Redirwol1 wrote:
From my many many experiences with buying and selling sight unseen it's a very iffy situation. I have been burned plenty of times by owners that claimed "it was good to go" but it was a complete turd box when I got it. The only things I recommend are to have recent pictures from EVERY SINGLE ANGLE POSSIBLE. down the sides of the car inside trunk engine door jams, etc etc. Picture of vin plate. Tire tread. Each individual wheel. And then a piece of paper with the date placed in multiple spots when the owner takes picture. But then thats ony aesthetics that you are covering. Drivability is a totally different story. Does it run good? Does it leak fluids? Does the ac work? Electrical issues? Are there any "patch" repairs to cover up major flaws like tranny fluid in the oil to cover up a knock.. Etc etc.
I have been on mautofied for years obviously.. I'm an admin. My advice is don't trade unless you can physically inspect it or if you know without a shadow of a doubt what you are getting. There are plenty of shady people out there that love to dump their problems off on someone else. It has happened to me plenty of times. My last 4 or 5 sight unseen trade or purchase deals all had hiccups. Some worse than the other. You get to a point to where you expect it. In the end if you do end up trading and you get burned.... You burned yourself for going through with a trade deal that you didn't inspect the vehicle yourself ahead of time.. So it would be your own fault. That is all there is too it. There is usually always a risk involved.
A vehicle 2000 miles away would cost you about $1000-1500 (for only one vehicle) in one direction.
There are no third party inspectors. Only friends and family that you have in th arear or have the owner take it to a mechanic shop that you specify and you pay to have the vehicle thoroughly inspected and have them tell you what they have concluded.
Or meet half way...
Those are the options you are limited to.
The shipping company doesn't care what it looks like, or if it runs, or if the ac works, etc... They just pick it up and drop it off and collect some money.
Like I said... Sigh unseen is always a risk.. Never a certainty.. I wouldn't recommend it unless you dont mind potentially forking out for repairs on things that the person you just got it from thought were no big deal. in the end you are only to blame for not covering your own ass.
Thanks, I wish there was a better way. I think if it does happen there would need to be a lot of Youtube video's involved. And yeah I'm prepared to shell out $2,000 on shipping alone.