Buying a car thats 3000 mile away. In God we trust, all others pay cash??

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Is there a way of buying a car that's far away where the buyer and the seller really don't trust each other.  I don't know why they don't, they just don't.

How is payment made so both buyer and seller are comfortable that nobody is going to get screwed.  Buyer doesn't want to travel the distance to pay in person.  Isn't the wire transfer the way to go??  What are the dangers of that??

Payment is made, car is loaded and on its way to new owner......everybody wins!!

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Mike Baillargeon   #15848

[76eldo]

If the buyer is comfortable that the seller is representing the car honestly and is satisfied with the description and condition, then wire transfer is the best way to go.

Once the money is in the sellers account, he can release the car for shipment and not have any worries.  A completed wire transfer is absolute and irrevocable.

There are inspection services available to make sure the car is what it is supposed to be.

Brian

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Mike,

Not sure what the problem is, but if it is a Cadillac or LaSalle, try contacting a fellow Member who lives nearby and have him, or her, look at it, and then do the dealings through the Electronic Bank Transfer.

I have purchased vehicles on the other side of the world, and there is always someone to assist.   If not, then it doesn't cost much to simply "hop on a plane" and do it in person.   Plus, you get to see another part of the world at the same time, and gain more friends.

Bruce.

[62droptop]

i guess it depends on how much $$ the car is

if the car is really expensive, the buyer may want to include a round trip plane ticket into the price of the car and visit it in person

unfortunately there are many horror stories of the car not being what it is said to be condition wise and sometimes model wise(trim level,series 62,coupe,eldorado etc)
not all people are honest ,unfortunately

i bought a 62 eldorado on e bay 1400 miles from me
i wired 3/4 of the money to his bank in trust (or somethiing like that,cant remember exact term) but we both had to be there to sign for the money
i was planning on driving it home
after being picked up at the airport by the seller,arriving at his home to inspect said car ,i found the car to be way  worse than represented
it had 4 rusted through floors, repainted a different color an the trip taped off not removed,leaking frost plugs,brake booster didnt work, etc ,etc
car looked amazing in the pictures, but had some issues that i think the seller was somewhat too stupid to realize as he bought it a couple years prior to use occasionally because he liked the way it looked
i walked away from that car, ended up costing me a fair bit of $$$ but we made it into a 3 day getaway ,did some local tourist hotspots and had a great time
and now have a great story to tell

all this was 6 weeks before my wedding and the car in question was to be our honeymoon ride ,a 6000mile plus trip

just be cautious and either get the car inspected, talk to hagerty insurance,i think they have a service for that
or inspect it in person, take a weekend getaway to see the car and a mini vacation at the same time
after all if it is really your dream car ,a round trip ticket shouldnt be a deal killer

better to spend the money on the ticket and not buy the car than to buy it, spend more miney having it shipped ,only to find out it is a really piece of crap

i have bought a car sight unseen in england ,although i did get a good vibe from the seller and the car was not a terrible amount of money, $1800 us dollars
still a fair bit to loose if the seller ran,but not enough to make me want to spend a $1200 or more on a plane ticket
that transaction went very well

just make sure they do their homework either way and theat the car actually does exist, and the seller actually owns it

i

[Steve Passmore]

 I think the original question was just about the exchange of payment not vehicle condition, in this situation a wire transfer is not going to help, if the buyer doesn't trust the seller the wire transfer only guarantees the seller gets his money, thats no different than the seller sending the car BEFORE he had been paid, he doesn't trust the buyer either.   These two people have to meet and do the deal.   Bruce's idea would be the best, if you knew someone more local, but if you dont?
I have bought several cars from the US without seeing them, you have to have that trust in the seller or not do the deal, if you dont trust someone and you cant travel 300 miles, its best to walk away.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Thanks for the responses.

Condition of the car isn't the problem. There's been a long tough slog thru videos and pictures of the car from all angles.  Seller doesn't seem to have that internet connection or a cell phone where the car is.  That has added to the problem of questions being asked and then the wait for answers.  The trust thing I was talking about.

Lets see if this makes any sense to anybody.   Buyer plans to send transport shipper, that he doesn't know,  to pickup car. Shipper tells buyer, via cell phone, he is looking at the car and is ready to load the car.  Seller, if he wants to sell car, will have a cell phone on site and will be able to check with his bank that funds have been transferred.

I think all buyers at some point roll the dice that the seller actually owns the car he's selling. 

Oh boy, buyer still has hurtle of getting bank information out of seller, that should be exciting!  Buyer is trying not to think about if a rollback will be needed on site to load car.

Buyer is starting to think if this is worth the aggravation.....however buyer wants car.

Thanks in advance for everybody's thoughts.           Mike

[R Schroeder]

I think buyer should look for a different car. Its making me nervous just reading this................ha
Roy

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Me too Roy!!   LOL!!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I also am getting jitters reading this, but at least you aren't the seller, and the buyer, a person working on an oil rig somewhere, sending you excess money, and wanting you to send back the excess, before the correct money is released to you.

Bruce.

[waterzap]

You can get an escrow service. Both parties sign to set up the service. The money gets sent to the escrow account. The seller sees it in there, then sends the car. Once the buyer gets the car, the money is released to the seller.
Escrow.com for example.
But research them or whomever you choose at the BBB first.

[INTMD8]

For long distance deals I get a bill of sale that we both sign stating "purchase of such and such car with XXXX VIN #"

When I have the cashiers check drafted I write in "for such and such car with XXXX VIN#" so if the seller cashes the check there is no dispute what the funds are for.

If you're having doubts and do not trust the seller it's best to just avoid the car unless you're willing to travel out there and buy it in person.

[76eldo]

Where is the car?

Brian

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

The car is in California.

Tonight I'm going to call one of our club members who lives in the area.

Maybe he knows the seller or the car from around town.

If I got a call like this I would go look at the car for condition and meet the owner etc.

But, I wouldn't want to get involved with the $ trading hands.

I'll keep us posted on how that goes.    The problem is I want the car.  I'm not ready to walk away yet.

Mike B in Ct

[gary griffin]

I like to do eBay deals as both parties are fully protected and eBay refunds your money if the car is not as represented (If the seller is approved by eBay), but apparently this is not possible in this case. There are some great airline price deals avalable as that would be my next considertion.

Lots of scams out there. One other thing to consider is how did you find the car? Craigs list is full of scams for sure.

  Find out all you can about the seller. If he has a listed telephone number that you can get google it and get the name and address. With the address Zillow.com will give you an ariel view of his home and the value of the home. A quick electronic trip to the county records where the home is will verify who the owner is and possibly the loan amount. If he is a renter new game. If he has lived in the house over 30 years and it has no mortgage and the house is worth 7 figures and he is a CLC member with a number in triple didgets I would probably just trust his representation of the car and his integrity and wire him the money.  Anybody else "Buyer Beware"

[TJ Hopland]

For me it would depend on the money involved.  There would be a dollar amount that I would feel safe just based on photos but over a certain point I think I would want to see it and do the deal in person.   In the past I have found a club member to take the initial look and make sure I was not going to be wasting the travel time for the look. 

[C.R. Patton II]

Hello Mike

Matt Larson has taught me many lessons about life. Lesson number one was to invest in a roadtrip to evaluate the car and the SELLER before buying to avoid regret. A wise lesson from a man of wisdom.

[Johan Boltendal #158]

Mike stay away, I can even smell it in Europe, it stinks that much,  Johan

[P Cedergren]

My advice is based on what I did a few years ago.

A Chrysler for sale on some guy's personal website. Poor pictures, and when I talked to him it turns out he has no digital camera, but he snail mails me pictures. More poor pictures.

I then called a member of the Pontiac Club who lived 10 minutes away (acc.to the membership roster), I told him I would pay him for checking it out, no problem. So he went over and looked at it, called me, and based on his report (no pictures) I deecided to fly and look at it. Bought a round-trip ticket.....

The Pontiac guy picked me up at the airport, drove me to the seller, I bought the car, we transfered the title, I already had insurance on the car (just in case.....), and after paying and thanking the Pontiac guy I drove the Chrysler home.

Smooth. Very smooth.

/Per 4218

[Richard Sills - CLC #936]

Everyone has a different risk tolerance, but I would not buy a car sight unseen unless it was on a recommendation from someone I knew very well and had the same standards I do.   Some sellers are dishonest, but there are also sellers who are very honest people but do not have the same standards that the buyer may have.  In some cases, people truly don't know the difference between what is correct and what is incorrect. 

I would rather take a chance on wasting $500 on a plane ticket to inspect the car personally than take a chance on buying a car that proved to be far less than I thought it was.

[Jay Friedman]

Mike,

The consensus of opinion here seems to be that you invest in a plane ticket.  If nothing else you'll get out of the cool CT spring weather into the CA sunshine for a day or two.  It's clear that you are worried already and that you'll continue to be worried until the car arrives in CT.  And just think how angry you'll be with yourself if the car turns out to be less than what it was advertised to be.