Purchase sight unseen?

[jdoug]

CarMax shipped mine from NC to FL so I was on the hook for the transfer fee no matter what. I had already test driven one so I knew that I'd like it, and they allowed me to ask any questions about the car before they shipped it. Besides the small vibration issue and a cupped tire, everything was fine. Driveshaft is being replaced next week.

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[cjj237]

I'm in the process right now. Just have someone you trust go check it out. Sometimes people on the boards are willing to help out if they live in the area.

 

[SDEcoBoost]

This is the 21st Century, why can't they use Skype or even take digital photos of the car and send them to your computer or phone. I would not allow someone to drive it any great distance. Break in is very important and I just don't trust people to paper my car. Ask them to trailer it to you. It is fairly simple, especially for a dealer with a lot full of pickups.

The best option, have a friend drive you to the dealers, pay his gas, and buy him lunch. Look the car over and then drive it home yourself. Make a full tank of gas part of the deal.

 

[rredd14]

My local dealers did not have what I wanted and would rather me order the car than go out looking for what I wanted. I found the car online, drove the 245 miles one-way with trailer in tow and got it. $35000 car deal and they didn't want to look around. SMH! So yea do not sign any papers. Do a little online research and if it's close enough and makes $$$ sense go get it.

 

[Boosted5.0_NY]

I basically bought my car sight unseen. By saying I bought it sight unseen I'm saying I gave the dealer a deposit to purchase a car. My local dealer didn't have what I was looking for but was able to transfer the car from another dealer 100 miles away. Once the car arrived at my local dealer I had the opportunity to look it over and make sure everything was good. If there were any issues the deal was off, I would get my deposit back, and I would have walked.

In my situation I knew exactly what I wanted and this car was a perfect match. I just needed to make sure there were no scratches or dings. So no big deal...

I would not recommend buying a car sight unseen if you are not sure of the color you want or the options...

 

[timd38]

Happens everyday. The only car of the 4 have that I saw before I bought is my wife's car. My truck, Vette and Mustang I bought site unseen. Not really a big deal, it's just a car, not a wife or a house.

 

[BlackS550]

i did this and couldnt be happier with my s550.

bought it in AZ and had it shipped to CA without ever seeing it in person. Obviously saw tons of pics and knew exactly what i wanted, and test drove diff models in CA before buying.

 

[Voo Doo]

Well, people order cars without seeing them all the time.
If anything is not perfect with the car, that's what the warranty is for.

What he said!

 

[Tb8983]

I did it with my car(was 300 miles away) got everything fill out financing done and it was up to me when the car showed up. Had the exact options I wanted wasn't set on the color but it was my second color choice. Showed up and drove it and drove my first ecoboost just to make sure and went home with the new car about an hour later

 

[smbsocal]

I did it with my car(was 300 miles away) got everything fill out financing done and it was up to me when the car showed up. Had the exact options I wanted wasn't set on the color but it was my second color choice. Showed up and drove it and drove my first ecoboost just to make sure and went home with the new car about an hour later

Those people who have had cars transfer did they just have someone drive it or did they transport it on a carrier? The one I want is also ~ 300 miles away such as yours.

 

[jasonstang]

Those people who have had cars transfer did they just have someone drive it or did they transport it on a carrier? The one I want is also ~ 300 miles away such as yours.

Depends how far away I guess. 300 miles away is probably gonna be on a transporter. If it's with in 100 miles they just drive it I assume.

 

[Tb8983]

They drove it cause I didn't want to pay to ship it. Wasn't a big deal to me and didn't seem to phase my dealer at all. They just had to call and verify the car was still there and not in a deal to be sold. A day later I had it

 

[RitzGT]

Well, people order cars without seeing them all the time.
If anything is not perfect with the car, that's what the warranty is for.

^^ This ^^

I've purchased several cars in the past without having seen them before. A new car is a new car. If there's issues, take it to your favorite dealer (if such a thing exists) for warranty attention. Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never been bitten ordering what I want and then just showing up when it arrives and picking it up.

Best,

 

[ScottsGT]

The Mustang I want unfortunately isn’t local to me but my local dealer does have a relationship with the other dealership and is able to have the car transferred. Unfortunately this means I would be buying the car sight unseen to make this happen.

How bad of a decision is purchasing the car sight unseen? It is a 2016 but it seems some of the body panel issues still are present in this year’s builds as well. There is also the 50/70 mph vibration issue some people ran into, etc.

I know that the warranty would cover issues but then again I also know that some issues may be quite the hassle to have resolved.


Opinions / personal experiences please. . .

I did. Placed my order on May 20th, 2014 and waited until Nov. 5th to finally see it.

 

[HBTD]

I did this with my car, had it transported from a dealer about 120 miles away. I looked it over, test drove it and signed the papers and brought it home. No regrets and I got exactly what I wanted faster than I could have got it by ordering it. I have no body panel issues or vibrations.

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