BECK DIEFENBACH/Reuters
Some call it FleaBay, but one of the liveliest areas on eBay's massive website is eBay Motors, which features new models, collector cars, automotive memorabilia, and hard-to-find parts and accessories. You can find just about anything automotive-related on this site. In 2010, for example, a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder (similar to the dad's car in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) sold for more than $3.6-million, and last year an Ontario dealership dispensed with a giant Ford-powered mechanical cow, complete with milk-dispensing udders.
Vehicles ostensibly owned by celebrities also surface occasionally – soccer star David Beckham unsuccessfully listed his Porsche 911 and Michael Jordan put a Mercedes SRS on the site in 2010, also unsuccessfully.
But is this a good place to buy a new or used car? Probably not. In the first place, you're buying sight unseen – unless you make the trek to where the vehicle is located. Second, if the car is in the United States, there's all the importing paperwork and regulations to contend with, and you still have to pay taxes and duties. Not to mention uncertain warranty coverage, and no recourse if things go pear-shaped. But third, and this is the biggie, it's not necessarily cheaper to buy a car on eBay – unless it's a collectible or hard-to-find model.
For example, a five-year-old Honda Accord LX sedan with 104,000 kilometres on the clock is currently listed on eBay Canada for $15,396.87. It's located in Texas. The same model listed on Craigslist in Toronto has an asking price of $13,800, with at least 20,000 fewer kilometres. Factor in the cost of transport, tax, duties, etc., and the Texas Accord isn't a bargain.
On the other hand, if you're looking for a collector car, eBay Motors is a gold mine just by virtue of the number of listings. There are thousands of vintage and collector cars listed on the site. The Triumph category, for example, has 53 offerings and there are 32 Austin-Healeys up for grabs.
Not to mention parts and accessories. Need engine parts? EBay Motors currently has more than 39,000 engine-related bits and pieces – from entire rebuilt engines, to cam followers, to head gaskets, and on and on. For gearheads, this is car porn at its purest, and I've bought or sold about 50 different items on eBay Motors over the years.
When it comes to selling, verification is everything. I recently listed a Triumph TR4A that was apparently owned by former U.S. president George W. Bush, said to have received it as a graduation present in 1966. Impossible to verify, of course, and it made absolutely no difference. One prospective buyer actually advised me to keep that information to myself.
According to the company, 13.3 million unique visitors surf eBay Motors every month and an item is sold every seven seconds. Happy bidding … or selling.
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