eBay Motors finally gets its own iPhone app

If you're anything like us, trolling eBay Motors for cars you can only hope to one day own is like teeth brushing or hair combing – you could go without it for a day, but it wouldn't be a very good day. Thankfully, the chances of that happening have just dropped to nothing with this week's introduction of the eBay Motors iPhone app [iTunes link]. Sure, eBay itself has had an iPhone app for a while, but it's a PiTA to use if you're just looking for cars.

What we like about the new eBay Motors iPhone app is that it's designed around how we use eBay Motors' website. The app will of course let you search eBay Motors' big database of vehicles and parts for sale, but it also has an area of the app called the Garage. This is where you input both the vehicles you own (My Vehicles) and the vehicles you want to own (Dream Vehicles), making it easy to search for either with the flick of a finger. One slick feature is that you can add vehicles to your Garage by using the iPhone's camera to scan a VIN barcode, which is usually located on the inside of the driver's door.

There are some things we'd like eBay Motors to fix with the app's first update, mainly that the app's search parameters are so limited. For instance, when filling the app's Garage with cars, you have to input a specific Year, Make and Model, which means you can't, for instance, claim an entire generation of vehicle as a Dream Vehicle you want to own, just one particular model year. Likewise, you also can't dig deeper and pick a particular trim, which means my own vehicle, a 1991 Ford Taurus SHO, shows up in My Vehicles as just a 1991 Ford Taurus, making a search for the right parts damn near possible.

That said, we're still happy that eBay Motors finally has its own iPhone app and hope the team behind its development will take a serious look at the limitations we mentioned. Click here to check it out in iTunes, and why not download the new Autoblog.com app while you're at it.
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eBay Motors iPhone® App is the Ultimate Car Lover's Companion with My Garage Custom Shopping

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 16, 2011– Thousands of car lovers turn to eBay Mobile to shop for cars, parts and accessories. With today's launch of the new, free eBay Motors iPhone app, U.S. car owners and automobile enthusiasts now have a tailored mobile shopping experience that allows them to bid on or buy anything from rare parts to the latest in demand sports car – virtually anytime, anywhere.

The free eBay Motors iPhone app makes car and parts and accessories shopping easy with its "My Garage" feature that allows shoppers to add vehicles from their collection or dream cars to the app. Users can simply scan any Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to automatically add car details including year, make and model to My Garage. From My Garage, car owners can easily shop the extensive eBay Motors inventory to find matching parts and accessories for their specific vehicles in My Garage.

"The eBay Motors iPhone app allows users to scan a VIN, add a car to My Garage to surface parts and accessories that fit their cars – making car shopping easy and personalized," said Steve Yankovich, eBay's vice president of mobile. "Motors purchases are already very popular on the main eBay Mobile apps with 90,000 parts and accessories and 2,000 cars purchased per week globally."*

In 2011, eBay Mobile has seen momentum in motors shopping across the globe:

· Globally, the total amount of vehicles sold via mobile in the first quarter of 2011 increased more than 160% compared to first quarter of 2010. *


· Globally, the total number of parts and accessories sold in the first quarter of 2011 was nearly 250% higher than the first quarter of 2010. *


· In the U.S., sales of vehicles in the first quarter of 2011 were 110% higher than sales in the first quarter of 2010. *

· A $369,000 Porsche Carrera GT was the most expensive car sold. *

· California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania are the top states for car purchases. *

· For more information, please refer to the eBay Motors Goes Mobile infographic.

eBay Motors iPhone App Key Features:
· My Garage feature saves shoppers' car collection and dream vehicles.

· VIN scanning quickly adds any vehicle to My Garage, using scanning technology powered by RedLaser. The car's year, make and model will populate – simply hit "edit" to add additional photos and details.

· Part Finder will surface the parts and accessories that match cars listed in My Garage.

· Integrated with eBayMotors.com My Vehicles for a seamless My Garage experience online and on the iPhone.

· Access vehicle history information with free Experian AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports.

· Customized home screen slideshow surfaces eBay Motors listings. Simply input keywords, categories, models or a price range and the slideshow will match shoppers' preferences – whether it is sports cars, classic hot rods or even minivans!

· Save searches tailored to vehicles interested in or owned – any eBay listing can be saved to My Garage Dream Vehicles.


· Ask Seller Question option in every listing to contact the car owner or dealer directly.

· Photo galleries in each listing allow users to view dozens of seller photos to see cars inside and out.

· Advanced search for cars & trucks or parts helps users to find just what they are looking for.

· My eBay instant access to stay current on all your buying and selling activities.


· Share listings with your social network through Facebook, Twitter or email.

For more information on the eBay Motors iPhone app, visit, mobile.ebay.com/motors. To download the app for free, visit the Apple iTunes® store, only available in the U.S.

About eBay Mobile
eBay launched its first application for the iPhone in July 2008 and has since become a leader in mobile commerce. Its core iPhone application, which is available free via iTunes in eight languages and 190 countries, has been downloaded more than 18 million times and allows users to fully browse and buy without leaving the application. The eBay app for the iPad™ debuted in the top ten most downloaded free iPad® apps in the iTunes Store and delivers a dramatically different, visually compelling shopping experience to browse and purchase the vast selection of products available on eBay. eBay's suite of mobile apps, including RedLaser, Selling, Classifieds and StubHub, make selling and buying possible virtually anywhere, anytime. In 2010, eBay's mobile gross merchandise volume (GMV) - the value of all goods sold - was nearly $2 billion. eBay expects to generate $4 billion in GMV through mobile commerce in 2011.

eBay Inc.'s PayPal™ division has been delivering mobile payments since 2005 and has a mobile app for iPhone®, Android™, BlackBerry® and Nokia phones, as well as SMS and WAP-based payments solutions. PayPal offers merchants an easy way for shoppers to checkout on mobile websites via Mobile Express Checkout and mobile developers can use PayPal for in-app payments using PayPal's Mobile Payments Library. In 2010, $750 million in payments were transacted over PayPal's mobile applications. PayPal expects to almost triple mobile payment volume in 2011 to more than $2 billion and grow to more than $7.5 billion by 2013. For more information on eBay mobile, visit mobile.ebay.com.

About eBay Motors
eBay Motors, a part of eBay Inc., is the Internet's largest marketplace for buying and selling all things automotive. The site offers everyday cars for everyday drivers, as well as collector cars, motorcycles, auto parts and accessories. eBay Motors is consistently ranked the No. 1 automotive site on the Web by comScore1

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