Anyone bought a car and had it delivered...
 

...without having done business with the seller in person? I'm thinking buying a car from out of state and having it shipped to my house. How does one handle the title? Is there a method of doing it so that both buyer and sellers interests are covered? Any thoughts?

Stephen

Just go on a roadtrip, it's more fun that way

I know this doesn't answer your question specifically, but having considered doing what you are talking about myself...you are going to look at the car in person, right?

I am sure there are exceptions, but I saw a couple of vehicles recently online (ebay) that looked PERFECT. I nearly bid on one of them, but since I was 2 hours away, thought I'd best see it in person first.

Long story short, it was a piece of junk in person. I went back home and re-read the ad, looked at the pictures again. No, they didn't lie - technically - but the pics and descriptions were very cleverly done in retrospect.

All I'm saying is unless it's something where you really don't mind if the vehicle has "issues", go see it in person before you even think of going into negotiations in the first place.

The other option is to have someone close by check it out for you. After spending time on this and a few other Subaru boards, there are people all over the country whose opinions I would trust on the condition of a car.

Potential Problems
 

I have bought 4 from Ebay. Two of them were also "technically" as described, but definitely not as good as one would expect. Pictures are not a great way of see defects. Fortunately, I was able to see these two cars before the deal was completed and in both cases was able to get them for less than originally committed to based on hidden defects. The 3d seller forgot to mention a severely dented fender and a cracked windshield. Again I finally bought it for about half the originally agreed upon price. The 4th car was from a Subaru dealer and it was paid for and shipped without seeing it first. It was exactly as described in the listing as well as additional descriptions obtained telephonically. Title work in 2 of the cases was done by next day mail and the others in person.

I would be very hesitant to completely buy one sight unseen from an individual unless the price was super cheap. Pictures can be taken at angles and distances that do no reveal a lot of defects.

As suggested above it is good to at least have someone look at it.

Lee

I live in Ohio and bought my SVX from an ebay seller in Florida. I didn't see the car until it was delivered to my house and already paid for. It was a very nerve racking experience. The car was beautiful. It was exactly as described. I probably called the seller (a dealer) 6 times and talked to different sales people. Each time, I acted like it was my first call and asked the same questions over again, looking for inconsistencies. On one occasion, the salesman said, "Sir, you don't understand. This car is beautiful." On one call I learned that they had the front bumper repainted. The guy said that the bumper had some chips in it and the rest of the car was perfect. So they painted the bumper. On one occasion I learned that the power antenna didn't work quite right. On one occasion I learned that the dash panel under the steering wheel was missing (clever photography). They had ordered one from Subaru but it hadn't come in yet.

The seller arranged the shipping for me. It cost about $500 to ship the car and took about 9 days.

Overall it was a fine experience. I guess I was lucky.

I bought mine from a Suby dealership about 300 miles away and had it delivered by one of their drivers in a covered hauler, having seen only photos. Found it on AutoTrader. (I'd never seen ANY SVX from within 100 yards.) The car had obvious troubles before I even backed it out of my driveway, but to the dealer's credit, he shipped me the parts I requested and we called it even. Turned out I got a solid SVX with a documented service history and no signs of abuse, and I do love the thing, so my only complaint remains that the car needed work an on-line seller should have disclosed up-front. Title and tag transfer wasn't an issue, as we're in the same state and they handled the paperwork.

Not an excercise I recommend; it's simply too easy to get screwed. I was lazy, and foolishly trusting, and I lucked-out.

dcb

Bought my first one on E-Bay. Used their recommended shiiper to haul it from Philadelphia to Jacksonville ($700.00). Turned out to be a good solid car and as described on the auction but the paint chips and door dings didn't show up on the photographs. A lot of surface rust underneath from road salt. Woud certainly not have bid as high as I did. On the Liquid Silver I made a non-refundable deposit and the owner delivered it. Turned out to be in showroom condition and I should have paid twice as much. It gfoes both ways I guess.

Thanks for all the input, but I'm more concerned about the proper way to handle the title transfer than the condition of the vehicle. It's not a very expensive car.

Stephen

Just got a F350 from colorado.

We wired the payment and the seller fedexed a bill of sale so I could insure it and register it before it went on the hauler. Had the truck for a week before i got the title, which sorta irked me, but my isurance company ensured me that had i not gotten the title, I could've gotten a bonded title on the bill of sale alone.

I also did this when I bought YellowBird. Jeff sent me the title before I had the car picked up.

Good luck! :)