Who's done this? There just isn't any s2k's in my area, but a bunch in so cal and elsewhere that I'm willing to go down and look. For those of you guys who have purchased cars out of state, what is the best way?

-fly down, check out the car, and either fly, or drive back
-fly down, check out the car, and ship it home (how much is avg shipping cost, is it worth it, trustworthy, etc)

is it worth the hassle to take a look at a car somewhere outside your state? Obviously I'm going to ask the seller a bunch of questions, look at 10-20 detailed pictures, etc, but I also want to look at it in person, get it checked by a mechanic, etc.

I'm afraid something will go wrong, like the seller won't have time (or something will come up) as I fly down, flight gets delayed, or the million other things that could happen.

Thoughts?

 

I haven't had any experience with this, but we have seen these posts from time to time... can turn out to be a positive thing. Do your prelimiary work (i.e. phone conversations/pics) then if you determine it's worth a trip, examine the car closely. Here are two somewhat recient ones. You might try sending them a PM. Good luck.
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=499776
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=543295

 

I purchased my car in philidelphia and im from buffalo. The car only had 3K miles on it so i wasnt to worried about not getting what i paid for. All i did was pick a day that was good for me and the seller, drove down with my dad, put a temp on it and drove it home. It wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. just make sure you have insurance ready for it, because when i got my temp, proof of insurance was nessesary. Your also going to have to go to your local DMV and get a new title for it. I hope this helps.

 

The car I am interested in is in cali, do I have to pay taxes? Ill be coming from oregon btw..

 

well im not fimilar with your state laws, but it all depends whats on the reciepe (sp.) that the seller writes you. I had the seller write the car off for a lot less then what i paid so the taxes were roughly half of what they would have been. however, that only works for private sellers. Dealers would never be able to do that because its pretty much illegal but everyone does it.

 

How much snow you have? Do you drive yours year round?
Levi

 

I bought mine from a seller in Indiana (I live in Texas).

Good question. I ran a Carfax report but that can only tell you so much. There are inspection services that you can use as well -- which I also did. They won't take anything apart but the service I used was very thorough and they did take the car for a test drive, snap a ton of photos. The photos included the VIN plates that they could find and they even documented a few pen tip sized rock chips on the front bumper. After reviewing all that I closed the deal and flew out and drive the car back. There are a number of ways to handle this. Like anything else, "best" really depends on your needs/wants and there's no universal answer out there.

Again, it depends on a number of things. I couldn't find a Rio Yellow Pearl in my area for the price.

 

I live in North Carolina, me and my dad called about the car got detailed pictures, then drove down to columbia South Carolina, checked out the car test drove it and bought it, then i drove it home and he drove the car we brought home.

I found my car from Autotrader, and bought it from a dealer, in my opininon it is worth it to travel a long ways to get a nice car and a nice deal on the car.

 

I bought my car this way, I'm from Cleveland and the car was in DC, but I also checked out specific cars in Nashville and St Louis and the knowledge and helpfulness of this site were huge. Once I found a potential car, I'd talk to the owner, ask the usual questions, get a car fax, etc. If it still sounded good, I would reach out to the local forums and ask if anyone knew the specific car and/or was willing to check it out for me. I was shocked at the positive responses and having fellow owners actually look at the car was invaluable. The first two came back as 'I'd pass' but the third came back with an 'I would buy it if I were you'. With this info, I was able to strike my deal with confidence. The mechanics of the transaction went like this. I sent a deposit to hold the car. I then bought a one-way ticket and met the seller at the airport. I checked out the car in the airport lot and, once satisfied that it was what I thought it was, gave him a bank check for the balance. He let me use his plates to drive back home, which carried some risk to seller but made it much easier for me. Once back home, I mailed his plates back, got the car registered in OH and got my own plates. In OH, sales tax is paid when the car is registered in the home state. Although many private owners play the lower sale price game, a word of caution. Many states will send out a letter to the seller asking them to certify the sale price, so make sure that seller is on board if you plan to do this.

Again, the helpfulness and reach of this site, particularly in the local forums, was invaluable. Use it but don't abuse it and be sure to remember to do the same for others if the opportunity comes up in the future. Good luck.

 

Well, first off get to know that person/dealer better. Negotiate and talk with that person until you feel like you established a good connection. Ask for ALOT of detailed pictures inside and out. Then from there negotiate a price that you are willing to go down to possibly look at it and maybe even buy it on the spot. To be on the safe side, try to find someone who is in that area that is near the car you are trying to buy. A trusthworthy person to go look and check out the car for you and all that good stuff. Then after that negotiate some more just to see if he would nudge. Then if that trusthworthy person gives you two thumbs up to go buy it, fly over there and drive it back. The driving experience with your new car back home is PRICELESS i tell ya! ..... I bought my car all the way in VA, and I live in IL. I negotiated with the dealer for a good 2 months. I then found someone in VA to go check out th car for me and by luck she owns a 2006 s2k and a car enthusiast. Therefore, it made it easier because she knew what to look for and plus she was a meticulous person. She checked inside and outside of the car for anything wrong. She took pictures for me and gave me a detail specs of how the car is. After that I knew that I was ready to fly over and buy the car. Just make sure you know what you are doing and you'll be set to go!