By Sarah G. McC. Moïse
Staff Writer

In November 2000, Charleston residents Pitts and Megan Hewitt became the proud owners of a Toyota sedan bought online at eBay Motors, the vehicle division of the massive online marketplace. The couple had purchased items on eBay previously, but the Toyota was a different ball game.

Since the car was terrifically under-priced for being only two years old with 20,000 miles, the Hewitts decided to give the online auto auction a try.

“It was a grand or two below Blue Book value, so I was really excited about the deal,” says Pitts Hewitt. After running an online search for history and title and finding no record of any traffic accidents, “I immediately got an airline ticket through Priceline and flew to Kentucky, picked it up and drove it home. It was a nice car.”

‘Killer wheels’

“I drove it for almost a year; it ran fine and didn’t give me any trouble,” says Megan Hewitt. “But I wanted a VW Bug, something younger and more fun, so we had to sell the Toyota.”

In the process of detailing the car, Hewitt’s husband shampooed the upholstery and found that, rather than coming clean, the seats kept getting dirtier and dirtier. “The whole passenger seat and back seat were covered in re-liquified blood,” she says. They were later contacted by an out-of-state lawyer, trying to find the car as part of an investigation. A grisly accident was certainly not listed under the vehicle’s description on the auction site.

CNW Market Research, a national automotive industry research firm, estimates that nearly 30% of the 42.6 million used cars purchased in the United States in 2002 were bought via the Internet. And with new buying techniques come new fraudulent practices.

There are no reliable figures on the number of fraudulent transactions resulting from online auto sales—due to the inability of many consumers to legally prosecute their con artists—but the Federal Trade Commission receives a steady stream of complaints about misrepresentation of vehicle condition, dangerous rebuild jobs, stolen vehicles and fake escrow services that vanish as soon as a buyer sends them cash. The consumer does not get the opportunity to inspect the merchandise before buying it, so it is impossible to know the true condition of the vehicle until it arrives—long after payment has been turned over to the seller.

Why buy online?

Despite reported cases of fraud, most online auto purchases are on the up and up. Charlestonian Scott Quattlebaum of Quattlebaum Development Co. was delighted with the Porsche and BMW he found in Boston and Washington, D.C. through eBay and Autotrader.com.

“I did a vehicle history report search. I knew about the type of car, I knew what I wanted,” says Quattlebaum. “I could tell that both of the owners were car fanatic types. They had the history and service records, had taken care of them and they were both still under warranty.” He explains that these factors took the edge off the deal, and his trust was rewarded when both cars turned out to be beautiful.

“I had tried to buy them locally, but no one could come close to price I was getting online,” says Quattlebaum. He recalls that the Porsche was offered for 10,000 less online than it was at local dealerships, and adds that the Internet has a much larger and national selection to choose from. “I’d definitely do it again. It was fun buying on eBay.”

Buyer beware

A trusted automotive resource since 1966, California-based Edmunds.com is now the Internet’s pioneer and leader in providing automotive information, tools and services to consumers. Whether buying online or on the lot, industry experts like Edmunds.com recommend taking advantage of click-to-purchase vehicle history reports, warranties and vehicle inspections.

A vehicle report only costs about $20 from some of the larger sites like Carfax.com, which has a database of more than two billion records and can e-mail reports almost instantaneously to customers. A report from Carfax is broken into nine categories: report summary, vehicle specifications, accident check, mileage accuracy check, lemon check, ownership check, recall check, warranty check and vehicle history details.

Experts also advise shopping for lower mileage and sales by original owners, since there is a better chance that the records have been kept up. Buyers should make sure they are dealing with reputable sellers before transferring funds, even through escrow accounts.

California-based consumer advocate Michael Royce tells car buyers to take their time. “Don’t rush out and buy a car without doing some research,” says Royce. “Taking things step-by-step will help you to avoid getting ripped-off.”

Sarah G. McC. Moïse covers the automotive industry for the Business Journal. E-mail her at smoise@crbj.com. 

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