Buying car online has risks, benefits

One reason for the growth, said Rob Chesney, vice president of eBay Motors, is consumers’ increased comfort with purchasing big-ticket items online. You also are shopping at a national scale, and, as Wang discovered, there’s potential to snag a good deal. Many auctions on eBay are settled at the car’s wholesale price (what a dealer would pay if, say, you traded in a car), said Philip Reed, senior consumer-advice editor for Edmunds .com, an automotive Web site.

So what’s the catch? Read any car forum online and you’ll see there’s potential for a lot of hassle and, in the worst case, falling victim to a scam. In the Federal Trade Commission’s annual ranking of consumer fraud complaints, Internet auctions came in fifth this year. So before you make a bid, or let the excitement of the auction get the better of your wallet, make sure you keep these tips in mind.

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