Autoblog

Click either image for gallery of Dwight's Nissan Xterra

Fact: A new episode of The Office aired last night in which Andy sells his Nissan Xterra to Dwight, who then puts it up for sale on eBay Motors.

Fact: the guy who owns the Xterra in real life works for the show and has put it up for sale on eBay Motors along with a script signed by the cast and props used during filming.

Question: how much is owning Dwight Schrute's Xterra worth to you?

The current bid is $15,300 (Kelley Blue Book says one in excellent condition is worth only $9,715) and no, your money will not go to an obscure charity. It will help this guy trade his SUV for a hybrid. That's so Hollywood. Thanks for the tip, Bojac!

UPDATE: Link to eBay Motors auction added, doh!


[Source: eBay Motors]

Advertising has been creeping into video games for a while now, but in most racing games is relegated to billboards that we hardly notice while whizzing by and concentrating on our line for the next turn. Codemasters, however, is working with in-game ad firm Engage to take video game advertising to a new level by including a fully functioning eBay Motors marketplace in the developer's next racing title, Race Driver: Grid. Players in the game will actually buy and sell in-game vehicles using the eBay Motors service just like they would in real life. eBay Motors will also get a title race in the game called "The eBay Motors Mustang Muscle Series" in which they can drive the eBay Motors Mustang GTR concept car in San Francisco, Long Beach, Washington D.C. and Detroit. This type of next-gen in-game advertising should work well within the confines of Grid, since eBay Motors is widely visited and used by the type of person who might pick up the game.

[Source: Joystiq]

Click above for gallery of 1994 Jaguar XJ220 on eBay Motors

It's hard to imagine Jaguar ever producing a supercar considering its current sad state of sales, but it did just that back in the early '90s when our walls were plastered with posters of the Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Diablo and this, the Jaguar XJ220. In our humble estimation, the XJ220 is one of the most gorgeous supercars ever designed, and rather than relying on eight or twelve cylinders like its Italian competition, the XJ220 reached 200+ mph using a twin-turbocharged 3.5L V6 producing 550 horsepower and 473 pound-feet of torque. Unfortunately, no one ever got one up to 220 mph to validate the car's nomenclature. The XJ220 went on the market in 1992 with a base price of $650,000 and only 281 were ever made. One of those examples from 1994 is up for auction on eBay Motors with a starting bid of $300,000. Bathed in a rich-looking LeMans blue paint job, this example has only 3,092 miles on its odometer, though it appears to have a few items that need attention. One of the wheel center caps is missing, the passenger side headlight cover is off, and is that an aftermarket stereo in there? The rest of the car looks as fresh as the day it was built. We doubt Jaguar will be returning to the supercar ring with a contender anytime soon, but this eBay Motors auction reminds us of a time when Jaguar stood toe-to-toe with the giants. Thanks for the tip, Kevin!


[Source: eBay Motors]

eBay Motors has been a category of eBay.com since 2000, and eight years later the online auction house has marked a milestone by facilitating the sale of its 3,000,000th vehicle. The milestone model was a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup won by Patricia Weidler of Otego, NY, who bought the truck to help her husband's burgeoning construction business. To celebrate the occasion, eBay Motors reimbursed the Weidlers for the truck, which they won with a bid of $8,886 from a dealership in Northampton, MA, and also threw in $3,000 in parts and accessories for it. Man, we bet the eBay Motors team is glad the 3 millionth vehicle didn't turn out to be a Ferrari F430.

[Source: eBay Motors]

The Maserati MC12 is a rare beast. Only 25 were made in 2005 and just seven of those were federalized for use in the United States, one of which is this blue-and-white gem you see above. Similar to its brother, the Ferrari Enzo, the MC12 shares not only the Ferrari 6.0-liter V12, but the same hefty price tag, as well. The current bid for this particular example is over $1,200,000 and still under the reserve. Originally owned by a collector in Florida, it is up for sale by Lamborghini of Las Vegas and only has 521 miles clocked on the odometer. Check out the gallery below for additional photos while you figure out how to cash in that 401k that's not doing anything for you right now.

[Source: eBay Motors]

When you need to escape a pack of damn dirty apes, what could be better than a Corvette? Charlton Heston's Corvette, that's what. It's a virtually stock 1999 C5, looking sharp in black with chrome wheels. The current owner has added new taillights, the C6 style rims, and a Borla exhaust. The current bid of $20,600 is a fair price for that vintage 'Vette showing under 20,000 miles, though the reserve has yet to be met. We wonder what type of unrealistic hollywood-connection premium the seller is wishing for. C'mon, it doesn't matter who once owned it, really. Maybe if it were more rare, maybe if it were a Callaway sleeper, then it would be worth forking over more dough. Of course, we'd expect nothing less than someone trying to cash in off the back of a recently passed movie star. Despite the charming manifesto on the listing, this car is no more a collector's item than any other clean C5. Besides, we'd at least expect it to at least have a pistol-grip shifter, and it doesn't. Thanks for the tip, nevermind!

Gallery: Charlton Heston's Corvette

[Source: eBay]

For the automotive collector looking for something truly unique, here it is; a rolling staph infection. This car is a convergence of worst-ofs compounded by a customization apparently overseen by Huggy Bear. 1980s front-drive Cadillacs might be charitably described as bargains, though the first repair bill for the grenade masquerading as an engine called the HT4100 will change the adjective to worthless. How much would you pay for a cast-off Caddy with a hot tub in back, a beak cribbed from an '80 Grand Prix, and a bleak future in terms of appreciation? The reserve has yet to be met at $2500, and we wonder what unrealistic number the seller's decided upon. Why would you even do this? It reminds us of a Steak-Ums commercial from the late '80s or early '90s with a separated at birth premise, but we doubt this car has any showbiz history. Likely, it's just a curiosity, possibly the result of a coked-up customizer without any good cars to use. Hey, it was the '80s, what more can you say? Thanks for the tip, Josh!


[Source: eBay]

Click on the Mirthmobile to view more pictures

This eBay auction seeks to find out if there are any set of circumstances under which an AMC Pacer is worth the Buy-It-Now price of $8 grand. So far, the answer is no, but there's still a day left. For fans of the movie Wayne's World, this vehicle could offer a unique opportunity to grab a piece of movie magic, as it was built by Paramount Studios as a prop for the Paramount Kings Island theme-park ride, Hurler, based on the Wayne's World series of movies. Wondering how you could be sure that this is legit? Worry not, it comes with a signed letter of authenticity from Volo Museum and the hood is signed by none other than George Barris himself.

No word on whether or not the "SHA WING" Ohio license plate is included in the asking price. We do have it on good authority, though, that the car has never been spewed in. Thanks for the tip, Stu!


[Source: eBay]

When offering an item for sale, a fuzzy key selling point like "may be legal in some states already" might not be the deal clincher you'd hoped. On today's episode of "Fun With Centers of Gravity" we have the delightful union of the neuter-car PT Cruiser with the greasy unmentionables of a 29 year old Chevy Blazer. It may very well be legal in some states, but it'll still be unholy everywhere it goes. Build quality appears on par with a dollar store habachi – are those pop rivets on the fender liners? The battery sitting on a folded back seat is the crowning feature of the interior and there's also no heat or air conditioning, making this a fun year-round ride. The zip-ties and extra-fun spark plug wire routing in the engine bay dress up the 350, and the seller believes so much in this powertrain that there's a warranty to sweeten the pot. Let's ignore the fact that the nearly $10,000 Buy It Now price would buy a used Jeep Wrangler with a suspension lift, because the seller is being truthful when stating that this is a true one of a kind.


[Source: eBay via Winding Road]

eBay Motors and General Motors have announced a new agreement that will see the automaker's entire inventory of certified used vehicles go up on the digital block of the internet's most popular auction service. GM doesn't say exactly how many vehicles it will add to eBay Motors' listings, but there are currently over 3,900 dealerships selling certified used vehicles for the General. For its part, eBay Motors will be charging GM dealers zilch to list their certified used vehicles for sale on its site, which is a much better deal than you get when trying to unload that '99 Malibu.

[Source: GM, Photo by Rick Gershon/Getty ]