Buying a used iPhone 4S: What 'faults' can be fixed?

[peanutismint]

I'm looking to upgrade from an iPhone 4 to a 4S and want to buy a used one on eBay. I'm seeing a lot of them sold as 'faulty' going for a lot cheaper. Obviously if it's something that I can easily fix by restoring or similar then I'd go for a bargain, but I doubt many of the 'faults' are that simple to fix otherwise their owners would have solved the problems before selling......right??

So what are some easily identifiable issues that are relatively simple to solve?

For the record I'm seeing issues like:

• SIM card not recognised
• 'No Carrier' displayed
• Phone stuck on Apple logo
• Phone stuck on activation screen

Are any of these easily fixable?

 

[Rocko1]

I'm looking to upgrade from an iPhone 4 to a 4S and want to buy a used one on eBay. I'm seeing a lot of them sold as 'faulty' going for a lot cheaper. Obviously if it's something that I can easily fix by restoring or similar then I'd go for a bargain, but I doubt many of the 'faults' are that simple to fix otherwise their owners would have solved the problems before selling......right??

So what are some easily identifiable issues that are relatively simple to solve?

For the record I'm seeing issues like:

• SIM card not recognised
• 'No Carrier' displayed
• Phone stuck on Apple logo
• Phone stuck on activation screen

Are any of these easily fixable?

Stay away! The only one I would buy is one with a cracked rear glass panel. That is a simple fix. Any other issue and you are asking for headache. If it was that easy to fix, these people would have fixed them, more than likely they cannot be fixed and are hoping you don't realize this until after the sale.

 

[blhoward2]

This. You buy at parts-only prices for parts. In the 1-in-500 chance it only needs a DFU restore or something that's just a bonus. I did once get one that only needed a hard reset. LOL.