How do you go about buying a car on the other side of the country?

I bought a car once in N.B. Canada 3000 (I'm in Calif) miles away everything that could go wrong went wrong; dishonest people, poor quality car, etc. But the trip was a gas! Made some good Canadian friends and it made for a great Good Guy article. If I ever were to do it again, I'd hire a local appraiser to look at the car first, its cheap insurance.