How to buy a car out of state sight unseen?

[2003 Viper]

rosco, thats good advice!

 

[TonyCool]

Can you point me to a website or company name that offers this types of services?

no need to. hire a professional inspection company. i bought mine in california and i live in florida. they check EVERYTHING and it is only about 200 bucks. they check stuff you wouldnt think of checking even if you were there.

best 200 bucks i ever spent on a car.

 

[TonyCool]

I just went to a local reputable dealer to see if they could help handle the logistics of the transaction basically they would take care of buying the car and shipping it to me. At a cost of course but if that cost is similar to what I'd spend on the trip + shipping of the car, I think that might be a viable option. They are going to call me tomorrow but I need to talk to the seller first since there are a couple of things we need to figure out first. John I noticed you are looking at the thread. You have a couple of *** from me. Do you think we could chat via messenger, skype, gmail or something similar?

 

[CA97GTS]

no need to. hire a professional inspection company. i bought mine in california and i live in florida. they check EVERYTHING and it is only about 200 bucks. they check stuff you wouldnt think of checking even if you were there.

best 200 bucks i ever spent on a car.

Agree-one way to do it- I did this buying a car in Mich. And could not make the time to fly out- cannot remember Company
But found them on Internet and they did a full inspection, report, etc.- worked out for me-car was as represented.

 

[mattdillon]

no need to. hire a professional inspection company. i bought mine in california and i live in florida. they check EVERYTHING and it is only about 200 bucks. they check stuff you wouldnt think of checking even if you were there.

best 200 bucks i ever spent on a car.

WOW, I had No Idea there was such a company that would do something like this. Definitely the way to go if they're reasonable on the price (take care of shipping too, dang). Rosco, they do this on anything or just autos.

 

[TonyCool]

WOW, I had No Idea there was such a company that would do something like this. Definitely the way to go if they're reasonable on the price (take care of shipping too, dang). Rosco, they do this on anything or just autos.

Difficult to find but here are two companies that seem to offer the service:
autoinspectionservices
carchex

I will contact them tomorrow to see how it works. But thought I'll post them in here in case someone has the same question in the future.

 

[ROCKET62]

Lots of interesting comments – and I would also suggest that you try to do whatever you can to see the Viper in person. That being said – the history of this particular Viper is probably documented in details and pictures as much as any other Viper on this website over the course of the past 5 years. Service history will show a replaced door regulator and drivers side exhaust manifold (both replaced under warranty.) Anyone that has seen it will certainly remember it and can attest to the “WOW” factor and the attention to detail that was put into it. The owner has nothing to hide and even suggested an inspection very early in the process.

I would even go so far as to say that the owner wouldn’t mind spending a couple of hours driving this amazing Viper a reasonable distance to have it inspected as nothing puts a bigger smile on your face as some seat time in a Viper. I’m also pretty sure that the owner will be very thorough, complete, and forthcoming when it comes to transferring the money and the title.

Just my completely totally unbiased opinion .

 

[mattdillon]

Lots of interesting comments – and I would also suggest that you try to do whatever you can to see the Viper in person. That being said – the history of this particular Viper is probably documented in details and pictures as much as any other Viper on this website over the course of the past 5 years. Service history will show a replaced door regulator and drivers side exhaust manifold (both replaced under warranty.) Anyone that has seen it will certainly remember it and can attest to the “WOW” factor and the attention to detail that was put into it. The owner has nothing to hide and even suggested an inspection very early in the process.

I would even go so far as to say that the owner wouldn’t mind spending a couple of hours driving this amazing Viper a reasonable distance to have it inspected as nothing puts a bigger smile on your face as some seat time in a Viper. I’m also pretty sure that the owner will be very thorough, complete, and forthcoming when it comes to transferring the money and the title.

Just my completely totally unbiased opinion .

Duh, It took me awhile but I think I finally caught on! Lol. Tony, thanks for posting the 2 companies! A-Team (I love it when A plan comes together).

 

[Brian GTS]

Everyone has their own "standards". I bought from a well known forum member sight unseen years ago and was extremely dissappointed. Their "excellent" condition was my "fair" at best once receiving the car. I spent A LOT of hours reconditioning the car. Make the investment to make the trip, or have another club member check it out at the very least. I would never take a sellers word for it unless I really knew them.

 

[APGTS]

I just bought my viper last week sight unseen out of state. Had him send me a ton of pictures, then carfax, then bill of sale, then i sent him a deposit and he sent me the title, last I arranged the shipping carrier and sent him a bank check which he got the day before the carrier SHOULD'VE arrived. . . Of course the carrier broke down in Georgia and is behind 4 days

 

[sctdev]

I just bought a sight unseen car myself. I took a couple of risks but got exactly what I paid for, except shipping which was not the sellers fault but mine. Get the seller to agree to take the car back if it's not in the condition advertised. You can negotiate who pays shipping in that case to ship it back. I would have been much much less trusting if I wasn't buying a 2006 Viper with 9000 miles, or something similar that would have been taken care of. Most Viper owners have some class

I'm sure you can find a local person to help you with the deal if you pay them. I would trust another VCA member a lot more than just a stranger, too. Good luck and I'm sure your deal will go just fine.

 

[mattdillon]

Everyone has their own "standards". I bought from a well known forum member sight unseen years ago and was extremely dissappointed. Their "excellent" condition was my "fair" at best once receiving the car. I spent A LOT of hours reconditioning the car. Make the investment to make the trip, or have another club member check it out at the very least. I would never take a sellers word for it unless I really knew them.

Good Point Brian, I just upgraded from an 03' H2 to an 08' (the seller told me it was pristine) needless to say when I looked at it I told him this so-called pristine newer model wasn't as clean as my 03'. Then he asked me what was wrong with it & I just started naming things left & right (he probably thought I was being picky but that's just the way I keep my vehicles). Needless to say he got the price down to what I told him I would give him & then I sent it straight to my bodyshop/detailer guy for the next 2 weeks, now it's right. jmo

 

[rosco]

i used Aim Inspection Services - 866-621-9123 they did a very through job and car was exactly as represented. they operate through contractors in alot of states.
if not them, just do a search for auto inspection service in the state the care is located.

they will do a better job than you will. they will be impartial and not all googlie eyed.

 

[LifeIsGood]

I've gotten a little lost on the story, but when you have it shipped, make sure it is enclosed shipped.

 

[CA97GTS]

Still say fly out if at all possible....
Flew out mid morning on a Saturday from CA to Indiana, owner picked me up at the airport,
Saw the car, took me back to the airport, stayed in hotel right at the airport, had dinner , caught some shut eye,
Flew out early morning and was home for late lunch....
24 hours - under $450 bucks total cost, peace of mind: Priceless.

 

[Jance GTS]

I bought my Viper sight unseen from a "reputable" car dealership that had good reviews from other Viper owners in the area. The business was owned by a Viper owner so I had piece of mind for the sale. Had I seen my car in person I would have walked away and kept looking.

A ton of issues right off the bat and so many cheap fixes that are not up to my standards. Of course I was told it was "perfect and needed nothing"...

You have your best interest for what YOU want. Make the trip at all cost! You won't regret it ;-)

 

[TonyCool]

After some investigation. I decided to go with National Auto Inspection Services (autoinspectionservices com) as the seem to provide the most throughout inspection, the let you give them special request on things you want them to pay attention to, they provide a deeper inspection for exotics/classic cars. Only thing is I'm missing the Owner address and Zip code... Sent him a PM hopefully he will reply soon.

That was the easy part however it's been difficult to find a "safe" way to buy the car while not being present so I asked my boss for a couple of days off to go there and see the car and make the transactions. My boss is giving me a hard time about it though as I was supposed to work this and the next 3 weekends, so we'll see.

 

[JLorello]

I got mine unseen from an exotic car dealer that primarily sells Ferraris over the phone.

It wasn't a big deal since they posted 30 or 40 photos on their website.

The car only had 3300 miles. Its difficult to claim "showroom new" and still hide things.

Called, negotiated a price, sent a deposit, got my finances finalized, they shipped the car. Very simple.