Buy a car without physically seeing it

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moosestang

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I'm curious how many people have bought cars from across the country without seeing the car in person. There's a 66 barracuda in NV that i'd love to look at and possibly buy, but i can't just jump on a plane without planning a vacation around it. I don't even get 2 days off in a row in my job. It's at a dealer and they are very good at sending me videos and pictures, but i'm still hesitant without being able to look at the car up close. Just worried about buying a car with hidden rust everywhere. This place does restorations and has good reviews. Anyone near vegas with hands on experience with these cars want to go look at it for me, lol! 1966 Plymouth Barracuda | Atomic Motors Classic Cars & Motorcycles
 
My son and I will look at it carefully in person.
I will not ask for or accept any compensation.
Let me know if you want us to look at it. We will
do it immediately = Just let us know.
 
The trunk lid looks a bit funny to me. Letters are gone and the corners appear rounded, although this might be the lighting or camera angle. It does have slapper bars
 
I sure as HECK would not do it in this day and age. Years ago, there were more people with integrity. Now, not so much.
 
I will start by saying what has already been said, you simply could not ask for a better guy than @GTX JOHN to go take a look for you. That being said I did in fact purchase a car from a guy in Michigan sight unseen. He sent videos and pix of car. Sadly the videos were not even the same motor as the one that showed up. It was a poop show top to bottom. The guy didn’t even send a battery with the supposedly running car. Much less bolt down the carb or put motor mount bolts in. I could go on and on but you get the idea. Burned me good. Not to say there may very well be legit sellers but I did not get that luxury. Buyer beware.
 
That looks like an $18-20 thousand dollar car to me. I would expect a practically flawless car for $35,000.
 
65TerrorCuda said:
The trunk lid looks a bit funny to me. Letters are gone and the corners appear rounded, although this might be the lighting or camera angle. It does have slapper bars
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I thought the trunk lid looked a bit off. Maybe it was replaced.
 
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Sublime one said:
I will start by saying what has already been said, you simply could not ask for a better guy than @GTX JOHN to go take a look for you. That being said I did in fact purchase a car from a guy in Michigan sight unseen. He sent videos and pix of car. Sadly the videos were not even the same motor as the one that showed up. It was a poop show top to bottom. The guy didn’t even send a battery with the supposedly running car. Much less bolt down the carb or put motor mount bolts in. I could go on and on but you get the idea. Burned me good. Not to say there may very well be legit sellers but I did not get that luxury. Buyer beware.
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Damn! Kinda why i'm mostly looking at dealers and not just ones that do consignment.
 
GTX JOHN said:
My son and I will look at it carefully in person.
I will not ask for or accept any compensation.
Let me know if you want us to look at it. We will
do it immediately = Just let us know.
Click to expand...
Don't go out of your way. I hear they have free hotdogs on Saturdays.
 
Here's a startup video they sent me. Sounds really nice. That trunk lid has had work done i think. the slapper bars don't concern me. it's something i'd probably had because wheel hop sucks.

 
i'll echo some of the same comments: you'd be hard pressed to get anybody more knowledgeable than John and his son to have a look at a potential car.

i'd also expect a whole lot more for 35 large. deck lid looks wonky, the fender to door transitions look off and the body line appears crooked, gaps are inconsistent. there's missing trim under the glass in the rear cargo area. no undercarriage shots. not a ton of detail on their site or the CL ad.

that's S car territory.

in fact here's one not all that far from there, at half the price.

1966 plymouth barracuda for sale by owner - La Mesa, CA - craigslist

but back to your initial ask. i've bought sight unseen and gotten lucky and gotten smoked. it depends on the stakes but, i'd totally trust a friend or somebody i knew from this forum that i thought was knowledgeable to go have a look at a car for me.

but with stakes this high? i'd be calling in sick to work to catch a bird to go give this a hairy eyeball in person.
 
It looks like it could be a nice car, but for that price it should be an original Formula S car & not have anything out of place OR missing. Also, you would think as a dealer, they would have a lift & have pics. of the underside of the car. Have GTX John look at it first for sure.
 
I bought the avatar as a roller sight unseen from someone I did not know. Did my research, took a chance, and it all worked out. He even delivered it to me from Texas up to Michigan. I would say the car was 95% all he said it was. In the end, I'm darn glad I bought it.

As others noted, nobody better on here than @GTX JOHN . Jump all over his offer!!
 
A buddy of mine just bought a 68 barracuda fastback from california, we are in pennsylvania site unseen. other then a couple pictures videos he really didnt know but the price was right. Car shipped in on a car carrier and by god if it wasn't a pretty damn nice car. rust free and drives well. We plan to change a bunch of stuff by he got really lucky lol.
403776448_18398882959061698_6881095057864369313_n.jpg
 
Nice car but would need to see much MORE in detail. It’s missing a reverse backup lense and not painted by rear interior panel. Make a person wonder what other shortcuts were taken
 
y2swinger69 said:
A buddy of mine just bought a 68 barracuda fastback from california, we are in pennsylvania site unseen. other then a couple pictures videos he really didnt know but the price was right. Car shipped in on a car carrier and by god if it wasn't a pretty damn nice car. rust free and drives well. We plan to change a bunch of stuff by he got really lucky lol.
View attachment 1716210681
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That does look nice. What was the price?
 
FISHYPETE said:
Nice car but would need to see much MORE in detail. It’s missing a reverse backup lense and not painted by rear interior panel. Make a person wonder what other shortcuts were taken
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Right here? I didn't even notice that. Is there a panel missing that covers that? Do you think that is primer or was this car originally yellow/tan?

cuda2.jpg
 
niceolddart said:
It looks like it could be a nice car, but for that price it should be an original Formula S car & not have anything out of place OR missing. Also, you would think as a dealer, they would have a lift & have pics. of the underside of the car. Have GTX John look at it first for sure.
Click to expand...
I requested pics of the undercarriage, but yes, you'd think they'd have those online.
junkyardhero said:
i'll echo some of the same comments: you'd be hard pressed to get anybody more knowledgeable than John and his son to have a look at a potential car.

i'd also expect a whole lot more for 35 large. deck lid looks wonky, the fender to door transitions look off and the body line appears crooked, gaps are inconsistent. there's missing trim under the glass in the rear cargo area. no undercarriage shots. not a ton of detail on their site or the CL ad.

that's S car territory.

in fact here's one not all that far from there, at half the price.

1966 plymouth barracuda for sale by owner - La Mesa, CA - craigslist

but back to your initial ask. i've bought sight unseen and gotten lucky and gotten smoked. it depends on the stakes but, i'd totally trust a friend or somebody i knew from this forum that i thought was knowledgeable to go have a look at a car for me.

but with stakes this high? i'd be calling in sick to work to catch a bird to go give this a hairy eyeball in person.
Click to expand...
That looks like a sweet deal, but how would you go about buying that and getting it to florida? I certainly don't want to drive it and there's no way i'm wiring someone money and hope the car is there when the shipping company shows up. There are a lot of classic cars for sale in California.
 
I've bought a number of cars from far away over the years. The 2 cars I didn't go look at were a disappointment although I didn't lose money on either as values were going up as I restored them (I restore them and sell them after a year because I get bored and always like to have a project). I bought a Demon from he west coast that supposedly wasn't rusty and had shiny black paint. It needed fenders, quarters, trunk floor, extensions ,etc.. I'm sure if I had flown to see it I wouldn't have bought it. I've travelled a 1000 miles or more to see a number of cars. There were a couple I didn't buy because of rust of damage beyond my capabilities. It all depends on your risk tolerance.
 
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