[Gogar]

If you see a car you like, send the guy an email or a PM and ask more questions. Ask for more pictures. Ask for whatever you want. Usually by talking to someone on the phone you can get a pretty good idea of the kind of person they are.

If you get your questions answered and you still like the car, post a "PPI Needed (city,state)" in the technical board. Someone will recommend a shop in the area. Have the owner take the car to the shop for you. At this point you're going to start spending money.

If the owner won't take his car to a reputable shop for you to have it looked at, that's a red flag, but only a small one.

If you get the car taken to a shop and get a THUMBS UP, buy yourself a plane ticket and go take a look.


All these things cost money, but if you're going to spend 10, 15, 20, 50K on a car, spending $500 on the front end is worth it. But you have to be prepared to shoot $500 down a rathole if the car turns out no good.


If you're not comfortable looking at cars on the internet and talking on the phone and emailing, I'd suggest you do it locally. Go drive 3 or 5 or 10 cars for sale in your area. Talk to people. Your people/car buying skills will get sharpened, and then you'll be a lot more perceptive when you read ads on here or talk to folks on the phone.