i won an ebay auction and the guy says the airbags are blown from when he was hit on the passenger fender. it wasnt bad, the fender could have be repaired but he got a new one anywyas. is that possible or was this in a worse accident?

 

iwould say the it was in a worse accident. Your first mistake was buying a car off ebay that was wrecked and you were not able to go look at it. not trying to be mean. a side impact if thats what it really was would have to hit pretty hard to sen off the air bags, also the is likley to be more things broke unless he fixed them. hard to say what happened.

 

well heres the auction

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

to me it looks like it was in a front end hit but he says it wasnt and he wont give me the serial number to do a carfax.
the front bumper seems to be missing and the hood looks buckled. he said the hood flew up when it wasnt latched, i want to cancel the auction but it seems like such a good deal still.

 

I would be worried that he won't let you have the vin #. It could be a good deal or it could be a 3,000 dollar bucket of parts. You might be able to get your 3 grand back in parts or you might be able to make an offroad truck out of it but if you are getting it to be a normal high way driver i would not do it, but thats my opinion. Still it sounds scary if he don't even give out the vin #, could possibly be stolen. how is the title, any liens, or is there evan a title?

 

okay well here is his last email. what do ya think?

I told you and you knew vehicle had been in accident 5 yrs ago.
I showed the pictures that the air bags were deployed
serial number SALJY1245SA124032
if vehicle was not repairable it would have been branded not repairable.
vehicle was in use and worked fine last 4 yrs
We have the pictures of the light damage.
pls inform your intentions

 

its up to you, but that guy sound kinda rude to be trying to sell a car, i guess if it were me i would back out, take the neg. feedback. your call.

 

Well........ I see it like this:

If you buy ANYTHING from an online auction, you can expect surprises. If they are small, you're ahead of the game, and very fortunate. I have bought both good and bad @ e-Bay. Paid $3000 for a 1993 Dodge Caravan almost 4 yrs ago, and it has been the BEST investment I have ever made. Not a problem of any kind after another 55,000 miles. But you never know.

I hope I don't offend you with this, but....... you had pictures and plenty of time to ask questions. You made a decision. I would hope that you made your decision to purchase based upon the information provided and the photos, along with any questions that you may have asked of the seller before the auction was over. Looks like he ran an auction and then is willing to honor the sale. You should go through with the purchase unless you can find (after on-site inspection) that the vehicle was mis-represented in the auction.

As far as the bags deploying during a side impact, the answer is YES, they WILL and CAN deploy fron a side impact. The airbag sensors are placed in strategic areas, and directed basically towards frontal impact, but if the side impact caused the front bumper to "spring" just right, then the bags could have gone off.

Man, I ain't got a horse in this race, but it sounds like buyers remorse because of a purchase that you are having second thoughts about. If the Disco is as it was represented, then you should pay the man his money and go lick your wounds. Once again......no offense meant. I just know how I have felt when winners of my auctions failed to honor the sale and disappeared.

From e-Bay's website (I know you took the time to know the rules):

Buyers automatically enter into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller if they win the auction-style listing or use the Buy It Now feature. eBay's Unpaid Item policy requires buyers to pay for the items that they commit to purchase. eBay will take action against buyers who do not pay for items they have won.

And for the "scammed" buyer:

eBay's Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described policy requires sellers to deliver items they have sold on eBay and have received payment for. Sellers who fail to deliver items to buyers, or who deliver items which are "significantly not as described", may face possible account restriction and suspension. An item is considered "significantly not as described" if the seller clearly misrepresents the item in a way that directly affects its value or usability. In some cases, eBay will also contact and cooperate with law enforcement to penalize fraudulent sellers.

Sorry for the LOOOOOONG post. You need to give this situation a long, thorough contemplation before you do anything.

I'll go away and shut up now. [sm=icon_blah.gif] [sm=roll.gif]