Don't post the details about the seller's contact info, PM them to whoever can look at it for you. Too many people browse sites that aren't here to be friends, they're deal hunting & you could lose out on a car to one of them.  

Good advice.  I blabbed about my purple car before it was actually in my garage and a local Mopar flipper seen it my drivel & tried to get the car out from under neath me.



As long as the person you're buying from is reputable on these forums I have no problems buying sight unseen.  My Challenger was every thing Bill Allphin said it would be.

[Supercharged Riot]

Dont ever do it. EVER
If someone is never going to spend the quality time to go over the car with you in person.
They're not worth buying off of. no matter how cool of a car it is.
You're putting too much money on the line without seeing the car first.

it took me 6 years to find the right guy & right car

[RecklessYouth]

Bought my 68 Charger from Ebay, what was advertised as a decent project car with good title ended up being a rusted out frame with no title.  Didnt find this out until i drove 900 miles one way to pick it up! I will NEVER buy a car off ebay again. Sight unseen FTL! BTW if you have a decent shell and are looking for a complete 68 as a parts car let me know, ill make ya a deal. 

[Tilar]

If you are close to Ohio i would try the Mopar Nats first. and use that as a very last resort..

http://www.moparnats.org/

Save yourself some headaches...

I missed where anyone had used cars at Mopar Nats. I'd still like to find a 3rd gen driver. I guess I didn't walk far enough back. 

[jb666]

Oh man... What ever you do, DONT DO IT. Hire someone. Beg someone. Do anything you have to, just make sure a set of eyes (that you can trust) looks the car over thoroughly.

[deputycrawford]

Good idea on the PM thing. I will help where I can. I would not want to see a flipper get the car because we were trying to help.


Jerry

[d/ur/t]

I guess if I do the Ebay route it will have to be a local car. It really would be a pain to take off work, spend money flying to Texas or California, decide you like the car and still lose the auction. Then again I still need to convince my wife that bringing another car home is a good idea I will try and have patience and look for the best car and not jump at the first thing.  Dodgert68 I'll get in touch with you on getting that Charger when Im sure it's safe to bring it home! thanks everyone for the advice.

Get one of those apprasails done on it if your that keen.They are objective and will take heaps of pics and basically tell you yes or no.Trouble is if you take a few cars to get a good one your pocket will be much lighter but then again you could get caught like me had even though I doubled the known rust it turned out to be much more. 

[Leonidas Rex]

I live in Springfield, Illinois and know of where there are 2 chargers for sale. I think the guy is asking a little too much but it all depends on what you are willing to pay.

I would highly recommend not buying a car sight unseen. I purchased my Charger on Ebay. While I am happy with it now that it is paid off, I do not think I would have bought it had I inspected it. I would have spent the money more wisely. I think I would have also considered purchasing a car that was already restored instead of me redoign the whole thing myslef. If you are up for the restoration, good luck and there is nothing wrong with it. There is something to be said for buying a car that someone else has already done and just tweaking it to how you want it.

If you need anything, you can shoot me a line and I will keep my eyes open for you.

[1969chargerrtse]

I bought mine sight unseen on eBay back in 2007 when everyone had money to buy it before me. He had buy it now on it and I had been looking every day for over a year. Money was loose and 69 Chargers were expensive and hard to find. For those reasons I have no real regret even though the market has changed and now I have to much in it for the times.
Bottom line is it's a buyers market and cars are not selling like crazy and you are the boss, the man with the money. I'd suggest having someone look at it in these times. 

[david hunt]

  My two cents worth is DO NOT Buy a PAINTED /Done car.  That way Nothing can be hidden as far as rust. My second advice is buy a car from western  kansas as we do not have rust issues.  I have a 69 charger for sale that you would like  but it needs lots of parts and still has the tags intact on it. YOU CAN SEE ITS Pedigree.  DvH903@Aol.com

[alcusswhen]

I've bought three 73 Chargers site unseen off of Ebay with out a hitch. One I bought as a parts car for my own 73.
The other two where project cars that people had given up on. I restified [can't retore none #'s matching cars] the project cars and made a profit off of both of them but that was only because I don't have to farm anything out. I don't think that if I couldn't do it all I'd buy one off pictures and if I hadn't lived and breathed B body mopars sense 1962 I'd trust myself to inspect the cars. Its just to easy to see nothing but pretty valve covers.

[472 R/T SE]

 My two cents worth is DO NOT Buy a PAINTED /Done car.  That way Nothing can be hidden as far as rust. My second advice is buy a car from western  kansas as we do not have rust issues.  I have a 69 charger for sale that you would like  but it needs lots of parts and still has the tags intact on it. YOU CAN SEE ITS Pedigree.  DvH903@Aol.com

Wow.  That goes against everything I've ever said/experienced.  I lived in Hays most of my life & I deter anyone who wants a western Kansas car.  My first Mope was from Kansas, it had sub frame rust & rear quarters stacked on top of the rusty ones.  Real fine body work.

It sold new from the Junction City area so it wasn't a car brought from the NE.  I have to laugh every time someone mentions "dry Kansas car".  Yeah.....right.

I don't know about now, but back in the 70-80's they used salt on the roads and the winter storms were always wicked.  Not so much nowadays.

[Charger440RDN]

I love this website, best charger site hands down.  I have a whole new way of looking at potential chargers now just based on the info and restorations I have been looking at on here.

[Charger440RDN]

I live in Springfield, Illinois and know of where there are 2 chargers for sale. I think the guy is asking a little too much but it all depends on what you are willing to pay.

I would highly recommend not buying a car sight unseen. I purchased my Charger on Ebay. While I am happy with it now that it is paid off, I do not think I would have bought it had I inspected it. I would have spent the money more wisely. I think I would have also considered purchasing a car that was already restored instead of me redoign the whole thing myslef. If you are up for the restoration, good luck and there is nothing wrong with it. There is something to be said for buying a car that someone else has already done and just tweaking it to how you want it.

If you need anything, you can shoot me a line and I will keep my eyes open for you.

That's great I live in Bloomington, IL about 50 miles away i go to Springfield all the time, I should drive over and check out those chargers. Do you have an idea of the price he's asking for them? What years are they?

[Leonidas Rex]

I know he has 6 Chargers. He has three 69 Charger RTs for $11,000, $11,000 and $20,000. He has a 70 Charger RT for $11,000. He has two 71 Chargers, one an RT and one regular, for $8500 and $7500. My Dad and I have bought cars from him cheap before now but to me these prices are a little high. I think he sets the prices high to work down. Unless it says firm, I would think everything is negotiable. These are all roguh cars and all will need restoration. Some have all the parts some have rolling shells. I will PM my number.