Long distance vehicle buying

[BTHOtu]

Not hard. I’ve gotten guaranteed prices for cars as far away from me as NY and used it to strong arm a deal at home.

 

[outofyourmind]

@The Future Modal
what kind of car was it?

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Somebody has to know the answer to this:


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Makes no difference to me. I'll shit on it all the same.

 

[Ojb81]

I didnt go 2000 miles away, but my last 2 cars i bought from Chicago, which is about 4 hours from me. Used cars are pretty much sold as is anyways. I called on a Wednesday and told them which car I wanted and we haggled a bit then agreed on a price. I said I couldn't get there until Saturday. The first time they were fine reserving the car for me, the second time they made me put a $500 deposit down as good faith. I agreed as long as it was fully refundable if I came test drove it and didn't like it. Both times I went down there on the last Saturday of the month, and both times when I got there I haggled again and "best and finaled" them $1000 less than we had agreed upon. They had already took it out of their online listing and everything so both times they agreed on the new price. The second time I got even more devious and was pretty sure they would agree with me, so that morning I went and got a certified check for $1000 less than the best and final price that I had just agreed to. I acted surprised that it was the wrong amount and then shrugged my shoulders and said it was all I had. They refused to accept that, but I told them over and over it wad literally all I had. Finally when ghey were honestly ready to kick me out the door I asked if there was a western union around, that maybe I could get my parents to chip in and wire me $500. They actually agreed to that, so I pulled the $2000 cash out of my pocket and smiled as I counted out 500 for them. The sales guy got pissed off and left the room, but the manager of the place said people try and rip him off every day, but mine was a first for him, so he bought us a pizza.

It actually was super easy to do, and I used the distance to help me negotiate. If the dealer would have been even a little smarter though he would have realized I wasn't going all the way diiwn there without enough money to actually buy a car.

What's dumbass salesperson. I'd have told you to take a hike

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Hypothetical: You are searching for a particular used vehicle that's been hard to find locally, and you finally find one but it's 2,000 miles away.

How hard is it to facilitate the purchase in such a scenario? Any tips or tricks to make the process easier?

I bought a car online...seemingly an easy color combination turned out to be very difficult to find locally.

Difficulty...not any more so than buying locally. Most dealers that actively market online now have personnel geared up for such transactions. I had a salesperson the entire way, providing extra pics, writing the sale up, arranging courier services for the paperwork, all the way to confirming the transport pickup.

So...if the dealer has a good rep for online transactions...you should be fine.

Tips.

Buy cash or have your own financing arranged before you start shopping...keep in mind, dealers make extra money on financing so they will make a pitch and if it's better than what you already have they will have earned that pc of the biz...you might not get their best deal if you don't already have something for them to compete against.

Online...I would stick to CPO cars with some factory warranty left.

Transport...to get a firm pickup date, delivery date, with a firm price in writing you pay a big premium. Understand you're working with a "broker" when dealing with the transport company....the drivers are mostly independent contractors as well...they are most likely not going to make the 2000 mi trek with only 1 or 2 cars unless you catch a driver returning from that area empty. The point here, it could take a couple of weeks to get the car via transport and that's pretty standard language with their lowest price, 5 to 7 days is pretty much the norm.

I thought about getting a ticket and flying down to MIA to drive the car back to ATL, but transport was only $220 plus $20 tip and I got it 3 days after the transaction...wife was thrilled, all has been well.

 

[wood20ks]

I`m from Il and a co-worker bought a 69 Camaro off Auto-trader that was in Texas..........instaed of haggling with the price,my buddy said he will give him what the guy wanted for the price of the car as long as he put it on a trailer and met him halfway.......I think they met somewhere in Mo......

He brought his own trailer to cause he didn`t want the miles put on the car.

 

[pistlpete]

Saw the car that's in my avatar on Craigslist. I live north of Seattle and the car was near Los Angeles. Car had won best in class at Pomona during the mid 2000's. He belonged to an Monte Carlo SS website and the members vouched for him. Flew down to LA, he picked me up gave him the cash and drove home to Seattle. Had it now 10 years and no regrets.

 

[DHoey]

I bought a truck that was 350mi away but I had a good buddy check it out and drive it for me. The seller offered to drive it over for me so I offered to buy his plane ticket back.

It worked out really well but I was also younger and naive and 8 could have gotten royally screwed. I paid 30k for the truck and still have it today.

 

[redseat]

Go to a dealership, tell them what you want and let them worry about getting the vehicle to you.

My parents went to a dealership in Mass.... They didn't have it and they had one in NY... So the dealership had a guy pick it up and drive it back to Mass

 

[The Future Modal]

@The Future Modal
what kind of car was it?

There's two actually - one is an '02 Monte Carlo SS w/ 54,000 miles at a dealer, the other is a '97 Riviera with 45,000 miles from a private seller. Both are one owner vehicles and had plenty of nice pics, but my main concern is rust underneath being that they are both from the East Coast.

I've done the 3rd party inspection thing via The Lemon Squad before so that's not an issue. It's just the hassle of getting it from there to here that makes me want to throw up my hands and say screw it.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

would you rather stick your head up a bull's ass to see what's for dinner or just trust your butcher?


better lawyer up.

 

[Edonidd]

Cost to Ship a Car | uShip

There are a bunch of places that will give you free quote online to ship it. This has actual price paid by other people recently. But seems to be higher than some of the estimated quotes I got when looking into it.

One place quoted me $600 for an open transport from Miami area to Grand Rapids area, when it was conveniently available on one of their trucks. They said that was usually between 1-7 days of ordering. Obviously no guarantees. Closed transport or rush delivery were more $.

 

[redseat]

Cost to Ship a Car | uShip

There are a bunch of places that will give you free quote online to ship it. This has actual price paid by other people recently. But seems to be higher than some of the estimated quotes I got when looking into it.

One place quoted me $600 for an open transport from Miami area to Grand Rapids area, when it was conveniently available on one of their trucks. They said that was usually between 1-7 days of ordering. Obviously no guarantees. Closed transport or rush delivery were more $.

ever see the show "Shipping Wars?"

 

[Edonidd]

Nope. Is it a dire indictment against the whole industry? Or similar to that tow truck/repo show with the ridiculous rednecks with mullets?

 

[Bullitt08]

Do it all the time and have had zero problems. Usually the cars I buy are a little unusual and not available locally.

Last year I bought a Porsche Spyder Anniversary. There are only 486 in the US. I was buying to replace the MX5 MazdaSpeed, one of 2,000) that got totaled in a hail storm. My brother pulled his usual magic of finding rare cars at good prices.

When he found it I called the people, put down a deposit and flew to Dallas a couple of weeks later when they had the title in hand. Drove it home.

I had bought the car in my avatar a couple of weeks before. Mustang Bullitt #5122. Luckily it was in the small town where I live and the guy brought it to me.

But I am able to do a vehicle inspection. Plus when you buy limited editions people usually drive them less and take better care of them. If you are not mechanically inclined find a local shop that will do the inspection. You can find unusual cars and/or a good deal by travelling. One of my not unusual cars I save over $6,000 by buying from a dealer in TX.