OT - Purchasing a car remotely - how to finalize transaction after PPI?
 

Hi 993 Rennlisters -

I am seeking your collective wisdom.

I may soon (as long as the stars align) purchase a car which is currently located on the other side of the country (on the East Coast --- I am on the West Coast).

The CarFax came back clean and the photos all look great. I also had the car PPI-ed by a noted local expert on my dime --- with a very good bill of health.

Note that I do not know the PPI shop personally ---- I did speak with the PPI shop twice, at length, over the phone and I do have a level of comfort with them that they know very much what they are doing. The PPI shop is E-N-I Motorsports in Brookfield, CT if anyone is nearby and wishes to PM me about E-N-I.

The seller is a business owner in CT ---- and that business serves the local motorsports clientele (with a focus on BMWs). That business has a strong yelp/local reputation. Just to be clear, the seller is the business owner ---- not the business itself.

I have spoken with the seller on the phone a half dozen times and traded many emails and text messages. At the same time, the seller is an active and respected member of the Internet Forum which serves that car's make/model .... so the seller has a public footprint and I would guess most likely he wishes not to tarnish that public reputation on the interwebz.

My question is this ---- How do I finalize the transaction without showing up in person?

One idea I had is possibly to ask E-N-I to serve as an intermediary (and have E-N-I perform some light service work before the car goes on a transporter.) But that means I need to place the burden of trust then on the intermediary --- who is also, like the seller, a stranger to me. Another way is to use a service like escrow.com.

At the end of the day, this is my first rodeo buying a car sight unseen, so I'm really looking for advice on how best to handle the wire transfer / storage of car until the transporter arrives, etc.

Many Many thanks. Perhaps soon I will be one step closer to achieving Nurburger 1980s/90s German car awesomeness status. :-) :-)

Leave car at shop for minor service with understanding that car will be released to you once payment is made. Ask seller for copy of title, registration and license. Insure car immediately and once payment is made have seller overnight title, extra keys, books and original records. I've done it many times without issue. Alternative is to have an east coast friend or associate hand deliver certified check at said shop. Lastly fly out and drive home if time permits.

Speedsport Tuning is very close by in Danbury. Spencer Cox has a great reputation. Have not heard of the other shop you mentioned.

Buying a car you have never seen up close or driven yourself is outside the envelope I would consider for an expenditure like a 20 year old sports car. Hope it turns out well for you. Be aware a PPI does not catch everything so don't be surprised if one or two expensive preexisting conditions come to light shortly after you purchase the car. Things like a clutch or a leaking steering rack.
I truly hope you are lucky on this as we all know "it's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart"

I have bought cars sight unseen, but have always taken delivery in person. My suggestion is to make a flight out to CT, complete the transaction in person. If you don't have the time or faith in the car to drive back to the west coast, pre-arrange for transport and ship the car yourself.

Buying such a moderate/high $$$$ item, it would be best to hop on a plane and look & drive the car for yourself to make sure it suits you.

Then you can walk into the bank with the seller and get the title & keys in your hand.

From there on...you may even want to take a week to drive across the country and REALLY enjoy yourself, or leave the car at the shop to make appropriate shipment arrangement.

If you fly in with your wife/son/best buddy, the drive home will be even more epic.

Thanks --- Question on this technique -- so would the following be the exact sequence as follows?

(1) Seller drops car off at shop for light service
(2) Upon shop confirmation of receipt of car, I wire the $ to the seller
(3) Seller fedexes me the title, books, all keys - 1, and documentation
(4) Shop completes the light service
(5) I pay the shop by credit card
(6) Shop then releases the car to the transporter for pickup?


Yeah thanks --- a first rodeo for me. The shop is a big expert in not just that brand but that exact model --- I'm sure there will be some things missed but hopeful they they will not be totally obvious things like "the motor is gone". :-)

Alas, I have plenty of airline miles to make the airplane trip for free and make any hotels free. Unfortunately yes- what do they say ---- time is the most valuable thing in the world for me these days. *sigh*

I will say though that my daughter has now entered a phase where I can tell she will be total car nut. She made me a model of this car last week with construction paper, glue, and tape, as a surprise gift, by researching pictures on google image search. I hope to make many future epic road trips in the future with her in this.

If you need any local help, I'm close by.

deleted --- going to send private message instead.

Get on a plane and SEE AND DRIVE THE CAR!!!! Trust me! Worth the $$$ on such a high priced item!

I would fly out to see the car in person. I was looking at a 912 from a reputable person as well a few years back. Thought to myself he wouldn't sell me a junker. I was getting ready to plan my trip but the PPI had flushed out many items that needed to be addressed. Luckily I didn't purchase a plane ticket yet.
But, if the PPI was good I would have still flown out to see it in person. It would be hard to buy sight unseen for me at least.

I purchased my 993 out of state. Inspected an emailed copy of the title to make sure it was in the state of the owners residency otherwise it may not transfer. I also had the local Porsche Dealer do a PPI, was of limited value.

• I opened a checking account over the phone at the local bank of its owner.
• I transferred by EFT the purchase price to that, my, new checking account.
• I flew out and test drove the car - good to go
• We walked into the local bank and transferred the selling price from my checking account to his and he signed the title over to me.
• I called my insurance company and added to my policy and drove home - the PO lent me plates/not strictly legal but I had the title in hand if I got stopped.
• You will need to transfer the title in the seller's state to get a temp tag to drive it home.
• If you ship it home not an issue.

I bought my 993 from CT. Work was done at speedsport tuning after the PPI there.
The car never left speedsport back to the seller. We split the bill for the work done, then I fedex'd a certified check, he sent me the title etc. Shipper picked the car up directly from speedsport.

remote purchase
 

This seller should review the recent post and responses now just below his that discuss a distant buyer who purchased a pricey C4S from a Porsche Classic Dealer in Colorado, and the aftermath- w/o having seen the car.

Correction above
 

"Seller" should of course be "buyer".