Buying A Used Vehicle From Far Away

[longislandcampe]

I'm currently looking for a gently used vehicle but I don't want to buy local. I live on Long Island so we get a double whammy on our cars. No matter where you are on Long Island you are never more than 8 miles away from saltwater. Couple that with the salt that gets laid down on the roads when it snows and you've got a surefire recipe for rust on your vehicles. Throw in the resulting potholes and stop and go traffic too. lol

So I've taken to the internet for my vehicle purchase and am zeroing in on southern and western states which are better on vehicles. I am most likely not going to be able to inspect the vehicle in person simply due to distance. Sure, I'm a little nervous about the process but I"m sure people have been buying cars like this for years and having them shipped to their house without ever seeing the car in person before.

So how does this work? How do I go about getting the car checked out by an independent mechanic before I commit to buying and then having the car shipped hundreds of miles to me? I'm only interested in buying through a dealer. I'm sure the dealer would be more than willing to take some better pics and video of the vehicle and sending them to me but that won't be enough. What are my options?

[falconbrother]

cm11599ps wrote:
Even though this is a new car dealer who happens to be selling a uses car, I'd still like to get an indpendant inspection done. Any suggestions for the North CArolina area?

Where in NC?

[longislandcampe]

Jacksonville. I've already contacted AIM, Car Chex and NIS mobile inspection services for more information.

[riven1950]

where in NC

[longislandcampe]

Even though this is a new car dealer who happens to be selling a uses car, I'd still like to get an indpendant inspection done. Any suggestions for the North CArolina area?

[falconbrother]

That sounds like a reasonably safe deal.

[longislandcampe]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone. The vehicle I'm looking at is very specific and there's only 1 in my area so that's another reason for my long distance search. It's not something I need, it's something I want for a toy. 🙂

I've actually found quite a few of these cars I'm interested in from all over the country. I am completely bypassing private sales, craigs list and used car centers. I am only sticking with reputable new car dealers who happen to sell used cars. The dealership I'm currently negotiating with the most used to sell this vehicle although this particular vehicle wasn't purchased there.

Carfax looks good. It's a 10 year old car with 2 previous owners. The first 8 years show regular maintenance and only 22,000 miles which means this was most likely a pleasure car with less than 3,000 miles driven yearly. Second owner must have used it for a daily driver because they put just over 30,000 miles on it in about 26 months. Currently, the car still has well under 60,000 miles and all the maintenance and title records indicate the car stayed in more or less the same general area throughout it's life which happens to be an area that gets very little snow.

[zcookiemonstar]

I live in the Chicago area and I can understand the whole rust/salt thing. Last spring I found a used truck in Phoenix AZ. After checking the Carfax history and looking at a lot of pics I made a deal over the phone and gave the dealer $500 via credit card to hold the truck till I got there to look at it. The dealer as willing to refund the $500 if the truck was not what we discussed. We also had family in the area so it would not have been a complete wasted trip. I was so amazed by how clean the truck as in NO rust anywhere that I over looked a lot of little things that needed repair. I am still good with my purchase because I would rather do mechanical repairs then deal with rust and day. I have seen 5 year old trucks with more rust then my 2003. Just make sure if you buy a warranty that you can use it in your area.

[mich800]

dapperdan wrote:
My nephew just fell victim to a long distance fraud deal. He found a '15 RAM 1500 pick up on Detroit's CL (he lives the the Milwaukee WI area) for a "great" price. After texting AND talking to the "owner" they agreed to meet in Chicago and make the deal. My nephew came with cash, the "owner" had the title, and a receipt for the pay off from Chrysler Credit. My nephew asked to see the "owners" ID and he called Chrysler Credit to have the lean payoff verified. The "owners" ID checked out with the info on the title and after the confirmation my nephew test drove the vehicle. All was good at this point so he handed over the cash and was given the title.

My nephew drove back to Milwaukee and promptly titled the vehicle in Wisconsin. This deal took place in early December. Fast forward to about January 20th. He gets a knock on the door from the local law enforcement agency, his "new" truck has been reported stolen in Michigan and they have to impound it!! Of course he's SHOCKED and can't believe it! He's put in touch with the authorities in Michigan and is informed that the REAL owner of the 2015 RAM pick up had been "scammed" by a frauder with a phony bank check! The "real" owner doesn't find this out for a couple of weeks supposedly and alerts the authorities and his insurance company. Michigan tracks the truck back to my nephew and has it impounded, three or four days later it's transported back to Michigan, in the mean time my nephew contacts the local FBI here in Milwaukee and gets them going on the case. So far the authorities here and in Michigan haven't any answers for my nephew. He was told early on the chances of him recovering his 20k is slim to none!

The amazing thing to me is even though my nephew checked the guy's ID at the time of the deal and it matched the address and name on the title AND called and had verification that the loan was paid off he gets "stung" because the "real" owner accepted a phony bank check AND he's got his "stolen" RAM back!!! To top it all off the authorities said he "did everything right" checking the seller out but (they) can't do much to find this scammer. A VERY expensive lesson!!

Dan

There are a few weird things in this transaction. The biggest one is why would he part with his cash and not payoff the lien holder? This alone would prevent clear title. And if in fact he did pay Chrysler then at the very least has a claim against the original owner for unjust enrichment. There seems to be much more to this story.

[falconbrother]

dapperdan wrote:
My nephew just fell victim to a long distance fraud deal. He found a '15 RAM 1500 pick up on Detroit's CL (he lives the the Milwaukee WI area) for a "great" price. After texting AND talking to the "owner" they agreed to meet in Chicago and make the deal. My nephew came with cash, the "owner" had the title, and a receipt for the pay off from Chrysler Credit. My nephew asked to see the "owners" ID and he called Chrysler Credit to have the lean payoff verified. The "owners" ID checked out with the info on the title and after the confirmation my nephew test drove the vehicle. All was good at this point so he handed over the cash and was given the title.

My nephew drove back to Milwaukee and promptly titled the vehicle in Wisconsin. This deal took place in early December. Fast forward to about January 20th. He gets a knock on the door from the local law enforcement agency, his "new" truck has been reported stolen in Michigan and they have to impound it!! Of course he's SHOCKED and can't believe it! He's put in touch with the authorities in Michigan and is informed that the REAL owner of the 2015 RAM pick up had been "scammed" by a frauder with a phony bank check! The "real" owner doesn't find this out for a couple of weeks supposedly and alerts the authorities and his insurance company. Michigan tracks the truck back to my nephew and has it impounded, three or four days later it's transported back to Michigan, in the mean time my nephew contacts the local FBI here in Milwaukee and gets them going on the case. So far the authorities here and in Michigan haven't any answers for my nephew. He was told early on the chances of him recovering his 20k is slim to none!

The amazing thing to me is even though my nephew checked the guy's ID at the time of the deal and it matched the address and name on the title AND called and had verification that the loan was paid off he gets "stung" because the "real" owner accepted a phony bank check AND he's got his "stolen" RAM back!!! To top it all off the authorities said he "did everything right" checking the seller out but (they) can't do much to find this scammer. A VERY expensive lesson!!

Dan

I saw these kinds of cases on Craigslist, etc.. all the time. Personally, I would be very wary of any purchase of a car on Craigslist. If I'm buying on line I would feel better, even pay a few extra dollars, to buy from a dealer of some kind. Doesn't have to be a brand name dealership but, I want to know that the seller is legit and the chance of the car being a fraud is extremely minimal.

I have a buddy that says "In life you have to pay the aggravation fee." What he means is be judicious where you try to save a buck. You can easily spend a dollar to save a dime.

[Grit_dog]

moresmoke wrote:
Forgot to mention in my previous post, make sure to check a vehicle's registration history. I have seen several vehicles in the south that were northern transplants.

Heck my wife traded cars a couple months ago, the dealer openly stated that her trade in was headed to Arizona. It was nicely coated in salt when I turned it in.

I know, I sold some dude a truck in Albuqueruqe who was headed back to MN and wanted a southern vehicle. Was only 5 years old, but looked so awesome because I'd just repainted it (and did a killer job wet sanding and polishing. It was probably better than a sun baked car anyway) due to peeling clear coat and rust bubbles around the fender flares, compliments of IL salt trucks.

[Grit_dog]

Dapperdan, sounds like a mess, but has nothing to do with a long distance purchase. More of a private party vs licensed business deal.
And how could the scammer have a "Chrysler credit" payoff for a truck he only had a short time and bought used?
Also the vin should have been flagged as stolen already by the original owner that got scammed.
More to the story it seems, but interesting to find out the details so it doesn't happen to others.

[moresmoke]

Forgot to mention in my previous post, make sure to check a vehicle's registration history. I have seen several vehicles in the south that were northern transplants.

Heck my wife traded cars a couple months ago, the dealer openly stated that her trade in was headed to Arizona. It was nicely coated in salt when I turned it in.

[mich800]

riven1950 wrote:
. The reverse, I bought a garage kept low mileage hard top convertible on Long Island off EBAY.

I was thinking the same thing. The OP states gently used. I sure wouldn't exclude the local market in the search. Nothing wrong with broadening the search but there may very well be the perfect vehicle and condition right in their back yard.

[Sam_Spade]

drsteve wrote:

Think again. Here in MI there are plenty of ten year old vehicles with major amounts of rust from the road salt. Unless you store it all winter, it's going to get destroyed.

I don't need to "think again". I lived almost 50 years in Central Illinois and Iowa so I'm not just guessing about this.

How many 10 year old cars do you see running around WITHOUT major amounts of rust ?? Thousands....millions.....???

People who don't care can ruin about anything......and if you don't wash off the salt occasionally it will rust faster.
BUT.....that doesn't guarantee that ALL vehicles in that area will be a bucket of rust. Maybe they were seldom driven in the winter.

Except for a Pinto, a VW Beetle and a VW Bus back in the '70s, I have NEVER had a vehicle with "major amounts of rust" when I traded them off at near to 10 years old. NEVER.