Buying a Car Sight Unseen?

[Dr. Gonzo]

I’m starting to look at cars and inevitably, based on what I’m looking for, the car I buy will not be local. Depending on how far away it is, I wouldn’t be opposed to flying out and driving back but if it’s very far away I would hire a reputable company to transport it.

For those of you who have purchased cars sight unseen, what are the steps you took? What I envision happening is:

1. Give the seller a deposit
2. Have the car inspected by a dealership or specialized performance shop
3. If it gets a clean bill of health, wire the balance
4. Contact a shipping company to schedule a pickup and delivery.
5. Upon delivery and visual inspection, sign paperwork and hand shipper a cash/check.

Is the process as simple as that or am I missing anything? Did the seller mail you the title or does the shipping company have it in their possession when the car is in their trailer? Hypothetically, what’s to prevent them from stealing the car since they have the car and title? Any input and tips would be great.

 

[Mojo88]

I recently went through this exact scenario. Bought a 2010 Roush Mustang from Forum member here in May of this year. I posted about it... I will find link to post/thread........

EDIT: here's thread I posted: https://www.svtperformance.com/foru...havent-seen-it-yet-delivery-tomorrow.1140716/

I was notified by seller after I posted about looking for a car. We went back and forth for a while, then I actually gave up on it. But it's a cool car and I kept coming back to it. We eventually reached a deal and (because I had real comfort level with the guy) I FedEx'd him the money and he sent me the title and Bill of Sale. Then we arranged shipping (from Georgia to Rhode Island) and that went good.

I got the car and it did have a few surprises, but they were things I likely would not have noticed until I started to really get into it.

In the end, I'm very happy with the deal, but I did stick my neck out. PM me if you want to chat further, and I can give you my phone number if you like. Good luck with the process. Be careful!!!

 

[Never_Enough]

Went through that with my Z06. The seller brought the car to a well known Vette shop in his area & I had them look it over. I then had the car shipped to me. I'm looking for another NA Miata now & finding rust free is hard around here, but having one shipped from CA makes it a not so good deal after I pay for that...

 

[Blown 89]

I have a QX80 arriving Sunday that I haven't seen. It's only a year old, under warranty, and the dealer gave us every detailed picture we asked for so I'm not worried. I bought my Cobra sigh unseen and got enough surprises that I wouldn't buy an older car from a private seller again.

Depending on where you buy you could always ask a member in the area to look at it for a small fee.

 

[Blk04L]

Bought a GT500 off here 1100 miles away.

Put down a 500/1k deposit.
Flew out, got a rental car. Test drove the car and looked it over. Went to the bank with the seller to finalize the transaction.
Had him sign a bill of sale, went to his states DMV for temp plates, but he allowed me to use his plate on way home. Trusted him to send the title when the money cleared.

Personally, since I was buying a car close to 40 grand, I wanted to go out and look at it. That way, I can see/hear the car before giving away a large sum of money.

Would of still flown out/driven home even if it was across the nation in Washington. Enjoy the ride.

 

[Zemedici]

Found cobra I wanted in Kansas, I’m in Atlanta.

Bought 2 1–way plane tickets (wifey and I). Flew into Louisville on red eye, met owner next day and looked at car.

Drove cobra back.

Yolo.

 

[GodStang]

A very nice gentlemen on this site went and looked at a car for me. Took outstanding pictures and gave me his personal opinion. After buying it I shipped it back home.

 

[08mojo]

How far away is the car. I'd always go the route of driving the car home, within reason... I might even pay the money for a round-trip ticket to look at the car in person, then have the car shipped.

I would never let the shipping company handle the title. That would have to be sent to me through certified mail.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

The car I'm interested in is a mint C5Z with a heads/cam 440 LS7, and built drivetrain. It's located in Omaha, NE and I'm located in central Connecticut. So, it's ~1,300 miles way.

Any members in the Omaha area want to make a couple bucks?

 

[Kevins89notch]

It's 2017. There's ZERO reason they can't pull the car into a well lit area, bust out a 2017 model cell phone and shot a HD video walking around said car, showing any and every single small chip or imperfection.

 

[CobraBob]

Do as much investigative work on the car as you can, especially if it's an older muscle car which commonly are modded and driven harder than the typical daily driver. Checking Carfax records, dealer reports, forum posts, etc. are important. In many cases a garage/shop check/analysis can be very valuable.

Hope everything works out for you. Oh, and the video idea that @Kevins89notch recommended is a good one.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

It's a pretty well documented car on CorvetteForum, which is where I found it for sale. I'm asking more about the process of buying sight unseen, and how to deal with shipping. Getting pictures and videos are a given but having it inspected by a 3rd party never hurts.

 

[GT Premi]

I bought both our previous Audi S4 and my GT350R sight unseen. But they were both bought brand new. I wouldn't buy a used car sight unseen unless it was something I really wanted and had plans to work on it regardless of condition.

 

[2011 gtcs]

I bought my 04 cobra sight unseen and went off the word of a lot of guys on this forum thinking it was a clean car. It turned out to be a nightmare with problems out the ass. Do yourself a favor and look the car over yourself and take your time, maybe bring a car buddy so you have two sets of eyes on it

 

[Zemedici]

@Dr. Gonzo having forum members check out the car is a good idea, now to find someone in Omaha