Buying car sight unseen

Hello all,

I have been lurking these forums for the last 8-10 months in preparation for purchasing a gt350. Given that I live in New York I am looking out of state for a vehicle without a crazy high ADM. What I am looking for is avalanche grey with the electronics package and a build date after September 2016 to avoid the recall and I have found quite a few but very far away from me. My question to you all is what I should be looking for especially since I will be buying the car based solely on pictures. I know the front splitter will probably be installed incorrectly and that I should look at the rear exhaust and muffler area. Any other tips and locations of pictures I should request? Thanks for the help!


-Syed

What are your concerns about the rear exhaust and muffler area? Are you confusing the OEM exhaust with that of the Borla aftermarket exhaust that's been talked about having fitment issues?

No my concern is that if the car is loaded improperly upon transport the back end can bottom out scraping the exhaust and undercarriage

If you're buying a new car there shouldn't be much that you should be worried about other than an incorrectly installed splitter. You can request that the dealer not install the splitter at all if you're worried about it, and then just install it yourself. A few GT350s have some panel gap issues/paint issues but nothing too concerning. Just make sure that you're getting a great deal and drive the hell out of it!

Mat8754 said:

No my concern is that if the car is loaded improperly upon transport the back end can bottom out scraping the exhaust and undercarriage

Click to expand...

I don't recall any incidents of that nature effecting the rear. The front and the mounting tabs for the front splitter, yes.

If your buying it sight unseen and you don't know the seller....Your looking for trouble.

I purchased my car site unseen from a Texas dealer. Work with the dealer and write out how you would like the car to be prepped. Getting them to agree in writing is key.

I chose for them to install the splitter but to not PDI the car. No wash, and all plastic inside and outside the car to be left on. Ask the dealer to send you detailed pictures and video of the car also. Lastly go with a reputable shipping carrier. The top carriers are very professional and ship cars much more valuable than our GT350. Intercity, Realiable and Montway are all great. Good luck!

Thanks for all the tips, ideally I would not want them to PDI the car and to leave the plastics on, however if the car is already on the lot or showroom I imagine these things have already been done. Hopefully the dealer works with me to make the process as painless as possible.

The fit and finish of the GT350 seems to vary depending on the individual car. Some owners (like me) are very satisfied with the paint quality and panel fitment, while others have had less than satisfactory reactions to their car's panel fitment or paint quality. Some cars came with swirl marks on their stripes, while others are perfect. It's hard to know how wide spread these sub par fit and finish cars are. It could be that the quality is fine for the most part, but owners who are less satisfied are rightfully more vocal about it on this forum.

For me personally, as I'm OCD about such things, I would be quite hesitant to buy one sight unseen. I'd try to find a way to make a trip to that dealer worth my while, like maybe combine a mini vacation with the trip.

OTOH, many have bought without inspecting in person and are very happy with their cars.

Always hire a local car inspector to check out the car, or at least have
a member here look over the car. Post in the local area that the car is located
in and see if a Stang forum member can look it over.

Again, a local certified inspector to PPI the car is cheap coin to spend on
such a expensive purchase. Mine used a paint meter, checked for swirl/lot damage
checked panel alignment, found 2 small paint flaws,
and did a full walk around while on the phone with me, for $95. Cheap insurance.

Do not buy into the belief of , "it is a new car", nothing wrong. Or the dealer telling you
it is perfect. A lot can happen at the dealer lot, and during transport.

I wouldn't buy any S550 Mustang sight unseen.

Any car you are looking at has been handled, driven and loaded on train/truck already........don't sweat it.

Hey Matt I bought mine sight unseen....no problems! Just have your salesman do a video and pictures. I too did not have the PID done but sent the dealer the video of the spliter install. Also, I used Intercity to transport the car from Colorado to California, enclosed of course. I am a happy owner!

Hi, this is my first post. I purchased my 17 from an out of state dealer two weeks ago and had it shipped to me 8 days ago. I’m in the Boston area and the dealer was in Oklahoma (2,000 miles door to door). I was looking in New England since June but was having no luck buying at MSRP, or even a few thousand over. I started looking aggressively out of state in late September, targeting the southern states and was able to find a couple of dealers who were willing to sell at MSRP and had the specs I was looking for (Oxford White/Blue stripe and Convenience pack) very quickly (why didn’t I do that 5 months ago?)

Both dealers (TX and OK) were great to deal with, however I went with the dealership in OK because the car in Texas fell under the recall (July build) and the 350 in OK was built in late September. I only worked with the Sales Manager on this deal. I guess I was lucky for the fact that the dealership would only let their owner or Sales Manager deal with customers interested in this car and both of them knew this vehicle very well and they could answer any question I threw at them. They had also sold a number of Shelby’s over the past 2 years and had prepped and shipped several of them across the country. The car had been on the showroom floor for a week when I called them so it was already prepped with the splitter installed, but they kept most of the plastic wrap on the rugs, the Shelby door-sill badging, etc. The Sales Manager and I over communicated on the phone – he even gave me his personal number. Lots of pics were sent to me, from every angle of the car and every email I sent with questions was answered promptly (even on Sunday morning). I had him walk through and do a thorough visual on the car for any issues. He did and gave me honest and detailed feedback. I wasn’t going to fly down and drive it because of my work schedule, so the shipping was critical to me – I only wanted closed transport (they did too) and they had several firms they worked with who were top shelf (Mecum shipping experience, etc.).

The Sales Manager made a point to tell me that they wouldn’t ship on a ramped transport because they could damage the splitter; He said they would take the splitter off if I wanted and put it in it’s original packaging, but they didn’t need to do that because of the transport they would be using. They utilized a transport with a lift (drive on, lift up and drive into the trailer). They gave me the shipper’s info, weblink and a contact and I was satisfied that the outfit was top shelf and had a lot of experience shipping high end/performance vehicles. It shipped on Friday and the transport driver called me several time over the weekend to let me know where he was. Didn’t have to do that but it was appreciated. The night before delivery (last Monday) the driver called me and said he’d be in my area between 9 and 10AM the next morning. He said he looked at Google Maps/Street View and he thought it may be tough to get into my neighborhood and could we me somewhere with more space. I recommended a Target parking lot a couple of miles from my house and he called me again in the morning when he was 20 miles out and he was there waiting for me getting ready to unload the car when I pulled into the lot. I did a detailed check of the car and then signed off and tossed the new plate on.

The car is not perfect. None of them are. I did a detailed inspection when I got it home and there was a paint booger on the trunk (very, very tiny) and a couple of the panels are not aligned too symmetrically, but no dings and I’m not sweating it. The interior was great, not a single issue. The splitter was mounted correctly. Bottom line: I got the car, it’s a beast and I’m hoping the snow and nasty weather holds off so I can pile as many miles as possible on her before I put her down till spring. If I need service I will go to a local Ford dealer I know of who I called before I shipped the car and told me they would be happy to service the car if there was ever issues and congrats on the Shelby.

I hope you find a solid dealer like I did. I approached the deal like a professional with a positive attitude and they reciprocated. They even split the shipping cost with me. Once we got the price squared away (5 minutes) we spent the other 95% of the time on the shipping and logistics and he’s reached out to me a couple of times since I picked up the car last week asking me how I’m loving it. I can honestly say however that I am a big gut feel type of person and if the dealer had an attitude or I got the feeling they were not straight shooters I would have walked in a minute and kept looking. Good luck. Search aggressively but be patient.

Like tom185 and many others, I also purchased mine "unseen" and when i look back, I must say/suggest that you need two things on top of the purchase price---1) a good/honest dealer with integrity and lots of patience with you the buyer, and 2) a reputable shipping company.

The dealer is in smaller size and had only two 350s in their show room. One was 16' with track pack an one was 17' with convenient pack. The 16' did not have ADM and is in my favorite color/combo, so that is a no brainer for me as far as what to buy.

Frankly, it does not really mean much (better or worse) when it comes to the size of the dealership. It has to do with their management, which affects how your deal and vehicle being looked after. With my dealership, it was only a few phone calls and text messages for us to close the deal. They also sent me some videos of my car being driven out of the showroom and loaded onto the trailer ( i used Intercity Lines).