Has anyone bought privately without warranty?

[steinzeug]

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Are you a risk taker? I am.. went for a ebay minty M8.. Couldn't be happier. The thing is if I pay $500-800 more to buy from a dealer with a short warranty it would break the day after the warranty runs out.

I think one key is to ask a lot of questions and look for one that is barely used.

 

Good point!

[steinzeug]

Mine >>>>was very MINTY In the box ...immaculate. It failed the second day with the shutter fail. I was almost ruined with all my plan on a trip to Paris with the M8.

 

My retail Camera seller took every thing in to his hand and after being 3weeks on Solms repair desk came back with an extra guaranty.

 

If it was in the other way round ,where do you think I am standing:rolleyes:

 

Also a relevant and good point.

 

Basically I am begining to understand that either you pay more with a warranty from a seller (albeit short lived, 3-6 months) or you take a risk (but be prepared to pay the repair)

 

At the end of the day appears that you pay roughly the same, but if you are lucky second hand you pay less.......(?)

[wstotler]

Also a relevant and good point.

 

Basically I am begining to understand that either you pay more with a warranty from a seller (albeit short lived, 3-6 months) or you take a risk (but be prepared to pay the repair)

 

At the end of the day appears that you pay roughly the same, but if you are lucky second hand you pay less.......(?)

 

Yes. I think this is the key point. Get a good price on a good-condition M8. At the same time, bank your repair money. You will have to spend it--sooner or later. This is guaranteed. (Maybe not this year--but in three years, when the camera is much older? Possibly.) Then, get your M8 and use it until it needs repair. Send it in--you already have the repair money saved--and then get receive your CLAed, repaired M8 back from service, perhaps in better shape than when you bought it.

 

In answer to another poster's question: "1500 EUR + 1000 EUR = 25.000 EUR ..... hmmmm..... is the pleasure going to be worth it?"

 

Well, yes it is.

 

You're getting an M8, with one future CLA/repair built-in to your purchase cost, for less than half of the original list price. And less than a third of the cost of a new M9.

 

My only worry about purchasing from a private seller is the risk that the M8 never arrives. . . . That risk was the *only* thing I worried about when I bought my second M8 from a private party.

 

BTW, this strategy, IMO, only makes the most sense when the M8 is a "terminal camera." Meaning that you will NOT be upgrading or using anything else pretty much for the near future. I see my M8s as a ten-to-fifteen year camera. I'm in year four. My M8s should be fine for at least the next six.

 

Cheers!

Will

[jamesk8752]

I bought a very early used but clean M8 with about 5K actuations, which the owner said had been to Solms for the first recall. Knowing the owner and confident that he would not sell me a camera with a known defect, I paid a very reasonable price, figuring that even if service was eventually required the deal was a good one.

 

Other than a quick trip to DAG for RF adjustment, the camera has been fine. Caveat: I haven't used it much as I have several other digital M bodies.

 

Regards, Jim

[AlanJW]

Here is a perspective from both sides. I sold a M8 privately when I needed to fund a M9. The camera had some issues re its meter but was still under warranty. I helped the purchaser get through the warranty process. Last year, in prep for an important trip, I regretted selling the M8 as I wanted a backup. I bought a used M8 privately and it has worked flawlessly. It was not on eBay but on another forum and the seller had a good reputation. My point is I think it is important to know the person from whom you are buying, whether a dealer (there are good ones and less than good ones) or a private person.

[efix]

I bought my M8 (SN 3100xxx) about a year ago. According to the serial number, it's an early model, thus from late 2006 or early 2007. It was thus already at least 3 1/2 years old when I bouht it, had 10,000 actuations and two previous owners. I have now shot 7,500 more frames with it, and it is still going. No (serious) problems so far.

 

I admit, the more I learned about Leica and Leicas, the more I became aware how risky it was to invest such a huge amount of money into a camera like this ... it could've broken down by now, or stop working tomorrow and cost me half of what I paid for it in repairs. Who knows. But I don't worry about these things -- not because I'm so rich, which I'm not, but because the M8 is utter joy to use, and it takes incredible pictures (when you use it correctly).