I was wondering from forum members who bought there cars without even seeing them or knew someone that had bought one and how was there experience. Are forum members more trusting than dealers on eBay? There are a few cars out of my area that seem nice with descent prices. Thanks in advance

 

I took a chance and flew out based on pics and a couple phone calls with the seller. I was prepared to walk away and fly back if the car wasn't as advertised. It was better than described so it all worked out

 

I have read on this forum before. That some have paid others to check out a car and report back. Others have asked forum members here to check out cars (in their area) and report back. All of this takes a level of trust that you have to extend. Otherwise, you pays your money and takes your chances. If you get a great/good/average one, you will enjoy it. my $0.02

 

I think if you do carproof or carfax before you cut the check it would tell you a lot about the car's history and if it's ever been in any accidents etc, I did buy my previous Corvette sight unseen but I felt good about the guy on the phone and I thought he was sincere, especially after I did the carproof and it checked out !

 

Last March I flew to Harrisburg PA to purchase a sight unseen 2008 BMW 328i Convertible with 4600 miles. I had spoken to the owner 3 times. He was the father of a co-worker of my wife, which is how we found out about the car in the first place. He was upfront about everything, and had gone as far as to e-mail me the VIN and copies of service records, so by the time I got on the airplane I was 95% sure that the car was a winner. I purchased the car and all turned out very well.

I think much of it has to do with the level of confidence you get when you start asking the seller for information. If you get put off, or a lot of I don't knows, or misinformation those are potential red flags. If on the other hand the seller readily answers your questions and gives you as the buyer a level of confidence then it's probably going to be ok. Just make sure you always have an exit strategy.

 

I flew 1300 miles to buy my Z06 from these forums, based on pictures and communication with the seller, the day i flew down there i was prepared to walk away but the car was more then i could of expected and a steal of a deal.

 

Time constraints were such that I simply couldn't fly out to Houston to inspect the car before deciding at the end of an eBay auction. Got the CARFAX and spoke to the guy and his wife a couple of times and he swore the car was absolutely showroom new in every respect. The gentleman had very good Corvette community credentials. I had been looking for 6 months for a very low miles torch red vert w/black and decent upgrades without having much luck.

Held my breath and pressed the " BUY" button. Shipped it unseen to SoCal. Better than showroom new. Smartest car purchase I ever made but I would be extremely cautious before ever doing it again. You have to go with your people instincts.

Good luck.

 

I did the same for my 03. You need to be ready to buy a ticket and go home. I was happy with my deal and drove home with the top down. :-)

 

I agree with the others. You need to have an "out". You need to be ready and willing to fly back home empty handed if the car ends up being unsatisfactory. Paying in advance sort of eliminates that option. Personally, I would never do it. I would make a deal with the seller before-hand which would allow me to walk away with a full refund if I wasn't satisfied with the car once I saw it. Keep in mind that Corvettes always look good in pictures. I guess it has to do with the fact that it has plastic body panels which are very resilient to bumps and dents. However, the true story is underneath.

 

I found mine on EBAY. After a few conversations with the seller I found a Chevy Dealership close by him and paid 150.00 to have it " pre-sale " inspected. I received a fiver page report that covered mechanical as well as condition of body and paint. Took train to New Jersey met owner at station with report in hand. Negotiated 2k off of sale price, and drove it home. It will be two years ago this May.

 

I bought this 01 vette over the phone, just seeing pictures. The seller was
very honest, the vette was everything he said it was, no surprises, 53k miles, very clean top to bottom, no issues, have all maintenance records up to date. Carfax no issues. I'm a happy camper

 

I have had mixed results. I would never buy sight unseen and without a test drive.

I have gone over 1000 miles one way and it was a good one that I bought. Others at 700, 400, 300 etc.

I have also gone about 750 and it was bad. The owner blatantly lied about condition. Another one was only about 100 miles, but the owner said it looked great and although higher mileage could pass for a 30k mile car. The pictures looked great. In person, it looked like a flood car from the condition of the interior and there were several bad body repairs. There were others that I walked from too. A couple more at about 300 miles.

With those mixed results I would recommend seeing and driving it with an escape plan if you don't get it.

Good luck.

 

I wouldn't, just on a conversation.

Personally, Id at least have someone from he forum go take a look, or barring that, have a commercial check out service go take a look. I've gone and looked at cars for people here, its no big deal (how much of a problem is it to go take a ride and then look at and drive a C5 ).

Good luck

 

Last March I was searching all of the sites for a 01 SW Z06. I saw one for sale on the forum and called the guy (I also researched all of his old posts on the forum). Within a few minutes I could tell he was an honest man and knew alot about corvettes. I struck a deal on price and wired him a down payment with the balance to be sent within 30 days. I wasnt able to fly down for two months, and he kept the car in his garage for me. He took pictures of the odometer when I sent the down to prove that he wouldn't drive it. I continued to correspond with him after the down was sent and when I sent him the balance. Needless to say, my wife was very nervous about sending money and still not seeing the car or picking it up for another month. When we arrived to Arizona some friends drove us to Tucson to pick it up and we were all in awe about how nice the car was. We brought some Montana gifts for the seller and his wife because the seller really made me feel that he was a really nice man. That reminds me, I need to send him some pictures and an update of what has been done to the car since. My wife and I had a great vacation in Arizona and the 1800 mile drive home was a terriffic trip back(Sedona, Grand Canyon, a hot springs in Idaho)

To summarize...Great experience for me buying a car sight unseen. Call the seller and you will get a feel for the kind of person they are. Good luck

 

The exact experience I had when I bought my '03. Had only seen pics of it and e-mailed/talked on the phone with the seller a few times before making the deal and flying to NJ to buy the car. If the car would have been different than described, I was prepared to just walk away (had not put any money down that I recall) but fortunately the car was in mint shape. Had a very nice 1400 mile drive back home.

 

To the OP: You may also find this link helpful for buying, especially far away. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-c...e-revised.html

Good luck! It's out there.

 

Mine was an ebay car. But it was in Florida, 3 hours away. Drove down, checked it out, tried to to buy it but he valued his ebay power seller status and cost refused to cancel. I offered substantially more than what I ended up winning the auction for.

 

I personally would NEVER purchase a car sight unseen without a test drive. I don't care how honest the person sounds on the phone or the level of documentation provided. I have examined two cars for out of state forum members in the last two years. One car was absolutely immaculate, operated perfectly and was better than represented. The other grossly misrepresented. It was a total TURD that had been wrecked with bad repairs, a lot of electrical gremlins and needed maintenance. Nothing beats a first hand look at the car.

 

drove 400 mi to a dealer that had a used 03 on the lot. Lots of photos between us before we left. He even sent photo of a little road rash on one of the wheels. I was pretty confident about making the trip and buying.

On another car, a 1932 hotrod, private seller on ebay, after many photos, phone calls and even a walk around video where he mentions my name and shows every flaw, I wired $1000 to hold it. Probably a little more faith on my end for doing that, he could have disappeared I guess. After I traveled 300mi with a trailer to pick it up, deal worked great.

 

I did not buy mine sight unseen, but even then I had a pro check it out.