Date:         Tue, 10 Aug 2004 08:48:25 -0700
Reply-To:     jbange <hfinn@INGRATES.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         jbange <hfinn@INGRATES.NET>
Subject:      Re: Ebay trade gone wrong...
In-Reply-To:  <12338182.1092142064036.JavaMail.jrunberg@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Well, the ebay thing is a two-way street. An auction may be a legally binding
transaction, but that depends entirely upon the seller truthfully
representing the vehicle. If you sell a vanagon and "runs great; 164,000 miles;
as-is" and one shows up to find that the cooling system leaks like a sieve
and has
to be refilled every 40 miles, and that the odometer reads 164K, but it's read
that for THREE YEARS, ever since the odometer broke; well, those are
perfectly legitimate reasons to back out, being that ebay requires the
descriptions to be TRUTHFUL. Sellers often try to hide behind the "as-is"
clause, but as-is is entirely predicated upon a truthful description of the
vehicle's condition. The legally binding contract of an ebay auction is
essentially "the item described, for the highest bid received". Basically, if
the seller misrepresents the vehicle, then HE'S the one who broke the contract.

None of this is to say, of course, that one should bid on things without
talking
to the seller. Most sellers aren't INTENTIONALLY misleading; they're just not
thinking clearly. Often they forget that, unlike an ad in the newspaper,
they aren't
just trying to entice people into coming and looking, they're ACTUALLY
SELLING the vehicle and as such they're supposed to disclose EVERYTHING.

John Bange
'90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"


>Am I the only one who thinks the seller may not be a complete crook? From t=
>his one email it's impossible to say -- about the most damning thing is tha=
>t the oil hasn't been changed in awhile... As far as the 'take it a bit slo=
>w' -- that's advice that I would give to a newbie Vanagon owner to prevent =
>them from trying to drive with the pedal to the floor the whole way! At the=
>  very least, the seller deserves to hear your concerns and go from there.
>
>The thing that bothers me about the *people* on ebay is that, although bidd=
>ing creates a legally binding transaction, people think they are entitled t=
>o walk no matter what the reason. Simply put, it's the buyer's responsibili=
>ty to learn everything they want to learn *before* bidding. The seller isn'=
>t obligated to do anything for you.
>
>For this reason I would never buy a car sight unseen -- on ebay or anywhere=
>  else!
>
>john