Internet dealers (Thru E-Bay) in Tx

[wannaexpy]

Hi,

Has anyone had recent (within a year) experience purchasing off E-Bay Motors with one of the many Texas dealers? Some of them have quite a few Expy's for sale, lots of pics and good descriptions, their prices seem lower than my Autotrader runs bring up here locally and within 500 miles.

Only downsides for me are the price of a 1 way air ticket to Houston then getting to the dealer, plus having to take a chance on a truck without driving it first. I wouldn't mind the trip back as I have family along the way.

Anyone bought from one of them recently?

Looking for an 05 EB or Limited 4x4.

Thanks

 

[GAINMOB]

good luck

 

[wannaexpy]

Meaning? I've never bought a vehicle that way but many
RV owners shop at PPL in Houston. As bad as some
walk-in dealers are, not much else could go wrong.

 

[Big White]

I bought my Expy in a sort of strange way.

I was in Wichita on business, which concludded Friday night. My non-refundable airline ticket was for Sunday. Early Saturday afternoon, I was walking around (no car) past a Buick dealership, and saw they NICE cars they had out on the used lot. I say nice, because, where I am from, everything more than a few years old gets RUSTED. Syracuse uses salt like sand around here and we pay the price. I hated my 04 Durango because the damn thing rotted out like Appellation Hill Folk teeth on a mountain dew habit. Huge holes. The salesman said he would take a personal check and print out tags to drive it home. I got excited and just bought it, shooting from the hip. I had to be at work on Monday morning, and just started driving. I was not even truly in the market to get a new car. And I knew nothing about XP's. Just knew they HAD to be better than a Dodge.

My point is, if you know you are in the market, and you are going to a target rich environment, go for it. Rent a car when you get down there, drive all of them you can, take notes, and the next morning buy one and drive. Look at the sticky for the gotchya's. Plugs on 05's and newer are tougher to change, with a more complex and powerful engine. Carefully smell exhaust for coolant, oil color, tranny fluid color. Pound on the go pedal and make sure they sound and feel strong and smooth on acceleration. Pull up moldings a little to look for re-spray lines, bent or creases in the engine compartment for front damage, door seams, paint bubbles under hood and on tail gate, brake fluid color, smoke on start on COLD engine. If the sales guy is starting a warm engine for you, watch out. Make sure the adjustable pedals go up and down 2.5" or so. 1/2", and the brake pedal needs replacing.Yada yada.

If you are coming from a rust belt area, it is absolutely worth the costs to drive to a salt free area. Rust sucks, anything else can be fixed.

 

[GAINMOB]

i see it as another avenue to sell for the dealership...i know if you get an online quote from their website its going to save you cash...why not ebay? you can still go view it if its local

 

[wannaexpy]

Super good info, thanks.

I'm in Phoenix so cars down here are basically no rust except for the recent up north (like upstate NY) transplants. We don't get Katrina cars or other SE coast damaged cars unless some unscrupulous dealer ships them in or something. The dealer in Houston isn't a Ford shop, just a reseller, so they may just buy at auction. That's not necessarily bad but... No Ford Certified cars available from these guys but if I go for an 05 it probably won't be certifiable anyway (over aged).

I saw a great looking Expy in Florida but can't possibly drive it back and get to work without a week off. Maybe if in LA but not Fl.

I wanted an 08-09 but they are too rich for me. Need the good ol' 40-50% depreciation after 5-6 years on an American product before I can buy it...