58VetteBoy

I came across a C4 Coupe last fall after browsing online for awhile. However, at the time I was pretty dead set on a particular color combination. Within the past few months I had thought about it again and came across it for sale again a few days ago. I live in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the the car is about 3 hours away from me. It's in immaculate condition and is almost spot on as far as the color/options I'm looking for.

I owned a 1984 in 2005 but I bought that site unseen. I originally saw it in the Indiana Auto Trader and then a few days later it appeared on Ebay. I called the guy over the phone and two days later they drove it up from Indy to Fort Wayne. I pretty much knew it was not a cream puff but was surprised to see a few "defects" that were not showed in pictures. A few years ago I found the exact car I was looking for about 45 minutes away which had 32k miles on it and was very cheaply priced. They had few pictures of it online and described it as being in good condition when I spoke with the owner on the phone. Well I went to go see it in person and from 20 feet away I could tell I was not interested in it. Luckily it was only a 45 minute drive.

This car is at least 3 hours away. I've asked for very specific pictures and have been very well pleased with what has been sent and described to me. It also has pretty much every option that I'm looking for on it as listed on the RPO sheet. Miles are very low.

Has anyone had an experience with buying a Corvette that was a decent distance away from them?

JimLentz

Yes, I purchased a 1992 Corvette a couple states away, 240 miles. I asked lots of questions and had him take very specific pictures. It turned out well and I purchased the car after I saw and drove it. You might be able to get someone local to the car on this forum to look at it for you.

CorvetteRules

Be very careful about site unseen purchases even if the seller seems to have all the right answers. As you have already found out, many times a long distance On craigslist here I've been noticing a few on sale that closer inspection shows that the pictures in the ad were old. The latest one had pictures that were taken in 2010. The text of ad says it hasn't been run in a number of years but doesn't say anything about current condition. So although the pictures look great a buyer would have to do a lot of questioning of seller to better determine if worth price.

arbee

Don't know why you would even consider buying from pictures. It's 3 hours there, 3 hours back. 1.5 hours to check the car and a 15 minute break each direction. 8 hours total - same as a days work. Should be able to do that with your eyes closed.

ChumpVette

Flew 5 hours and drove it home. Seller described it accurately and no issues with the car. Just made sure I had a return flight in case it went sour.

cv67

3 hours Id drive for.....9 out of 10 cars I looked at were way worse than described, you almost have to expect it. Its usually the one you dont look at cause youre fed up that gets bought.
Wound up buying a 1 ton in a color I didnt like as all the others Id seen were a complete waste of time, price was right too! People are generally full of it.

Motleyfan

Cruisinartvette.... please check your PM's.

FAUEE

Al.ost all my cars come from 3+ hours away.

In general, if the car is priced aggressively and that's why you like it, you will be disappointed. If its priced fair to high, you will likely be satisfied

aklim

Depends. I bought it "sight unseen" about a 12 hour drive away. Brought the truck and picked up a trailer there. Towed it back. Didn't bother to bring much since I didn't want to do a PDI there. Of course the seller knew that I would be doing a PDI including a compression test and if it wasn't what he said, I'd drive home without the car or trailer.

383vett

What's 3 hours?

Tom400CFI

^This. How long will you own the car for (if you like it/buy it)? So...compared to that, what's the time investment to travel to it? It's basically nothing.

I live in UT....I bought a boat in Indiana 19 yeas ago...still have it. Bought a CTS-V for my wife in Seattle 10 years ago, just sold it a couple months ago. Long distance purchases can be totally worth it.

GTs 58

Back in 1998 after a year of searching I came across a Corvette that appeared to be what I wanted. It was on AutoTrader.com. I live in Arizona and the Corvette was in Alabama. After talking to the good ole boy quite a few times having him answer all my questions and having him send more of his crappy pictures, I told him I'll head over and buy it since I thought the price seem right. Got two round trip plane tickets, return tickets just in case, lined up a truck and car hauler with U-haul and then my Son and I flew to Atlanta on Saturday. Rented a car at the airport and then drove to Anniston. As we pulled into the sellers high end subdivision I was pretty pumped when I first caught a glimpse of the car sitting in the driveway. But the closer we got my smile turned to an "oh ****!" face. Checked the car out, drove it around the block and then told the seller I'll have to think about it overnight. He lied to me about the true condition and history of the car and never had a picture or mentioned all the butchered up sections. Ended up using the return flight tickets the next day. It took me almost another year to find what I was looking for with a few trips to Vegas and countless trips to California to see the cars in person. After a few thousand spent just looking, I finally brought one home from Cali.

RtStuf

Pre-purchase inspection by a local mechanic can be a ripe off - know from experience.
Safest to inspect the car yourself. Plus you can negotiate better face to face.

95LT1ZF

Alabama is a horrible place to buy used cars. I haven't bought a car in Alabama in almost 20 years. Plenty of 8 hour drives, plane tickets and more cups of coffee than I can count. I've only been burned once in 20 years. That being said, do your research,ask the right questions and be prepared to drive home empty handed. Look at it as an adventure and part of the process.

aklim

How? Do you have a rack in your back pocket? Sure, you can bring a scanner and read data and even compression gauge but leak down testing?

Also you DON'T give him free license to do what he wants. You supervise. Plus, he has NO emotional attachment

hcbph

I bought a truck in Calif and the Vette in New Mexico. The truck was at a car dealer and the Vette was in a car auction. I lucked out in both cases. The truck still had mfg warranty and even though the truck was 2 yrs old it looked and drove perfect other than the cd player not working (which was replaced under warranty). The Vette I found on the sellers website yet with about 30 pictures and another dozen or so on the auction website. Good Carfax on it along with they had a PDI done somewhere else which was available. I felt confident of it and bought it via the auction. I then flew down and drove it home.

It worked out for me.

Cruisinfanatic

How do you buy and drive home without registering in your state? Ins is easy to get with a phone call, but what about driving it if the seller doesn't have plates already on it and is willing to let you use them?

pacoW

I've done this a few times, none have been a very far trip. Just slapped an old plate I had on it and drove it home, never got stopped. And drove it home like an old lady after sunday church.

Cruisinfanatic

Have found that it's a felony in some states

pacoW

not in PA, NJ, or NY. Felony for driving an unregistered vehicle? Sound like something cali would do.