Long distance purchase ... Would you / have you?

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Stephen Krautheim

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I am in the market a new to me Gen 2 ST. Most of the vehicles that meet my criteria are at least 200 miles away. Does anyone have any thoughts or wisdom on purchasing blind over long distance and having the vehicle shipped?



I just don't want spend upwards of $20k and turn around and buy a new transmission or whatever. Should I demand a significant discount for raking risk and buying as-is? Or is the used ST market strong enough that I need to pony up? It seems closer to the latter, especially when the asking price is right.



Stephen
 
If from a dealer, maybe. Private sale, probably not. I got burned on a private sale once and the seller sold the truck out from under me while I was driving to buy it. A dealer may be more inclined to hold a vehicle.
 
First time in my life I bought a car unseen about a year ago (not a Sport Trac) and had it shipped from upstate NY to TX. I had intended to view the car myself but could not work it out with seller so I took a chance on it. The shipping part is easily done on the web; there are thousands of cars on carriers moving around the country daily. For pre-purchase actions you'll definitely want to check out the CarFax or AutoCheck, plus ask seller what maintenance records he has. Ask for some pictures. An organized seller will have some good quality pictures set up in a web location (like Dropbox) that you can view; ask for some to be emailed if not. Do a web search for someone who does pre-purchase inspections in that area, or a shop. For a purchase like this what you're really looking at is the Seller, not so much the car.
 
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I bought my adrenalin from Minnesota, I live in New Hampshire. Purchased from a ford dealership and things couldnt have gone smoother. They shipped it directly to me. I asked for pictures and they sent me plenty. All the info and history of the vehicle was sent electronically before purchase. It was a little scary but everything worked out great in the end!! Jim
 
Personally I would never buy a vehicle unseen or undriven. Even trusting someone else to inspect it for you is a long shot because what might seem trivial to them may be important to you. When I bought my Tundra I drove about 150 miles away to look at it and eventually buy it. It was purchased from dealer and I had the salesperson call me when the dealership closed the night before to let me know the truck was still there, said she was looking at it while we were talking. The next morning I got there before the dealership opened and when the salesperson showed up she couldn't find the truck, turns out it was in service and was waiting on brake pads to show up that were ordered the day before which means that she lied to me when she told me she was looking at the truck the night before when she called me. The truck also didn't have options on it that they specifically told me it had. I got lucky though because the dealer actually let me in the service department to inspect the truck while it was on the lift with all the wheels off and also plugged my laptop into it with my Toyota software to look a the vehicles electronics Point of the story is that people will tell you anything to get you to show up and I can only imagine what they might say if you bought the vehicle sight unseen.
 
In my case, I drove from Virginia to North Carolina. I had told the sales rep via email that I was coming. When I got there they told me the ST I was looking for had been sold that day. Luckily for me they had several others on the lot ( this was in Oct. 2010) and I saw one that suited my criteria (2010 Limited V8 with tan interior).



In your case, if you have to drive 10 hours up and back to look at one that you like, $20,000 divided by 10 hours equals $2,000 per hour you are paying yourself to be sure of what you are getting. :grin:
 
When I bought my '68 Cougar I asked the seller to send me some videos of the car. It was in Louisiana and I am in Ohio. All of the electrical stuff functioned well including the sequential turn signals. The engine sounded good, it had an exceptionally nice interior and all of the exterior trim looked good. However, even in the videos I was not able to see some issues with the paint. But, the seller dropped his asking price by $4500 or about the cost of a decent paint job so I was happy with the deal.
 
I, too, believe a long distance purchase is more dependent on the seller. An example I can give is a purchase my Uncle made for his son. A few years back he found an Explorer Sport in Memphis,TN. We live near Nashville. It was an Ebay listing. He won the bid and he and I drove down to get it. Transaction was good. On way home he started noticing a chiming sound in a certain pattern, but no warning lights. Took it to his local mechanic and it turns out someone had removed the check engine bulb. The problem was the clock spring. He called the dealership and they paid his mechanic directly. Truck had 80k miles and was a perfect vehicle all the way up to a fire @160k. The fire totaled the truck but his son ended up getting about 60% of what they paid for it as a settlement. The seller had almost 100% positive feedback on EBay and he would agree with that assessment. So, look for any BBB types of reviews on the seller is my suggestion.
 
Based on the mixed results, an internet purchase sounds like it's a crap shoot. That is what I figured, so I'll should act accordingly.



Here's to becoming a contributing member of mysporttrac soon.

 
I would never buy a vehicle off the internet, or anything off Craig's List. However I have a friend who has a hobby buying, selling or Trading older 1950-1970 Classic cars and especially Muscle Cars of that era. He bought and sold a 1966-1967 Buick Riviera, and about a year ago bought a 1969 Pontiac GTO convertable from some guy in Florida and had it shipped here...sight unseen?



I think he finds a lot of these vehicles in special classic car trade magazines and websites and I think they have a very good reputation for sniffing out the crooks. Perhaps they have some form of Escrow system to insure that nobody gets the money until the goods are delivered in good order as advertised.



My friend has done a number of deals like this and has never had a problem.



...Rich
 
I have both, sold and purchased, long distance. In each case, a professional inspector was hired to examine, and photograph car / identify problems. It was money well spent...never a problem, after receiving the car. I knew what I was getting. Good luck.
 
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I bought a motorcycle off EBay. The seller had posted nearly 100 pics, so I had a pretty good idea of the exterior appearance and the documentation. Even so, I went and picked it up in person, and I got a chance to examine it, ride it, and hear it run in person. My transaction went great- no problems, and I got a motorcycle for several thousand less than book value and for what they were selling for around here.

I would do it again.
 
I've purchased 2 Adrenalin's from out of state. One in Texas and one in Ohio. Both from dealers. I did however fly out and drove them both back. I did all the financing over the phone and placed a deposit with a credit card. I went to see them in case they weren't as advertised. I was very happy with both trucks, I totaled one and am still driving the other.
 
Buying vehicles on the Internet is only is good when you are dealing with an honest Seller and an Honest Buyer.



Even if you give a deposit and go to pick up the vehicle in person, and it turns out that it was not what you expected, it has still cost you money. (Deposit, and transportation costs) If you leave a deposit, is assumed by the law to be non-refundable unless otherwise stated in writing, you legally cannot try to take the money back and even the credit card company will not refund your money unless you can prove fraud. If the vehicle is not as nice as you thought it was, it is only your opinion and not necessarily fraud. The Seller has to deal with people who put down a deposit, and he may pass up other offers only to have the Buyer back out claiming the vehicle did not meet his expectations?



...Rich



 

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