Little

So i'm so close to convincing myself to put in an offer for a car that is out in the midwest. Its about 19hrs from me drive wise and wouldn't make sense to drive out there. I checked the distance and its approx 1300 miles away. Have any of you guys had any experience doing something like this? Maybe they can take a thorough video plus extra pictures or something? The dealer seems to get nothing but real good reviews so I feel like i can trust them as much as you can trust any dealer. The only thing that is also causing hesitation on my part is that the price is a little on the high end, and with shipping its probably going to push me really close to LS 460 territory which is another struggle i've been having. The car is however almost exactly what i've been looking for, Black on Black '06 with a custom luxury package. I wanted Ultra but I would i said i would def take a custom. Oh the struggle is real.

Johnhav430

Can you get them to do a "multipoint" inspection? Here's what I'm driving at. When they sell, there's a clean Carfax. When that same car comes in for a service, suddenly, there's $5000+ worth of services they're recommending. Yes, I am asking the said dealer to shoot themselves in the foot but at the same time to act honestly, so you can take more money off the price, and to also have them show some integrity.

The idea is that all dealers seem to feel a 12+ y.o. car needs a lot, and they will recommend it when a customer is new. So why not recommend the same on a car they are selling? Then, the buyer can fairly assess the purchase. I bought a FLA car in Westchester, then took it to one of the northern NJ dealerships, and they recommended over $5k of work. The only piece that an indie said would be a good idea, was timing belt, which at the time, was $1400 of the $5500 of services. But if a dealer said $5500 was needed? I'd ask for another $2500 off the selling price.

Also, at a Lexus dealer, on a LS430, I asked for TB/WP to be done, to which they said no problem (this is likely $400 to them). So if a Lexus dealer, that is a mininum. The door actuator may be another problem item unless already replaced.

Personally, I can't buy a car sight unseen. My cousin did this with a BMW, coming from a dealer in FLA, it was delivered to him in Brooklyn, NY. There were all kinds of mods to the car that were removed, and hidden damage as well as things that were absent from the Carfax. He's ok with it because it was a lowball price, but me, I would have rather known it ahead of time.

Aren't there indie services where you can pay a couple hundred to have them look for you....good luck.

p.s. I don't generally trust dealers. I got an internal work order from a Lexus dealer showing all 4 tires were replaced, with OE Dunlop SPs. I went to look at the car and they were some knock off made in China tires. That's fine, but don't try to make it look like it had original p/n tires installed....

TriC

I don't understand the concept of buying a car without a personal inspection. If you like it that much, fly there and drive it home. Worst case is that you'll pass on it and be out the time and transportation cost, a far cheaper expense than ending up with a vehicle that you don't like.

In the alternative, hire someone local to the car for a couple of hundred bucks to do an inspection. S/he can at least give you an unbiased opinion.

bloomwcjkl

Maybe ask if there is someone here in the city/town that the car is located? What city?

It is nice to drive a car and get a feel for the ride and potential issues. A multi-point inspection can help but certainly cannot find a bunch of issues that could pop up.

Two times I have flown to NC, bought a car and drove it home in my younger days. Both cars worked out great. It is risky if you would get there and find something major wrong.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

Look at the interior that is a good indication of if it was maintained properly, I purchased my recent ls430 without even test driving, or looking at it and I did fine so dont stress to much the interior is always a good indication if it was maintained, pay attention to the carpets near the side of the of the footwell if there super stained the car was not maintained very well, just from my personal observations.

riknchar

I live in the Omaha Nebraska area. Is your desired car anywhere near me? I'd be happy to check it out for you if so.

If not, I do know that LemonSquad is a reputable Pre-Purchase Inspection company that will give any car a very thorough going over for $149 (well worth it for a long-distance purchase).

I had the same dilemma recently, trying to decide between a 2004-2006 LS430 or a 2008-2012 LS460. I couldn't find any nice LS430s anywhere near me to even test drive. The really nice ones I found on CarGurus were all in the $13-16k range. If one had been nearby and in great shape, I probably would have leaned that way. I ended up buying a 2010 LS460L AWD from my local Lexus of Omaha dealer for $21,600. I like the long-wheel base version and AWD is handy here in Nebraska. I'm pretty happy with my decision so far.

jimbosr1

I have bought a couple of cars without seeing them in person.bought my Mr2 in Oregon and i live in Ga.get all the pictures you can and a video if possible and check all history.With that said the shipping company i used damaged the car (broke the front windshield and the rear window spoiler) and they will not pay anything short of the trailer flipping over.
Good luck.

Johnhav430

I suppose the flip side is that people with YouTube channels buy cars sight unseen day in, and day out. And they show them on their YouTube channels. Probably the distinction I make, is that even though I'm only spending in my case $14xxx, and by now in many cases < $10k for a LS430, my expectations are somewhat high in that as far as I'm concerned, I should be treated no differently than someone buying a brand new LS500, if at a new car dealership. There shouldn't be all kinds of busted stuff that I have to fix myself or pay someone to, right off the bat, before I've used the vehicle, they should have been disclosed. Unrealistic of course, but just the way I look at it...so I need to see what's going on...

2KHarrier

It'd be nice if the OP checked back in and let us know where in the Midwest this creampuff is located. There's a few of us that would help a fellow member out by checking it out...

Johnhav430

I google mapped New Brunswick, NJ (center of the state), and determined that Omaha, NE, is 18 hrs. 49 min away.....1238 miles

Little

Wow thats one good guess. The car is located at Bigler autos in Lincoln Nebraska. I ran it through my lexusowners site and the car looks like it has been well maintained and also very minor issues throughout its life. It has had a rear impact accident on its record. Something like that doesn't greatly concern me as I know of plenty of brand new cars that get wrecked at the dealer that they fix without reporting. I'd have to double check which lot they had the car on. I do know the car has been for sale for some time now but the price was way too high, only to be dropped recently. I could not find any info regarding the timing belt replacement. In all honesty I'd like to be around $10,000 max but will pay a little bit of a premium for the right car. I just missed out on a Blue on Ecru Custom luxury just north of me that also had a real good record that just sold for $8900 with only 70,000 miles. I'm kicking myself for acting so slow on that one.

lexslexus

I have done this before. Wouldn't recommend it. Everything seemed fine (car was mint, clean CarFax and Auto Check, well maintained by 1 owner for years and years etc.) but once it got here, there were a lot of major problems that you couldn't possibly detect from the eBay auction. For example, it looked like the coolant tank was full in the picture but the car arrived to me with a few tablespoons of coolant in the tank. Luckily, I didn't fry my engine. I would suggest to fly up there (take a cheap Spirit Airlines flight so you don't waste a lot of money if things don't work out), test drive it, and get a pre-purchase inspection while you're there. If everything turns out fine, buy it and have it shipped to your home. If I had done this, I never would have purchased the car. Hope this helps.

Little80

Wilson430

Trust me, Good Decision. I have done this many times in my life. The best investment you can make is a plane ticket to see the car. I am very picky, so what other people see as ok won't fly with me. I know it is a pain, but spending a grand to not make a bad 10K to 15K decision on a used car you want to keep is cheap in the long run.

Johnhav430

The other thing is many cars of this era have had incidents that don't show up on Carfax....I don't want any used car with accidents on the report, only because there are plenty with nothing on Carfax, so I would want accident free at least on the report. Then, I would make sure to look the car over in bright sunlight. Any bondo means nein danke, just me...again it depends what one wants. My cousin is ok with his BMW 5 wagon having unplugged harnesses, aftermarket bumpers, hidden damage, etc. He feels the price was low enough to compensate for all that (usually this wouldn't be the case with a used car, from a new car dealer--it was an eBay dealer in Miami)