Buying a car long distance

[Richard L.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I bought a vintage car long distance a few years ago. Had plenty of pictures, a video of the car being driven, and hired an independent inspection company to eamine at the car in detail (based on that evidence, everything was ok, including a 6 page report from the inspector). But I never went out there myself. As soon as the car arrived in Ohio I saw many issues that were not brought up before (bondo, clutch, many, many other issues). Morale of the story for me was, "Never buy a car without inspecting and driving it yourself." I sold that baby within two weeks. Lesson learned...

[Bruce B.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Richard,

I agree with you 100%, "go look at the car yourself".

To Dennis point, get 2 parties to inspect the car, OK But you will get 2 different opinions.
If the car does not live up to the inspections then sorry about your luck. I would think the inspectors have liability clauses so they can not be held responsible for the buyers disappiontment. Remember even if you pay for an inspection it is still a subjective opinion.
As far as driving the car goes, unless your buying from a top of the line dealer don't expect it to run perfectly. So many of these cars sit for long periods of time so they usually don't run and drive very well.
Typically not a problem in my opinion, just pay what the car is worth and fix the discreptancies.

[David D.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I dont think you want to hear this but take the time to go see the car. The potential problems are endless. My definition of nice might not be yours.
However, if it is a known car(ie known by the names we all know) and the price is fair, go for it.
Oh and I used Intercity, a little pricey but was happy.

[Nick L.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I've both bought and sold long-distance, sight-unseen many times. With some vintage cars, where counterfeit cars and paperwork are not rampant as they are with Corvettes, I am comfortable doing this. However, I would never buy a big block or other rare Corvette without inspecting it personally myself.

I flew to the east coast to buy a 67 L-71 car a few weeks ago, and found hidden birdcage rust that even the seller was not aware of. Seller had been up-front and honest with every aspect of the car as far as he knew it, but this still would have been a huge disappointment for me if I didn't make the trip and find the problem for myself.

Every classic car has some issues that just won't be known or disclosed. That's the nature of old cars. But on a $100K+ car, I can't see any substitute for a personal inspection.

[William F.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I live in MS. and bought a '67 C60, L79 coupe from a fellow NCRS individual AZ member who had the car advertised in Driveline. I had it inspected and driven by an AZ NCRS chapter Pres.; owner sent photos, receipts for restoration work, etc., and judging sheets :had it shipped to me by Reliable and everything worked out fine.Had to tweek a few things to get them perfect, but nothing was misrepresented.

[Reggie M.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Spoke with a man in Dallas over a 45 day period about his 1959 Corvette. Exchanged pictures, etc. He demanded cash ($42,000) so I drove all the way from Atlanta with my trailer. The first thing I said to him was "Where's the car in the pictures!" Drove back to Atlanta empty. Moral of the story - do not buy without personally seeing the car yourself.

[Edward S.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I wish I could say that everytime I have gone on a car hunt that involved
travel I had a good experience. I did this only 3 times - and all 3 times the cars were nothing like they advertised. The worst was going to the land of lakes - I never remember any airline offering a sale price to fly to Minn. from Jersey. Went there to look at a SWC with air and knock0ffs - from the airport to where the seller lived was well over a hour ride. On the way there I asked the seller what he did for a living, only to find out he worked for a repo. company ( can you see where this is going ). We were about a mile from the house, so he calls the mrs. to pull the car out of the garage.
Came around the corner and saw the car sitting there and thought I had hit a home run. Body and interior was great, air blew cold - everything from there went downhill. The motor was not even a Corvette and the stamp pad had been filed off - the frame was just as bad. Too bad I needed a ride back to the airport and had to be nice to him. When we did get back I told him what I thought of his ad. Needless to say I would never buy sight unseen (regardless of the price) if I did not see the car myself or had more then one person check it out.
I have always been happy using Intercity. Good luck.

[Ken J.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Hello Guys;

Here is my experience with buying long distance (1500 miles); I bid on and was high bidder on a 56 on E-Bay, but the car didn't meet reserve.
It was discribed as low original miles all original, paint, interior, top, engine, trans, and even the tires and exhaust. I was very doubtful on this car, but my 35 years, or so, dealing with Texas people made me cut a deal with this small town Texas seller over the phone. I have always found, in past dealings with Texans on drill rigs, trucks, etc, that they are usually HANDSHAKE GUYS and very trustworthy, as a lot.

I send down for the car and found it to be everything it was represented to be AND THEN SOME. The only non original items were belts and hoses, air cleaner wing nuts and battery holddown. I later got the holddown, at no charge, from a mechanic who worked on the car 15 years or so ago and still had it in his garage.

It is now a FOUR STAR BOWTIE CAR and has received a ZENITH AWARD from THE BLOOMINGTON GOLD people.

I would draw from this that, contrary to many stories posted on this thread of bad deals with less than honest sellers, there are still a majority
of the people in this hobby and around this Great Country that tell it how it is, when selling a car, even if it hurts.

Ken Joseph

[William M.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Pictures lie. Way back when I was looking for my 1st vette, a '73, I wasted frequent flyer miles from NY to FL, and then again from NY to OH. Both cars looked great in pictures, but were a disappointment in person. If I had pulled the trigger without seeing them first I would have been

[William F.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I think everyone would agree that the best way to check out a car is to look at it yourself AND if any questions, also have someone with more knowledge than you check it out. I found it worth the money in one case to hire a trusted expert after I thought some things on a car I didn't buy didn't add up; he confirmed problems and I walked. $500 fee much better than 80K mistake. However, as I said, I came out fine on one car I bought by getting an NCRS chapter Pres. to inspect and drive the car when "can't get there from here" airline schedule made it impractical for me to inspect it myself.

[Bill M.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Back around 94 i saw a 390 67 convertible advertised from pro team. I called them up and asked at least 99 questions about the car and every thing sounded right. i live in New York and drove 16 hrs to get there. well the 100th question should have been are the wheel wells shaved? On the other hand i bought a 65 365 vert from corvette mike pictures only and it is a dream.

[Gary W.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Is there an NCRS ribbon for "Longest Distance Bought"?
I live in Perth, Australia......

In 2006 I bought a maroon/black '67 L71 roadster from Lamborghini Houston, TX: distance = 8,905 miles.
I was fortunate to have a good mate (thanks Trevor) living within 50miles of the dealership and the owners/staff couldn't have been more helpful: provided a hoist and allowed removal of glovebox for birdcage inspection and rocker covers for head #'s/dates. '67 had been traded on a new Lambo by the grandson who inherited "this old noisy thing". Nice surprise to find all documentation (PoP, tank & window sticker, previous titles etc) under carpet under passenger seat )

Earlier this year I bought a black/silver '65 L79 coupe form a private seller (NCRS member) near Carlisle, PA: distance = 11,503 miles.
Also blessed once again to have an awesome mate (thanks Jim) who drove 14hrs to seal the deal.

I can highly recommend Exotic Car Transport, Orlando, FL.

Cheers,

Gary (# 46532)

[Jim M.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I have both sold "long distance" and purchased. I sold my restored 55 Jaguar XK 140 OTS (open two seater) to a gentleman from Russia, however I made it clear to him that I would not sell it unless he came and looked at it or sent someone with Jag experience to inspect and give him a full report as to the condition. He really didn't want to do that but when I told him I wouldn't sell the car without an inspection, he relented and sent a friend of his from Boston (I live in Washington State), to inspect. This friend also brought the bank check from Bank of America and as you might expect it was for a fairly large sum of money. Even having a bank check from a bank I recognized made me a little uneasy however I had the car for additon two months before the shipper showed up and took it to Boston where the car was placed on a boat. My other experience was when I purchased my Porsche from a gentleman in Phoenix. We agreed to the price over the phone but I wanted to see the car in person, so my wife and I flew to Phoenix, with over night bags, he picked us up at the airport, took us to his home, car was as advertised, threw our over night bags in the trunk and drove her home spending a week driving up the California coast to Washington. We were prepared to have the gentleman take us back to the airport if the car was not as advertised. Bottom line, buying/selling long distance is not a big deal, but if you don't inspect the car, you have no one to blame but yourself. Remember, my idea of a really nice car and yours could be totally different. I would also stay away from these on-line dealers who market the cars from afar, and really don't know anything more about the car then what they were told by the seller and in pictures. Just my two cents.

[Paul Y.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Dennis, I think that you have done due diligence here and deserve the good result. Thanks for sharing those ideas. Paul

[David P.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

While not optimal, evaluating a car for purchase from long distance is tough. I chose to ask a lot of questions, get good pictures of critical areas, and negotiate a price based on written, detailed assumptions. I had the seller confirm my assumptions in writing (email), then I flew out to inspect the car. Once all the assumptions about original components, paint condition, etc were validated by my inspection, I paid the cash and arranged for transport home. I think this is the best you can do if it's the kind of purchase situation where you have the time to do that. We all know there are some situations where if you don't commit to the sale and wire a check immediately, the deal will be gone. Sight unseen purchase is necessary for those "high interest" hard to find deals, in my opinion, albiet with greatly increased risk. There is risk in every decision though, right? Good luck!