Customs Is there an easy (safe) way to buy a car thats a long distance away?

...........Thanks. Was it a nationally known company? Mind telling the cost for a month? If not, I understand.

 

There are plenty of licensed and bonded firms that will inspect a car on-site for you and send you a detailed report in exchange for some dollars.

I used one to inspect an OT truck that was listed on Flea-bay and resided in Virginia a number of years ago. I got the report, liked what I saw, and worked with the seller to arrange a time to close the sale. I rented a car, drove out from NW Minnesota. Inspected the truck myself, and after deciding to purchase it, dropped the rental car off at the local agency and hit the road back in my new (to me) truck.

It's not fool proof, as the injection pump gave up the ghost in Lafayette, IN after 450 miles of driving. No inspection would have caught that issue as it ran fine until that point, but the years of sitting had taken its toll on the internal seals. Still makes for a great story, and even though the truck spent a few months in Lafayette before I could go get it, I was able to have a local shop do some needed work and upgrades while it was there.

 

Brilliant.

 

Buy one from me! I've sold 3 cars long distance over the years. Living in Bakersfield CA I sold my '36 Pontiac street rod to a guy in northern CA, my '59 Elky to a guy in Tennessee as i recall and my '53 Chevy pickup to a guy in Missouri. Never heard a complaint.

 

Years ago, while living in Connecticut, I had a chance to buy a 1933Willys sedan body and parts, no frame, that was in Canada. I called the seller, and made arrangements to fly to Buffalo, New York.. The seller met me at the Buffalo airport, and took me over the border to his house in Canada to see the body. I liked what I saw, and bought the body. He had me stay overnight at his house, fed me breakfast, and took me back to the Buffalo airport. A few weeks later a buddy and I drove to the Jamestown, New York flea market in my buddies F-150, long bed pickup. We went over the border to Canada, picked up the body and parts, and then went to the Jamestown flea market, and then home to Connecticut. My cost was $ 150.00 for round trip airfare plus gas for my buddies truck. I considered this money well spent. I know that it would cost more now, but as far as I was concerned it was worth it.

 

Ya kno... Strikes me as funny, reading thru this thread.
Whenever I sell one the first thing I want to talk about is the problems the car has.
If I can make the prospect understand he might not be happy, fine. The right guy will show up.

 

Best way is have someone trusted look at it if not going yourself. Absolute best way is to catch a bus or plane and go yourself. Regardless of how trusted and good someone is unless they broker the deal and load it then and there for you to pick up a sketchy seller can still do sketchy stuff in between inspection and pickup like swap parts etc.

 

Yep. I figure my cars are unique and highly desirable plus I don't want anyone mad at me so I tell the buyer more than he wants to know about the plusses and minuses.

 

Hi Folks
Being located in the great flat parries of western Canada, every old car worth looking at is usually a road trip.As a couple posters have stated the real fun is in the adventure. Take all the precautions that you can, gather as much honest intel as you can, and honestly, just take an “educated” chance. I bought an o/t corvette out of Miami, Florida.from e-buy based on pictures ,description , and sellers reputation. Flew there and my son and I drove it all the way home with no hiccups. Wonderful adventure. Next up was a1955 Chevrolet 210 out of Gary , Indiana. Same cir***stance..private sale based on sellers reputation and a lot of pictures...Took the Greyhound with a friend to pick it up and drove it home also, original235 and a 3 speed. Long , slow drive, but again a wonderful adventure. Sometimes you just have to cast your fears aside and take a leap of faith....

 

Buy it sight unseen, fly in and try to drive it home. Fix it along the way as needed, using duct tape and baling wire. Make a video of the adventure and post it on YouTube. That seems to be the hot trend for car videos these days.

 

My very first hot rod I had, I ended up selling on eBay to a fella in Japan. That was in 2003! He had a friend in California drive all the way to south Texas in a square body chevy truck to pick up my Model A, drive back to California, then stick it in a container and ship it to Japan. That is commitment.