About Autoquake

This is actually the first car that I have ever bought. I didn't have a need to have my own in the past. I would drive my family's car or a company car and when I was working in London I didn't feel the need for one. I have now moved back to Norfolk and I wanted a diesel car that had done ~50,000 miles. I used these search criteria initially on the Autotrader's website and looked through Autotrader magazines.

I had looked at eBay car auctions before but the price had always seemed to be outside my budget. For me, buying a car online, so long as it is properly and honestly displayed, is no different from buying off a dealer's forecourt. I had only used eBay before to buy bits and bobs for no more than £50. So it was a big deal buying a car on eBay but I told myself that if the auction price stayed within my guideline budget, then I would go for it. I had watched a few before and noticed that the price stayed fairly level for the last 3 days and then in the last couple of hours the price would go up. I waited until the last minute, placed two bids and won. I was more vexed that I had just bought a car on eBay than elated at placing the winning bid.

The Megane initially caught my attention on eBay because it was listed in the right price range. Autoquake just happened to be selling it. Their listings were very descriptive - they had loads of photos of the car's interior and exterior and the interactive damage viewer gave me great comfort. Everything was shown upfront and all my boxes were ticked. They provided a service history, HPI check and warranty as an option.

What advice would I give to other users? Check the eBay feedback system, make sure the listings are accurate and that all the documentation is present and correct. Autoquake provided me with all the information that I needed which, for me, hugely reduced the risk of buying a used car. The great customer service was an added bonus.

I have an old London taxi that is not fully restored and I was interested in finding parts. I hadn’t looked on eBay for a long time, so it was by complete coincidence that I saw this taxi on auction. It is in such good condition that I will now be using the other taxi for parts.

Why have I flown over from Norway to London to pick up a taxi that I have never actually seen before, to then drive it to Newcastle to catch a ferry back to Norway? Well, I am a Traffic Engineer in Norway and for me, the London taxi is a special icon of an urban way of living. Also, I am keen on vintage cars and a London taxi is a novel way to turn up to events in. I used one of my past vintage cars to ferry the Norwegian Minister for Communication to a road opening event for example.

When looking for a car, I always do a search on eBay rather than go through a dealer because I have had unsatisfactory treatment from dealers in the past. Autoquake happened to be selling the taxi on eBay on behalf of a private seller. I had heard about the traditional ‘English second hand car dealer’s untrustworthy reputation’, but I knew from looking at Autoquake’s professional listing and website that I could have real confidence to make the initial bid. I knew what condition to expect because of the age of the taxi, but it was refreshing to see that there was no damage that had not been detailed online. The one exception was that the front left indicator light had gone. They replaced it on the spot for no extra charge. The customer service was particularly good. They were friendly and available to help during the stated opening hours.

My advice to others who are contemplating buying a car online is to be aware of photos because they can often, quite unintentionally, gloss the reality. Having said that - a good picture says a thousand words.

Autoquake has been a very positive experience. Would I come back to Autoquake again? Yes, but only if it is a left hand drive!

When buying a car in the past, I would tour around various dealers and look through the Autotrader and Exchange & Mart magazines. However, I work in I.T and therefore feel comfortable with the internet. I am good with search engines and filters to hone in on particular cars and I understand and appreciate potential threats and risks the Internet can pose.

I put my spec into the eBay search, the car popped up and Autoquake happened to be selling it. Their listing was professional and extremely informative. You can open a gallery of high resolution photos for both the interior and exterior of the car, the service log and keys are photographed and displayed and their damage viewer logs any damage with a photo and description. I was not expecting to buy a new car but wanted to feel confident that every detail was covered and that there weren't going to be any nasty surprises. Autoquake give you this confidence. They also have an excellent positive feedback eBay rating and I was impressed with their website which has a phenomenal amount of detail.

I have bought small items on eBay before so the auction process was not new for me. There was no competition and I had to bid against myself to meet the reserve price. My advice to others would to be aware of last minute auction robots which are downloadable software that outbid you automatically in the last second. To prevent auction sniping I would suggest that you should stick to your maximum budget and not exceed it. Parkers is a good source for homework on honest and correct car prices.

I had an excellent experience with Autoquake. It was very quick (I picked up the car the day after I had won the auction), the staff were very friendly and a pleasure to do business with. I would definitely use Autoquake again.

In the past, I would normally have bought a car through a garage. I would have visited several garages and booked in for test-drives; but always with one eye on the internet. I have done shopping online before, but this is the first time that I have bought anything through eBay. The fact that it is a car is testament to the fact that Autoquake is a reliable and safe company. Autoquake's titanium PowerSeller status with a 99.8% positive feedback score on eBay and extremely thorough car profiles were really reassuring. Although it was still a bit of a gamble for me, going through Autoquake gave me peace of mind. Before I came across Autoquake, I had tried to buy a BMW 330 Ci privately on eBay. I missed the auction date and wrote to this guy in Finland. It turned out that the eBay invoice was bogus and there was outstanding finance. Also, because our correspondence was outside eBay, I was not protected by eBay.

I came across Autoquake whilst looking through eBay. They were selling the Volkswagen Passat for £5,800 a car that is about £9,000 book price. It was such a good deal and I had such confidence in their advertisement (their 'ding viewer' shows pictures and gives descriptions of any interior or exterior damage), that I went ahead and bid.

The auction process of buying the car was interesting. I monitored it for the last 4 hours and then with 50 minutes to go I put in a bid for £5,700 and waited to see if that stirred things up. Last minute I then put in a bid for £5,820 to beat the obvious £5,800 bidder. Someone put in a bid with 5 seconds to go, but I still won!

The Autoquake Customer Service was great and Stacey was really helpful and nice. I didn't want to pay the drop-off fee and therefore planned to go down to Acton from Liverpool to collect the car. Stacey sent me all the details within 5 minutes of talking on the phone.

My advice to other buyers looking to purchase a car through Autoquake and/or eBay for the first time is to be open-minded. My friends thought that I was crazy buying a car on eBay! There can be pitfalls of purchasing a car through eBay (eBay do provide a lot of advice on this) and I was definitely pleased that I was dealing with a large and reputable company rather than a backstreet garage.

I own my own garage, so I have always bought cars in the trade; generally locally. On this occasion I was looking for a specialised vehicle so I had been tentatively searching on eBay and Auto Trader for about two months and then I found this Land Rover Defender on eBay which Autoquake happened to be selling. I have bought 1000s of cars on eBay before and this was a one off vehicle (5.0 litre V8 engine), so I was fairly certain that I was going to buy it. However, I was impressed by Autoquake’s presentation and price. Their damage editor and text was really comprehensive; the car was exactly the same when I saw it at the centre as it had been displayed in the online ad.

The whole process was very easy. I followed the auction for a few days, placed a last minute bid, Autoquake contacted me the next day and I made a trip on the M4 to pick it up from London. The customer service was great and they were willing to listen when I said that there was a problem with the power steering. I would trust Autoquake 100%. I was greeted by honest, nice people who made the process even easier. A straightforward and pleasant buy.