how do you buy a car?

ok mem's. The question is how much time have you wasted on trying to buy a car that was inevitably not for sale to anybody of distance, or for sale to the " local" market only, but advertised for the world to see???

Someone posted somewhere, cough, cough, that a 500.00 NON REFUNDABLE deposit to hold the car would/ should be required. Of course the mod's deleted his and my response because it wasn't "relevant" to the for sale ad, lol. My response was more or less, it was FN funny.

Small minds will stay small. If you can't think outside the box, don't get in the box!

When your not talking about the holy grail of cars but a 20k piece of metal and rubber, you can weed out the non serious real quick.

Lot's of buyers have the means but no time to "fly" out and look at a 20k car. I have hired numerous 3rd party people to look at cars for me, some I bought some I didn't.

Bottom line is you can't get back time lost on a car that is really not for sale, but a NON REFUNDABLE, that is just to fn funny!

Come on man, go down/over there and buy that cuda! Take 18 cash

Well.... My car is tentatively sold pending payment.

1968FormulaS340 said:

Well.... My car is tentatively sold pending payment.

Click to expand...

Good for you if it is. I hope it found a good home.

:happy1:

Yep. Although buying long distance over the phone or the net is exciting, it's better to buy from someone local or from where you can see it first. (the car corrals at the big shows are good) Non refundable down payment? Not me. It keeps the tire kickers away but it should be the buyers choice to purchase. If it's not what you want or is mis-represented, you shouldn't have to loose money for the opportunity to buy. tmm

Who here has bought cars long distance without seeing them in person? Would you fly from east to west to look at a 20k car? One country to the next?

Your looking at a loss of aprox. 10% of the value by the time you factor in the cost of going to view the car. That 20k (high end price to start) is now 22k (including the 500.00 non-refundable, lol). To insist a buyer shows up in person (whoever posted the n-r deposit) is really the icing on the cake. I don't think I'd get past the first phone call with you.

You can have it looked at by some very knowledgeable people if you are serious, but the seller has to be thinking outside the box. This is an new age of buying and selling that is still in it's infancy for most part. Sometimes it's better to have a 3rd party opinion then losing time and money that you can never get back on a car that will not appreciate in value like some others may.

I bought a numbers matching 68 GTS 383 car , sight unseen in Indiana for $4500 2 yrs ago. Had it shipped here in Md for 600. I did see pics of the car and the PO told me that the frame rails and floors were good. And they are. Car is in my resto shop now and did need some panels replaced due to rust. Did verify that it is numbers, and I can tell that the car had never been disassembled before, Not even the drive train. Now, I knew going in that the car I was buying would require a full resto. So I figured I couldn't get hurt too bad, not seeing it in person. This PO was honest !!

plumcrazy704406 said:

Who here has bought cars long distance without seeing them in person? Would you fly from east to west to look at a 20k car? One country to the next?

Your looking at a loss of aprox. 10% of the value by the time you factor in the cost of going to view the car. That 20k (high end price to start) is now 22k (including the 500.00 non-refundable, lol). To insist a buyer shows up in person (whoever posted the n-r deposit) is really the icing on the cake. I don't think I'd get past the first phone call with you.

You can have it looked at by some very knowledgeable people if you are serious, but the seller has to be thinking outside the box. This is an new age of buying and selling that is still in it's infancy for most part. Sometimes it's better to have a 3rd party opinion then losing time and money that you can never get back on a car that will not appreciate in value like some others may.

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I have bought cars long distance, but I have gone to look at them before handing over any money.

I flew down to SC once to look at a 67 Barracuda. It was a slant 6 car and the garage that it was stored in was hit by hurricane Hugo and one of the rafters hit the roof of the car and they never fixed the bent support across the roof. Then after further looking, I found that the rear had been hit and the frame was bent. They had already put a new quarter panel on it, but did not get the frame straight before hanging it. You would then have to remove the quarter panel, pull the rear frame straight, and then remount the quarter panel. I passed on the car.

The lady selling it, offered to take a lower price, and I still refused. I didn't have the heart to tell her that if she would give it to me, it would still take more money to fix it than it was worth.


A few weeks later, I flew to FL and drove my 68 Formula S fastback home....


My son found a 71 Valiant that he liked in VA. It was listed on Feebay for $750 and by the time the auction ended, it was up to $1200. We had it shipped, and were disappointed in the condition of the car as the owner had stated that it was in better running condition than it was. The shipping was delayed because the shipping company had problems getting is started We learned our lesson to look at a car in person before buying it. You need to be able to start and drive it to find out the true condition of the car before buying it...

I would not trust another person's opinion. I would look at any car that I'm going to buy myself.

back before the days of the "net", Craigs, and Feebay", I have bought a few off MCG, and sent the payment as the seller would be out of town when I went to pick it up. I was dealing with honest Mopar guys, I know holw to ask good questions. all deals turned out as expected. maybe I was lucky, or maybe 20-25 years ago , there was less scams!???? LOL

some sellers purposedly misrepresent,... some buyers expect a 50 year old eng to be as a " fresh, $3000 rebuilt one". sometimes both parties are now realistic in there descriptions or expectations????

I have seen people win the feebay a uction, they go to pickup the car, turn it down, ( they hoped for a $10,000 car for $4000), tell the seller to keep the paypal deposit for " his trouble". they got h ome and had paypal refund their deposit, they tell them the care was misrepresented or broke or something. ) not my deal but I believe what the seller told me about the experience)....

I expect the best of people but realize they can disappoint me????

plumcrazy704406 said:

Who here has bought cars long distance without seeing them in person? Would you fly from east to west to look at a 20k car? One country to the next?

Your looking at a loss of aprox. 10% of the value by the time you factor in the cost of going to view the car. That 20k (high end price to start) is now 22k (including the 500.00 non-refundable, lol). To insist a buyer shows up in person (whoever posted the n-r deposit) is really the icing on the cake. I don't think I'd get past the first phone call with you.

You can have it looked at by some very knowledgeable people if you are serious, but the seller has to be thinking outside the box. This is an new age of buying and selling that is still in it's infancy for most part. Sometimes it's better to have a 3rd party opinion then losing time and money that you can never get back on a car that will not appreciate in value like some others may.

Click to expand...

I bought my Valiant without seeing it in person. I'm in CA, the car was in Washington state. I only saw photos of it (multiple photos) and had several phone conversations with the seller. I could tell he was a stand-up guy and was not going to screw me. We made a verbal "handshake" over the phone and he sent me what amounted to a purchase agreement in the mail. He also emailed a picture of the odometer and agreed not to drive it anymore. I sent payment in installments until it was fully paid. Then he sent the title in the mail and I arranged shipment.

I sold my Barracuda to a guy who had not seen it in person. He sent me a money order deposit after we made a verbal agreement and he picked it up a few days later. He was thrilled with the car. It's a reasonably easy thing to do IF you get a good feeling about the person when talking to them.

If you don't get a good feeling or you get the run around or they don't return your PM's, then you don't want to deal with them anyway. Some people don't get it and should be avoided no matter how cool the car is.

I live in Montreal and bought a Viper sight unseen from a seller in Oregon.

I also bought a 64 Valiant from the classifieds on FABO in WV sight unseen.

In both cases I had a well informed forum member check out the car for me with detailed videos and pictures.

No big deal. No drama and no issues. Both parties need to be patient with each other.

I have bought two cars right here on FABO with only pictures and communication with the sellars. Both transactions went well, But spent a lot of time talking to both parties first. Its pretty easy to tell if someone is honest buy just talking a while, in my experience

1968FormulaS340 said:

Well.... My car is tentatively sold pending payment.

Click to expand...

going by your for sale thread, the buyer (or at least who thinks or appears to be the buyer) has posted about the deal, seems to question it? Just wondering?????