Buy, pay and ship a car from another state?

[paperfist]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone ever purchased a car from another state and had it shipped?

I'm looking at some classic trucks from craigslist, but not really sure how you securely go about paying for it and shipping it. I mean I see there's shipping companies out there, but not so much info on paying for it.

Also, if you know anything about hiring an inspection service I'd love to know how those work too

Thanks!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

As far as inspections go, there are a number of services. eBay Motors used to work with some Halliburton-like Omnisuperubercorp called SGS. Something like this looks like they deal with end consumers. http://lemonsquad.com/used-car-inspections/expert

Although given that my last used car inspection was $30, the price is... painful. If you have acquaintances in the area, perhaps they'd be willing to help you out by recommending a local shop or something?

Shipping a car is fairly straightforward - any number of small and medium-size services will do it. Just search Yelp or Angieslist for "car transport" or "car shipping." The one caveat I'd mention is that you might still have to go pick up your vehicle somewhere - when I looked into having my old car shipped to my brother in Michigan, I got quotes between $400 and $600, but the closest anybody was willing to cart the thing was the closest large city about 70 miles away. I ended up driving it there and flying back for $250.

Where I'm a bit stumped is the actual money and title transfer. Titles could be signed by the seller and mailed to you to complete and file at your DMV, but a lot of craigslist sellers are cash-only. Maybe an escrow service? (I have no recommendations.)

I'm generally of the opinion that buying a classic car is a darn good excuse to take a three day weekend and either fly out to pick it up or do a road trip.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, for any used car I would definitely inspect in person.

 

[Archer27]

I have bought a car from halfway across the country before, an antique, but very pricey $30,000!
I placed my trust in the seller, and the seller delivered. I never went to inspect the vehicle, but I did get lots and lots of pictures and a video of the vehicle running from the seller.
As a mechanic, I can certainly say that I wasn't as concerned with the mechanical condition of the vehicle, as I can fix anything mechanical but I was more concerned with the shipping and the potential of loss or severe body damage.
Shipping is very expensive for a vehicle(professional truck shipping). A closed trailer will run you even more!

 

[paperfist]

I have bought a car from halfway across the country before, an antique, but very pricey $30,000!
I placed my trust in the seller, and the seller delivered. I never went to inspect the vehicle, but I did get lots and lots of pictures and a video of the vehicle running from the seller.
As a mechanic, I can certainly say that I wasn't as concerned with the mechanical condition of the vehicle, as I can fix anything mechanical but I was more concerned with the shipping and the potential of loss or severe body damage.
Shipping is very expensive for a vehicle(professional truck shipping). A closed trailer will run you even more!

The car was $30k or shipping? I'm concerned about rust which doesn't show up well in pics. Mechanical is an easier repair.

As far as inspections go, there are a number of services. eBay Motors used to work with some Halliburton-like Omnisuperubercorp called SGS. Something like this looks like they deal with end consumers. http://lemonsquad.com/used-car-inspections/expert

Although given that my last used car inspection was $30, the price is... painful. If you have acquaintances in the area, perhaps they'd be willing to help you out by recommending a local shop or something?

Shipping a car is fairly straightforward - any number of small and medium-size services will do it. Just search Yelp or Angieslist for "car transport" or "car shipping." The one caveat I'd mention is that you might still have to go pick up your vehicle somewhere - when I looked into having my old car shipped to my brother in Michigan, I got quotes between $400 and $600, but the closest anybody was willing to cart the thing was the closest large city about 70 miles away. I ended up driving it there and flying back for $250.

Where I'm a bit stumped is the actual money and title transfer. Titles could be signed by the seller and mailed to you to complete and file at your DMV, but a lot of craigslist sellers are cash-only. Maybe an escrow service? (I have no recommendations.)

I'm generally of the opinion that buying a classic car is a darn good excuse to take a three day weekend and either fly out to pick it up or do a road trip.

$30 inspection, that's cheap no? Thanks for the inspection info !

I looked around a bit more on shipping and it doesn't look to bad. It doesn't look like you can give them the money to pay though. There used to be a shipping show on TV that used uship and I thought that's how it worked.

Good idea I'll look up escrow services.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

$30 inspection, that's cheap no?

I suspect it is. I go to this indie mechanic that has a good reputation and very affordable labor rates. They've been good to me.

 

[paperfist]

Well escrow was a keyword:

https://www.escrow.com/cars

https://paysafeescrow.com/faq

The first one ships with uship, and also does inspections. The 2nd one doesn't directly ship but has some partners.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well escrow was a keyword:

https://www.escrow.com/cars

https://paysafeescrow.com/faq

The first one ships with uship, and also does inspections. The 2nd one doesn't directly ship but has some partners.

Cool. Make sure you find some reviews of the escrow services, though - I'm sure you can find a few bad reviews of any company out there, but some are less bad than others.

 

[Archer27]

The car was $30k or shipping? I'm concerned about rust which doesn't show up well in pics. Mechanical is an easier repair.

30K car $2,000 shipping. Total 32,000.
Yes mechanical is easier, or it can be.
I always buy from southwest states so rust isn't an issue.
Even if there is some, I can weld.

 

[repoman0]

I've done it ... bought and shipped an old(ish) M3 from Florida. The seller took it into an independent BMW shop of my choice, who put together a detailed report, pictures and called me to discuss. This was actually the third car I had sent in to get inspected to the tune of around $150 each time, but the cost of the inspection was well worth it because I ended up with a perfect, trouble free car rather than either of the first two which only looked clean on the surface. Actually, I highly doubt that if I had seen them in person that I would have uncovered the issues that the shops uncovered. But for this last one the shop owner told me that if I didn't take the car he would.

The rest of the sale I went about in a kind of amateur way, thinking back, but it turned out perfect. No escrow, and once the seller sent me the title and a bill of sale I sent him a standard bank check and arranged transport via an auction on uship.com. A transport company called Montway accepted, and I ended up really happy with them. I really wanted the car sent to my dad's house rather than my place in the city, but the cost for that while I was setting up transport seemed much higher. But, as the driver was coming up the east coast, he called me at some point to figure out logistics and we figured out that it would be better for both of us if he dropped it off in NH, so he did, no extra charge. I must have gotten lucky because I went with an open trailer when I really should have used a closed one for weather, rocks, etc but it showed up perfect. All in all, $500 to go from Florida to NH. I probably would have flown and driven it but my state (Mass) makes it close to impossible logistically to buy a car from a private seller out of state.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I read a few people that did it, but if the car is close enough to a major airport, it could be fun to fly one way, inspect it, and drive it back....

 

[jlee]

I read a few people that did it, but if the car is close enough to a major airport, it could be fun to fly one way, inspect it, and drive it back....

I have done that more than once. As long as the vehicle is solid (which it always has been for me), it's a fun trip.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I have done that more than once. As long as the vehicle is solid (which it always has been for me), it's a fun trip.

It's like wearing your shoes out of the store!

 

[paperfist]

Well the problem I'm running into now is now one will agree to have the truck inspected and have a 3rd party pay them lol

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Well the problem I'm running into now is now one will agree to have the truck inspected and have a 3rd party pay them lol

Well, if they aren't interested in having the vehicles inspected, that's a pretty good sign you should move on.

If they get the money, why do they care about who pays?

 

[jlee]

Well the problem I'm running into now is now one will agree to have the truck inspected and have a 3rd party pay them lol

Generally speaking, I'd be skeptical of a 3rd party payer as well. That is often indicative of a scam. Not wanting an inspection, though...that's different.

 

[paperfist]

Well, if they aren't interested in having the vehicles inspected, that's a pretty good sign you should move on.

If they get the money, why do they care about who pays?

I'm not sure what some people are thinking but I gave up on 2 when one insisted I'd be there to pay in person and the other wouldn't send additional pics cause I was out of state.

I'm just being up front with them but this is turning out to be like online dating lol

 

[paperfist]

Generally speaking, I'd be skeptical of a 3rd party payer as well. That is often indicative of a scam. Not wanting an inspection, though...that's different.

Yeah I get the scam vibe seems to be indicative of internet deals. 3rd party isn't Joe Smoe though but a company that does escrow.

 

[hans007]

friend of mine shipped a 2012 911 carrera S from new york to los angeles, in a covered truck. He bought the car from a used car dealer and had a mechanic look at it . Did everything online.

I've driven the car and saw it come out of the truck, I don't think theres anything really to worry about if you are arranging it through the right channels.

 

[tweakmonkey]

I'm not sure what some people are thinking but I gave up on 2 when one insisted I'd be there to pay in person and the other wouldn't send additional pics cause I was out of state.

I'm just being up front with them but this is turning out to be like online dating lol

The problem to me sounds like you're using Craigslist, which is for local sales really - there's even warnings all over it telling sellers only to deal locally, and it's great for that and moving a car quickly. Most people using CL are hoping for a local and probably cash sale except for some collector cars / owners who would probably talk about it in their ad if that's the case.

You should check eBay, forums, dealers, and the sites like Hemmings for people willing to ship and your chances will go up drastically.

If you're not going to pay a deposit and you might change your mind, who's willing to take their car for an inspection when you don't even live in the state? I've sold a lot of cars on Craigslist and would ignore emails requesting this sort of thing unless it's a last resort. They were often tire kickers / wasters of my time... and I got enough of those locally to make me hate selling cars!

 

[Roundling]

I've used a shipper called A-1 Auto Transport to ship an old Thunderbird I have, but I already owned it at the time. That link has some prices if you're curious and also mentions some other companies that offer the same service. Not exactly cheap, but worth it if you're shipping a classic. Make sure you ask about "enclosed" shipping if you're looking around for price quotes.

 

[Fenixgoon]

When i bought my S6 it was pretty easy. Got a loan from the bank, they wrote a check to both myself and the owner, we both signed the check, then he signed the title over to me.

i then arranged shipment back. it was actually pretty painless.

but do pay for a PPI by a knowledgeable party (if your vehicle has any quirks) - i didn't because the car was pretty clean - but it had some leaks I could have used for negotiation to lower the price.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

If you are serious about plopping down serious money on a classic vehicle then it is worth the $100-200 to fly out there even if you do not buy. Look at it this way, would you regret more wasting $200 on a non-buy or spending thousands, sight-unseen?

I figure if I were spending $15-20K or more on a classic car then spending $1K on travel to inspect candidate purchases should be built into the purchase price. At the end of the day, even wasting $1K is better than wasting $15-20K, or a lot more.