I would love to know what experiences members who have purchased their cars from a long distance have had. Some of the questions are lien/title problems, how far to drive the vehicle home from, checking accident records, insurance, etc.
Thanks!

 

My personal rule of thumb is never drive over 2 hours to look at a car. The world is full of Corvettes for sale right where I live.

 

Well I'm in NJ, so there should be plenty around here?!

 

I purchased my vette in October of last year, I went about four hours to get it .I did car fax and auto check regarding title /accident info.Also my local gm dealer I purchase from ran vin # check on warrenty work done and build sheet information .I did have someone look at car and had a agreement on price of car as long as when I got there that the car was as nice as the dealer stated and person who looked it over. Insurance wise I contacted my agent told them what I was thinking of doing and gave them the vin# of car and they gave me a price quote and a refrence # and a 800 phone # I could call to add car to my policy 24 hrs a day.When I was at dealer and decided this was the car for me I just called # and added car to my policy and they fax id car info to dealer .Dealer gave me 30 day tags and I was on my way home crusing in my vette .I woudn't buy car without seeing with my own eyes that just the way I am. Just a thought about price fall time the prices to drop saved quite abit of money looking during summer buying in October dealers don't want use vette on lot winter time .Hope this helps good luck.

 

I travelled from mid-Missouri to New Jersey to buy my '03 from a forum member. I did not put a deposit down on the car but took a chance that the car was as described (had other forum members vouch for this particular owner and car so that helped). I looked at it this way - if there had been issues I just would not have handed over the money and all I would have been out would have been the airline ticket.

As for the title, I inquired if the title was clear before I left on the trip - and the buyer said the car was paid for and no adverse title issues. In fact, in order to satisfy my credit union for the financing, I had the owner fax me a copy of the title showing it was good and free of any liens. If the car you look at has a lien, you can discuss with the seller how this can be handled to ensure you get a title upon payment of the purchae price. If the financial institution knows in advance, they should be able to have the title in hand and ready to endorse it over to you when you arrive. As for insurance, my insurance company covers me for 30 days on a new purchase before I have to notify the agent so I wasn't worried about that. I did bring a copy of my current auto policy just in case I was asked about it. If you have the VIN, you can get a service history from a dealer (many will do this for you) or there are members here that can run the history for you (Gene at gmpartshouse.com or Dennis Fichtner at Fichtner Chevy (member CeYaBye for instance). You can do a CarFax too. Another thing to keep in mind is temp tags for the car - I just went to the NJ DMV and purchased a temp tag from them for the trip home. Missouri would not issue me a temp tag unless I had a signed bill of sale which obviously I did not have before I made the trip.

Like I said, I picked mine up in NJ and drove it the 1400 miles home - stopping along the way at the Labor Day event at the Corvette Museum. Was a great way to get to know the car and have a fun trip all in one.

You can always try and have a forum member look at the car for you if it is a long distance from you. Many here will gladly help you out.

Good luck and hope you find the right car for you.

 

I'm from Canada and bought my vette in Jersey...I'll can sell you mine

All kidding aside I was willing to travel pretty much anywhere on from central US, south and all of the east coast. I found mine on ebay from a dealer and after several questions and phone calls I made the deal, flew to Jersey, and drove her home. I almost backed out when carfax came back with two reports that turned out to be nothing. Seeing that your from Jersey you should be able to find several around you and in the immediate area. Good luck!

 

There should be a bunch of Corvettes in NJ. There are a lot more people living there than here.

 

If the title has a lien, you can arrange to do the transaction at whatever bank (credit union/finance company) that holds the lien. You'll need two checks (cashiers checks), one for whats owed on the lien and the other for the balance that you owe the seller. Once the lien is satisfied you leave with a letter on letterhead of the lending agency that the lien is satisfied and the old signed off title. The rest is like buying any car, bill of sale, temp plates....etc.

 

I purchased a '01 vert on ebay. I did my home work plus ebay offers a history check. I'm in Calif. and the car was in Alabama. The only problem was the transportation company taking a few weeks to gather enough vehicles to make his trip worth while.

 

I flew from NC to FL for a bike. Less than 1 year old and low miles. The seller lied and the bike had bad scratches.

Flew to Ohio for my Vette and the seller (dealer) lied. Lots of details on the car.

Flew to FL again for my Escalade and the dealer lied. Lots of details, broken and missing things.

A friend drove 6 hours to buy a truck in "mint" condition. It was really nice but the seller "forgot" to tell him in advance that it didn't have power windows, locks or keyless entry (04 Dodge).

Same friend flew to get a Mazda RX-8. Seller lied, had problems with the title, there were nylon wire ties holding the bumper.

I agree with the limit on the 2 hours distance. I don't trust people anymore.

 

While I was stationed in Japan, I finally found a Speedway White Z online at a CarMax in Las Vegas. I called them up to get as much info as possible, pulled up a carfax and tried to work with a rep in holding the Z as long as they could. I can't tell you how pleasant my experience with CarMax was. Not only did they hold it for a little over 3weeks, but I didn't have to pay for them to due so. The rep I was dealing with said she had turned away 2other customers, because she "promised to hold it," for a service member stationed overseas.

Now I'm not sure how much of all that to believe, but about a month later I was in Vegas looking at a car that looked exactly as it was described. Near perfect for an '01 with uber minor scratches here and there, nothing that was a deal breaker by any means. Took it off her hands and couldn't be happier.

With all said and done, the biggest thing about doing this type of buy, is working with the seller. If the seller isn't willing to divulge the info you're asking about, I'd be very cautious about proceeding. The seller should be willing to work with you if your serious and I'm sure when the time comes, both of you will know how serious the other is about the purchase. If anything seems fishy or too good to be true ie. price for later model w/ low miles, it probably is. Plus you've got this forum to lean on if there's anything you're wondering about. I've read several threads where a buyer posted if someone close could stop by and simply look at the 'Vette in question.

It helps when people are willing to help you, is really all I'm getting at I guess.

 

Wasn’t too big of a deal. Vette was 8 hours away from me.. Pulled a trailer up there with a cashier’s check...
Buying a car has aways been a pain.. But a toy is always worth it..
Good Luck

 

I just purchased an 04 vert , me and my wife flew to LA from Ottawa, and loved the car ,I car faxed it ,did a bit of leg work on the car , paper work prior to going out there to make sure it was clean and loan free, we drove it back the next day , had a ball and we would do it again 3500 miles from Ottawa. Ron

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvusgt

It helps when people are willing to help you, is really all I'm getting at I guess.

I've been a car lover my whole life, but deferred my desire for something 'hot' in favor of practicality and family use. I've never been a member of a group like this, no less a local car club which I'm joining this week. (Except for the RV community online)

I finding very encouraging to know I have people who can help out someone from a distance they have never met in person.

Thanks

 

Drove almost 4 hours to get mine. I had found it listed on Craigslist. I had brought cash and was ready to negotiate. The car was exactly as described, which is not usually the case, and I am glad I made the trip that day and didn't just brush it off as being "too far away".

 

There are way too many C5's in the market to buy one sight unseen IMO. You are talking about a 7+ year old car. There are always going to be a lot of variables and uncertainties when buying sight unseen, so be prepared. My two cents.

 

If you are considering a car distant from you, it is unlikely that you would not be able to get in touch with someone on this Forum in that area who would be willing to go take a look at the car for you. They'd probably do it for nothing, 'tho I would personally insist on giving them some sort of payment. This would not be the same as seeing the car yourself of course, but would be an excellent "filter" for eliminating the sellers who are liars, cheats or clueless.

 

I found mine on Craigslist about 1.5 hours away. I ran a car fax and one of the forum dealers ran me a free GM report too. The GM report showed the car had very few repairs. Some others I looked at had a dozen or more items repaired.

If I made one mistake is the seller did not have good title and it took nearly 3 months to resolve that issue. Next time the seller must have his loan paid off and title in hand.

 

I considered driving a few hours to see a coupla cars, but then one became available 10 miles away. Personally, I'd never buy a car or give a down payment, etc, without seeing it first. There are so many cars out there for sale....It's a buyer's market. Be patient. Good luck.

 

I bought mine at the end of last year 2000 miles away in Kansas City, MO. It had what I wanted - Z51, 6 speed, dual tops, and most importantly light interior, (and a few things I didn't - climate control and memory package) but the main thing was the GORGEOUS Nassau Blue Metallic that I couldn't find here in CA. I had looked at a LOT of other C5's and kept comparing them to this one, so finally I gave in, spoke to the owner and bought a ticket for the next day. Got there, he picked me up at the airport, we paid off his loan at the credit union and I was on my way driving home.

HUGE thanks to my wife for encouraging me to upgrade from the C4, and for not complaining a bit about flying off two days after Christmas to go buy a car!