SilverJ

I found a car I like but its 1000 miles away! I was wondering if any of you ever bought a car sight unseen. It looks great, and still under manufacturer warranty, but still. Makes me nervous.

NBP04TL4ME

Maybe another AZ member would be willing to check it out for you? You need to post the ad and/or atleast what state or city it is in. Have you run a Carfax on it?

SinCity-TL

Presuming there is something special about this particular vehicle, color combo etc. that really caught your eye. In addition to the Carfax hire an independent inspector to go out and look it over. For a couple of hundred they will at least go over the basics and take lots of pictures.

ep3minivan

I have done it before and had the car shipped. After the last two times I did it I told myself never again. I would rather spend the money to fly out there and check it out rather than regretting the purchase.

2012wagon

Same here. I have done it twice. Once perfect, second time disaster.


Since then I buy a refundable roundtrip, check out in person, or use forums and have a local person check out car in exchange for lunch/beer


*if you buy from reputable dealer, above doesn't apply, necessarily*

csmeance

have another member check out the car for you on here! Post in the regions sections. I'm sure somebody would love to do it for $20 bux!

Strippers4Me

I've bought a few on the Interwebs....


I guess I've been fortunate, other than a few hail dings that were not on the list of issues none had issues.


Possibly have them take it to an Acura dealer, you pay for the inspection (call them with a cc) and there you go, if it's under warranty they will also do any warranty issues.


As posted above, is this "the" car you are looking for? Mine were all sort of specialty vehicles that I couldn't find (MINI Cooper, HHR panel, 88 civic hatch, etc) not like I could just run down to the local used lot and grab any of them.


last thought, plenty of pictures, digital pictures don't cost anything other than time... Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for

Strippers4Me

wait... one more thought....


you're in PA, I'm in Ohio... 1000mi if it's SOUTH and away from this snow, ROAD TRIP!!!

SilverJ

The car is from a reputable dealership and they said they would gladly take it to an acura dealer to inspect. Seems safe to me. You guys think I would be good just with the acura inspection ?

NBP04TL4ME

Not sure of the details but is the Acura dealer going to CPO it?

Seriously are you going to reach out to your fellow AZ members to take a look at it for you?

SilverJ

No they can't.they can just inspect. How do I find a member in a certain area ?

mylove4cars

You can only purchase a CPO from the brand certified dealership.

NBP04TL4ME

You can post in the region where the car is located or simply ask in this thread.

NBP04TL4ME

I meant CPO type of inspection.

BDoggPrelude

We bought our 3G from a dealer in Arizona basically sight unseen. They were the closest dealer that had a black on black tech package TL. My brother in law lived by the dealer. He checked it out for us and drove it back to Denver. We did all of the paperwork via phone and fax.

SilverJ

--OK...anyone near Ed Voyles Acura in Atlanta ? Its actually ab out 650 miles from me. 1000 a slight exaggeration. Feels like 1000

SeismicGuy

We bought our 2012 TL back at the end of 2011 essentially sight unseen. We are in southern California and at the time it was in the Bay Area and essentially the only new Mayan Bronze Tech available in California. We negotiated over the phone with the dealer (Hansel Acura in Santa Rosa) and they emailed some photos. I was suggesting shipping but they suggested we fly up (they would pay for one airfare) and we can have a nice road trip driving it back. We made a nice weekend out of it visiting with our son and daughter-in-law in the Bay Area.

Reorge

I did. First "see" and drive was during my acceptance inspection.

ucf_bronco

iTrader: (1)

I actually bought my TL without seeing it. Hell, I never even test drove one! I wanted a 6MT and since they were in short supply I was forced to buy sight unseen (the one I found was 2k miles away). Since mine was CPO I wasn't worried about it. However, when I received it I noticed the dreaded crows feet issue and ended up getting it re-painted under warranty. If I had to do it over again, I would...but I was fortunate that my local dealership took good care of me.

Mcesar84

1) 2002 M3 (in 2007) ... won it on Ebay from a seller with 100% feedback. Flew out, saw it, paid for it, no regrets

2) 2001 530i (in 2008) ... won it on Ebay from dealer. Flew out to pick it up only to be told it has been in an accident on the way to the airport (BS often?). Was out the airfare and ended up getting my '06 TL locally a few days later

3) 2008 Ford Ranger (in 2012) ... won it on Ebay from a dealer. Another positive experience, still have it.

4) 2003 Honda S2000 (in 2013) ... won it on Ebay for an amazing price in the middle of winter from a rural dealership. Figured there would be a few small issues, which there were, but I still made a nice chunk of change reselling it at the end of the summer.


If it's a reputable seller and you've seen plenty of photographic representation then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Schu

yes... I just bought a SH AWD TL sight unseen.

happy happy joy joy

andrewcjduong

I didn't but I drove 500km to go see some TL's. Walked into the dealership. Test drove it. Negotiated the price. Told them I wanted it asap. They had it ready the next day so I booked a hotel and stayed overnight then drove it home.

scottyrocket53

I bought my 2012 from a dealer about 300 miles away. Worked out great. They had a guy drive it to me and we did the paperwork in the car. They took my car in trade and the guy drove it back. Weird but worked.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

I'm thinking about doing this. I can't find a TSX in my area. Found a couple in Arizona at dealerships. Hope I don't kick myself in the ass for doing it.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

How did the trade in work? You just took whatever they gave you?

I'm trying to find the best strategy, negotiating the price. plus since Arizona isn't CA I need to figure out how Tax, and registration and all that crap will work.

scottyrocket53

I looked at all the sites, KBB, NADA, Edmunds. I also looked at the selling prices on Autotrader and I came up with a number that seemed fair. I sent them pics of my car and gave them the VIN and they made an offer. I negotiated with a salesmen over the phone and we came to an agreement that worked. To be honest it wasn't ideal but to get this car I knew I would probably have to do it this way unless I wanted to wait for a MT to come to my area but it wasn't happening.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

^ Thanks for the tip. I may have to end up doing that.

thePearl

Carfax gives you some peace of mind, but carfax in general is BS!
Carfax will only report to you what has been submitted to DMV, there is plenty of accidents that are never reported.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

At first I thought you said CarMax. I was about to say......

2012wagon

My last two cars were bought out of state. One in Reno, NV and one in Greenwich CT.

NV-I bought from private party. Flew up, paid the man, drove it back. Took it to DMV, they came out checked all the vins, I paid sale tax and registration and it was easy peasy, done.

CT-It was new, ordered, purcahsed from dealer. Dealer gave me 30 day temp tags on the car. They paid CA DMV sales tax and registration. When the car arrived in CA,I had to take it to DMV< they check all the VIN, outside the DMV, gave me all the paperwork, and I was on my way.

Both times, I made sure to call my insurance company and provide VIN, so it was insured right away.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

So if I get one from AZ at a dealer out there, it should be a smooth process?

2012wagon

^
I don't see a reason it won't be. Not like you are buying a AZ plate R35 GTR V Spec and trying to register it in CA

SilverJ

I'm going to add my experience to this thread to help my TL lovin bro's.
I believe if you guys are looking for a rare car like the manual shift 4g or a specific 4G (or even manual 3g) that is far away, you will have to do a similar process. I had my car driven to me from Atlanta to PA. The dealer split the cost with me(I paid 150). Prior to getting the car driven here, I had the dealer bring it to an Acura dealer for a full inspection, the same one they go thru to certify cars(130.00) and send me pics of all issues. They were great, they pointed out all cosmetic imperfections and the dealer I bought the car from fixed them all free of charge(all cosmetic). There were no mechanical issues. My new car only had 11k or so on the odometer so I figured unless it had frame damage or something, I was buying the car.
If I didn't like the car for whatever reason, the dealers driver would have driven it back and I would have been out 280.00. A small price to pay because if I would have had to fly there to look at it, it would have cost me a 500.00 flight and probably a day off from work. I felt pretty confident I would love it. My only issue was if I would like the Silver color as much as I have admired black. (a resounding yes!)
If anyone was/is in the market for a manual 4G, hit me up via PM, as I have negotiated with at least 3 or 4 other dealers that have them(there are only like 9 available in the country as of this writing) and I can share some insight with you.