Get Your Next GM Car…on eBay?

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Would you buy a brand new GM vehicle on eBay? I guess if there was no minimum bid (or a very low one) it might be appealing but unless there was an extremely compelling reason to buy online, I think most people would rather buy in person.

About 225 of California's 250 GM dealers are set to take part in the program, which will begin on Tuesday. They will be selling Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Pontiac vehicles on cobranded Web sites through eBay's online auto marketplace, eBay Motors, until Sept. 8. The cars will also be searchable through eBay Motors and eBay's main site.
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I would. However, most good priced dealers already do this, all this will do is just add an ass load of garbage on ebay.
 
It's a step in the right direction. When I can configure a car to my exact specifications and have it delivered directly to my driveway, I'll be happy. The damn dealer networks and state regulations protecting them make this nearly impossible though. Gotta start somewhere, I guess.
 
How are people supposed to pay for a car...doesn't that usually take a loan? Paypal definitely wouldn't work for me...unless they started offering low interest 15000 dollar loans
 
Steve said:
I think most people would rather buy in person.
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Really? I'm sure this has been said about a lot of things, I'm not sure it is entirely true. You wouldn't think that people would buy clothes over the internet either. But lots of people do. Certainly some people still prefer to go to the mall and try things on, talk to salespeople, etc. As for me, I plan to never do that again if I have any other option. :D

I buy lots of things sight unseen over the internet, based upon pictures, product descriptions, and peer reviews. I can't think of anything that I'd rather trek down to a store to buy in person. It's true that some things are far more subjective than others, but generally if you take your time and do your research you won't be far off.

There are pros and cons, but the bottom line is that I will always prefer being able to get exactly what I want instead of just the nearest thing my local dealer happens to have on hand. This Ebay venture isn't exactly that, but it could lead to it over time.

In a few years I expect that we'll be able to configure and order cars with the same ease as buying a computer from Dell. It will require abolishing most of the state laws that protect the dealer networks, but once this thing gets started I think the manufacturers will be able to get that done.
 
Skolar said:
How are people supposed to pay for a car...doesn't that usually take a loan? Paypal definitely wouldn't work for me...unless they started offering low interest 15000 dollar loans
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It'll work the same way it always has. You'll have to schlep down to the local dealership to sign the papers and take ownership. The online transaction just arranges the price and destination.

Maybe eventually they'll bring the vehicle and all the paperwork to your door, but I don't think that's in the near future.
 
The last couple of times that I've bought a car, I have actually started contact with several dealerships online. I looked at cars at the nearest dealership. Decided what make and model I wanted and wrote out a list of options. Then I hit the net and contacted dealers a little further away. I ended up saving, literally, thousands of dollars on each car by, effectively, competitively bidding the car that I wanted online. Then when I found the top couple of dealers with what I wanted, I did go there in person. It does wonders for even the lowest price when you go in, see the car, talk price some more and then walk out.

I can't do all of that price haggling process with eBay. I would never order a car that I had not test driven. But, for me, the net has a very important place in the purchasing process.
 
Dealers have been doing this for years now...

What i could never understand is how someone can buy a car off ebay or online in general, i could never do that because the people selling it would always hide something.
 
I would never buy a car I couldn't test drive first. Anyone that does is foolish. This includes barnd new just rolled out of the factory.
 
Buy a car in person? Might as well bend over, spread your cheeks, and shove your fist in your ass.

First, never get the loan from the dealer. Get it from a credit union. You will get the proper interest rate from the credit union.

Second, find the exact model you want, from options down to color.

Third, call, fax, email every single dealer in your area, and even out of your area. Tell them exactly what you want, what there best price is, and if it needs to be shipped to you have them include shipping.

Fourth, after you find the best deal, have them drive it to you with all the paper work and finish the sale in the parking lot of where you work.

Somewhere, someone needs to move a car.
 
I'd rather see it in person........dealing with price - dunno. Maybe price would be better without the salespeople breathing down your neck.
 
One of the car companies should shack up with Walmart and sell a standard line of say 3 cars there.
 
So do you still need to pay that bullshit "Destination Charge" even though the car is already there?
 
I wouldn't buy another GM period! ebay or otherwise. No thanks. I went down that painful expensive road before.

Hey wait, didn't I already buy a bunch of GM cars, technically?
 
Kaspre said:
It's a step in the right direction. When I can configure a car to my exact specifications and have it delivered directly to my driveway, I'll be happy. The damn dealer networks and state regulations protecting them make this nearly impossible though. Gotta start somewhere, I guess.
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This. The closest you can get to that is either Ford or Toyota. Mostly Ford.
 
introduce an unnecessary middle-man into the buying equation? brilliant. i need more ways that i can throw away money on a significant purchase.
 
Skolar said:
How are people supposed to pay for a car...doesn't that usually take a loan? Paypal definitely wouldn't work for me...unless they started offering low interest 15000 dollar loans
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You can get a loan sorted out before you ever even go look at a car.
 
Wrench said:
I would never buy a car I couldn't test drive first. Anyone that does is foolish. This includes barnd new just rolled out of the factory.
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With used cars, that is a valid point. With new cars...If you've driven a similarly equipped model (same engine,tranny,basic options), then you know what the car will drive like. These are cookie-cutter assembly line cars, if they have the same basic options, they all drive the same, and if there's a problem with it, that's what warranties are for. Yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, so what?
 
Xaero_toast said:
With used cars, that is a valid point. With new cars...If you've driven a similarly equipped model (same engine,tranny,basic options), then you know what the car will drive like. These are cookie-cutter assembly line cars, if they have the same basic options, they all drive the same, and if there's a problem with it, that's what warranties are for. Yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, so what?
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Thats not true, at least with American cars. I drove 4 or 5 Mustangs that were the same except for the color. They all drove a little different.

Same with guitars. You can grab 10 Les Pauls off the rack and they will all play and sound just a little different. Maybe its just this way with American made stuff...
 
Ibanezfoo said:
Thats not true, at least with American cars. I drove 4 or 5 Mustangs that were the same except for the color. They all drove a little different.
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Did you overclock them? Just like cpu's, that's when the differences come out.
 
ryan_975 said:
You can get a loan sorted out before you ever even go look at a car.
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That's how I do it. I go to my credit union and ask them what I qualify for and what I have to put down for a good interest rate and decent payments. They give you their results. You haggle with them a bit to get more out of them.

THEN you go to the dealer and give them hell ;-)
 
When there are that many components in a vehicle.. I doubt they're going to drive the exact same even if they're cookie cutter pieces.
 
PheonixChameleon said:
When there are that many components in a vehicle.. I doubt they're going to drive the exact same even if they're cookie cutter pieces.
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The pieces might be the same but in my experience half of the parts aren't bolted together correctly (if at all). I had a spring in one of my cars in backwards. I've had who knows how many bolts that just weren't there. I used to be a die hard good ol' 'merican boy who wouldn't buy anything but made in the good ol' U.S.A. Now having spent my hard earned money on a handful of vehicles from each of the "big three" I'm done. No more USA made vehicles for me. Japanese only. I have to suck it up and admit to being wrong about buying only USA made cars. Its not fun but at least I'm honest.

I still own and drive a Ford, and its ok now. After being half rebuilt by me... they should have sold it to me as a kit car. Of course my Japanese cars have 300k miles on them and haven't had anything done to them other than oil changes and basic maintenance parts.
 
I'd go for getting rid of the dealer all together after my recent experience with my local GM dealers. Went to order a 2SS RS Camaro, one dealer quoted 7k over MSRP and the next dealer wanted 10k over. I had one dealer tell me he'd do MSRP for me if I added a bunch of dealer add ons I did not want. Needless to say, I haven't ordered my car, and now if anything, I'm looking at the new Mustang. The GM dealers succeeded in chasing me away, and I stated I was a cash customer too. Ah well... maybe I'll just keep my current car for a little longer.
 
Xaero_toast said:
With used cars, that is a valid point. With new cars...If you've driven a similarly equipped model (same engine,tranny,basic options), then you know what the car will drive like. These are cookie-cutter assembly line cars, if they have the same basic options, they all drive the same, and if there's a problem with it, that's what warranties are for. Yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, so what?
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I've driven thousands of every model GM has made since 96ish. They do not all drive act or feel the same. Anyone that doesn't test drive a vehicle before they buy is a dumbass.
 
Wrench said:
I've driven thousands of every model GM has made since 96ish. They do not all drive act or feel the same. Anyone that doesn't test drive a vehicle before they buy is a dumbass.
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Well, I've driven hundreds of models made since 76. If they're optioned the same, they drive the same. If they drive different, chances are they're not the same. standard vs sport suspension, 2wd vs 4x4, extended cab vs crew cab, engine A vs engine B. These are the things that make the difference, and if they're not different, neither will be the ride.

Test drives have their place. For example, if I was to buy a GM truck, I wouldn't need to test drive it. I know what they drive like, except for the current 1-tons or diesels. If I was buying a minivan, or a sedan, I would need to test drive it, as I haven't driven any of those models of the current year.

Test drives are great if you don't know what you're looking for, but if you already know what you want, why waste the time when you can just get down to business and do the deal?
 
curtcheese64 said:
Breaking News: GM manages to make a bad situation worse by shifting car sales to eBay.
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How so? How is expansion into different markets bad? Seems like a good idea if you get to put an offer in. May lead to a more convenient way to find a bargain on your next GM vehicle. :D
 
Kaspre said:
It's a step in the right direction. When I can configure a car to my exact specifications and have it delivered directly to my driveway, I'll be happy. The damn dealer networks and state regulations protecting them make this nearly impossible though. Gotta start somewhere, I guess.
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This is the way it used to be back-in-the-day. If the dealers didn't have the car you wanted in stock, they'd order what you wanted.

There used to be a Buick dealer in Ohio that would arrange a yearly fly-and-buy trip.
Customers would place their orders, fly up to the factory and drive their car home.

Most dealers would also offer to set up inventory trades with another dealer if they found a dealer that had what you wanted.

Problem with both of those methods?
You have to wait, and Lord knows we can't wait for anything we want....:rolleyes:

The other challenge:
Since the dealers have to pay for the cars when they're delivered, not when they're sold, most can't afford to keep large amounts of inventory on-hand, so they tend to order the features they think will sell best.
 
Kaspre said:
It's a step in the right direction. When I can configure a car to my exact specifications and have it delivered directly to my driveway, I'll be happy. The damn dealer networks and state regulations protecting them make this nearly impossible though. Gotta start somewhere, I guess.
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You can already do that. I've done that with my last 2 cars. I went to the dealer and we went through the parts lists and setup the car. They then place the order with the factory and in a few months your car shows up exactly how you want it. I've saved a ton of money this way because you don't pay labor on any parts added in on the factory.
 
Wrench said:
I would never buy a car I couldn't test drive first. Anyone that does is foolish. This includes barnd new just rolled out of the factory.
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i actually know of many more people who have done this and gotten great deals and did not get screwed than people who did get screwed....and i work in an auto parts store, so i talk to a LOT of vehicle owners, buyers, and sellers
 
If it's a used car then maybe. But like someone already said, I would also like to test drive the car first and see it closely myself, if I haven't done it before.
 
I dunno. I sold em for a ~9 months in a small dealership (that went outta business before all these dealership closing things).

Its just hard to say. I had and seen customers that shopped online, walked in, and were set on one car TILL they got to the floor, saw something else, and bought that instead.

So, I dunno if eliminating the personal in your face avenue of the buying decision really gives everyone all the options.

With that said, the business just plain sucks anymore. Selling cars is too much about lying on both sides (yes, the customers lie, I know, its hard to believe) I hated that aspect of it, and frankly never want to go back to it. I'm a factual person, so telling some schlub a lie just to get something jammed up his asshole, is not my cup of tea.

I wonder how much the Ebay CEO donated to the campaigns, let the conspiracy theorists have at it ;)
 
Xaero_toast said:
Well, I've driven hundreds of models made since 76. If they're optioned the same, they drive the same. If they drive different, chances are they're not the same. standard vs sport suspension, 2wd vs 4x4, extended cab vs crew cab, engine A vs engine B. These are the things that make the difference, and if they're not different, neither will be the ride.

Test drives have their place. For example, if I was to buy a GM truck, I wouldn't need to test drive it. I know what they drive like, except for the current 1-tons or diesels. If I was buying a minivan, or a sedan, I would need to test drive it, as I haven't driven any of those models of the current year.

Test drives are great if you don't know what you're looking for, but if you already know what you want, why waste the time when you can just get down to business and do the deal?
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So basically your saying you would throw down 40k on a truck site unseen or driven. Not knowing if it had a whine, brake pull, cold start engine noise, leak etc... There's over 26 computers in these cars '76 and all the way through the 80's maybe 1 until the mid 90's. Maybe were looking at it different. Maybe under warranty is nice and all fixed for free etc... IMO though I wouldn't want my first months payment going to some car broke down in a shop. For that matter I wouldn't want to get the car home and notice something 2-3 months later and have to take it right back to the dealership.

I stand by my comment based on my experience and what I've seen.
 
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