Anyone have problems with sellers not honoring no reserve eBay Auto auctions?

[budmanv24]

I won an eBay auction last night for an m3 that had no reserve. Upon contacting the dealer today to make arrangements to pick up the car they refused to honor the transaction. Anyone else ever run into this?

***UPDATED 4/26/2012***

I feel like I've been withholding a significant amount of information from you guys for the purpose of protecting the dealership in hopes that things work out. I believe that y'all deserve the entire story.

Let's start from the beginning. While searching eBay for no reserve BMW auctions last week I found the listing for the M3 in question. I don't bid on reserve auctions because 9 times out of 10 the seller has set the reserve at retail level. I'm looking for a car because my 328i was hit by a hail storm that came through our area. I need something to drive for the month or so while my car is being repaired due to the fact that I don't have rental coverage. Upon finding the M3 I placed it on my watch list and kept an eye on it. I placed a few bids over the next 24hrs and was the highest bidder, winning the auction at close. I was extremely ecstatic at this victory as the M3 is quite a fine automobile.

The following day (4/20/2012 11:27am) I called Autodynamics to arrange the down payment as per the instructions on their eBay listing. Unfortunately, the excitement wore off rapidly. Upon introducing myself to the receptionist and stating my intentions to setup payment and pickup of my new M3 she immediately accused me of "hacking eBay" and changing the Buy It Now price on the auction. I told her that would of been difficult given the fact that there were other people bidding on the car just like me. So I asked to talk to the owner, Sanjay Varma. Sanjay told me a different story stating that his dealership had placed a reserve on the auction and that eBay had an error, since it "wasn't possible to have a listing with a starting bid price and a Buy It Now price." After some discussion he said since we had no written contract, the best he could offer was knock a couple grand off the price he had the car listed for on his lot, $40,500. Without coming to an agreement I told him I would call him later and we ended the conversation.

Upon receiving the advice of some members of this forum and additional research, I used the eBay messaging tool to send Autodynamics excerpts from the Texas Business & Commerce Code along with parts of eBay's policy. I included that I looked forward to doing business with them as everything seemed pretty cut and dry. I asked when would be a good time to finalize the deal and sent my message on its way.

The following day (4/26/2012 1:06pm) I received a voicemail from Ali Fazel of the Law Offices of Scardino & Fazel in Houston on behalf of Autodynamics stating that Fazel's client has requested he contact me to come to a resolution. "Great!" I thought "we were finally getting somewhere." Upon calling Ali back (4:47pm) I was instructed that the the M3 "Is no longer available to [me]" unless I am willing to buy it at $40,500, in which case it is available. After farther pushing Fazel, he says that he doesn't know the current status of the car and that it may have been sold. At this time I tell him it is unacceptable to have sold the car I purchased through eBay. His alternative solution, which he insisted was in my best interests, was to take a 335xi automatic that they found elsewhere. I have no interest in all-wheel drive, automatic cars and by this point had my sights set on the Dinan M3 (aka, M3 with some Dinan upgrades). So I tell him to find out the status of the M3 and we end the phone call.

A little over 30 minutes later (5:27PM) Ali calls me back. The car had been sold to another dealer for list price, $40,500, but Sanjay is willing to take a $500 loss and sell me the car for $40,000. I ask, "what about Sanjays offer on Friday to knock a couple grand off the price for me to make things right?" Ali tells me that Sanjay is not willing to take a penny less than $40,000 for the car. Sanjay is worried about going back on the offer to the other dealership and angering them. Once again we are unable to come to an agreement and we end the conversation.

This is currently where we sit. I'm back to square one with nothing to drive while my car gets repaired. I have a loan check made out for a BMW M3 with the vin number WBSVA935X8E215763, which is useless at this point. I am upset to say the least.

[Bpark1977]

Unfortunately, they aren't legally bound to sell you the car. Your only recourse is a dispute with eBay, which can really only result in the seller losing some listing privileges. I'd be wary of buying something like an M3 on eBay, just because.
Good luck anyway, hope you find something.

[chief]

It's very unfortunate that a dealer would act in such an unprofessional manner. In my opinion, all you can do now is be a squeaky wheel.

Yes you can attempt to talk with management at the dealership and work out a deal.

If you (and they) cannot come to a mutual agreement, then...

• Yes you can leave negative feedback on eBay.
• Yes you can contact eBay and let them know that a licensed dealership is not honoring the term of service of eBay (good way to get banned from the bay).
• Yes you can share your experience with the this and any other forum/venue that will listen.

And at the end of the day, you can move on and find another car and get a deal done with a reputable seller who will not make you feel like you need a shower (or worse a lawyer) after you get home with your new car.

Good luck!
Chief

[gblansten]

That sucks but these guys above are right. Good luck.

[chief]

By the way, I found my M3 through eBay and purchased it from a large reputable dealer out of state - Ron Tonkin Grand Turismo. I even had problems with the deliver that they worked very hard to correct. As a result I would definitely do business with them again.

[Grail05]

I remember a guy went to media and got the car without reserve... He did went through a lot but he got it i believe it was a GTR... i would start with that...

[BeamingE39]

A guy had this same problem with Lincoln BMW, made a thread and a big stink. Eventually they gave in.

[kmarei]

Originally Posted by budmanv24

I won an eBay auction last night for an m3 that had no reserve. Upon contacting the dealer today to make arrangements to pick up the car they refused to honor the transaction. Anyone else ever run into this?

Try to get in contact with your nearest tv station
And make sure, not just to mentions the dealers name, but if it's a chain of dealers, to mention the name of the chain (Penske, etc)
The bigger stink, you can make
The better
And see if you can talk to a general manager, or better, the owner of the dealership

[rdollie]

I haven't checked so does anybody know if you can get the buyer's assurance guarantee with cars on eBay like you can for top sellers of other (usually much cheaper) items?

[cjrivera]

This guy is having the same problem...

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=916705

[M3PO]

The GT-R guy made his story known on a lot of forums, automotive blogs picked up the story and eventually he got the car. The guys on my350z blew up the dealer's Facebook page! It was pretty hilarious!

[Kobaiyashi]

Seems like I'm uninformed, but why wouldn't this be an enforceable, legally binding transaction? I'm not a contracts lawyer, but in any other circumstance an unconditional offer to sell (e.g. no reserve) which is accepted without reservation/modification is a deal.

[eisenb11]

Yeah I'm a but confused as well. Ebays help site used to mention that a completed transaction is a legally binding contract to buy/sell. Is this no longer the case?

[Wanna Race?]

the dealers have a different contract with ebay, i was in charge of all of our ebay cars for 2 years and I saw this happen. Granted, the car was marked for 2k rather than 20k. so we never sold it... how far off from blue book did you bid? Take a civil approach first, and when it doesnt work, if you really want the car, get nasty.

[CardSurge]

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127993

It's the longest post on this forum. Like 116 pages long. I skimmed it the other day, coincidentally. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[scrummie2]

Certainly the bid process could create a legally binding contract. The problem is getting that enforced. Hiring an attorney, litigating this matter, and then enforcing any judgment takes money, which I could certainly see any potential savings on the cheap price won in the auction evaporate. The dealers know this - that these situations aren't likely to actually be litigated - so they just move on forward and assume problem people go away.

[budmanv24]

Thanks for all of the advice so far. I called eBay customer support tonight and was told "All bids made in the Real Estate and eBay Motors vehicles categories are considered non-binding." So I guess the lesson learned here is that there is no reason to pay the extra fee for a reserve since you don't have to sell your car at the end of the auction if you don't feel like it.

The dealer is a small private dealer (not a chain) that has been in business for I believe at least 10 years selling exotic cars in houston. From the research I did prior to bidding on the car they seem to have a good reputation with members on some of the forums vouching for them over the years. I spoke to the owner when I called, to no avail.

What's even more of a bummer is that my 328i got nailed with hail a couple weeks ago and is probably going to be in the body shop for a month or so (I will not be cutting any corners and am taking it to the best body shop in DFW). I don't have rental reimbursement (seemed like a good idea when my other two cars were running) and this would of been a perfect time to buy a new car rather than waste a ton of money on a rental car.

I'm going to contact the dealer again and see if we can come to a more amiable solution. I'll keep everyone updated.

[Brucewonder]

i remember watching a case on Judge Judy I believe and a guy flew there and sued the dealer. He won

[budmanv24]

Originally Posted by Brucewonder

i remember watching a case on Judge Judy I believe and a guy flew there and sued the dealer. He won

Oh man, that'd be awesome to be on judge judy, lol.

[Grail05]

Originally Posted by M3PO

The GT-R guy made his story known on a lot of forums, automotive blogs picked up the story and eventually he got the car. The guys on my350z blew up the dealer's Facebook page! It was pretty hilarious!

He went to media... It was in the news

[hks786]

I don't know how Ebay can justify making some sales "non-binding". At the end of the day every seller has the option to set a fixed price or reserve. The reason for no reserve (or a low one) is to attract attention to your listing. I don't think its fair to take such benefit from low/no reserve and then when it doesn't work out say that its "non-binding". That's having your cake and eating it lol. Totally unfair on the buyer.

[BimmersGarage]

Sub'd.