buying/paying for an out of state car purchase

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Rapid Robert

Rapid Robert

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I am considering my first out of state car purchase & I am wondering how to safely do the multi thousand dollar transaction & not get ripped. I ain't comfortable sending money to a stranger plus how do I arrange/pay for a shipping company to transport it. Newbie here on this stuff. I am too old for a road trip! Help me do the right/safe thing here & thank you very much for your time/tips/suggestions/help. RR
 
I found an appraiser online and got him to check out the car and owner , it was well worth the 150 bucks .
 
I just looked up appraisers online in the area the car was located and gave them a phone call and told them what I was doing and if he could help and give me his impression of the seller .
 
Shipping is a shot in the dark many times. Unless you use one of the more "Reliable" shippers. There are brokers who put out your transport for bid and then >someone< picks up the bid and goes to pickup your car. I have used UShip as a broker and have been fortunate, but ....... The big names are probably the best bet. Depending how far it is, I would think about a road trip or go with a known shipper.

I have used wire transfers to purchase and sell cars. Using texts, emails, and phone conversations as proof of the transaction, and give you a record of the purchase..BUT be careful you know who your speaking to. Do your homework.
 
Tough one without actually going in person. When I bought long distance I also had my inspected. Got 70 photos and a drive report for I think $250. Can't remember the name.

I couldn't pull the trigger without going in person so I flew up to see it. I made contact with a transport broker ahead of time, then called back when I decided to buy it. They had a guy there the next day to pick it up.

Bank branches don't keep a lot of cash on hand so I ordered the cash ahead of time.

Met the seller at the bank. Once I saw the title, we went to the window and got the cash,then completed transaction. I told the transport driver I'd give him an extra $50 if he took special care of my car.

Worked out great for both of us!
 
Bought two different times out of state. For me it was worth the trip to see them. I wasn't gonna give up my hard earned money with out seeing them with my own eyes, and verify the paperwork. Plus I didn't feel comfortable doing business with a complete stranger a few states away without being there in person. We agreed on a small unrefundable deposit if I decided not to buy, and for them to hold the vehicles until I could get there. One the other hand I had a friend who bought out of state, he sent payment with a bank check and the shipper transported the title with the car. The car was a little worse than the seller stated, so I agree with others who suggested an inspection by a third party.
 
Call one of the big car carriers to get their price and procedures...they do it everyday.

Reliable, Pilot, Horseless Carriage to name a few.

When I was in that business ('88-'91) most buyers would arrange to have a local attorney act as their agent and handle the money. Some would wire the $$$ to the buyers bank and release it when the truck arrived and the driver did a pretrip inspection.

I dealt with a lot of buyers like you who never bought a car sight unseen. I had a list of references they could call to verify my services.

I had a $5,000,000 insurance policy because I routinely had one to two million bucks in the trailer.
 
Robert -
I bought my '69 Dart sight unseen except for the eBay pics and verbal descriptions the previous owner provided during our conversations. I'm in SoCal and the car was coming from Oregon. The car looked good in the pics and, of course, the previous owner said all the right things on the phone.
Not wanting to hand over cash for a possible piece of junk, I arranged for an escrow account. My payment funds went into the escrow account and the car was shipped to me. After the car was received and I inspected it to verify it was as described, I accepted delivery and the payment funds were released to the seller. If I had refused delivery the car would have been returned to the seller and my payment funds returned to me.
This was 10+ years ago but here's an escrow service I just found online: www.escrow.com. Their fees seem reasonable enough for the security they provide.
$0-$5000 purchase price fee is 3.25% of purchase price ($5K fee = $162.50)
Over $5000-$25,000 purchase price fee is $162.50 + 0.26% of amount over $5000
Over $25,000 purchase price fee is 0.89% of purchase price ($25K fee = $222.50)
Good luck with your purchase!
 
Shipping can be quite variable. If the car is in or near a big city, then using a broker is probably going to be fine; there will be plenty of truckers rolling through such an area regularly and someone will very probably pick it up in a few days. The price quoted up front by a broker will probably hold in that case.

If rural, it may take some time to get someone to pick it up and don't expect the broker's inital quote to hold; be prepared to pay a few hundred $$ more or it may not happen. Whoever gets it will have to take the extra miles to go get it.

If the car is supposedly running, then OK. But make darned sure somehow that it IS running, if you tell the transporters that it runs. If they show up and it is not running, then you'll in for a bunch more money. I just bought a car from a guy in eastern VA who bought the car from CA a few years ago... the car was sold to him as running but was not when it came time to pick up and, it took weeks and a lot more $$ to get it shipped.

Door-to-door has the car going to the least amount of locations, but it has its possible issues. Pick up can be a problem if the seller is an individual and they work regular hours. Someone has to be there to get the car and keys to the driver, and the drivers don't always show up at a convenient time or even at the scheduled time. So if the seller can't take off as needed, then there are sometimes ways to have it dropped to a 'terminal' with some shippers. A 'terminal' is often a towing lot with a secure fence so is probably OK. But find where the terminal is and look it up; I found one 'terminal' near Roanoke VA it that is just a gravel used car lot with no fence! (I try look at the camera view from the highway on Google Maps to see waht any such 'terminal' really is.)

Drop-off can be the same way; schedules are not guaranteed in many/most cases despite what you may be told. So you have to be time flexible on your end, unless there is a good nearby 'terminal' to use.

OBTW, if you ask for shipping quotes online, expect to be bombarded for weeks with emails!
 
Rapid Robert said:
Good info. I got some work ahead of me.
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Having done this a whole bunch of ways take my advice for what it's worth......

The game of trusting sellers is over. You are literally gambling your money away to not go look at the car physically. And hopefully you will find a good seller because they are out there. But if you throw your money to the wolves and take a chance then whatever you are spending on the car is literally disposable income and no different than putting your money in a slot machine....

It was not 2 months ago that I talked to a seller on the phone and was just about to hook the car trailer up and make a 5 hour trek to go strike a deal. Story's weren't adding up and I walked away. I saw a picture of the car a few weeks ago on another forum and it was an overpriced pile of cobbled up shade tree mechanic car with a new and unhappy owner. Just an FYI of what's out there....

Good luck,
JW
 
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franktiregod said:
This is all good info. I am looking at a car 10 hours away and I really didnt want to drive that far but it seems I might need to if I want the car.
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For 10 hours go look at the car..... It's not that far and your efforts will be worth their weight in gold....

JW
 
If you cant drive to see it or have someone YOU KNOW check it out, i would pass on it.
Internet cant do everything for you.
 
Have a knowledgeable FABO member that lives close by go inspect it. I have done that for a few members.... 1 was a 68 GTX and 1 a 68 Barracuda survivor. Both cars sold.
 
^^^^^do this! Where is the car located? If it’s near me, I would be happy to go look at it. I would also be willing to pick it up and move it to my storage until the shipping can be arranged. I’m in Michigan, near Ann Arbor.
 
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