So you are thinking of buying a car on e-bay? Are you crazy? Are you receiving medical help? What a minefield! Can you find the car you want? Is it the right price? Can you trust the buyer? Is it miles away? Can you get away to test drive the car? and so on....

To be honest there is no real formula for buying a classic car on e-bay. You do everything properly, you check through the sellers feedback to see if he is the real owner or a dealer, you examine the pictures in minute detail, you check all the others for sale and those that have sold previously, why didn't the car sell last time etc etc.. Even then sometimes the red mist descends and you lose all self control, and all reason and you take that inevitable step into the dark. To be honest I have bought five cars over the last five years via e-bay and I still have four of them. The fifth I sold to fund a business venture, but I would not have sold it had I been happy in my work.

I always adopt the following tactics. I think the most important thing is to forget the car (once you have identified one you want) and read between the lines and look at the background of the pictures etc.. You can learn a lot from what is not said as well as the way somethings are written. For example, the words 'fast motor' should make you quake! I am always cautious when it says selling it for a friend and yet there is no contact number for the friend so you can make personal contact. When the subject of mileage is omitted from the specification box and the description... why? I do not want to teach you to suck eggs and I cannot give you the perfect solution to buying the car, but keeping in touch with reality is essential. IF IN DOUBT - CHECK IT OUT!!!! Answer those niggling questions. In the pictures you can see what looks like oil on the ground. Is it from the car you are buying? Is that mud or rust?

Ask yourself four questions. Why do I want the car? How much can I really afford? How far do I want to travel to view or collect it? and then the most important question of all... Do I really know enough about these cars to commit X thousands of pounds on a piece of pretty metal.

Cut to reality check. I had a beautiful and rare car. I restored it over several years, I took it for an MOT and the Testing Station burned down with my car in it. Insurance paid up... I went ahunting for another. I found one, looked absolutely fabulous, been restored etc etc.. Red mist descended, cash exchanged hands... The first breakdown was not too bad, but after 18 months I had replaced almost everything mechanical and now the pretty bits have revealed their festering problems ... need I say more. I truly believe that sometimes it is best to buy a heap of bits because that is what you get... a heap of bits. If you buy a car without admitting to yourself you have limitations to your anorak facts and figures on the marque then you have only yourself to blame. Find someone who really knows, who you trust, who will smack your face when the red mist descends!

So, buying a classic car on e-bay? Well, I would advise you to adopt the following rules before commecing such an undertaking, and before you make a bid!!!!

1. Identify what you want.

2. Select a range of examples available... and do not let the cash burn a hole in your pocket. There are thousands of cars for sale every day so be patient, if it is not there today, it will be soon.

3. Check out the seller. Read all the feedback for the last three months. Ring him/her. Get to know about your seller. Why is it being sold etc..

4. Whereabouts is the car? It may be exactly what you want but if you live in Exeter do you really want to travel to Fife in Scotland?

5. Does everything check out? Is the interior correct for the car, is the paint the right colour, the engine the correct number etc..

6. Can you afford to run it? If you have to ask yourself that question then you should not be looking.

7. Will it fit in the garage or where I intend to store it? Now this may seem incredibly obvious, but... I know someone who had exactly that experience. Try explaining to your wife why a car that cost almost as much as the conservatory, several years combined holiday costs, and looks fantastic is now having to sit under a plastic sheet instead of fitting into this warm glove like environment you had planned for it! It was a Testarossa and it was too wide for the garage so once inside you could not open the doors and get out without scratching them against the wall. Okay, okay! so he was a plank, but it was a simple thing to overlook. Anyone could have done it, and they do... every day. Kerb too high, drive too steep, garage too small, you are too tall etc etc..

8. and so on and so on....

So, before you say that this guide was useless to you, remember it may not have answered your burning question of how to buy a classic car on e-bay, but I wouldn't mind betting that, if you are honest, it has made you go over things once more... just in case, in which case it has served its purpose which is to make you reflect and use that skill which is inherent in us all - common sense.

Now I have got to stop typing as the red mist is descending because I have just seen a classic car I have always wanted and, guess what it is for sale on e-bay!!!