"Did you miss the part where I bid almost $1000.00 above what it was at the time I saw it, and then did not lose it till 5 seconds remained in the auction, in my eyes that is dirty pool, never buy from ebay again....."
No sir, I did not miss that part at all. I completely got it. You found a Pinto you would have like to have had. And, you bid almost $1,000 over the current rate when you placed the bid. So, what did you expect to happen? Have nobody else bid because you wanted the car at that price? Aren't other people allowed to bid up until the close of the auction. And, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, seconds prior to the close - is before the end of the auction. You did not get beat out buying this Pinto because a "bot" threw in a bid at the last second. You lost because long before, when you upped your last bid, it simply wasn't high enough. Someone else opted to spend more money than you did (or could).
Suppose you had just found this Pinto and the auction was closing in 20 seconds. You log in as fast as you can and set a bid (a good guess, high enough to beat the second highest bidder). You rush and place the bid with 2 seconds to go before the end - and you win. Would you call your actions "dirty pool?" I mean the second highest bidder got beat out by you in the final 2 seconds.
What it seems you want is for Ebay to work like a regular auction. Where you always know what the high bid is and for you to have a few seconds to decide if you want to bid beyond that amount. Ebay does not work that way. It never has. It has a definitive cut-off point (end time) and if you are not the highest bidder at that point you do not win. Straightforwar d and simple.
Nobody was cheating or acting unfairly. If, say..., person "A" put in a $4,000 bid one second after the auction started, and person "B" (using a bot) put in a $3,975 bid one second before the auction ended person "A" would still win the auction even though they hadn't placed a bid for 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds because they bid the highest amount.
The problem isn't Ebay. They state their policies and proceedures up front. The problem isn't people bidding at the last second. They have every right to bid up until the end of the auction. The problem is the amount bid. Sadly, in this case, it just wasn't enough.
I'm not trying to harass you. But, you seem to not understand the Ebay process and feel you have been treated unfairly by Ebay and other bidders. I'm trying to explain what occurred so you will have a right understanding and then perhaps this incident will not disturb you as much. Then you can move forward and with greater wisdom procure the Pinto you desire.