Long Distance Purchase...am I crazy?

SR71

SR71

Member
Hi everyone,
New on here so please direct me if this should be posted elsewhere.

Been hunting for months for a 4th Gen. Found one that looks to be almost exactly what I want. But, it's five hours away in GA. Hopping over to test drive it isn't practical. But finding what I am looking for locally has been a bust so far. Because of that, I am looking farther from home. (3 hour round trip today, actually, to look at one but too much rust from being up north)

The one in GA has a clean carfax. It is a dealer and not a private sale. Southern car. Am I crazy for considering using a car inspection service to check out the vehicle and then making an offer/possibly purchasing having never driven it myself? Am I crazier for toying with the idea of shipping it? Do members on here ever eyeball cars for sale in their area on behalf of someone too far away to see it in person?

Y'all bring me back down to earth if I've lost my mind. Thanks.
 
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I plan to do the same soon. I know EXACTLY what I want and what I want is just simply not avaiable here. The truck I am most interested in is 12.5 hours away. Plane ticket is $200 even the next day. If the trucks not to my liking I won't feel bad about losing that little money.
 
drove at least 6 hours each way for mine. saw close-up pictures. it was only 29k miles at the time so i guess less chance for big problems. just had them go out specifically to make sure it did not smell like it had been smoked in.
 
"Hopping over to test drive it isn't practical." It is more impractical to buy a car unseen. I have no experience with car inspection services, but I'm sure they have small writing that says anything they miss is not their fault.

I made the mistake of buying a 69 Chevelle site unseen, only through pictures. The seller lied about many things or just said "Not that I know of." to many questions. Should have known.

I bought my 4R from a Las Vegas dealer. Called first then flew up to see it with the full intention of walking away and flying home if they had misrepresented it in major ways. Drove it home.

Be patient. I waited two years, got a little impatient and ended up with a Chevelle that cost me more money than I wanted to spend - just to get it to the condition of the price I paid if it had been straight in the first place.

Again, be patient. There will be others if you are unable to make this one work.
 
SR71 said:
Hi everyone,
New on here so please direct me if this should be posted elsewhere.

Been hunting for months for a 4th Gen. Found one that looks to be almost exactly what I want. But, it's five hours away in GA. Hopping over to test drive it isn't practical. But finding what I am looking for locally has been a bust so far. Because of that, I am looking farther from home. (3 hour round trip today, actually, to look at one but too much rust from being up north)

The one in GA has a clean carfax. It is a dealer and not a private sale. Southern car. Am I crazy for considering using a car inspection service to check out the vehicle and then making an offer/possibly purchasing having never driven it myself? Am I crazier for toying with the idea of shipping it? Do members on here ever eyeball cars for sale in their area on behalf of someone too far away to see it in person?

Y'all bring me back down to earth if I've lost my mind. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Discribe what you are looking for. V8 V6 sliver black sport. Stock. It depends because some T4R are more easily found.
 
SR71 said:
Hi everyone,
New on here so please direct me if this should be posted elsewhere.

Been hunting for months for a 4th Gen. Found one that looks to be almost exactly what I want. But, it's five hours away in GA. Hopping over to test drive it isn't practical. But finding what I am looking for locally has been a bust so far. Because of that, I am looking farther from home. (3 hour round trip today, actually, to look at one but too much rust from being up north)

The one in GA has a clean carfax. It is a dealer and not a private sale. Southern car. Am I crazy for considering using a car inspection service to check out the vehicle and then making an offer/possibly purchasing having never driven it myself? Am I crazier for toying with the idea of shipping it? Do members on here ever eyeball cars for sale in their area on behalf of someone too far away to see it in person?

Y'all bring me back down to earth if I've lost my mind. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I bought my GX sight unseen and was out of the question to fly and drive back since it would be 2000 mile drive home. Ended up working out ok. It wasn't in the cleanest condition but was about to get a CA car with with exact ext/int color combo I wanted. If i did it again, I would go CPO and get pictures of everything. Nothing out of the norm has failed but just a few things that bugged me:
- More dings/scratches than I could see in the pics
- Rear tires were replaced at some point so they were 1/4" more tread than the fronts. Ended up getting two new tires shaved down by tire rack to avoid damage to the driveline
- Car sat outside instead of garaged like I was told
- Due to socal sun, some of the window rubber is dried out.

Nothing major was wrong, just a bunch of little things that can only be seen in person. I prob overpaid a little but hadnt been with a car for year and needed to find something that I could keep 200k/10-15years and this is what I got.
 
RUST rust never sleeps !!! Be shame to get one that looks great & then down the line ? 5 hrs doesn't seem that much to me 10-12 yes .
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. Maybe taking a day off from work or using up a Saturday for a little road trip is the way to go. At any rate, y'all gave me some stuff to mull over.

AZ07Runner, I feel you on the Chevelle. I have a 69 Firebird. Looked at a lot of stuff prior to getting it and ran into the same thing you did. Plenty of folks happy to make their D- car sound like an A+ over the phone.

V8Man, since you asked, 06-09, V6, Sport or Urban Runner, 4x4, White/Titanium
Metallic/Galactic Gray Mica/Shadow Mica
 
Bought mine halfway across the country from a dealer. Saw many pictures and was a local trade in. It looked good and was serviced regularily. It worked out great and I was very happy
 
I have bought a few cars tha have been long road trips, 5+ hour road trips. Usually on the weekends. Sometimes you just have to see it in person before making the commitment. Plus it has always been an excellent road trip with dad!
 
Where in GA? If near me (northwest Atlanta) I'd be willing to help with at least checking it out to help you decide if you're willing to make the trip.
 
RunninInGA, thanks. PM sent.

nivlak, good point. Dad and I have had some good times on the road.
 
I drove from atlanta to clear water FL to get mine nothing wrong with it.... enjoy the drive and stop by Lake city, fl to have good food. lol
 
When I decided I was ready to get a new 4runner (had a 96 before my current 08) I started researching and decided on an 08 Limited V8. V8 were slim pickings in CA and I was considering a couple I had found on the East coast. Finally one popped up about 6 hours away from me in Sacramento.

I called the dealership and they sent me a 14 minute video they made going around the car and pointing out all the chips and dings and working all the functions/electronics/etc. I was able to ask questions and get followups of anything that they hadn't already provided me.

I took my time and tried to remain calm and collected as I watched this car continue to turn out to be exactly what I wanted. The dealership wanted too much for it as they were offering it certified pre-owned. I was able to track down previous service information as the two owners before had taken it to the same dealership for all it's services. I was able to talk to the records/service dept and find out that all maintenance appointments were kept on time with the vehicle and that no suggested service was ever refused.

Once I realized that this had been a well documented and well cared for vehicle, I asked the salesman to deliver the vehicle to a mechanic of my choosing for a pre-purchase inspection. I set up the inspection with the mechanic and they called me to tell me their findings and emailed everything to me. Everything came back great.

I was still nervous about buying the car without actually driving it. I was able to negotiate trading in my old 4runner if they would deliver the car to a place about an hour away from me. At that point all they had from me was a $1000 deposit that was made clear was refundable if I changed my mind AFTER viewing and test driving the car.

They delivered the car, I drove it, tested out the 4x4 and the rest is history. I am very glad I was able to have the patience to do this transaction the right way, because I was jumping at the bit to buy this car from the very beginning. And because I waited so long and was so methodical, I got the price knocked down by over $4000 from their original asking price.

My advice to you would be to have patience, do your research, take your time, let them know that you are a serious buyer and not trying to waste anyone's time, and to do everything possible to protect yourself financially from buying a bad vehicle. Good luck!!
 
poncharello,
Fantastic description of exactly how you went about the process. Laid out a good blueprint to follow. Much obliged!
 
Midwest the Gulf

I took a one way flight down to Tampa for a vehicle I wanted a few years ago, and drove it 24 hours straight back. Was awesome as mine was the only vehicle like it in the midwest, also after looking for almost a year and a half there wasn't comprobable vehicles in the surrounding states.

I say do it! :cheer2:
 
Worth It!

I live near NYC and found the 4th gen I wanted just outside of Chicago. It actually worked out great because I was already heading to Chicago for the Grateful Dead "Fare Thee Well" shows.

I called the dealer and put a REFUNDABLE deposit on the car using a credit card. A dealer in Ohio wanted me to put a $2500 NON-Refundable deposit on a 4runner without me seeing it. I told them to go f*** themselves.

We drove out in our BMW 535d (37mpg!) and went to Naperville Auto Haus, which is a used car dealership in Naperville, IL. What a great experience. These guys are legit. They have Ferrari's, Lambo's, vintage corvettes, BMWs, Range Rovers, etc. etc.

We could tell instantly this place does not sell junky used cars. We met the owner, awesome guy, he just loves cars. Everyone there was polite. They let us test drive by ourselves, which I prefer. It's a lot of pressure buying a used car and I hate having a sales rep babbling in my ear when I know more about 4runners then they do.

In the end we left happy and with a 2006 4Runner Sport Edition V8 with 117,xxx miles on it. I would buy another used car from Naperville Auto Haus. They said it's common for out-of-towners fly into CHI and a dealership employee picks them up at the airport.

We went to 3 Grateful Dead shows and danced like crazy. Then drove two cars over 800 miles home to New York. See you on Phish tour in my 2006 4Runner!!!

http://www.napervilleautohaus.com/
 
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