Help me with logistics of buying a car out of state. temp tags ??

[evident]

So I found the car I want in richmond, VA, but i'm in philadelphia, right now. I'm hoping to check it out, spend the weekend in richmond and drive home with it in two weeks.

seller has title in hand. I'm pre-approved for financing.

caveat is that my credit union requires a NOTARIZED bill of sale before they will cut me a check. How is it possible to get this done without having to meet him in person and going to a notary somewhere to get the bill of sale notarized, then faxing that notarized bill to my credit union? seems like i would need to meet him twice.

second, I would like to have a pre-purchase inspection performed on the car before I get there. How do I go about finding a trustworthy mechanic to do this? should I just have him take it to a car dealer? should I go with him in person to a mechanic?

everyone on the internet makes it seem like these are seamless transactions, but looks like there's alot of planning involved.


Update:

So I think I got the loan taken care of, as well as the PPI. Got a loan through my brick and mortar bank, which only needs a copy of the title in pdf form which the seller was willing to provide to me. and the PPI will be done at the local lexus dealership down there....

update 2:

Next annoying part, how do I legally drive the car from VA to PA? VA seems to offer temporary trip permits, but only to VA residents. big question mark as to what a prospective out of state buyer is to do. PA DMV told me its up to the rules of the VA DMV. I can obtain plates from PA only if I get the original signed title from the seller. I don't feel comfortable asking the seller to do that nor would he probably feel comfortable mailing me a signed title without me even looking at the car or giving him cash. I think best thing is for us to go to the VA DMV together and get it sorted out...

 

[NutBucket]

Actually it really just depends on the laws in your state. I had a guy from AZ fly in and buy a car. I simply signed over the title and he drove home. No mess.

 

[jlee]

Find a better credit union - PenFed will just mail you a check.

 

[evident]

Find a better credit union - PenFed will just mail you a check.

This credit union is a PITA. they are so old school, was such a huge hassle to refinance our house through them. but nevertheless, they have great rates. a 60 month used loan through them is 2.25. pen fed is 3%.

 

[jlee]

This credit union is a PITA. they are so old school, was such a huge hassle to refinance our house through them. but nevertheless, they have great rates. a 60 month used loan through them is 2.25. pen fed is 3%.

Get a Penfed loan and refi with your local CU at 2.25%?

 

[evident]

Get a Penfed loan and refi with your local CU at 2.25%?

hmm, didnt think about that. Not a bad idea at all, just another hassle step but looks like this might be the way to go. are there normally closing costs, tag, title fees involved with vehicle refi's?

 

[jlee]

I haven't refinanced one, but in my experience credit unions don't have fees for that. I was going with Penfed for mine, but the check didn't get here in time (and I had already purchased a flight) so I ended up financing through a credit union there (got pre-approved just in case). Penfed canceled my loan without any problems.

You may want to check and see if they will do a refinance deal at the same rate; sometimes the lower rates are only for new loans.

 

[repoman0]

I just did this for an old M3 I found that was around 1500 miles away. Most importantly, make sure the seller is responsive, easy to deal with, and talk to them for real on the phone.

As for PPI .. I actually sent in three different cars total, all of them brought in by the owners (obviously two failed). For BMWs, it's pretty easy, there's bimmershops.com as a starting point which has reviews and lets you search indie shops by location. Find a good one near the seller, ask him about convenient times to bring the car in, call a shop or two and schedule an appointment .. pay via CC over the phone, have them send results and discuss with both of you.

I can't help about the notary craziness .. my CU only required photocopies of his title and a copy of the bill of sale and then they gave me a check. I use Hanscom FCU, which mainly serves Hanscom AFB here in MA .. check them out, they'll probably work with you remotely if the advice above doesn't work out. My friend/roommate got a motorcycle loan through them over the phone with no problem at all.

I actually ended up shipping the car (uship.com, 500 bucks FL to MA) because registration and legally driving the car back after only one trip to FL was such a PITA and close to impossible to accomplish in this state

 

[KentState]

Little different situation when I sold my car. Out of state seller showed up, test drove car and agreed to buy it. He gave me $8k in cash and a check for the rest which I called the bank and verified. I took the cash and check to bank to pay off the loan. The state then mailed me the title which I signed and mailed over night to the buyer.

 

[evident]

I haven't refinanced one, but in my experience credit unions don't have fees for that. I was going with Penfed for mine, but the check didn't get here in time (and I had already purchased a flight) so I ended up financing through a credit union there (got pre-approved just in case). Penfed canceled my loan without any problems.

You may want to check and see if they will do a refinance deal at the same rate; sometimes the lower rates are only for new loans.

this notary stuff sucks. i opened up a penfed account with a $5 deposit checking account. still can't fill out the auto loan process because they haven't mailed me my account number yet. what a pain. hope to have approval by tomorrow. I'll also check with my current credit union that refinancing would still give me the same 2.25 rate, and let them know that they are a PITA to deal with .

The person i'm dealing with has been extremely responsive. it's such a brand new car, i might just take it to the lexus dealer to have them inspect it. it's a 2014 IS350 Fsport RWD with VGRS 12k miles.

 

[jlee]

this notary stuff sucks. i opened up a penfed account with a $5 deposit checking account. still can't fill out the auto loan process because they haven't mailed me my account number yet. what a pain. hope to have approval by tomorrow. I'll also check with my current credit union that refinancing would still give me the same 2.25 rate, and let them know that they are a PITA to deal with .

The person i'm dealing with has been extremely responsive. it's such a brand new car, i might just take it to the lexus dealer to have them inspect it. it's a 2014 IS350 Fsport RWD with VGRS 12k miles.

I would just give Penfed a call - they're awesome to work with. Make sure to have enough time for the check to get to you; depending on how much time you have, you may want to have them expedite it. Mine showed up the day after I flew to ABQ to pick up the vehicle so I ended up financing through a credit union out there.

 

[evident]

welp, heres a situation where a brick and mortar bank came in handy. Walked into the branch I usually deposit my physical checks to and applied for a loan. looks like all i need is the buyer's information and the VIN, once it goes through they will cut me a check that I will simply just sign over to him. Rate is much higher, 3.99% with a $35 doc fee

Once the car and title are in my posession i'll refinance through my annoying credit union and get the lower 2.25% rate.

 

[jlee]

welp, heres a situation where a brick and mortar bank came in handy. Walked into the branch I usually deposit my physical checks to and applied for a loan. looks like all i need is the buyer's information and the VIN, once it goes through they will cut me a check that I will simply just sign over to him. Rate is much higher, 3.99% with a $35 doc fee

Once the car and title are in my posession i'll refinance through my annoying credit union and get the lower 2.25% rate.

Yeah, it's amazing how much easier some places are to work with than others. My local credit union wouldn't give me a loan without physically inspecting the vehicle. Pain in the ass!

 

[evident]

Next annoying part, how do I legally drive the car from VA to PA? VA seems to offer temporary trip permits, but only to VA residents. big question mark as to what a prospective out of state buyer is to do.

PA DMV told me its up to the rules of the VA DMV.

 

[jlee]

I would call the VA DMV and ask. I found a thread (from six years ago, though) that said an Ohio resident was able to get a 3 day plate from VA.

 

[NutBucket]

For once the CA system is better....plates stay with the car.

 

[cabri]

Most LEO will cut ou a break if you have the proper documentation showing the sale of the vehicle and they can see that you are transitioning to/thru that state.

Once in the target state; if more than a business day has passed; you should have no excuses though.

 

[evident]

I would call the VA DMV and ask. I found a thread (from six years ago, though) that said an Ohio resident was able to get a 3 day plate from VA.

Yep, saw that thread too, which gives me some confidence that going to the DMV will help get things sorted out for me. I'll make sure to bring more than one form of identification because I have a feeling that it would be a place that might ask for something like that

by the way, thanks for everyone's help here... as a small token of appreciation if anyone needs some free car fax lookups within the next 30 days PM me the license plate number ( I used up all of the VIN lookups already). purchased the unlimited lookup for 30 day package before i settled (hopefully) finally on this car.