Ever buy an unseen car and have it shipped?

[josh72ooh2]

Just curious... how do you know the deal is legit?

A 'neutral party' (member of this site) is going to check out the car for me and give me a report so i can a decent idea of the condition.

But...

What kind of measures can be taken so the seller doesn't run away with the money?

Anything to be aware of when it comes to having the car shipped? i heard that the truck drivers can be snakes and demand cash only, or additional cash, on the spot, or you don't get your car.

any advice or tips would be appreciated.

The deal isn't 100% yet but figured i'd gain some knowledge just in case the car checks out.

-josh

[dubois]

I would say that you really have to "get a feel" for the seller. You can probably tell the caliber of person that you are dealing with, by a series of questions and answers. A phone call won't hurt either. You can also do a bit of detective work in the internet - it is amazing what you can find out. A copy of the title should be faxed for examination, before the transfer of funds. Google map the address, you find a lot about the neighborhood.

You can also ask for the buyer to take a specific picture or expand on some details, if the deal is legit, there would no problem.

As far as shipping the car, I think that has to be pre-paid or at least secured with a credit card.

Note: I have bought and sold just 1 car sight unseen, so it doesn't qualify me as an expert.

[josh72ooh2]

Thanks. I did speak to the seller last week... and today, the 3rd party person who checked the car out. The seller hardly knows what he has. Thankfully the other person was able to dig through and give me the nitty gritty.

As a result, the car is a 'maybe' at this point so perhaps i jumped the gun by posting this message.

If i decide to go for it, my concerns are secure payment and a trusty transport company.

Stay tuned...

None the less, thanks for the info. If anybody has anything else to add, i am all ears. You learn something new every day...

-josh

[MrNvgtr]

I've bought 5 cars remotely ('99 MZ3 Coupe, '04 Silverado 2500HD Crew Cab, '91 325is, '76 2002, '04 330i); 3 of which were the sign un-seen type of deal; 2 were the type where I laid a deposit down but flew to the location to finish the deal and drive it home.

4 of the 5 of these transactions were for somewhat hard to find BMWs and it's fairly easy to get a good feeling for the seller of these cars since they're owned by enthusiasts. By all means have someone independently check the car out. Even request them take it to a mechanic (you pay) for a pre-purchase inspection. Amazingly, I haven't needed to do this, though it is highly recommended. Talk to the seller over the phone. Request quality photos and don't be afraid to ask for close-ups of areas in question. In all of my deals, I haven't felt it was necessary to use any type of third party entity to hold the funds until the deal was secure. It wouldn't hurt to do this. It's just another detail to straighten out during this process when you just want to get the deal over with and schedule it up to be transported, and again, buying from an enthusiast, they're usually easy to track down if there's an issue. All-in-all, I've had great experiences. I buy remotely because I like cool cars and don't want to be limited to my general location.

[Harv]

Make sure you and the person looking at the car are on the same page. I looked at a car for a friend and as it turns out, his idea of something good to start out with and mine were completely different.

John