anybody have any experiences buying a car without physically seeing it before they buy it? obviously getting a TON of pictures is a must, but im just wondering what people’s experiences are and what the genera consensus about it is. FYI this would not be a car off ebay, rather a car someone on another forum is selling. said car currently resides in IL, so i was thinking just fly out there and drive it home?
Personally, I would do it.
If it was low miles or I knew that car like the back of my hand would be a plus.
Just see it before You hand over funds.
I’ve bought 3 cars, site unseen (only pics). Got burned badly once; the other two, there were definately dissapointments. These were purchases where I didnt see the vehicle until it arrived in my driveway via trailer / flatbed.
I’ve done it twice.
1st, my Expedition, my best friend happened to live close by the selling dealership so I had him look at it. I put a small deposit on the truck, which the dealer would refund if I got there and found some defect they were hiding. Hertz rented me a nice little Focus one way to MI for $80, drove there, test drove the truck, inspected it and signed the papers. In MI they have to take the paperwork to a magistrate to get the temp plate, so they told me where a decent place was to eat and said come back in about an hour. I came back, 10 minutes later their “runner” was back with my temp tag, and I drove it home. Canadian customs didn’t really like my paper license plate, but after a 5 minute inspection where the search guys spent most of the time talking about what a great deal I got and how new the truck looked, I was on my way home.
2nd, my GTO, I had only conversations with the dealer and LOTS of pictures. Plus, it only had 1700 miles, was perfectly stock, and had most of it’s factory warranty left. I was very blunt with the dealer, explained that I was a pretty good mechanic and was going to go over the car once I flew down there. They said the car was mint, I hopped on a plane, dealer picked me up at the airport (in GTO no less, nice touch) and a couple hours later I was starting a 12 hour road trip to bring it home.
All that being said, I’d be very leary of a private party sale, with no warranty, without being able to inspect the car myself. If you’re talking about flying out there, that car has to be reliable enough to survive a long road trip back, no questions asked. Generally if you’re buying from a good sized dealership they’ve done some reconditioning on even used cars because they have to offer at least some sort of warranty, even if it’s only the 15-30 days required by law.
Good points, if You talking about a dealer vs private resale it is a whole different world.
My three were cheap (500-2500) and private party sales.
this is a private party, and its a pretty decent amount of money (12 grand asking price, we’ll see what i can get down to). i would prob have something worked out with the seller where id send a deposit then if i got there and didnt want it for whatever reason, id be able to get my deposit back, and at the very worst id be out some sky-miles i used to fly there (and then back).
2 of my friends bought their cars sight unseen, and one got incredibly lucky and the car was actually BETTER than he was expecting. the second was bought off ebay and was being sold though one of those auction drop places, who didnt know jack shit about the car. when he got there, there were a few small flaws not described in the action (the door lock keypad on the door didnt work, the passenger side window didnt work, and there seems to be a small electrical gremlin that keeps draining the battery over long periods of time) but luckily he had another identical car sitting in his garage to use for parts, and he still got a hell of a deal.
im not even sure if im going to go though with this, and theres a lot that has to happen before i do it, but im just looking into it for now to see if its even worth my while.
I’ve done it twice…Been happy both times. Then again, both were really low mileage cars and at dealers. I asked for lots of pics, checked everything out with carfax and in person before handing over the money.
I would never buy a car and have it shipped without looking, but if you get to inspect it before the funds are turned over then why not save a trip?
im one of the ones where the car was better than i was expecting. got picked up with it at wilmington NC airport.
i bought the quest off ebay.Make sure they can speak good english and only english.If they speak another language dont trust them
I still laugh every time I remember that we both bought torrid red GTO’s, and both flew to Wilmington NC to get them.
wow… just wow
not to start a flame war or anything but like americans don’t scam others?
I bought my Mustang based off of pictures.
Anyone who has seen it will tell you it was a good move.
Same way I got the WRX, via the internets.
Just like when you buy any car - drive it first. Get tons of pics and video before you fly out there. If you get there and the car isn’t what you expected, turn around and go home.
That’s a lot of money to spend on a car from a private party with no warranty. But the distance really has nothing to do with that issue. You’d be taking the same chance buying a used car locally from a private party in that it could blow the engine the next day leaving you with nothing.
If you decide to do it I would tell the seller the sale is conditional on you taking the car to a local mechanic and them saying it’s 100%. You’ll find a lot more putting a car up on a lift than doing a quick test drive and trying to look under it in the parking lot. The mechanic will be looking at it with an unbiased eye, compared to you looking at it while in the back of your mind you’re thinking how much you want the car, and how you just spent all this time/money getting there to buy it.
meh… private person… i would check it out first… from a dealer, you at least have the dealership to go after if they screw you… I’ve bought 2 used cars from a dealer w/o seeing them - both good experiences. keep looking for a dealer with the same car/miles… i bet you can find one.
lol, x2 Jay.
Talking with the owner (an actual conversation, not just “make, model, mileage”) helps a lot. Use your gut.
Get a billion pictures. Know the cars weaknesses - body areas that rust, engine araes that leak oil, big recalls that should be done, etc.
I did this once from ebay, they took faraway pics with a blurry camara car was a piece of garbage. i will never do it again unless i know the person
I got my 93 mustang and my 87 charger both off ebay from decent distances. Happy with both cars. Yes you get little suprises here and there that you didn’ know about but overall if you ask lots of questions and get lots of pictures you should be good.
The mustang I had towed here flatbed so that one was kinda a, I hope it runs deal. But the charger the owner drove it here and delivered it to me so I was pretty confident if he made the 3 hour drive here to give me it I was good to go.