Buying a car long distance

[Lyndon S.]

Has anyone he bought a car that was over a thousands miles from them? Sort of like buying one on EBay except from a individual from just photos and the sellers description of the car. I would like some recommendations on how to go about doing this from some of you guys that have really bought cars like this. Also any shippers that you would recommend to use for transporting the car to me..
I will add that it is a NCRS members car. Hopefully should be some honor among ourselves.

[Bob H.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

too many horror stories!!. If you really want to pursue a particular car, go see it for yourself. If you simply can't then hire a knowledgable person to check it out.

There are simply too many issues that can be glossed over with photos and a slick talker. A friend recently bought what was thought to be a nice car with free delivery. Paid for it in advance and it was dumped at a shopping center where he was told to pick it up. It was nothing like it was described PLUS it had a salvage title.

Proceed with caution.

[Frank C.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I bought my 1966 C2 in LA California while stationed at Ft Bennining, GA in 2005. For me it culminated an 18 month search that for me involved hours of research and watching many sources of adds. I looked at many cars online, and locally. I looked mainly at Ebay and Hemmings.

I also joined NCRS during this period, sought advice, and tried to learn as much as possible. I also narrowed my focus for a Corvette from looking at all C2s, to the year 1966, a range of specific colors, options, and expectations of originality and documentation.

During the time I was looking, I seriously considered 3 cars. In two cases I paid for an appraiser to go look at the car, take pictures, and report condition, originality, etc... The last car I looked at before I finally found the one I have now I bid and won on ebay. the car was located on Long Island, NY and I flew there from GA to veiw the car prior to making final payment arrangements.

When I veiwed the car in person, I also coordinated to have a local NCRS member meet me with the car owner and do a final inspection. The car had a restamped pad, rust issues etc.... I walked away.

The car I bought was advertised on Hemmings, in LA, CA and after hearing the description, the options, etc, I flew to CA inspected the car myself, bought the car and arranged to have it shipped to me. The car I bought was recently pulled from longtime storage, not perfect or pretty so I had the car shipped by open transport. With out going into a lot of detail the shipping experience taught me alot, and for cars I have shipped following this first Corvette, I do alot of research first. If you buy a car in excellent condition, I would choose a shipper w/experience and references.

I bought my car long distance, and am very satisfied with the outcome. I would recommend for any long distance purchase to have at least an inspection done by an inspecter with corvette experience and good references. If possible, inspect any car you want to buy in person. Also, try to have an NCRS member assist you if possible. A second unbiased opinon might be useful. For me, I learned quite a bit over time during the 18 months before purchasing my car. I had great support and help from NCRS members, and by the time I finally made my purchase, I was confident in my decision.

Be patient, and keep "Buyer Beware" in mind. Good luck with your search for a new car!

Frank

[Pete B.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

My experiance is very similar to Franks. Flew from Arizona to Fla ect. No need to go into the details though. After it was all said and done I am pleased. However, what i discovered is if you wait long enough and can open your band width, theres probably a car within 100 miles... it just may not be for sale yet. (right after i got mine off the truck, there was a better car at a lower price, advertised on Craigs list FIVE miles away!)
Live and learn

[Clark K.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Three years ago, I was finally in the market for a C2. I found three online, that fit my criteria. Two were offered by dealers and one was offered by a private owner. An interesting fact is that I had never before bought a used vehicle...this was the first time.

Of those three Sting Rays, the car I finally decided to buy, the rarest car in #1 condition, was offered by ProTeam Corvette Sales in Napoleon, Ohio. Since the company and it's owner, Terry Michaelis, is well-known, I trusted the website description of the car. I weighed the option of flying myself and my mechanic to Ohio, renting a car, booking two motel rooms, etc. with the $1,000 cost to have the car shipped by enclosed transport, to my home in North Texas. ProTeam offered a 48 hour 25 mile inspection guarantee that saved me time and money.

Once the car was off the trailer and I turned the key and heard that legendary solid-lifter L76 engine gloriously thundering through the side pipes, I fell in love! I found that the written description of the car, with the numerous photos, on the ProTeam website were completely accurate to the condition of the car when it was delivered. No surprises, cosmetically. The car, being low mileage, suffered from the usual storage maladies: gummed up carb, hard suspension bushings, etc. but nothing that would make me want to send the car back to ProTeam. I would recommend ProTeam to anyone looking for a vintage Corvette.

In regard to shipping, ask the seller who he uses. ProTeam had an excellent small company that they used to ship me my car.

I would recommend that you never buy a used car, much less an expensive Corvette, from a private owner, or a dealer other than ProTeam, without a personal inspection of the prospective car in the company of your chosen mechanic.
-Clark

[Thomas H.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I bought my C3 without seeing it in person. I am in PA and the car was in MI. I was able to locate a guy to inspect the car for me. He sent me a 4 page written evaluation and followed it up with a phone call to go over his findings. With this info inhand I was comfortable enough to go ahead with the purchase. The car arrived a week later and was exactly as described. Paying the inspector was money well spent.

Tom

[Michael J.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I too have bought many cars sight unseen (no eBay or Craigs List however), with mixed results. The ones I have bought from reputable dealers I have done business with before usually turned out fine, but most all of them had some undisclosed issues I wish I had had time to look at before buying. This includes ProTeam, you have to ask the right questions to get real answers from them. I would agree a second set of experienced eyes is invaluable if you can't go yourself.

As for transport, I highly recommend PassPort, they have always done a great job with all mine over the last 3 years.

[Tom P.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

too many horror stories!!. If you really want to pursue a particular car, go see it for yourself. If you simply can't then hire a knowledgable person to check it out.

There are simply too many issues that can be glossed over with photos and a slick talker. A friend recently bought what was thought to be a nice car with free delivery. Paid for it in advance and it was dumped at a shopping center where he was told to pick it up. It was nothing like it was described PLUS it had a salvage title.

Proceed with caution.

I must agree with Bob 110%!!!
I bought a 70 Chevelle convertible long distance. We exchanged emails, I got many pictures and we talked on the phone a few times.
But I still drove the distance (with my cousin) to see/examine the car in person. I spent 10min looking at the car (because it was so correctly described) and said I'd take it. Drove it home on the Interstate and it never missed a beat. It was a good experience with a happy ending, but it confirmed to me that the ONLY way is to FIND a way to go see the car in person.
I did the same with the 56 Vette. I concluded that it was NOT worth the $3000 I paid for it-------------but I bought it anyway!

[Paul J.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Of those three Sting Rays, the car I finally decided to buy, the rarest car in #1 condition, was offered by ProTeam Corvette Sales in Napoleon, Ohio. Since the company and it's owner, Terry Michaelis, is well-known, I trusted the website description of the car.

I found that the written description of the car, with the numerous photos, on the ProTeam website were completely accurate to the condition of the car when it was delivered. No surprises, cosmetically.... I would recommend ProTeam to anyone looking for a vintage Corvette.
-Clark

Lyndon, Stewy Allison from Australia had a very different experience with ProTeam. He's on the other web site if you want to contact him.

Paul

[Michael J.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Lyndon, Stewy Allison from Australia had a very different experience with ProTeam. He's on the other web site if you want to contact him.

Paul

I also had a bit different experience with ProTeam, again, like I said earlier, you have to ask the questions the right way and all of them to get a clear answer. In the end the car was fine, I just had lots of work to do on it

[Nick B.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I just bought my 96 collecter edition this past Memorial day weekend in Fla. and I live in NH.You MUST either go look yourself or hire someone with the right credentials!!I flew in to Fla.with a family member,.the owner picked us up at the airport,took us to his house, fell in love,drove it 1500+ miles home on a temp.Fla tag without skipping a beat in 90+ degrees stopping only for fuel,food and you know whats.The kicker to the story is that I didn't get the title for a few days cause it was at the bank!!Luckily in NH. you don't need one if the car is 15 or more years old,But I didn't get much sleep for those nights waiting for it!!I think you can get a feeling of a person GOOD or BAD.Do you agree???More advise would be to carefully check everything if your gonna drive it home ie:spare tire,locking lug nut wrench,jack,etc.just in case.I did when I got home!!! Spare was flat,no lock wrench!!I must have had a horseshoe up my butt,or my wife's luck of the Irish with me!!

[John M.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I've never bought a car without seeing it and never bought anything from Proteam but... I had a nice 66 for sale in the driveline in 2002 and sold it to a guy who became a good friend. A couple of months after the sale I got a call from a guy in Texas asking about the car, Sorry it's sold. He then told me his Proteam story. He bought a car from them sight unseen with a guarantee to take it back if he didn't like it. He took it to his machanic and the guy told him to get rid of it, it won't pass inspection, rotted out frame, so he sent it back. It cost him $2000 to do this cute deal in 2002.
My sale was as a private seller. Have since bought 4 cars, all from private sellers and looked at them all before buying. Sight unseen is too risky. Inspection is a must, by yourself if you can.

[William P.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

I also flew a long way to buy a corvette from a dealer in NY. I knew when I stepped out of the cab and could see the car sitting across the street that it was not what it was represented to be .
Long story short, I had a very expensive lunch in Hastings On The Hudson, NY. I then had a $60.00 cab ride back to Laguardia and had to pay up for a last minute flight back to Toronto .
My old dad always said that if a dealer's lips are moving he is probably not telling the truth .
It is usually what you don't ask that ends up getting you !
Bill

[Bruce B.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

My experience in both buying and selling (yes on Ebay) has been good, BUT you have to go look at the vehicle you are buying.
In most cases while buying I have found that sellers are sometimes not familiar what they are selling. So if you personally inspect a vehicle you can make your own decisions and also make adjustments on the price if necessary. I always speak with the seller and make a verbal agreement that if the car is misrepresented the deposit is refunded.

Seeing is believing.

[Dennis B.]

Re: Buying a car long distance

Has anyone he bought a car that was over a thousands miles from them? Sort of like buying one on EBay except from a individual from just photos and the sellers description of the car. I would like some recommendations on how to go about doing this from some of you guys that have really bought cars like this. Also any shippers that you would recommend to use for transporting the car to me..
I will add that it is a NCRS members car. Hopefully should be some honor among ourselves.

I purchased a Car in Arizona while in Canada(2800miles). I have medical issues and cannot walk far. So the trip would have killed me.
I had a restoration shop inspect the car thoroughly. I paid them, then I scheduled a second inspection from a second restoration shop and never told the first one, or second one what I was doing. I then compared the results.

Both shops restore old Corvettes, so both were qualified to do the inspection.
I knew exactly what I was getting before I got it. One thing you should be aware of. The term "hit" a car can be hit in three different ways.
1) fiberglass cracks thats all
2) fiberglass cracks and alignment is affected and can be easily fixed
3) fiberglass, alignment and frames can be affected and not easily fixed.

The car I bought had 2 hits on it. One was a parking lot strike on the outside edge of the drivers side rear bumper and it punched into the fiberglass.
The second was a crease in the front left fender. Which may have resulted from the same parking lot "hit".

I personally do not call these hits. If the fender had been replaced no one would be the wiser. Seeing a bit of fiberglass build up on the inside of the fender tells me it was a small hit.

Restoration shops can be very good, if you itemize things like "how do the doors fit", rubber seals? Is the car water tight, run a hose over it and see if you have hidden leaks? Have them photograph the entire car topside and underside of the frame. have them point to any flaws in the car when its being photographed. Have them use a "carpenters squarer" at each cross member and photograph it. (thats more for you to know they checked all the cross members, and not just say they checked the cross members)
Some companies have lazer equipment, like my restoration company had. They put a lazer on one corner of the frame and measure precise distances to each corner of the frame to determine "squareness". They check for out of the normal welds to see if the car had been "#3" hit.

-Have the restoration company take it for a drive to see if there are rattles that should not be there, and if they are, where are they?
-Have them closely inspect the tires. Tire wear can give away a lot issues with cars.
-Wheel Bearings have them checked to see if they are bad, or need repacking.
-Have them look at and photograph the car from a distance. Does it slouch one way or the other? If so, is it just the bolt on the spring that needs to be tightened or does it have a flat shock? Is the car straight? Does it sit right?
Have the car filled with gas by the seller. Is there a smell of gas when its being inspected? If so have them find and fix the leak before you buy it.
Look for oil spills from anywhere, where did they come from?
Lift the carpets and check the glass on the floor and remove the spare tire to check the underside of the frame near the gas tank.

Have them do "form, fit and function" tests.
Do things fit, do they conform to what it should look like? and do they function? Is their wear, if so is it important, on steering it is, on the passenger seat, not so much

Do this with 2 resto shops and tell them upfront , that you think there is something wrong with the car but you are not sure what it is. Tell them a friend had it for a drive and it did not "feel right". Its a total lie but they will then approach the car as if there is something wrong, as opposed to "being in the state of mind of what a nice vette" and they are looking to confirm that in their own mind. If they go in with that mind set, they will miss something. have them suspect that the pretty car has something "hiding"!

Watch for handiman mods, a guy that "just puts in a radio" may have hacked up your wiring harness. He also may have grounded something he shouldn't have, and your battery poops out all the time, or screws up the alternator. So have them check any mods.

Lastly, sort out what you will accept as a "hit" as mentioned above. I have no issues with a car that was in a parking lot "hit" if its 40 years old.
I would prefer to see the wounds, then have things look "too perfect".

That said, I had a great experience. Some may not, but if you pay to have things done, you have someone to hold liable, for a poor inspection. Having 2 companies do it, really really works, because you can then return the car to the first compan,y to see if the second company, really found something or not. If the seller won't do the running around, don't buy the car.

My 02c worth