how to buy long distance?

[jdbunda]

I found a car on Autotrader, got a PPI done, and made a deal with a seller. He says he has clear title. I would like to ship the car rather than fly out and drive it back. What is the best way to deal with funds transfer, title work, and so on - how is this usually done? I've done some searches, haven't found anything very helpful. I know there are various online escrow services, but there seem to be a lot of scam warnings about those. How is this usually done?

[Six Gun]

Ask him to send the title, overnight and tell upon receipt you will send a cashiers check. Title no good w/o car and car no good w/o title.

He gets cash before you get car and you get title before he gets cash.

[mrk_d]

I would suggest a Paypal eCheck. I sold a Ducati Monster recently to a buyer on the east coast, and the fee was only $5 on my end. Plus, it offers security for both parties. I got payment, shipped the title, and then the truck came and picked up the bike. It was pretty easy actually.

[jdbunda]

I've looked at various escrow services, none of which seem particularly pleasing. I think I am going to fly and drive.

[jr993]

Wire transfer funds. Or hire a local attorney to handle documents and bill of sale, title. Way cheaper and safest method.

[jdbunda]

Originally Posted by jr993

Wire transfer funds. Or hire a local attorney to handle documents and bill of sale, title. Way cheaper and safest method.

Funny, that is exactly the method I am trying to figure out now. Looking for an attorney in Virginia Beach, VA if anyone can recommend one.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Six Gun

Ask him to send the title, overnight and tell upon receipt you will send a cashiers check. Title no good w/o car and car no good w/o title.

He gets cash before you get car and you get title before he gets cash.

You got that backwards. Cash first, then title. Car to follow.

If you don't trust the seller (or any seller), buying long-distance could be nerve-wracking. With all the cars I've purchased long-distance, sight unseen, I had long conversations with the seller to get a feel for their demeanor. I even had a seller fax me a copy of his driver's license and utility bill with matching name/address when I questioned a discrepancy in his story. Deal went through fine.

Bottom line...if you don't have the fortitude to deal sight unseen, it's better stick to local purchases.

[BK911]

If you wire transfer money to Africa you are screwed. What if you wire transrer money to US account? Any chance of being scammed?

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by BK911

If you wire transfer money to Africa you are screwed. What if you wire transrer money to US account? Any chance of being scammed?

There's always a chance of being scammed, but when dealing with a US bank, your chances of restitution are better.

[wgwollet]

I would never never I mean never to buy a car site unseen. Too many scams and stories. Take vacation day or what ever and get there first hand. Then see title and compare to car VIN number, then do a in-person back transfer.

Also, I do not care how many photos you see on line or how nice the person is, his idea of condition is always different then yours. I would not even have a guy look at the car or what people call aPPI

[chaozz]

fly there buy it and have it shipped home

[Gogar]

Fly there and look at the car, touch the car, drive the car, and maybe buy it.

IF you feel good about it, you should drive it home. You'll never forget it, no matter what happens.

[bwall]

In the USA we have rule of law, good courts, lawyers, and police. This enables many people to buy long distance. Document everything in writing (incl. signatures!) and enjoy the process.

These are your tax dollars at work; why add additional unnecessary transaction costs?

p.s. use common sense; if it sounds too good to be true then it is.

[cellison]

when i bought the 930, i drove 250 miles to look at it and drive it. then went back home and at that point we negotiated and settled on the price. i sent him a wire transfer and he fed exed the title. then i had the car shipped.

[jdbunda]

You know, I am somewhat amazed that Autotrader (where I found my car) hasn't stepped up and figured out how to do this - even a PayPal/Ebay-like protection service would be at least something.

I investigated some of the online escrow services, but none of them were really to my or the seller's liking. I tried to find a lawyer to handle an exchange of documents, but that was pretty expensive for not much value.

Here is what I ended up doing instead: I FedExed a bank check with a bill of sale to be signed by the seller, and a prepaid return FedEx envelope for him to return me the title and signed bill of sale. Scheduled the shipper for the day after the seller's bank releases the funds from the check. He was able to call my bank and confirm the check was genuine.

This still requires some trust on both sides - I feel a lot better now that I have a signed title in my hand.

By the way, I also had him send me the manuals and service records in the package, so I know those won't get lost in transit.

I thought seriously about picking it up in person and driving it home. Funny, it would have been pretty much the same route I did 15 years ago when I bought my first E30 M3 - also an online purchase. But time constraints would have made it an interstate drive, and the all-in cost would have been almost as much as a shipper. I don't get to check the car out in person, but that's what the PPI is for, right? The upside is, I get to have a "Christmas morning" when the truck pulls up to my house, which has its own strange appeal. Hopefully no surprises of the bad kind - but I think I did enough homework, I'm pretty sure I will be happy.

Thanks for all the replies - and watch for my photo post introducing my new car, coming next week...

-John

[DANTHEBUGMAN]

For what it is worth, my Porsche Partner, buys inventory for a large used car dealership. More of their cars are purchased sight unseen and at least 30% of received in some condition less than they were described.
Of course, these purchases are almost all dealer/dealer transactions and are generally resolved through quick arbitration or returned to the selling dealership.
My point is that even in a situation where the sight-unseen purchase is fairly structured and the sellers are fairly accountable for the way the represent their cars - there are still a lot of issues.
When the conversation involves private sellers/buyers then it is reasonable to conclude that the number of 'issues' will be greater.

[jr993]

I have bought and sold privately long distance. Bank wire transfers are best. If you get a cashier's check for a car have your bank call their bank to verify funds/authenticity. Also consider using a local attorney in buyer's town to escrow funds and complete bill of sale and title, etc. Fees would be minimal and could be considered "insurance" to make sure transaction gets completed.

This obviously addresses the administration of the transaction and not the inspection of cars and risks of buying a fright pig a recently discussed above.

[WANNA930]

If you are willing to pay a laywer then why not just buy some cheap tickets and go look at it. EVERY seller forgets to tell you something that is wrong with the car end of story. Always expect a problem and have addtl funds to take car of them.

First question you have to ask is if they have a clear title in their name with an open spot for you to sign car into your name. Tell seller to make a copy of title with a big 'X" across the face and fax it so you can see for yourself it is clear. Wire money directly into their acct and have agreement you will have tracking number for title either the day money clears or next day.

Have your transport set up while making deal as it will take about 2 weeks no matter what they tell you. It will also show up later then they tell you as you are more likely to have a problem with the shipper then seller.

When it shows up remember you were the one that refused to go look at it and keep that in mind as you see all the defects that the seller forgot to tell you about. I only buy cars that need work without seeing them first otherwise you will be dissapointed as only YOU know what YOU feel a quality car is. Two people can look at the same car and walk away with different idea of how it looked.

If title doesn't show up within two days take action immediately and do not pick up car until that is straightened out. Did I say the seller will forget to tell you about something???


Last car I bought guy forgot to tell me there was no vin attached. Didin't notice that there was no neutral or speedo hooked. The speedo was on a car listed as low miles.

[jdbunda]

All turned out well, but honestly, the amount of diligence required to ensure you are getting what you think you are getting is intimidating. As it turned out, I flew out to pick up the car, and it was not quite as nice as represented, but I anticipated that. I was a little disappointed that my PPI focused more on function than cosmetics. I thought I was getting a killer deal, I think it ends up not quite the steal I thought, but that's ok. The biggest surprise was seeing the dirty interior, wheels, etc. I know the seller had tried to sell locally for a while, and the car was rarely driven - how do you not spend a few bucks to get it detailed? Anyway, I have purchased two cars long distance now, and both were the same - I do not know how someone says "excellent" or "perfect" or "mint" to describe a car that is, at best, on its best day, a "good" condition car. Buyer beware.

[Schuey]

I've bought many (the wife says WAY too many) cars via long distance and the best way IMO is to get a deposit sent to the seller ($500-1000) tops via a VERIFIED Paypal account and then have the sellers bank call the buyers bank and let them do the transaction...works great and you don't have to worry about scammers...never send western union, etc. if the seller insists on a certified bank check I'd do that as long as the check gets sent to him made out to him AND the bank he does business with or I explain that I'd get a USPS Money order/check and remember to say "I've used it before to help stop a fraudulent transaction, and it's a Federal offense when using a USPS M/O"

Scammers usually give themselves away by saying they have all these people wanting to buy it, and they are never able to take a picture of what you want, need you to send by Western Union b/c it's so "safe", etc. I really can't stand these weasel's. The best thing to save yourself from a scammer is time to do your homework, calling them, verifying that if they say they are in MN that their area code is actually there (yes, I've had scammers this dumb)...the last one I dealt with was in Pittsburgh while saying he was in DC and the car he was selling was actually in California for sale at a dealership...so being the nice guy I am, I messed with him and got additional numbers to call b/c "the other didn't work" told him I sent the money so he'd go try to pick it up, etc. and it wasn't even April 1st LOL...plus all of this info was turned over to the Internet Crime Division of the FBI by yours truly...I think I was Bugs Bunny in a previous life...