Buying a vehicle online

[PILOON]

My present snow blower was picked up 400 miles from home.
Price was right so I jumped on it, (Across border to boot), that was 6 years ago.
OK, I gambled a bit but won out long run.

Back then, I also purchased aircraft 'cross border' and usually came out ahead.
Communications and reading between the lines is the secret, plus asking the right questions.
Maybe I have a knack to determine difference between and truth and ******** but it worked for me.

Again if it seems too good to be true then it probably is not.
LOL, Santa is only once a year!

 

[spitter]

If the biggest problem is the grill and tires just swap them out . Many after market grills out there. and weld wheels makes 19.5 " rims for them.:drink:

 

[spitter]

Also living in the salt belt I would by a rust free truck and take a chance on the mechanicals. Pictures of everything you can get . I bought my rust free 01 cross country with just pictures to go on . Everyone compliments me on the condition of my truck and says how did you keep it so clean and rust free. I also bought it cause it had a ford rebuilt trans in it which shi- the bed 6 months after I bought it . My trans guy said 4r100 have light duty parts and hd parts he said ford rebuilt it with every light duty part out there. It twisted the input shaft like a pretzel. It wasn't the sellers fault it was the scam artist stealer who did the trans.Been a great truck since I bought it in 2010.:cool2::drink:

 

[RalphVa]

We bought our present Mz3 online. Actually found it and negotiated with the dealer and drove up and bought it. Didn't actually buy it until we got there. Could have turned around and driven back 6 hours without it.

Found it online and went to the dealership who did not have a stick shift with the equipment in stock. They checked and said they could not find it. I went home and brought it up again and called the dealer.

Drove up there (NE of Pittsburgh, from central Va) in a rental car. Turned in the rental and drove the Mz3 back after a very nice, rewarding (got another $1,000 of from Mazda) episode with the best dealer we've ever dealt with.

Found our 2013 Miata online. Found 2 nearby each other but about 70 miles from here. Went and looked at and drove both. Bought the 2nd one. Only 8,800 miles in Dec 2016.

Ralph

 

[two_bit_score]

This could also apply to buying a tractor, real estate, or (?)

Many of you tell of the deals which you find, yet all that I ever get is burned. So here's a truck which I would be interested in if it was on this half of the continent, or if my brother hadn't just moved back from Arizona last week.

1994 Ford F-45 7.3L Turbo Diesel (F35) 64k miles - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale


Any comments on how you would buy this from away?

Best way is to have somebody in the area you can trust to find you a good deal. They buy it and you buy it from them with them making some money for the deal. There are some dealers who do this. Or you can try the big car auctions and don't overlook the salvage auctions. Not every vehicle they sell is wrecked. They always have transports who can get the vehicle to you, for a fee. I have known people who flew in to buy trucks at auctions and drove them back that day. But they found the auction first, then the truck, then the way home with it.

I think the process you are using is backward. You found a vehicle you think you want and are looking for a way to get it. I would look for a way to find a vehicle I want where I can get it bought and picked up.

 

[two_bit_score]

This could also apply to buying a tractor, real estate, or (?)

Any comments on how you would buy this from away?

Have you ran the VIN?




TBS

 

[two_bit_score]

I think this could get a little expensive and maybe inconvenient when you start thinking of taxes, transfers, etc. A dealer can do this without all the "fees" but a private party doesn't have that option usually. I think your best bet is to take a cold shower and forget about it, or follow the suggestions in post #14.

I know several people who do that everyday at auctions all over the country.

 

[JJZ 109]

Last year I took a big leap of faith and bought a 1987 F250 on the other side of the country. The body was in the shape described. Long story short, this truck had way more miles than described. The clutch had been pushed in so many times during it's lifetime that the mount was egg shaped an worn out. After putting $1500 into the truck to make everything mechanically right after I finally took possession, I didn't feel I could trust it and sold it right away. I didn't put 100 miles on it. I sold the truck for the same purchase price I paid, but the repair and transport costs were tuition on another life lesson.
Say nothing of the transport hassle. These trucking outfits basically all pick their loads off the same website or "board". If your load is coming cross country you'll be luck to have it within a month, as most truckers try to build loads that are all heading in the same direction and it may take them some time to get enough vehicles to fill their trailer before they head in your direction. Also, when you look for transport many of the sites you see are just brokers. They have no trucks of their own. They'll quote you a fantastic price but then they have to wait around until they find a trucker that will do it for that cut rate price. Doesn't often happen right away.
Some research showed that the seller had some bad reviews from places other than eBay and had been sued a time or two and lost. The only good thing he did was to refund me $300 toward the clutch repair. Lucky to have gotten that.
Lesson learned. If I can't see it and drive it I'm not buying it. Not something I'm proud of, but I'm glad to tell the story if it'll save someone here a butt ache.
I have purchased a couple of bucket trucks in the past from 5-6 hours away from home. But they weren't online purchases. I found the trucks online, drove down there with check in hand but looked them over and drove them before completing the deal. If it hadn't worked out, I could have simply returned home with my check.

 

[Oaktree]

Ask for FaceTime videos, pictures, as much actual footage as you can get.

Not sure what a face time video is, but it's hard enough to spot some problems in person, let alone by a video from a stranger who's more interested in unloading the truck than in accurately representing it. After all, if you're from "away" there's not much incentive to be honest...he'll likely never see you again anyway.

It seems to cheap to me. I would think to a Ford guy, that truck would be a holy grail and it would go for 2 or 3 times that, but you never know.

If a price looks too good to be true, it probably is.

I think this could get a little expensive and maybe inconvenient when you start thinking of taxes, transfers, etc. A dealer can do this without all the "fees" but a private party doesn't have that option usually. I think your best bet is to take a cold shower and forget about it, or follow the suggestions in post #14.

Let alone just registering it so you can get it home. A dealer can give you a 10 day plate for an extra fee, not so much for a private sale and vehicle registration laws vary considerably from state to state. I suppose if you have a way to trailer it home you could get around that. I don't.

As a fellow rust belt resident I know how tempting it can be to find something from a part of the country where rust isn't an issue, and I'm sure others have done it successfully but I'm not sure it's a chance I want to take.

My biggest gripe with the 90s F-450s is besides the logo on the grill

Well that's easy enough to resolve...just remove the logo. Seems half the toyota trucks around here have it either blacked out or removed. Not sure why, don't see that on any other makes.

 

[Jstpssng]

As I said in my original post; while the truck in question is of interest to me, it's too far away to buy. They also want a lot of money for an incomplete, 25 year old vehicle.
I just wanted to get some ideas about how people shop from afar... which I did.

Sometime in the next six months I plan to looking for something similar on the eastern seaboard, somewhere in the Carolina's or Georgia would be good. I'm mostly looking at dealers so that I could get a transportation plate; I wouldn't buy sight unseen but would rent a small car so that I could carry some basic tools if I did buy.
My wish list is something which will handle a 10,000 trailer or a 5000 lb payload. (two yards of gravel or a cord of firewood.) A dump body would be nice, but for the right price I can add a Northern Tools kit. I also will buy a clean truck with less capacity over something heavier which is starting to show it's age.
I'm limiting myself, as I don't want an automatic transmission; I need something which will last for 15 years/30000 miles.
There was a 2005 F250 which I was looking at a while ago, but those older trucks don't have much payload.