Tradical

Buying long distance is tricky at best. I would never consider it although many people buy long distance and have success. The chances for disappointment are very real.
Sellers will tell you anything you want to hear to make a sale. If you are really serious about the car get on a plane and have a look for yourself.

GT4John

Thanks again everyone. In the end, sanity (IMHO) prevailed and she decided not to buy the car. Still...great advice across the board.

John

Marine Blue

Tom R.

For some unknown reason I have a hunch that down the road, maybe a month, maybe a year, you will get blamed for her not getting the car she wanted.

Phil G.

I sold my 2016 Boxster S with 840 miles (yeah, that's not a misprint) to a buyer in Oregon. I let him know the car was absolutely flawless in every regard, no scuffs, scratches, nothing. It had the colors he wanted and was optioned perfectly for him. I shared all service records (not many). I certainly offered for him to fly out, have someone look at the car in person, or have a PPI done, but he bought it for my asking price, sight unseen. We've stayed in close touch since he received the car. He was amazed that the car was actually better than he could have imagined. He is a very happy owner of a virtually new Boxster S. Back in 2006, I bought a 2004 911 4S coupe from Isringhausen in IL with 1100 miles, also sight unseen. The car was flawless, as advertised, and I loved owning it. Generally speaking, I don't disagree with the comments that when buying cars like these, it's always best to see them first, and have them undergo a PPI prior to purchase.

JasperNorton

Regarding Montway, I would run fast and far from them. They're inexpensive and the people manning the phones are very nice. All the same, I've read too many complaints of delayed pick-ups, drop-offs, and of cars damaged in transit.

GT4John

LOL. I think I'm OK. Check out this thread:
https://rennlist.com/forums/987-981-...n-the-end.html

:-)

schell

I have purchased 2 Cayman S cars long distance not many in my area, I have had good luck both times, I was very picky in my search both times only looked for one owner, under 15,000 miles but about 5 years old, full service history +PPI done, paid for car once I was able to see it, first on was a private seller , 2nd was a Porsche dealer that on had a CPO, paid about 1/2 of full new retail price for each one, both amazing cars.I love the hunt

Zach L

I've bought 2 cars that were across the country and did not see them until dropped off at my house.

I used Lemon Squad to have the car inspected ($120-160 and will pay for itself). They will create an online login and post more than 60 high-res photos and close-ups of every slight imperfection. They'll also test-drive the car, check all instruments/electronics, stereo, seats, etc. This is a great first step. The imperfections they find such as any small door-dings or interior scratches (that were not already disclosed) can be used to request price down further. I did this for my Audi which was over 2,100 miles away.

I have the cars shipped using uShip, which is an Austin-based company. Post a single picture of the car, pick start/end location, then let car shippers bid it down over 3-4 days. You can speak directly with the carriers using the uShip messaging system and payment is very secure. I didn't go with the absolute cheapest, but ones just a little higher. Shouldn't be more than $900 to ship a car completely across the country using an open trailer. If the car is over 10+ hours away, it usually makes sense to ship it rather than fly/drive.

For the Porsche I would absolutely require a PPI from a local, specialty Porsche service center. I prefer a local boutique shop over a dealership as you can often talk one-on-one and they will give more time to looking over the car. Most specialist shops will have all tools for a DME report, etc.

GT4John

Wow...thanks for that. That is great info.

John

Tom R.

Friend told me this a few days ago. He wants to buy a V50 wagon for his son. About 25k is his budget. I sent him a few I saw on Autotrader that I thought would be good. He wants the 5 cyl turbo they stopped a few years ago. There was one with 10k miles on it in Cali. Three or four year old car, looks good in pictures, at a Volvo dealer, CPO. Not a snow country car, clean Carfax, etc. Simple enough right?
Salesman tells him to look at the car, or have someone look at it. He goes on line and finds a guy who looks at cars. Will do it that day for $200. Arrangements made.
Inspector sends him a picture of coolant. seems there are some sort of flakes in it. No big deal, it's CPO, the dealer here will change the fluid.
Inspector tells him things don't add up. oxidation where there normally isn't, etc.
He told the salesman he was going to pass. Salesman says OK. That was the end of it. Salesman didn't try to find out why, work on fixing things like a coolant flush to get the deal done. Nothing.
I guess he dodged that bullet.

bkrantz

My son bought a 2 year old GTI cross country. He was very happy with Lemon Squad for independent PPI.

vracer

Same topic, but another question. I'm thinking about buying from an individual across the country. How can I be sure of getting proper title and the car after the money is in his bank acct. In the past I have found wire transfers are not quite fast enough to get money to seller after truck is loaded & driver "insures" seeing title. That's a lot of responsibility on the driver.

ruth

Zach L

Safest way - you can use some kind of escrow service... one that you both agree to. Some of the more elite auto shipping companies will offer an escrow service, but you can get them standalone.

An escrow service will have the money transferred into a holding account which neither buyer or seller can access. They escrow company will not release the money to the seller until you have proper agreed title/possession. If you Google, you can find companies that specialize in just the type of transaction you're pursuing.

All that said, most transactions go through on trust and most of them happen without issue.