Although I am a long time hot rodder , I'm new to buying a car long distance. What are the do's, don't's, how's and why's. How to exchange money without being ripped-off. What about shipping for project cars? Thanks, pgn56
My opinion is NEVER EVER buy a car sight unseen what ever you do. Just remember cars always look better in pictures. Asshats will tell you out and out lies about the POS they are selling. I almost bought a car sight unseen but wised up and went to see it. Thank God it was a POS. A $400 plane ticket will save you a lot of grief.
VIEW THE CAR IN PERSON! Best bet is to take a trailer. Second best, if you like the car, is buy it on the spot and drop it off at your shippers. If you do buy the car, get insurance ASAP. Shippers have been known to damage cars and not paying. I sold a car out of state. I also sent the paperwork to the buyer so he could get insurance before the car was shipped. When the shipper showed up, I tool lots of photos and sent them to the buyer for documentation. They damaged the roof of the car and the paint was a custom mix. They refused to pay for the damage. At least with insurance, the insurance company will go after the shipper.
Do what i did i asked HAMB member to go look at the Model A I bought in Michigan. it worked out great they even got me help with transport... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Dont's.........don't buy it until you look it over yourself. I got burned twice by not doing that. Do's.......go look it over, touch it, examine it like a prostate exam..
I wouldn't buy one unseen ... its just not good business. And having a HAMB member or friend check it out long distance is a good way to lose a friend. Have the seller tell you EVERYTHING that is wrong through e-mails and have him take lots of pictures... he will probably want cash or cashier's checks so show up to inspect and buy the car with the amount in cashier checks but do it in various denominations just so you can "minus" some bucks if it is not all he claims .... or just flat out walk away. All you are out is the cost to get there to look at it .... no big deal.
Tried this last spring, and best advice is to buy a round trip plane ticket! My plan was to fly from Oklahoma to Florida to buy a truck and drive it back, or get a rental car and take a small vacation returning home. after viewing the truck, i was sick. not as i hoped, and opted not to buy. started checking 1 way tickets home vs. rental car prices, gas and time... opted to buy a 1 way to return home. had i gone to the point to buying a round trip from the start, it would have saved me around $250 hope it helps chris
I bought my car sight unseen. I got extremely lucky..but I wouldn't do it again. I have never been so stressed after sending the money..waiting on the car to be shipped..it was insane. my best advise would be to definitely fly out to look it over.
I'd never do it again. Pictures and in person are two totally different things. The first car was exactly as expected. The second car, although it's nice, I wouldn't have paid what I did for it. Dean
Buy the ticket ,sellers descriptions even from friends may not fulfill your expectations . I my case the car belonged to a friend of a friend and neither knew jack !
I have purchased several cars long distance. The first, I did all the questions, pictures, etc. and called the guy to negotiate. We agreed on a price and I told him I would fly there and he could pick me up at the airport. IF the vehicle was what I thought it was, we would go to the bank and I would have the money wired into his account....the vehicle was better than advertised and all went well. The second vehicle was my 39. I had a friend who lived 100 miles away from the seller and who currently owned a 39. He went to look at it and took lots of pics. What sealed the deal is when I asked my friend if he would buy it....he said yes if I didnt. That sealed the deal. I wasnt disappointed. The point I am trying to make is that the only person who can make the decision is YOURSELF or someone you really trust. Pictures lie, sellers sugar coat, words are worthless.
Unless you consider it a parts car go look at it. I figure spending 10% of the cost of the car to go see it a no brainer. Always get under the car and look even if it's only on ramps. Cars can't hide any dirty little secrets if you look underneath and go for a 1 hour test drive. I don't buy cars with no title unless it's a parts car.
See, feel, touch for yourself. Fly, Drive or a take a Bus, its worth your time and money. I have sold and bought using bank wire transfer, talk to your bank for details, small charge for service. I believe its the safest way for $$$ exchange. John
I've done this multiple times... The first one being my '61 Biscayne.. I struck a deal with the guy outside of Ebay while I was overseas in Japan back in 2001.. Turned out to be a good deal--and everything it was claimed to be.. (see my pics..) The second one that I bought was the '41 Ford while I was in Afghanistan from a fella here on the H.A.M.B. that I rescued out of California with the second sight-unseen hauler being my '65 Suburban which had also been paid for prior to returning to the states.. There were quite a few long-distance phone calls, emails and picture exchanges that I required--Be certain that the person you are dealing with is ready and willing to help you after he/she is aware you are outside the area.. I imagine if you are buying something very rare or sought after--and something that is supposedly already "restored"--then it really pays to go look at it first. I won't ever buy anything that has been fussed with by anyone unless I know who that "anyone" is and what level/quality of work they perform. I've recently started looking for an OT car for my girlfriend--and she takes some time to look herself. I have tried to coach her on what looks good and what "looks good" is not the same.. Sorry--but I'll take dents and chalky paint over shiny paint or primer with "90% metal body work complete" any day.. If I do it again--I'll certainly fly out and try out, or buy on the spot.. Another good idea is to have a couple "possibles" that you are interested in looking at while you are in the area unless your hopeful new acquisition is a real unicorn.. Then--still--better to be out $4-600 for most round trip tickets than $4-6000 in metal work and scary body repairs that had already been "addressed" by the PO.
I saw a 56 olds up in portland and it looked sooooo good. i wanted to buy it..but i waited..the guy moved to arizona and took the car with him..about a 6 hour drive from my house..i loaded a trailer on my suv and headed down to get it...well got there and,,,,,yep bad bad bad...turned around headed home...pictures like someone here said lie...see it in person or wait for the one you can..good advice for no buyers remorse
you did not mention how much your spending on this car, few hundred dollars? go ahead and take a chance, thousands? book a flight to inspect.
Go see it I saw a video and tons of pictures of my truck was told its a daily driver, front end was shot the motor was shot and the tranny was pissing under 100 miles I have rebuilt the front end it was a nightmare it's a 1982 jag front end, I bought a 383stroker and turbo 400 tranny and next I have to reinforce the braces for the fenders, I would have passed on it knowing what money was needed to get it right Our only recourse on this road to hell is we're driving a firetruck!
X2- I bought mine sight unseen from another HAMBer just b/c I am overseas and he was great with photos, replies etc....he is the on that suggested PayPal b/c he was afraid I was scamming him so that made me feel a bit better. The purchase turned out great but I gambled and won this time, I know to many people who have lost that gamble.....1 rule, make sure it's a car that you can at least get your money back on if you are disappointed, so never overpay if you get me....good luck.
I bought 3 cars in the last 12mnths,all better than I thought they would be,and I aint around the corner,just tell him your sister married an Aussie and heez gunna come check it out ,his last name is Dundee,and heez got a big knife,lol.Hey ! We luv you guys to, Gaz! BTW all the deals were done over the phone!
According to your post here: @ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9152554#post9152554 Looks like your budget for a hot rod project is $3800 Looks like you have a trailer to go get it Looks like you want something within 250 miles of Vineland, NJ Sounds like you got it covered ...... Jim
Buy a car in your area, save on gas, air fare, and transporting, or build your own. At the very least look at it in person.
I was leery about buying a car long distance/e-bay. I looked for cars within 250 miles radius of my home. The search and wait was long but not fruitless. I found my ride 100 miles from my home. I could see it and make my decision. It being only 100 miles the cost to get a rollback to bring it home was $300. Certainly beat the worry, stress and nail biting that occurs after sending thousands on what really is a gamble when purchasing site unseen.
I don't like selling sight unseen, so to that end I'll send pictures of everything that's bad, everything that might look good in an overall photo but the the truth is different in person. Then again I tend to be the exception to the rule in cases like that. If I document all the "bad stuff", there should be no worries.
I have made more dry runs to buy a car that turns out to be junk than good ones. I have made dry runs from Central FL to New York, Indiana, N.C, georga I made a 700 mile trip once to buy a no rust ever (according to the seller) 40 Ford coupe. It was nothing but poorly scabbed together junk. He said he misunderstood my question and thought I meant if it was solid even though my question was did this car ever have rust. If you are the one spending money and working on it you need to be the one looking at it.
I bought a 48 Plymouth coupe from a distance couldn,t get to it for junk in way after it was delivered found that it didn,t have any floor and they set it on a international frame had it for 4 years now and iam now able to start it but parts for international harder to find then Plymouth parts
I was lucky. I bought a car Sight unseen off of the net by a well known Rodder from Altadena Ca. And when it eventually got here, it turned out to be a damn peach. I still love it...every day. -H.R.D-
if i cant be there in person or make arrangements in being there, i ask for photo(s) ... and a whole lot of them .... they dont always show everything but they show you at what your dealing with w/o any surprises .... and communication is also key in describing at what you see and their knowledge on the item .....
Ive done it twice. The first one was just as described, maybe a little better. The second, needed a trans rebuild and had more rust then described but was better then the 3 I found local after looking for five years. Still one of the most stressful things Ive done.
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