I am considering a 55 chevy wagon that is in Georgia and I am in michigan.Has anyone bought a car without seeing it in person? What suggestions can anyone make about having an inspection done for you if you can't travel to do it yourself. I have a surgery pending and can't make the trip. Is there anyone or service that inspects cars? I have bought a couple cars from pics but am reluctant as hidden problems are too easy to conceal.
Unless the car is so cheap that I can't get hurt no matter what, I'd never buy a car without personal inspection. If you just have to do this, pay a professional appraiser to inspect it, and be clear about what you want looked at.
What ever you do, DON'T EVER buy a car sight unseen. I almost bought a 57 Chevy Handyman wagon once without seeing it. The car supposedly had new paint, new engine and transmission. The pictures looked great. The car was about three hundred miles away. I thought for the price I couldn't get hurt. Fortunately sanity prevailed and I went to look at it. What a POS. A complete rust bucket. It had new paint all right except they painted over dings, dents and rust. Had I bought that car it would have been the biggest car related mistake I ever made. The owner lied like a dog. As a result if I can't see a car locally or at a show I'm at I don't need it.There will be plenty of cars available when your able to travel. I wouldn't have anyone look at a car except me. Then I can blame myself. Gary
My dad bought his F100 sight unseen off the auction site. I thought he was crazy but it was cheap enough to be worth the risk and worked out ok. Personally, I wouldn't buy a car without seeing it in person, I drove to Pennsylvania twice and stayed in a hotel when I bought my wagon. Do you have a friend that can go look at it for you? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There are a lot of Hambers in Georgia and I know a lot of the Sock Fokkers,a bunch of knowledgeable guys and probably you could get one of them to look at the car if they are in the area. HRP
Thanks,my excitement about a wagon maybe getting the best of me.Thanks for the wisdom of experience guys. I wish I knew someone there but I don't. I know the problem areas of that particular car to look for. I guess I should hold off until something within reach pops up. I've been looking for a 2 door wagon (55 chevy or 56 ford) for quite awhile.they all seem to be out of state the ones that are becoming available.
If you are serious about looking into it I'd do as HRP suggested and find someone in the area to go look at it. Most would do it for gas money and the price of a good lunch or at least I would. I had a guy on another board contact me and ask if I would go look at a truck about 20 miles from me and my wife and I made an afternoon of it. Found out that the truck belonged to a guy I have known since I was in school and I've known his wife that long. I took about 56 high resolution photos and did a video of it starting and running with a walk around. I gave my opinion including the fact that the pre paint body work was about one day of long board work from being really nice but you could see the spots down the side of the bed side where the holes for a trim strip had been filled and just hit with a DA. He bought the truck and had it shipped and his dad loves it. You wouldn't want one of my buddies to go look at anything though as he is blind to most rigs faults.
I'm in a similar predicament myself right now. There's a car about 2000 miles away from me, shows really nice in pictures, looks really nice. Priced good too. I have a friend in the area, is very good with cars, and he just went today and took a look at it, and reported back to me on his opinion. Even called me while he was there and talked to me as he was looking. From his description it sounds like the car is as nice as it appears in the pics, but I'm hesitating on buying it without looking at it in person and taking it for a drive. But for me to go there, with my schedule I wouldn't be able to get out there for several weeks, and if I buy a plane ticket now planning to fly out in a couple of weeks, there's no telling if the car will sell to someone else in the meantime. Then I'd be stuck with a plane ticket I don't need. I don't know, I'm thinking about taking a chance on it. As long as there isn't some kind of major frame damage or something I think for the price I would be OK with it. Even if I had to do some major running gear repairs, heck, that's not so unusual in an old car, and I could do that and still be OK money wise on it. Or even take the opportunity to upgrade to a overhead valve engine and running gear, which I may want to do eventually anyway. Same with suspension, and brakes, if I need to do some spring/shock work or king pins, etc, I'll still be OK money wise with the deal. Hmmmmmmm, decisions, decisions.....
IIRC, a car older than 1985 doesn't have to have a title in Georgia. Might check to verify if that's correct, and how much problem it might present when you try to register the car in Michigan.
I've bought 3 cars without seeing them in person, one was great, one was ok and the last one was terrible. I think (hope) i'm done buying cars I haven't seen.
I was looking at a 54 Buick convert in Georgia years ago. Got a pile of pictures, and a long letter describing all the work that had been done restoring it. It looked great in the pictures. I flew down there from Wisconsin to look at it, and glad I did. Stevie Wonder could have laid the bondo on better. The front end was completely worn out, the back seat springs were so rusted that they broke when sat on. The top didn't work, and to top it off when I went for a test ride it was spraying gas all over the engine and was a miracle it didn't catch fire. After flying to Florida and looking at another one I have come to the conclusion that I would NEVER buy a car without looking at it first. Pictures lie!
A few years ago I saw a Country Squire for sale about 1200miles from home. Talked to the wife about making the trip to look at it but it was a bad time for us to travel so I had to pass. Not long after I found the '54 Squire that I ended up buying, in a town in Pennsylvania that I had visited on vacation the year before, and only 200 miles from home. This car may not be the right car at the right time, but the right one will come along so enjoy the hunt. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You absolutely need to see it yourself!! I am even un-easy with "professional" appraisers. A friend bought a car that was given "thumbs up" by a so-called professional appraiser. When the car was delivered, there were more waves in the quarter panels than the Atlantic Ocean! What a piece of crap it was! And, he paid good money to have it appraised! If you can't go to see it in person or have a trusted friend check it out,don't buy it!! Pictures don't show much at all. As I always say,even I look good in pictures!
Agree, you need to see, feel, touch, yourself on a car purchase, experience has taught me, one man's version of cherry, mint, perfect paint, interior, mechanicals perfect, etc, are vastly different than my definition of these terms, also Pic's can't be trusted, I have traveled w/cash for a purchase and on arrival, you'd swear it's a different car. I always want to believe there's more good honest people than bad, but again, life's experiences has taught me, It's Buyer Beware on any purchase in life. If you are going to spend 10/20/50K, a $500 airplane ticket is cheap IMO. Good Luck !
About 18 years ago when I was still working{before I had to go out on disability due to 2 total failed ankle replacements} .I bought quite a few cars sight unseen and every one was a little more honest back then from Flea bay and I was quite pleased. Now the 56 buick wagon I bought sight unseen and even had some one go look at it and what a nightmare that was. 3 years and tons of $$$$ thrown away on it. It still looked good when i got done with it but I still didn't trust it. So I learned my lesson. Check it out in person.Bruce.
Helped a friend in Europe buy a car advertised on this site.The person who placed the ad was trying to help the sellers out.Couldn't go look at it so took their word on condition.What a disappointment .Major rust issues were not disclosed,they lied about mechanical condition.Could go on about the deception but no point in it.Now trying to rectify the issues and get out from under it.Won't trust that advertiser anymore.
I would never buy one without looking at it. Friend and I drove 800 miles with cash and a trailer to get a 65 Chevelle that looked great in pics. It was a total rust bucket and absolute junk. Found him one later 2 miles from here. Did the same deal to go look at a 32 but only 300 miles away. Pics looked great-it was junk too. I have looked at a few for folks on here (Bobwop and a few others) and try my best to really look em over-don't charge anything-most I looked at I told then to pass-one I told them to buy was a very very nice orig 40 coupe-they were happy with the results. I my self would never buy one with out looking and I take my wife-two sets of eyes help alot.
I have sold cars on the internet and would prefer that the buyer come in person to inspect. I have had a couple of buyers who asked me to take the cars to an inspection point of their choosing. I was happy that they chose reputable dealerships in my area. I believe that if a seller doesn't want to accept an inspector in place of the buyer, that seller is not worth buying from. Also had a out of state buyer send his brother to inspect a car while he was in the area for business. Worked out great. I, myself, will travel a good distance out of state to inspect a car that I want to purchase. Good luck.
GA is a big state, largest acreage East of MS River. Where in GA is the car?You definitely need to get someone to look at it or go personally. Either way make sure you or your designated inspector gets the car on a lift and check it very closely for rust. Tell the owner to arrange ahead of time to put the car on a lift if he doesn't have one in his shop. And carry a bright light with you. Found my '40 Ford coupe on HAMB classifieds, got the owner on the phone and got him to send me some up close pics and he did so. Car was in OHIO, BTW. Meantime I was doing all the checking I could on the owner himself through all the sources on web. Both the pics and my personal check on him looked good so I called back, asked if he could arrange to pit car on a lift and his reply was he had a lift, no problem. Then he said he could pick me up at the airport, and bring me back after spending the day there looking. ong story short, I'm very happy with the car, only one replacement panel under the car, below deck lid. The kind of car you just can't find to build. By contrast my son went less than 50 miles and bought an OT ustang, didn't put it on a lift. Car is a rust buket that was quite skillfully "fixed" with filler, and a year and a half later it's still in m,y shop, taking up space while he patches and welds endlessly. As for title, GA never issued a title before '62, and doesn't require one for any car over 25 years old. So if MI is strict about titles like some states, that's another big hurdle. Apoligize foe the font change mid message but bandage on sore thumb making typing awkward.
Good advice. I drove over 200 miles to look at a Craigslist 47 Tudor, new paint, decent upholstery, looked great in the pics. Got there, there wasn't much if any bodywork done, I think they sprayed it without even sanding it! Top was so pitted the paint was all that was keeping it from leaking in spots. Interior was newish, but very shade tree looking up close, seats were from a Honda or something and sat about 6" to low, my wife couldn't even see out the windsheild! Even a amateur with a cheap camera can make things disappear in pics just by shooting them at different angles and lighting. Olscronger is also right on having an extra pair of eyes with you, my wife notices things I miss, and vice versa. I'll go 200 miles or so to look at something I really want. Any farther, I leave it to folks that are closer to it.....
I had a bad enough time over an engine that was two states over awhile back. Advertised as a complete nailhead Buick. I cajoled a friend that was traveling from Arizona back to the Detroit area via the U.P. to detour into the Chicago area (towing a trailer too) and pick it up for me. I get a phone call from my friend upon arrival. Asks me if I knew the heads were off of it. I replied no, it was complete. He said the heads were there. Suspicion rising, I gave him some specific areas to look at as he remarked "this crud on the sides of the block looks smeared over." Told him where to check on the heads and he detected some small lengthwise cracks on the heads and some BIG ones on the block, areas that the grease was smeared over to cover them up. Guy running the forklift gets impatient with my friend, I hear him in the background "I don't have all day". My friend asks what next. I told him to tell the guy we are not taking it, not my problem. I emailed the seller a pretty nasty email thanking him for wasting my time. my fuel money and my buddy's time. Also told him his definition of a complete engine was a bit different than mine, a pile of parts is not complete especially when the block and heads were cracked and IMO disguised. He "admitted" in a off-handed way that he "forgot" to mention it was partially disassembled. I felt like asking him back why anyone would take a running complete engine apart for no reason at all but decided not to bother.
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