For many buyers, buying a used car can be a daunting decision. Do you buy new or used? What sort of car do you want? What is your budget? Apart from visiting a used car dealership, there are online options also to consider. Buying a car online can be scarier than buying the traditional way because it’s usually not possible to see every car in person, so an unscrupulous seller could sell you a lemon and leave you with no recourse. Furthermore, a physical inspection alone doesn’t tell the whole story of what a car may or may not have been through.
eBay is attempting to assist used car buyers feel more comfortable using its online auction service to find a car. Autoblog reports that eBay is adding a free Autocheck vehicle history report to all used car listings for vehicles made since 1981. Autocheck reports can tell you if a vehicle has ever been in a wreck, used for criminal activity, flooded or even had its odometer tampered with.
All used car buyers should obtain a vehicle history report; Carfax and Autocheck are the two market leaders in the field. Experienced mechanics can even miss things that would be in an Autocheck report, such as frame damage or electrical issues.
Obtaining a vehicle history report is even more important when buying a car online to give you more comfort with the purchase you are making (or, just as importantly, enable you to determine that the car is not what you want). Typically online used car sources only give you a short description and a few pictures to go by. Many people have bought cars through online auctions only to discover when they pick the car up that it’s in much worse condition than the seller stated or the buyer anticipated.
eBay’s Autocheck report offer will help weed out misleading and dishonest car auctions and therefore should make eBay a much better place to buy and sell a vehicle.
