There are times when you may find yourself looking at cars that are being sold on Ebay, Craigslist, or sites like AutoTrader and Cars.com. On all of these types of websites you will find cars that are both for sale by owner and those that are being sold by dealers.
As an Internet manager I can tell you that I used all of the resources to advertise cars. I would tend to put obscure or high demand but limited supply vehicles on these sites. I liked putting aged units with "blowout prices" and our cheaper stuff on Craigslist. Although I never had much success on Ebay I would list some used cars on there as well as new. Typically upper management would request I list certain vehicles on Ebay. Most being vehicles we desperately needed to get out from underneath of. Like a last years model new car or some bastard pre-owned unit we could not seem to get rid of to save our lives.
All of these sites are designed to do one thing. Get maximum exposure to the listing. With that said. You can quickly find yourself looking at cars hundreds or even thousands of miles away depending on the search criteria you are allowing yourself. To a dealer these listings serve as both getting maximum exposure to their inventory or simply just to establish contact with any potential buyer who may request information about a certain vehicle. In other words, you may call or email a dealer about an Ebay or Craigslist car to only find you are no longer interested in that unit. There is a good possibility that if that dealer now has your email address or phone number they will still try to find something to sell you. I just want you to expect this if you call or email a store about a vehicle on any of these sites. If they are aggressive they are going to keep you in theirs
contacts.
As an Internet manager I had some folks drive 12 hours to buy a car. Hell, I had even picked up people at the airport who flew in to buy a car. Is there some money to be saved by buying cars this way? In some cases the potential is definitely there. However, it is up to you to cover all of your bases before making such a journey. I personally was very transparent with people when I described vehicles to customers by email or over the phone. I was more than happy to provide any vehicle history reports like Carfax or Autocheck and gave any information I could about a vehicles condition no matter how insignificant it may have seemed. It was important to me that the vehicle was everything I described to them as I didn't want any disappointment or problems when it was time to make the transaction. You are going to have to use some of your own judgement to determine if a dealer is being up front about everything so there isn't any surprises when you arrive. The odds are that any dealer doesn't want any surprises when you arrive either so they will make every effort to ensure the transaction will be smooth. I would also highly recommend getting either faxes or emails about all of the paperwork that will be performed when you arrive. There is also a good chance here that you may be crossing a state line with your new or used vehicle. As I have said in an earlier article I wrote called
Buying a Car Out of State & other helpful links . The procedure can vary from state to state when it comes to buying a car out of state. You may or may not have to pay taxes at the point of purchase or not at all. You are going to want to know how registrations and titles will be transferred. DO NOT hesitate to get all of the details regarding this type of transaction in writing and even talk to a finance manager over the phone and review the details with him.
It is very important that you weigh out or rationalize any long distance purchases before following through with them. Travel or freight expenses can add up real quick. Personally, I would have to feel I was getting a pretty significant savings to buy a car in such a manner. You won't catch me hopping on planes to save a few hundred bucks. I would also have to ensure that nothing about the purchase was final until I arrived and inspected the vehicle for myself. Even though I myself sold vehicles doing paperwork via FedEx and shipping the vehicle to the customer. My honesty made the transactions good and the customer happy but I am not going to say you are going to find that everywhere.
I myself have never bought a car off of Ebay. I know enough about and use Ebay enough though that if you arrive to finalize the purchase of a car you
won and it isn't up to snuff. You don't have to buy it. Misrepresentation of any item on Ebay is grounds to open any dispute case in their
resolution center. If you arrive to find a car listing to be false in any way. Ebay has your back on this. If Ebay does anything well. It's protect their buyers.
The main things to keep in mind when making such unique purchases is justifying the savings vs. the extra hoops you will be jumping through to get that car back home and into your driveway. Understand the terms of the purchase before making the trip. Above all, ask lots of questions. Whether it be a dealer or private party. Never hesitate to ask a lot of questions and get those answers in writing. If they want to earn your business. Trust me, they will understand and be obliged to provide the information you request. Also, I hope this doesn't happen to anyone but if you get there and it isn't everything they said it was. Don't feel pressured to buy it anyway. At least without some concession on the seller's end such as reducing a price to make things
right. Keeping your buying more localized of course is going to avoid all of these woes because it is easier to go see the vehicle and you will be out less travel expense if you do.
I think there are some good deals to be had out there when it comes to buying long distance. If your model of choice is a car that is a "dime a dozen" though. Stay local. You won't find yourself reaping big savings on mass produced vehicles like Camry, Impala, or Fusion by stepping outside of your area. It may be more beneficial to look outside of your area though if the vehicle you choose is odd and limited in your area or perhaps you are wanting a significantly older car with some unusually low miles for the year. Research is the key here and is the best car buying tip I can give when making a long distance purchase.
One more thing I want to add is that if you are buying from a private party and need to independently obtain a vehicles history report. Which I HIGHLY recommend. There are two major choices out there and they are Carfax and Autocheck. I dealt with both of them plenty since they have been around. Both are every bit as comprehensive as the other but Autocheck has always been less expensive. If you need to obtain an Autocheck vehicle history report you can get started
here. Autocheck is an Experian company which also provides credit reports. Good luck and I hope you find that diamond in the rough!
