I have decided on getting a Corolla 5-spd, and an 03 model would
be within my budget (not more than $10K). On eBay, there are only
about maybe 15 5-spd Corollas for every 100  automatics, BTW! I have
bought dozens of items from eBay, but never a car.  THe selection of
used Toyotas is so small in my city, that months could go by before my
exact selected car comes up!
So I am looking at Corollas available in the Dallas area, as there
are dozens of them there. On ebay, I found an 03 Corolla 5-spd. 71K
miles) at a dealership in Arlington, Tx for $8K....buy it now price,
or you can make an offer. I am 350 miles away...so I can't personally
go there and inspect the car myself.  I would, however, hop on a plane
and fly there to pick up a car I have bought.  But even if it was a
local car, I would still prefer to hire a professional independent
inspection co. to check it out and test-drive it, as well as myself,
before bidding/buying.  
  So, the problem with eBay cars  is, it must be inspected before I
can know whether or not I want to buy that particular car....but I
could very likely be throwing away the $105 inspection fee which
Carchex charges, as anyone at any time could click the BUY IT NOW
option.  THis seller says (and probably all?) that no inspection can
be done after close of auction/end of sale. Well, I could submit bids
on, and pay inspection fees on, a dozen cars before being the
successful bidder!  So I could rack up hundreds or thousands of
dollars in inspection fees.  So it does not seem possible for me to
bid on any auction car unless it is local and I can go inspect it
myself prior ro bidding on it.  But I think a lot of out-of-town
people DO bid on cars....so how do they do it?  THere is no such thing
as "BUY IT NOW, contingent upon no significant problems being found on
inspection"....seems  like the system is "pot-luck" for the buyer.
Advice?