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

ZMan67S said
I've bought two cars off the internet. First one, I drove five hours and checked it out.
The second one, was across the country. For $220 I hired a inspection company who inspected the car, drove it, and looked at all the special things I asked for. They sent me a detailed report and 140 pics. I thought it was money well spent.
Be very, very, careful!! Shams are all over the internet!!

BigBlockMopar said
The last 5 cars I bought were all done online with me sitting on my *** many miles away from the US across the pond.
I only transfer money when I feel confident I'm actually getting a car in return.
Only once I had the feeling I took a too big risc when I bought a car but it all turned out good.
Shipping was in most cases handled by a shipper which could also arrange a title for the car for export if it didn't had one originally.

Treblig said
I bought a car that was about 1100 miles from me. I Googled the city and found numerous car repair shops. I called a few until I found one that agreed to inspect the car (on a lift) 100 percent for $59. They even sent me an inspection report. I bought the car (had it shipped) and it was exactly as advertised and exactly as inspected. It was well worth the $59. I offered to pay more they wouldn't hear any of it. I don't think you'll have to spend $200. Shipping was $1100, but that was 3 years ago. treblig

How did you guys make the actual purchase and do the title transfer? At some point it seems like you just have to send your money and hope a car comes back but is there some sort of way to send your money and have some protection or security in case the person has no plans on sending the car back?

Also how was the title transfer done? You had to put pen to paper at some point. Was it just mailed to you or did it show up with the car?