I’m beginning to wonder if there is a new business model of buying cars on Copart and then flipping them directly onto eBay – without ever laying an eye on it. This is at least the second time I’ve spotted such a listing, as you can see with this 1984 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe here on eBay. The seller is in Miami, the car is in California and he’s never even picked it up. Clever business model or caveat emptor to the buyer? You be the judge.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate someone finding an innovative way to flip cars – I do, especially since Copart seems loaded with potential “finds.” However, to not even inspect the vehicle and help your buyer avoid a potential moneypit seems a bit disingenuous. All the seller does is repeat what the original Copart listing said, which is that the Thunderbird runs and drives. But what about the missing door panel on the driver’s side?
The 2.3L Turbo found its way into the Thunderbird and Mustang SVO. It’s been much heralded on these pages as a lively alternative to the Mustang’s 5.0, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be troublesome if it hasn’t been maintained. We know little about its mechanical condition other than it’s hooked up to the less-desirable automatic transmission and supposedly has only 41,356 miles. While the car looks clean enough to have low miles, who knows if it’s actual?
The Thunderbird does look like it was loved at one time, what with the color-matched BBS-style wheels, the sharp paint and minty-fresh front bucket seats. I also love the clear headlight covers, which I can’t recall whether they were stock or a period modification. The seller is asking for a heady $7K Buy-It-Now price, which I don’t think will happen given the unknowns. If you could view this car in person, would you give it a closer look despite the unusual listing?
There was a ’75 Eldorado I was looking at on Copart that sold for about $600. The buyer towed it home and tried to flip it for $3500. He was too lazy to even take off the huge Copart sticker from it…
When I looked at buying a car from Copart last year, in addition to the hammer price there were a number of fees that tacked several hundred dollars (this was a running and driving car and there still was a $35 “gate fee” to have someone drive it around for front to pick it up.
Even after all that I decided to bid and was the high bidder only to find it wasn’t a real auction, but one the seller had paid for to get a value on the car (apparently to determine if it was worth buying it from the insurance company and reselling it themselves). Irritated the crap out of me.
More BS on the internet. This should be illegal and strictly regulated. As is, this is clearly consumer abuse. And on an ’84 T Bird? Wow
Do this all the time. We haul a lot of cars to Copart. Just did this load today. The blue car is a 08 Ford Taurus all wheel drive with 60K and the truck is a 2016 Toyota with 500 miles.
I guess he’s honest about the manner he is doing it so…? I agree it’s abuse and Internet garbage and possibly not of real interest on this site. Is a 1984 Thunderbird for $7k what the world needs now? At 10x markup from auction value? Seems like a outrageous price for a Copar car that most certain has major issues. Just because Copar states the car starts by no means is it drive-able. No tags on the car so who knows the last time it was on the road and where.
A few things about this listing. A Copart lot that STARTS is different than one that RUNS & DRIVES, so this one started but did not move under its own power. Why? who knows. I’ve bought a number of cars from Copart, and they NEVER look as good in person as they do in the photos. I’ve also seen a fair number of Copart cars that have the driver’s door panel removed for some reason– just the driver’s door panel. The curious thing about this auction to me is that Copart charges storage fees after 5 days. They want the cars gone as soon as possible because they move 3-400 cars a week through their auctions. The auction for this one ended July 1, so I find it hard to believe it’s still sitting in the Copart lot collecting storage fees while the ebay auction runs, but I guess stranger things have happened.
My last “killer deal” from Copart was an ’07 Subaru Outback wagon that ran and drove fantastic, but had a head gasket leak requiring the engine to be replaced. Copart probably didn’t know, and there was really no way to test it at their lot for that. Auctions are always a calculated risk.
Could the Drivers side door trip be removed possibly because the vehicle has no Keys & they are looking for a lock number to order replacements? Just a thought
*trim not trip
Clever business model and I don’t have a problem with the seller trying it. I just think a prospective buyer willing to plunk down $7K for a Turbo Coupe with an automatic, some obvious issues, no history, no idea of roadworthiness, no guaranty of the mileage, etc. should be fitted for a straitjacket.
P.S. – If you happen to be the person who would plunk down $7K for this mystery Bird, please contact me as I have a 2005 Subaru Legacy Turbo with nearly 200K that I’ll let go for the very reasonable price of $20,000.
And if you know anyone who wants MY black 2005 Legacy GT (turbo) WAGON with only 95k babied miles and a recent turbo replacement, I will sell mine for an even more reasonable $19,995. Trades for THREE Turbo Coupes not interesting…
I’ll bet the reserve is closer to $2k, the 7 is just to fool people.
John. Those car would not bring anywhere that amount of money at Copart. A lot of these cars that go to Copart are donated vehicles because of tax purposes. You wouldn’t believe the nice vehicles that we get. They move about 3500 vehicles world wide a week at these Copart Auctions. Not 3 to 400. One Copart in LA moves about 400 in a week. here is another load today. We’re in a small town with 3500 poeple and we take about 10 cars a week to Copart.
David, when I looked into picking up a vehicle at Copart, I got scared away because I heard that in many cases, Copart treats the cars like crap when moving them around.So, a car looks nice in the photos and then when you go to pick it up, it’s been damaged. Also, the longer a car sits after sale, the more stuff starts to disappear of them.
Have you had any complaints from buyers of your vehicles about these things?
David,
I don’t have a problem with taking donated cars to Copart, and Copart selling them at auction. My problem is that this Ebay auction is so weird that it’s surprising that anyone would ever bid on it, and fortunately nobody has….so far.
A “dealer” in Miami is auctioning a car on Ebay that “is still at the auction in California”? You can’t expect Ebay to vet every one of the millions of auctions they host, but this has got to be one of the least likely auctions I’ve seen.
“copart states that the car starts”
“compares almost exactly like the 1985 Mustang SVO”.
Thanks so much to the “dealer” in Miami for all that informative information.
It should be reported to ebay. There are a lot of fake auctions on there that look just like this one. They are selling a car they don’t have. Total scam. I’ll even bet the auction gets pulled.
Pay with a CC like I do and if it goes wrong, you do a charge back. If they say no, cash only! move on.
As a long time eBay user, something that concerns me with this auction is the low-low-LOW feedback rating of this seller. Couple that with the buyer being in Florida and the car is in California situation,,, it’s the definition of “buyer beware”
I never heard of Copart Auctions, so I did a bit of reading. Wow…lots of complaints out there.
Here’s a (partial?) list, with many from 2014, for whatever that’s worth. (I noticed you have to click on the red headline of the complaint, read it–possibly scrolling to a second, lower section, to do so–then HIT the “BACK” BUTTON, in order to see the original list, and click on it.
I read enough to be wary of this company, IMO–but obviously, folks on here have had positive experiences. I just thought I just post what I found, even if they’re just allegations “from the dark side.”
Also, when I looked them up, there was a link claiming CoPart is NOT a member of the BBB (Better Business Bureau) but I didn’t click it, to investigate further, so might not be true.
Good luck.
Like anything else, educate yourself before stepping into a pond.
I had an 84 Turbo Coupe. 5 speed, leather, sunroof, loaded. Absolutely loved that car and would love to have another one… but this one definately isn’t it.