Wow, this post sure had my name on it. We have been driving 240's for well over 20 years, have had a bunch, and in the last few years have actually refurbished several cars for sale and sometimes we sell them on E-bay. We've converted relatives to 240s, friends, etc. Everyone loves them once they've had them for even a few months. I make several cross country trips a year to do equipment service and on these occasions I will often buy a car back East and use it to transport tools, parts and myself across the US to California with as many as ten stops along the way. Bless the 240s, they have never left me stranded--but for one incident. Several have come from E-bay, including my own 245 which I purchased in Delaware nearly three years ago--and love. Caveat emptor (sp?) applies heavily, but like you, I'm convinced it is possible to get a good car. In fact, we just sold our 85 GL which we bought here in L.A. on E-bay a couple of years ago as well. It didn't cost much because, quite frankly, the paperwork was a mess and the auction clearly said so. The seller was always on the road (wholesaler) and was difficult to reach, but returned my calls faithfully. He would have his lot boy check whatever I was inquiring about and call me back or send photos. Paperwork eventually held back the pickup of the car nearly six weeks, but it was everything it was promised to be--to the letter--and once cleaned up, tuned, timing belt etc, gave us flawless service. On the flip side of that, I bought a 90 sedan in Akron for a trip about a year and a half ago. Car was highly praised, represented as having certain problems that were minor and seemed just right for the planned trip. Unfortunately it was a disaster upon pickup, which was done by a friend, not by me (sadly). Rust bucket, leaking severely from several locations, electrical problems, flooded trunk, filthy, destroyed interior. In reviewing the correspondance, I found that all the things that thad been lied about had been done so on the phone. None of the things that were mis-represented were in writing, only the good stuff. Seller never returned phone calls or e-mails. Car was a fright all the way home. I was in Chicago with the car for the blizzards of January 2005 and spent a week of evenings in a freezing garage fixing leaking trans lines, broken fuel lines, bad crank position sensors, fried instrument cluster, blocked flame trap and separator, and that was the easy stuff! Worst car buying experience on or off the internet I've ever had, bar none. As to my wagon, purchased from a second-owner attorney, I've put 60k miles on it since purchase. I've added a bunch of stuff, but as far as maintenance, hmmm. Let me see: Alternator, front brakes, AC compressor--all after about 40k miles of use from purchase. Other than that, oil, filters, a timing belt--that's it. But I drove the guy nuts with questions and photo requests before I bought it. That seems to be the key. Don't hesitate to blitz the seller with questions. Nine out of ten times I'll bet we bricksters know far more about the cars than the sellers do and one needs to use that to one's advantage in investigating the condition. Most important, if there is anything the seller won't photograph, put in writing, describe in detail, or if they back away from sharing any information about titles and history, run away. CarFax is great, but not always perfect. Salvage titles can be risky, but not always (our V70 and '85 244t both have them and are super cars). Here in California, for many years, all of the charity donations required that the car be salvaged even though the car was fine. Of course there is the insurance value issue. Nowadays salvage usually means just that, car has been repaired.
Feedback is indeed the key. I've set a standard of never buying under 98% unless I can clearly see that someone was banged unjustly in the feedback department. I rarely buy from someone who has very little feedback whether it be a car, a part, a camera, electronic devices--anything. I think E-bay is a common sense forum. If you use it, you win. If you don't, you may win, but you roll the dice. Generally speaking I've been mightily impressed by the friendly demeanor and honesty of the E-bay community. There seem to be a whole bunch of sincere people selling there, but you need to be able to recognize them.

As to dealers, remember: In Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer...we see the banker sitting waiting for a trend.... Penny looks lovely though!

Enjoyed reading your post,

DS