Any tips on buying a car out of state

[Kevin74]

Has anyone used an escrow service where they hold the money and the title until both buyer and seller are satisfied to complete the deal?

 

[Krooser]

If you are buying an expensive car it's worthwhile to jump on a plane and inspect it yourself.

When I was hauling high dollar European cars back in the late 80's I did the inspection and reported to my customer when I was hired to pickup a car.

If the car was as advertised the deal was completed.

Without hands a hands on inspection you can find yourself buying a POS.

My customer dealt in everything from muscle cars to vintage race cars to 30's vintage Duesenbergs.

I have purchased more than a dozen cars myself and always flew in to do the inspection.

My last buy was in 2015... I flew from WI to CA to get a Ford F350.

 

[#41]

Why complicate it that much? Go look at it.

 

[Stereolab42]

As a seller I'd never use an escrow service -- what qualifies as "satisfied" and who judges this? Ain't nobody got time for that kind of headache. Always another buyer around the corner, maybe for a bit less $, but life is short.

 

[71RRHI]

I would recommend going and inspect the car in person. Last year I was looking for a convertible. Found one in Iowa That I was interested in. Me and the wife flew from Hawaii to Iowa. Spent most of a day going over the car. I was able to put it up on a lift to inspect. Took it for a good test drive. There were a few issues that I found, but non were deal breakers. I used what I found to negotiate the price. I have had the car almost six months and have not found any surprises.

 

[1STMP]

The most important issues
would be a clean title, lack
of evidence of vin tampering,
and visual misrepresentation
of what the seller is selling
you. Buying a car sight
unseen requires a little more
vigilance. Vin plate attaching
points and methods are
proprietary, and with
available internet info you
should be able to spot the
nefarious actors.
Best practice would be to
inspect in person, armed
with the above info.

 

[Under Pressure]

Airfare or gas was a small investment to go inspect anything I’ve wanted to buy, 3 vehicles I’ve purchased I went and checked over by traveling long distances to the seller so I can also haggle if needed.
I don’t want anyone to blame but myself if I made a bad buy.

 

[WileERobby]

Do not buy a car unless your eyes, or eyes you trust, have seen/inspected the actual car in person. Do not buy a car if all the documentation is not in order. Realize a loss of some/all of your money/value is a good possibility if not.

 

[SlingLow]

I've bought cars in Texas, California, Idaho and Washington. My travelling buddy has bought cars in Texas, North Carolina, Tennesse and Washington. My strategy is to negotiate the best price I can get over the phone with the explanation that I will show up with a trailer, inspect the car, then leave with it at the agreed upon price or go home with an empty trailer. It takes a little finesse to negotiate over the phone like this as not everyone wants to drop their price if you're not standing in front of them looking at the car. My explanation is that I'm not going to drive hours or days to dicker over price. I've had pretty good success with this technique and have made some good buys. I have come home empty several times, but have never negotiated a lower price after seeing the car. Like many old school guys, being a man of my word is important to me and, fortunately, so have most of the sellers. On one trip to Idaho to buy a car listed on Ebay that I had negotiated a price on over the phone, another party in Cali tried to convince the seller to turn me around and he would give him another $1,000. The seller refused as he was good for his word. Another time I got to Bakersfield, CA and the seller offered me $500 to go home empty because he had offers up to $4k higher than mine (over the phone, not in person). My inspection told me the car was worth what I offered but not more, and I was able to close the deal. There is an investment in time and money to do this, but for me it's part of the process and life's entertainment. We have a lot of good times on the road.

Like reading the food threads and going away hungry, now I 'need' another car!

BTW my buddy bought a travel trailer sight unseen in a charity auction (against my strong advice) and got jacked. As others have said, unless it's a concourse car with a known pedigree, always put eyes on it first. There are cars that are misrepresented and there are sellers that don't know a thing about them.

 

[patrick66]

If you are getting the vehicle from a title-required state, make damned sure it has a title!!! If it has no title and you're dealing with a title-required state, either pass on it or ensure the seller gets a title first.

If it's a no-title state, make sure you get proof that it's the seller's to sell, whether it be a current/recent registration document or other proof. Guaranteed, your state registration authority knows what all 50 states require. make sure all documentation is present, correct, and up-to-date.

If you can't lay your eyeballs on it, get a pre-purchase inspection, or PPI, done. A disinterested third party is an ideal solution for many instances. Generally, you're looking at $300 - $500 for one. If I'm spending $30K or $300K on a car somewhere, that is a bit of peace-of-mind, for me.

Your question was about bonded agents. I've never used one before, but I know enough that that service better have impeccable credentials. Get them to provide at least three references. If they won't, don't do business with them.

 

[1967coronet]

Another vote for go look it and the paper work over in person.
Compared to the horror stories , a plane ticket or road trip looks pretty cheap.

 

[Kevin74]

Thanks to everyone for their information!

I don’t have a trailer, so when I visit the seller, and perhaps decide to buy, there is still the issue of how to exchange money and title. I guess I could give him the cash in exchange for the title, but then I would drive home with no car while waiting for a shipping company.

That’s why I was wondering about some type of escrow service..

 

[72redbird]

I hired an inspector to go look at my convertible that I did end up buying. Cost ran $300-$350. Gave me a 7 page report and took 108 pictures. He also took the car for a test drive.

 

[SlingLow]

Thanks to everyone for their information!

I don’t have a trailer, so when I visit the seller, and perhaps decide to buy, there is still the issue of how to exchange money and title. I guess I could give him the cash in exchange for the title, but then I would drive home with no car while waiting for a shipping company.

That’s why I was wondering about some type of escrow service..

I don't know your distance or method of travel, but could you rent a trailer (and truck if you don't have one)? Probably cheaper than a shipper if you're driving there anyway.

 

[Stereolab42]

I hired an inspector to go look at my convertible that I did end up buying. Cost ran $300-$350. Gave me a 7 page report and took 108 pictures. He also took the car for a test drive.

I had an inspector do the same for me for a convertible from a certain proboscis-shaped state. Car arrived with almost no brakes, bad radiator, bad trans, bad diff, bad carbs, and a bad gas tank, and it spent 9 months in the shop. Everything that could be photographed looked great but everything else he could have lied about he did, including the test drive. I think if word gets around in a community that an inspector is saying bad things about cars he just doesn't get allowed to look at cars around there anymore, so these guys are in fact not accountable to the remote customers hiring them, but to the locals. It's a total scam industry.

 

[patrick66]

I had an inspector do the same for me for a convertible from a certain proboscis-shaped state. Car arrived with almost no brakes, bad radiator, bad trans, bad diff, bad carbs, and a bad gas tank, and it spent 9 months in the shop. Everything that could be photographed looked great but everything else he could have lied about he did, including the test drive. I think if word gets around in a community that an inspector is saying bad things about cars he just doesn't get allowed to look at cars around there anymore, so these guys are in fact not accountable to the remote customers hiring them, but to the locals. It's a total scam industry.

I disagree with you. I did inspections for 20 years. With anywhere from 100 - 200 pictures, this included a test drive (and not just around the block!), and having the car/truck up on a lift so I could poke at the floors, check for **** patch jobs, look for leaks, etc. To say it's a "total scam industry" is pure bullshit. Plus, I never, ever had contact with a potential buyer, nor did I know what the asking price was (unless the car was online). I inspected, reported what I saw, documented that with notes and pics, and sent it off. It was never our job, nor our place, to recommend a car to buy or not to buy. It was 100% the buyer's responsibility to judge from the notes and pictures, whether the vehicle was something he wanted. Sure, there are some seriously lazy inspectors out there that don't want to "get dirty". They present themselves as such early, and get canned quickly. Plus, the vehicle is NEVER taken apart in any way by the inspector, so if you are expecting compression checks and such, or door cards or carpeting removed, those are not done in any inspection.

Your experience was the exception, trust me. The inspection company should've at least refunded your fee as a goodwill measure. Also, the inspector works for the buyer, not the seller. I'd have the occasional seller want to see my report on their vehicle, and I'd refuse. They're not paying for it! Whether the inspection was glowing or not-so-much, it was for the buyer's eyes (and the company) only.

Twenty years, over 200 inspections, and no complaints. I did my job well. Don't paint the industry with a broad brush like you'd like to. When you consider auctions and what you have to deal with at B-J, Mecum, etc, you can't get a PPI at any of those, right? You have your eyeballs and a few minutes, at best.

 

[Stereolab42]

Your experience was the exception, trust me.

Then there was the inspector I hired in NYS who claimed a car had an "almost #1 paint job", first thing I saw when it rolled off the truck was a bunch of obvious runs on the rear paint right over the passenger wheel that had been there since the original respray 15-odd years ago. The photos were conveniently angled and distanced to miss this. He also told me "yeah, it's got front disc brakes" and guess what it didn't have. And these guys I hired cost hundreds of dollars and they or their firms had fancy websites and decent reviews.

I've actually had better luck at auctions where I just YOLO'd money. If I ever buy another non-auction car, I will either see it in person or ask/pay a known Mopar person to take a look for me (now that I know a few and am no longer considering buying non-Mopars).