Close to first LC, out of state buying advice?

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RND1

RND1

10 Year 15 Year
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Chelmsford, MA
After months of searching, I'm having a pre purchase inspection on a 2003 Land Cruiser early next week. It's a private sale, but I'm having a Toyota dealer near the seller do the inspection. If all goes well, the dealer said they can ship it to me for $800. If I go this route then I would be buying it sight unseen, which makes me a bit nervous. However, the cost of flying there and driving over 1000 miles back will be about the same as shipping.

What I'm wondering is how to do the transaction without meeting the seller face to face? How do I get him the funds, how do I get the title, etc? Looking for advice from those of you who have already done this? Thanks!
 
RND1 said:
After months of searching, I'm having a pre purchase inspection on a 2003 Land Cruiser early next week. It's a private sale, but I'm having a Toyota dealer near the seller do the inspection. If all goes well, the dealer said they can ship it to me for $800. If I go this route then I would be buying it sight unseen, which makes me a bit nervous. However, the cost of flying there and driving over 1000 miles back will be about the same as shipping.

What I'm wondering is how to do the transaction without meeting the seller face to face? How do I get him the funds, how do I get the title, etc? Looking for advice from those of you who have already done this? Thanks!
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Use Escrow.com for car buying Escrow service. You pay them, the seller releases the vehicle for shipment. You have an inspection period, then after you get the vehicle, they pay the seller.

HTH
 
Step 1: Search the internet for months. Discard any LC that's been in the rustbelt and any from 'shadetree' dealers (dealers than are not under a brand name). Also discard everything on eBay.

Step 2: Talk to the seller and have them send you high-res pictures for your inspection. Get a feel for what the seller is like, how forthcoming he is with answering your questions. Make sure to get pics from underneath the vehicle.

Step 3: Run the CarFax

Step 4: Pay for the vehicle to be taken to an independent shop (preferably a Toyota dealer) for a pre-purchase inspection. This won't catch everything but it will generally validate that the vehicle is in the condition represented by the seller. That it runs with no codes. That there's no obvious frame or body damage, etc. Runs about $150.

Step 5: (And this is the most important). Buy a flippin' plane ticket and look at the truck yourself. This $300 investment will save you more than you can ever imagine.
 
$800 is cheap compared to the headaches you could get buying sight unseen, even if the dealership inspects it. Go out and look at the truck yourself - you can thank us later.
 
I would rather spend the money on a personal inspection than a dealer inspection personally. You can use Slee's inspection guide (I think its in the FAQ sticky) for added confidence. But there is no substitute for seeing and DRIVING the vehicle yourself IMO. If all the communications, pictures, documents (receipts, car fax etc) pan out, then the personal inspection should be the easy part. The you get the fun of your first road trip! This is all assuming you have the time for it of course.
 
My advice to you is never ever buy a car or truck sight unseen.
 
RND1 said:
the cost of flying there and driving over 1000 miles back will be about the same as shipping.
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If that's the case, then isn't it worth the peace of mind to see/drive the truck and conduct the transaction in person? There's no financial benefit to shipping the truck, other than saving you the time to go out and do it yourself. But I think seeing the truck in person and driving it is worth the time and energy.

Whatever you do, good luck :cheers:. Always nice to see another Boston mudder.
 
Thanks for all your replies! You've changed my mind. If the Toyota inspection goes well, I'll fly out and drive it home. Might bring my 9 yr old along to make it a road trip. Probably will cost me twice as much as shipping with gas, meals, hotels, and flights, but it's a lot cheaper than buying a vehicle that I wouldn't have bought had I seen it in person. Looking forward to joining the Hundy club!
 
Good call RND! Plus it's good bonding time with you and your new truck on the way home.

When I bought mine I was flying a zillion miles each week anyway so just routed one of my trips home through John Wayne to look at it in person. I did have mine shipped because I didn't have the free time to drive it home but after dealing with the never-ending wait from DAS I would definitely do what you're doing next time.

I would get as many pics as you can from the underside before you fly. If you're catching a common drumbeat it's because several members have had to deal with underside rust. It's never a case of structural problems but as you get into maintenance or modding having a rust-free LC will be very desirable.
 
Good decision ! Fly there and look it all over before buying it. Two of my last three LC's were purchased out of state this way.

One last piece of advise: Get an alignment done and make sure everything is in spec before buying. The Toyota pre-purchase inspection will not necessarily tell you the truck was in an accident and repaired and now out of spec. Carfax doesn't necessarily have all accidents listed on it. Don't ask me how I know all this.
 
super90 said:
Good decision ! Fly there and look it all over before buying it. Two of my last three LC's were purchased out of state this way.

One last piece of advise: Get an alignment done and make sure everything is in spec before buying. The Toyota pre-purchase inspection will not necessarily tell you the truck was in an accident and repaired and now out of spec. Carfax doesn't necessarily have all accidents listed on it. Don't ask me how I know all this.
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The alignment's a good call especially considering the long drive home. I would think the dealer would note all the factory vin tags, which at least would indicate none of the panels have been replaced. CARFAX states one owner and the owner has told me it's never had an accident, but we've all heard that before.
 
RND1 said:
The alignment's a good call especially considering the long drive home. I would think the dealer would note all the factory vin tags, which at least would indicate none of the panels have been replaced. CARFAX states one owner and the owner has told me it's never had an accident, but we've all heard that before.
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The dealer will look at general mechanical and operation. It's up to you to look at details like body panel numbers. Perhaps a particular mechanic would be that conscientious, but it would be the exception.
 
OregonLC said:
I would get as many pics as you can from the underside before you fly. If you're catching a common drumbeat it's because several members have had to deal with underside rust. It's never a case of structural problems but as you get into maintenance or modding having a rust-free LC will be very desirable.
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This LC is in the snow belt, but I live in the snow belt too so even if I brought home a rust free cruiser, it wouldn't be rust free for long. Does the LC rust more than other vehicles of the same vintage? My BMW 540i6 is 10 yrs old, always garaged and taken care of. It doesn't seem to have excessive undercarriage rust and I don't have problems doing work on it. I put snows on it and drive it year round. It does have a lot of aluminum parts, which maybe the Land Cruiser doesn't have?
 
Keep it washed and keep the salt off. Making the trip will be fun for your boy, good memories. Of course, picking up my 80 with my wife in CT and driving it to UT made her hate the truck after spending 3 days straight in it.

Don't trust Carfax, lots of stories about issues that didn't get reported, especially in states with loose title laws. Check for leaks and grease, look at the CVs, and listen carefully when driving. A friend of mine commented that have you ever noticed how car salesmen always turn the radio on when you go for a drive to show off the sound system? Well, they're also masking any potential hidden squeaks.
 
RND1 said:
This LC is in the snow belt, but I live in the snow belt too so even if I brought home a rust free cruiser, it wouldn't be rust free for long. Does the LC rust more than other vehicles of the same vintage? My BMW 540i6 is 10 yrs old, always garaged and taken care of. It doesn't seem to have excessive undercarriage rust and I don't have problems doing work on it. I put snows on it and drive it year round. It does have a lot of aluminum parts, which maybe the Land Cruiser doesn't have?
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Nope, doesn't rust more/less than anything else. However, if you're into doing upgrades/repairs (which most of us are) it becomes more of an issue than with say a Honda Accord that the most you'll ever see of the belly is perhaps brake caliper bolts. LC's are built solid but a lot of folks here ride them hard and at some point end up touching just about every fastener on the underside, hence the cautionary note.
 
OregonLC said:
Nope, doesn't rust more/less than anything else. However, if you're into doing upgrades/repairs (which most of us are) it becomes more of an issue than with say a Honda Accord that the most you'll ever see of the belly is perhaps brake caliper bolts. LC's are built solid but a lot of folks here ride them hard and at some point end up touching just about every fastener on the underside, hence the cautionary note.
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Thanks OregonLC. I'm looking forward to working on the LC as I'm a DIYer. I'll pay particular attention to the underside. Thanks again.
 
OregonLC said:
Step 1: Search the internet for months. Discard any LC that's been in the rustbelt and any from 'shadetree' dealers (dealers than are not under a brand name). Also discard everything on eBay.

Step 3: Run the CarFax

Step 5: (And this is the most important). Buy a flippin' plane ticket and look at the truck yourself. This $300 investment will save you more than you can ever imagine.
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#1. I agree. I made the mistake of buying a '00 Tacoma 4X4 Xtra Cab on eBay. The seller delivered it by driving it from PA to Atl, GA with a blown AC motor/compressor. Said it happened on the trip down. To this day I still don't believe the seller, it was always like that. Cost me $800 + parts/labor. Again, I agree don't buy anything from Ebay. If you have to, do something simple; Google the sellers name and telephone number. You'll be surprise at what you can find, good or bad.

#3. CarFax doesn't catch everything. I sold a vehicle in '08 that had been in an accident in '03 and CarFax didn't show it. I TOLD THE SELLER BEFORE THEY CAME TO TEST DRIVE. My '00 100 series has been in an accident, guess what... didn't show up on CarFax. Unfortunately the person I purchased the 100 from didn't tell me.

#5. I agree. If you can't see the car in person, don't buy it.
 
OregonLC said:
Nope, doesn't rust more/less than anything else. However, if you're into doing upgrades/repairs (which most of us are) it becomes more of an issue than with say a Honda Accord that the most you'll ever see of the belly is perhaps brake caliper bolts. LC's are built solid but a lot of folks here ride them hard and at some point end up touching just about every fastener on the underside, hence the cautionary note.
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I have to disagree with Dennis a little on this one. I am from the South but I lived up North for about 10 years where I saw what happens to cars in 4-5 years. I even owned a 60 up there that was so rusted out that the body bounced off the frame rails whenever I would go over a speed bump.

I purchased an 02 100 Series last year that lived its whole life in Chicago and all it took was a full day underneath it with a wire wheel, steel brushes, Rustoleum and rubber undercoating and it was good to go. Yes, they do look horrible at first but there is something about the LC steel that is more resistant to corrosion. I was surprised (and elated) at how easy it was to get the rust off. After an hour I was certain that everything I was looking at was just surface rust.

Maybe the PO (a doctor) had a short commute and had the truck garaged at both destinations, I don't know. I do know that 10 years in Chicago will destroy lesser vehicles.
 
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