Am I crazy to buy sight unseen?

I don't think you're crazy. It's part of the adventure.

Are you buying a museum piece or a car? In a week, you'll have your own battle damage.

It's just a freaking car. It gets a scratch, you fix it. It gets a door ding, the guy comes over and pounds it out. Stuff happens. If you like the car and it checks out OK, I don't see the big issue in needing to see it yourself.

 

PPI = worthless
Friends Eyes = OK
your gut feeling = Smart move...

 

I've done it and would do it again.

Dave

 

I have trusted Forum members, esp. if owners themselves, to at least assess the car against "as advertised".........

It worked out okay in my case....

$30K cars, however....you are tossing larger stacks of bills around...but there's many here I'd trust in that manner.

 

If your friend is meticulous, sounds fine to me. A 2004 car with 4,300 miles and no accident history or repainting shouldn't have anything worse than a few stone chips.

Also, the market still seems soft, so if you put a deposit on it and explain your travel schedule maybe the dealer will be accommodating. It's always best to see it in person, if possible, but a lot of these cars get sold long distance.

 

??
This is essential unless the buyer himself is expert on the car and not suffering from "red mist".
For "worthless" see Carfax.

 

I can't believe how many generous offers of help, and how much sound advice has been given to me, by complete strangers on this Board. If I were in your shoes, I'd be thinking: thanks to the kind F-Chat soul who offered to be your eyes and take him up on it, and...take a look back at "Sweet cars that won't last long" on dealer ads from 6 months ago...and see how many of those are still available. Don't let the fear of losing one car cause you to overpay or make an irrational decision. Good luck!

 

I purchased 2 sight unseen. Do your homework and you'll be fine.

 

I have purchased many cars sight unseen, including Ferraris.

I figure "what the hell?"


Trusted friends are as good as gold.

 

I would not buy any used machinery sight unseen, unless you don't mind losing the good friend who didn't see the imperfection that you have ultimately bought.

 

I've never done it....but then again, I got screwed on cars I saw...it's a treacherous world out there...

 

+1
I have purchased a Mondial t this Summer from a fellow Fchatter, sight unseen. I would like to believe that any member on this forum would have acted as honestly, but member F308 was thorough, knowledable and above all an honest human being. I would urge you to have many conversations with the seller and look at many high quality photos. At the end its your gut feelings which win out. My deal was a very positive experience and wish you the same. Cheers

 

I agree with the others. Go with your gut feeling and advice from friend that checks out the car along with the usual routine.

 

I've done it, and won't do it again for anything except a daily driver.

But if you have to, I would get an independent ppi and have high resolution pictures taken inside and out. Even with at least a 3.0 mp digi cam, you'll get a fair idea of what shape the car is in. The ppi should show most major mechanical deficiencies, if there are any. Even if a car fax not always contains the complete history of the car, it'll show if there were any major incidents.

Good luck with the acquisition,

-Peter Oh

 

Would you marry a woman sight unseen??? My friend thinks his wife is hot, I'd just as soon cozy up to a Victorias Secret catalog and let another guy "take one for the team"...

Not you MikeZ, Your wife IS hot!!!

Tony.............

 

Said purchases.
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I've done it with a PPI and lots of pictures.

 

Are you an owner? A mechanic? Do you know the quirks of the individual model?

What would you see that a PPI wouldn't?

It's a used car. Don't expect perfection.
A PPI *and* a friend looking it over will tell you any gross defects.
But you'll still see things, when washing the car, that others missed.
Heck, I see things, washing my car, that I'd never noticed any other times.

The only thing you'll learn in person that you can't get from proxy reports is
(a) whether you fit in that particular model, and
(b) whether you're comfortable driving that particular model.

I might hesitate if I'd never seen another example of that model in person.

 

I've bought cars out of state based on pictures and several emails and phone calls; did it twice and I still have one of the cars to this day. I flew out on both occasions and drove the cars home, one was from Albany, NY to Los Angeles, CA. The other was from Lincoln, NB to LA. Cars ran great. They were Jap tuner cars. I brought a radar detector with me as well.

I'd do it again and again. It's actually more fun that way. You get to see the USA in your new used car, get acquainted. When I'm able to do this again I will do it in a New York minute. In fact buying cars this way is now the only way I like it.

 

Wait.... nope.... I've done this 3 times, not 2. I just recalled the other car, was another Jap car, a classic Skyline. Anyhow, my next one is the Ferrari. I'll announce it in a thread with pics. That is a threat and a promise

 

I did this with my 355 last year. I live in Oregon and the car was in Nevada. PPI checked out strong and the shop that did it (Service Italy) is highly respected and recommended by the Ferrari community.

I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

 

I'd say with the PPI (wothless or not) and having a member of this Forum take a look at it for you, you've done the most sensible thing possible under the circumstances.

Should the PPI and/or the forum member throw up any serious issues with the car and you ignore them completely and purchase it regardless, for the full asking price, then I'm sure everybody on the site will be more than happy to re-assess your mental state.

 

I bought mine on the rep of the dealership which was backed up by an external Ferrari certified mechanic that knew them. They replaced the radio that wasn't working properly w/ a new Sony CD player but that was it. Everything else was golden.

 

Not at all. You just have no one to blame when it shows up and it's not what you expected.