Need advice buying a car long distance

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halfafish

halfafish

Damn those rabbits, and their holes!
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I'm considering a purchase that's on the other side of the country. I've never bought long distance before, can those who have done so help out with the details?

How was payment handled? How did you obtain the title? If you used a transporter to get the car delivered, who did you use and what was your opinion of the company?

I would plan, at the least, to have an inspection done on the car before committing to the deal. Anything else you can think of on the transaction?
 
I also had an independent person do the inspection, it's was only $59. Then you go to the bank and have them transfer money to the seller BUT ONLY AFTER THE DELIVERY OF A CLEAR TITLE to your bank. If you make a loan for the car it's even better because the bank will not transfer money to anyone without a title if you have a loan on it. At least that's how remember doing it???? Talk to your bank and they will let you know the best way to handle the situation. treblig
 
I booked a flight to Seattle, looked at and drove the car, filled out title at his dinning room table, poked it in my pocket, and drove home. 2854 miles.
 
halfafish said:
I'm considering a purchase that's on the other side of the country. I've never bought long distance before, can those who have done so help out with the details?

How was payment handled? How did you obtain the title? If you used a transporter to get the car delivered, who did you use and what was your opinion of the company?

I would plan, at the least, to have an inspection done on the car before committing to the deal. Anything else you can think of on the transaction?
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How much money are we talking?

JW
 
halfafish said:
I'm considering a purchase that's on the other side of the country. I've never bought long distance before, can those who have done so help out with the details?

How was payment handled? How did you obtain the title? If you used a transporter to get the car delivered, who did you use and what was your opinion of the company?

I would plan, at the least, to have an inspection done on the car before committing to the deal. Anything else you can think of on the transaction?
Click to expand...


Get a complete set of pictures of the car from many angles, outside, inside interior, trunk, engine compartment, undercarriage, etc....

Make a thread in the Mopar General forum to ask for anybody local to the car you are considering purchasing would be willing to give it an inspection for you for a non slanted opinion... Maybe give it a test drive to make sure their are no major knocks and rattles and the engine, transmission, axle, and cooling system are ok...

Buying sight unseen can give you some surprises vs being able to look at the car yourself to determine the condition and if it's worth buying and you are not taking over someone else's problem....


My son bought a Valaint off ebay and we had it shipped... I can't remember the shipping company as it was over 10 years ago....

The shipping company gets and transfers the title with the car from the owner to the purchaser...

We had to go to a local "lot" for the shipping company that was near our house to sign for it and pick it up...

It had charging system issues which we had to diagnose and fix after we were barely able to get it started to drive it off the shipping lot...
 
I bought mine in LA a couple years ago. I took a plane ride to see it. Worth the $200 to see it in person. Had it shipped back on open trailer since it is driver quality. Enclosed transport is very expensive. Pretty much all the transport companies just take a fee & then post it on the independent trucker board. Worked out fine for me. Don’t think I would buy an old car sight unseen.
 
I've bought several cars on eBay. Sent a small deposit and we agreed final payment would not be done until I drove the car. Got on a plane or drove to pick it up.

I also used to transport high dollar vintage cars. We mostly did wire transfers between banks. I was a designated rep for my regular buyers... I would do an inspection and give a thumbs up or down to the buyer. I spent over a million bucks on a couple deals... but mostly cars between $30-100k.

If you have a faint heart buying long distance may not be for you.
 
I bought one long distance. Had an inspection done, and I think it was $150. Got an emailed report with 70 photos and a test drive review.

Then I booked a flight to see it in person. But before I left, I went to my bank and ordered $10k in cash to the bank branch near the car (they don't always have a lot of cash). At the same time, I contacted a transport broker who said call him if I decide to get it.

Looked at and drove the car, then met the owner at the bank to swap cash for the title. Called the transport company and he found an open hauler who could be there the next day.

Met the driver, helped him load it, and told him I had an extra $50 if the arrives unhurt!!

Flew back home, met the guy two days later and got the car off the carrier.
 
Mike69cuda said:
I bought mine in LA a couple years ago. I took a plane ride to see it. Worth the $200 to see it in person. Had it shipped back on open trailer since it is driver quality. Enclosed transport is very expensive. Pretty much all the transport companies just take a fee & then post it on the independent trucker board. Worked out fine for me. Don’t think I would buy an old car sight unseen.
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End thread right here. Trust nobody on a old car purchase... It is extremely risky to do it any other way.
JW
 
66fyssh said:
I bought one long distance. Had an inspection done, and I think it was $150. Got an emailed report with 70 photos and a test drive review.

Then I booked a flight to see it in person. But before I left, I went to my bank and ordered $10k in cash to the bank branch near the car (they don't always have a lot of cash). At the same time, I contacted a transport broker who said call him if I decide to get it.

Looked at and drove the car, then met the owner at the bank to swap cash for the title. Called the transport company and he found an open hauler who could be there the next day.

Met the driver, helped him load it, and told him I had an extra $50 if the arrives unhurt!!

Flew back home, met the guy two days later and got the car off the carrier.
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That's a good procedure, 66. One thing that might not always work so well is for meeting the transport right after the sale; if the car is in a rural area, the odds of a transport driver being in that area the next day are close to nil.

The car has to be near a big city to be able to call a transport company and meet it the next day. If that is not the case, you need to arrange with the seller before hand to help on that, or take it to a garage or other facility to be stored until a transport arrives. Then security of the car becomes a question; most tow shops keep pretty secure facilities for car storage.
 
Good info so far, thanks gents. I do plan to take a look at it in person before pulling the trigger.
 
Mike69cuda said:
I bought mine in LA a couple years ago. I took a plane ride to see it. Worth the $200 to see it in person. Had it shipped back on open trailer since it is driver quality. Enclosed transport is very expensive. Pretty much all the transport companies just take a fee & then post it on the independent trucker board. Worked out fine for me. Don’t think I would buy an old car sight unseen.
Click to expand...
I've bought 3 cars off of ebay, sight-unseen, and paid for them. 2 were not running cars and I did not have a lot tied up in them. In each case, I wrote the sellers before bidding and asked a few questions and got addresses. I looked on Google maps and zoomed in on the addresses to see where they were located; one was at an auto shop and another at what was a home in a good area with a big barn, so I figured they were good to honor the deal. They did.

The 3rd was a used truck at a new car dealer in KC.. I talked to them got some history on the truck and was satisfied; it was only a year old so not a lot of risk there. Flew out and drove it back to VA. Still have the truck.

I am thinking of buying one sight-unseen in CA and having it shipped. The seller is here and after PM's seems trustworthy and willing to help with the loading. I'll probably trust him to send the title rather than hand it to a driver where it could get lost.

A few $k lost is not going to kill me...so if you can't deal with, or afford, that, then this is not a good thing to do. And I already travel too much for work LOL
 
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A short Skype or FaceTime video call can give you a better idea of the condition than just pictures and the owners description. That way if you see something during the call you could ask for them to give you a better close up of an area or part. As a seller I would be hesitant to dedicate that much time for tire kickers, so you would have to be perceived as a serious buyer. Money transfer at a local bank and make that known before hand. Not everyone is an up and up honest seller, a mark from far away is a good victim.
 
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nm9stheham said:
I've bought 3 cars off of ebay, sight-unseen, and paid for them. 2 were not running cars and I did not have a lot tied up in them. In each case, I wrote the sellers before bidding and asked a few questions and got addresses. I looked on Google maps and zoomed in on the addresses to see where they were located; one was at an auto shop and another at what was a home in a good area with a big barn, so I figured they were good to honor the deal. They did.

The 3rd was a used truck at a new car dealer in KC.. I talked to them got some history on the truck and was satisfied; it was only a year old so not a lot of risk there. Flew out and drove it back to VA. Still have the truck.

I am thinking of buying one sight-unseen in CA and having it shipped. The seller is here and after PM's seems trustworthy and willing to help with the loading. I'll probably trust him to send the title rather than hand it to a driver where it could get lost. A few $k lost is not going to kill me...so if you can't deal with that, then this is not a good thing to do. And I already travel too much for work LOL
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I have 2 stories and they are relevant as to my hard line. Bought a chevelle on the left coast and even had someone look at it.... When I saw it up on the car hauler I would have literally been better off just sending it to the scrap yard and starting over. That's 2 people I trusted and they got me. Never again....

The other story is a FB mustang I sold on Ebay. It was a pile.... No way would my money have gotten put into it but I knew the market and the potential value of it. I detailed it to the hilt in the Ebay ad and strongly suggested the buyer see it in person because it was so rough. When the hot bidder just had to have it he did not want to listen to my advice and paid way too much for it.

When he got it immediately the deposit was pulled back from Paypal. The major amount of funds on the purchase were handled in such as way that he couldn't get it back. Paypal sided with me since I had documentation and the only thing I did for the guy because of his dumbassity was give him the difference of the second bidder which was not even a hundred dollars....

Good on you to go look at the car OP.....


JW
 
Very Good point!!!

I was very lucky and pleaded with the broker to find me someone. The owner/operator was a Somoli who probably drove all night to get the fee. I paid $750 from Wisconsin to Virginia Beach, then threw in the other $50. Probably a little high, but I saved another night in a hotel!!!

nm9stheham said:
That's a good procedure, 66. One thing that might not always work so well is for meeting the transport right after the sale; if the car is in a rural area, the odds of a transport driver being in that area the next day are close to nil.

The car has to be near a big city to be able to call a transport company and meet it the next day. If that is not the case, you need to arrange with the seller before hand to help on that, or take it to a garage or other facility to be stored until a transport arrives. Then security of the car becomes a question; most tow shops keep pretty secure facilities for car storage.
Click to expand...
 
Drive 9 1/2 hours one way to pick up a big block Duster.Detailed discription and lots of pics.Perfect I finnaly found my car!!!I got there walked in garage and left in 10min.I was not happy!What a pile of crap.Be your own judge in person or don't buy it!
 
Check the oil pressure, after the engine is warmed up. I made the mistake of not checking it. I bought the car, and trailered it home - 4 hours. The next day I drove it about 30 miles, and checked the oil pressure. It was 5 at idle, and aprox 8 at 60 MPH. I drained the oil, and found metal on the magnet that was on the oil plug. Also, the bottom of the catch pan was deeply coated with Magnetic goo. -- The engine didn't perform as it should have. Bottom line, the cam was going flat, and other problems. -- Pulled the engine - sold it, and on to a BluePrint Engine. -- A costly error, on My part. Of course The Seller "didn't lie, or didn't push anything, on to Me". He just left that issue unsaid.
 
My wagon was a day's drive away. I have family in the area, so I had my cousin check the car out and send me her own pics before I made the trip. I also spent about an hour on the phone with the PO. Everything sounded good, so I did the deal.

I treated the whole situation as a weekend vacation, we did some touristy stuff around San Francisco, took my son to a nice restaurant for his birthday, etc. That way if the car was a disappointment, we were still having fun and spending time with family so the trip wasn't a complete waste of time.
 
I've bought several like that ..got screwed by two members of fbbo (I HAD faith in members) and bought a few from ebay .. one I passed on after seeing it .. got my deposit back because I showed ebay all the waves in the quarters that showed how much glass was in the quarters after they said there was none.. I lost the money I spent on a trailer to go and get it. Used wire transfers in the past. Some people are honest but it's a crap shoot at best.
 
Thank you gentlemen for your post here. I am thinking about purchasing an early Dart wagon In Southern California so that I don’t have to worry about the rust issues, but I am not confident with how to deal with paying for the car and getting it shipped to Florida and having the title delivered to me. Would it be best to go through my bank (loan) if the same bank exists in Southern California, Wells Fargo?
@flingdingo your inbox is full

halfafish said:
I'm considering a purchase that's on the other side of the country. I've never bought long distance before, can those who have done so help out with the details?

How was payment handled? How did you obtain the title? If you used a transporter to get the car delivered, who did you use and what was your opinion of the company?

I would plan, at the least, to have an inspection done on the car before committing to the deal. Anything else you can think of on the transaction?
Click to expand...

@halfafish. How did your car purchase come out?
 
When I purchased out of state in cash, but I'm sure a loan could work the same way once all paperwork is signed, I called ahead to a Wells Fargo in the town with the car and "ordered" the cash I needed. They said they don't always keep extra cash.

Told the seller if I decided to buy, we would meet at the bank. I'll give him the cash, he signs over the title. But I made the trip to see the car in person to make sure it was what I wanted. Before that though, I paid for an inspection that included 70 photos and a video of it running.

Worked out perfectly! That was 9 years ago and I'm still in touch with the seller!
 
Wells Fargo does exist here in SoCal... and I made room in my inbox
 
I have purchased 3 cars off of here, a 71 dart, non running project, pm back and forth 4 a few days to get a "vibe" was a good deal, paid cash when he delivered it, a 70 duster from up in pa, same deal, lots of pm back and forth, lots of pics, sent him a certified check, had it shipped, and 3rd deal went all the way to Illinois and met the seller, paid cash and hauled it back home. All 3 deals went well
 
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