Have You Ever Bought A Car Sight-Unseen?

Autopian Asks Sight Unseen
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When you order a new car, it’s expected that you’re essentially buying it sight unseen. After all, what you wanted wasn’t on the lot, and while you may have been able to test-drive a similar model, it’s not your actual car. However, on the second-hand market, buying sight unseen is a different ballgame. It can come with a whole lot of risks, and yet, a whole lot of reward. Today, we want to know if you’ve ever bought a car sight unseen, and if you have, how did it go?

Admittedly, I’ve never actually signed on the dotted line before seeing a car. The closest I’ve come is committing to my Boxster sight unseen, although it wasn’t a case of wiring the funds and asking questions later. I had gracefully been granted a late opportunity to back out, but since the car was nice, I didn’t take it. After all, how often do yellow over blue examples come up for sale?

However, I do know people who have bought cars sight unseen, and the prevailing trend suggests most of them have been fine. So long as expectations are somewhat tempered as used cars are rarely perfect, deals can be had and rare cars found by searching far and wide. A good friend of mine found his Volvo XC90 halfway across the continent and it’s been an exceptionally lovely family car.

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So, let’s talk about buying sight unseen. Would you do it? Have you done it? How did it go? Regardless of whether you embrace the process or have trepidations, we’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer, Thomas Hundal)

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71 thoughts on “Have You Ever Bought A Car Sight-Unseen?

  1. Yep. Running and driving 1980 Comuta Car with a 72v battery setup and 21HP motor swap.

    It got listed on Ebay for 3 days instead of the max time, since I checked Ebay every day for cars in general I saw it and noone else did. Got it for the minimum bid $3001.

    Guy was great, was getting rid of it after replacing it with a Smart Car BEV.

    It is by far the most fun car I’ve ever driven in the snow. I need to service the brakes, get new tires, a spare wheel and tire, and put new batteries in it (it had a hodge-podge of different 6V batteries in it) but I feel like I got a great deal on it.

  2. Four times! Three of those came out great, the fourth less so but I rolled with it.

    First time was a 1996 Infiniti G20t in 2004, bought from Dallas. Had a local friend who knew the cars check it out for me, another friend flew me down on a buddy pass, I drove it home to Chicago. Before too long, I learned that it was burning oil because the engine had been overheated in the past (SR20DEs do not like being overheated.) I ended up buying a replacement engine from SOKO and swapping it myself in what was surely the easiest situation possible – the warehouse was local to the work, I had a place to stay, a place to wrench, and a friend who lent me a lift and hoist. Good learning exoerience.

    Second time was my 911 in 2015, bought in Atlanta. Car was exactly as presented and has been fantastic. Only major expense for the first two years was a set of tires. That one was bought off of BaT so it’s not like I knew nothing about the car.

    Third time was my Saab 900 SPG in 2017, bought from Vancouver and driven home in s 3000-mile road trip. Again I was a good judge of the seller’s character and I already knew a good bit about the car, so this was successful.

    Fourth time was a BMW E12 bought last summer out of Berkeley. Had a PPI done (didn’t even have to pay for it, somehow), flew out, drove it home on another 3500-mile road trip.

    You do need to know a certain level of information about a car you’re buying sight-unseen. Also, when you’re buying an old car, you need to have realistic expectations about the possibility of problems, and be prepared for that. And you need to be a good judge of what kind of person the seller is. That’s probably the hardest skill to learn. Get all those, and you can be successful.

  3. Just once, and it was a mild doozy.
    Had went home from a hoopty x event that mercedes streeter had went to in indiana with a blue minivan that got stuck real good in a mud hole a couple years back, and when i got to where i was keeping my kia, some of the buddies who went with me stayed back wanted to watch the charity auction they have at the end, where anyone can sell their hoopties to charity and party home in something else.
    I get a phone call no sooner i pull into the driveway saying hey, a 5spd rav4 is in the auction, and i said hell yeah, snap some pics if you can.
    So they send em and its actually a 5spd crv, something ive wanted FOREVER, so i eagerly tell em how much my limit was, and they begin bidding for me.
    Apparently there was a small bidding war over it between us and another guy but i won out.
    I show up the next day to finally lay eyes on it, and ill tell ya what, northern indiana hondas have a level of rust that david tracy can love, as there wasnt much solid metal left on it besides the roof and the floors. But.. it ran, drove, while howling like a banshee from the fuel tank resting on the rear diff, no more power steering and a clutch that slips like socks on a ice rink, but its mine. Least it shifts real good.

  4. If you count renting a Uhaul tow dolly and driving seventy five miles to pick up a car from a stranger as buying a car “sight-unseen” then yes, yes I have.

    It was a classic case of “low ballers welcome, I don’t know what I have”.
    The proverbial old lady moving out of state that needs to clear out her garage.

    An unmolested 97’ MX6 (manual)
    for $250?

    I saw the post, told her I was on my way with cash in hand then told my boss I needed to leave work immediately. Some sort of emergency?

    The post had the usual sketchy lines in it like “overheats instantly, might be a bad thermostat, must tow”.

    Three hours later money is exchanged, papers are signed and I’m towing it home. Tale tale gold flakes in the coolant reservoir and all.

    It did overheat instantly.
    It was not the thermostat (replaced it with a new one).

    I know what you’re thinking. Head gasket.
    Nope.

    To this day I don’t understand what the problem was, but it disappeared after parking it on a steep hill “burping” the cooling system and replacing the cooling fans.

    It’s my favorite car in my driveway today.

    I don’t drive her often. But when I do she purrs.
    Such an underrated car. Sad you don’t see them around anymore.

    Most worthwhile day spent skipping work ever.

  5. Yes, the ONE time I did, I got hosed.

    It was a 1998 SVT Contour. Original owner, 120k on the odometer. He had every record since new, the dealer paperwork, even a journal with every fillup (cost of gas, gallons taken, and mpg). It had everything there that should be there.

    Ad looked good, he was upfront that the sunroof didnt always close, and the AC wasnt functional. I couldnt get out there for at least a month. But, it was 5 minutes from my uncle who was a Delta mechanic. So he went and looked for me, and said it was good.

    It was not.

    I ended up trailering it home instead of driving, luckily. All 4 tires were bald and dry rotted- when I changed them, the sidewalls fell apart. The rear swaybar endlinks were shot. On the E0 (early) SVTC’s, they used an ABS pump that when it went out, the rear brakes stopped working. Guess what? Rear brakes non-op, and rusted. The worse part- the front springs were broken, and threatening to hit the tires. If i had driven it home across the birkshires, I may have had a bad accident. I was in college, and my mechanic said he could do the brakes, endlinks, and springs for about 1400 bucks. I didnt have it. I called the guy, and he just said ‘well, you should have looked yourself. Youre on your own”. He knew. Asshat.

    I ended up replacing the tires, and selling it for about 2/3 what I bought it for. The buyer knew what the problems were, and got it running. Did a 3.0swap, and said it was a great car. I ended up with my sisters hand-me-down 99 Mercury Sable.

    When I sold the contour, I had a woman contact me asking if it would be a good first car for her son. Im glad I was honest.

    A couple years ago I nearly bought a Pao sight unseen from Kansas. I was iffy, and then financial things stopped me. I wish that one had gone through, but a part of me wonders if it would have been a repeat experience.

  6. Yes, I bought my 2003 Subaru Legacy manual wagon sight unseen in 2019, and it’s great. I live in Alaska but bought it off craigslist in California off of five exterior photos, one interior photo, and a photo of a recent California smog check certificate (passing smog tells you a decent amount). It said “great running car, no issues”.

    The price was low enough ($2100) that I figured if I had to get new head gaskets (would have been around $2K at the time), I’d be still ahead of the game for a rust-free, manual transmission AWD wagon that I familiar with. I was aware of all the typical issues and pluses/minuses of the different Legacy generations as Subaru owner for 25 years and a forum regular, aware of when cost cutting began 2005, and wanted a pre-CAN bus car (pre-2006ish in Subarus depending on model) to ensure long-term DIY serviceability/diagnosis. Turned out it have all the service records and was a one owner car, but being sold by a third party (mechanic, I believe, who had replaced power steering component and front CV axles). Service records showed head gaskets were replaced properly only 10K previously. Total all in was around $4Kish for a fully sorted, rust-free Subaru with refreshed suspension, confident nothing else is going to go wrong, ready to go another 15 years without major issues. A similar wagon, same color, trim, and year but lower mileage and automatic sold for $13,750 on BaT last year.

    It’s been a much better car than Hardigree’s Forester that’s for sure—no CVT/manual is more fun, alignment stays straight, handles great/fun on mountain roads especially with stickier tires, hydraulic steering feels great, headlights stay working, attractive styling as a sleek wagon without tacky Outbackfication and not a bulbous CUV, good original wheel bearings (though that’s mainly because it stayed out of the rust belt), zero rattles, and WAY less money in maintenance. I only had to do delayed maintenance or wear items like fluids, struts (which were still good but original) and, a year later, a clutch and tires.

    I had the seller text me a photo of the title to show me he was legit before I paid him. Neither of us were accustomed to paying an individual from afar but settled on paypal. I had him mail me the title. When I got that, I registered the car and got the plates in Alaska before ever seeing the car. That saved me from paying California taxes and registration (had bought a Prius in CA one time that I registered in CA before switching to Alaska when I got home just to have legal plates on the car for road tripping it home). The seller was OK with me picking it up later, so I didn’t pick it up for a few weeks until I could fly into the area to visit my parents. I did some wrenching (new struts, brake fluid, coolant, etc.) in my parent’s garage before driving it cross country.

  7. Multiple, including my current DD. He had hit a deer and totaled the front end and windshield. He was a couple hours from me, but offered to deliver it for an extra $100. I took him up on it and had cash waiting when he arrived. I spent a couple of months piecing it back together and installing some mild upgrades. Now been my daily for almost 4 years. I’ve put about 60K on it in the last three years though.

  8. Plenty of times. Some recent standouts were 66 Chevelle from Wisconsin that was way way worse than expected. Like holes in the frame bad. 67 Nova from Arizona that was in incredibly good shape, much better than expected. Restored and almost a show car for average price.

  9. If “sight unseen” means “pictures only,” then yes. I bought my ’74 914 from a dealer in Kansas – although I did have him take it to a local mechanic to inspect. I also bought an ’87 928 from a dealer on Hemmings. He did provide a video of the car running and driving after I contacted him. I also bought a 2006 612 Scaglieti on Cars and Bids with only the pics and videos there.

    All three cars had problems that required expensive repairs (and were not evident in the photos/videos, like brakes locked up, parasitic drains, bad motor mounts, failing ball joints, etc.). To be fair, none of the cars got anything like a thorough inspection, and many of the issues were not too far along or easily noticeable. Also, I had expected as much and budgeted accordingly.

    The brakes were on the 914, and it was just the fronts. So neither the dealer nor I having ever driven one before knew what they were supposed to be like (the rears worked fine). I did find them a tad “weak” when I took them to my mechanic, but for all I knew at the time that’s how they were on 914s.

  10. Yes and it actually worked out better than expected! About 20 years ago I bought a used Porsche 968 coupe sight unseen from a non-Porsche dealer in another state, and when it arrived I noticed the cross-drilled rotors before they even had it off the truck and sure enough it had the coveted M030 package on it which the dealer didn’t list on their website because they didn’t even know anything about it. Drove it daily (even in the winter) for a few years and then sold it for about what I paid for it!

  11. I have. BaT Auction win! I wasn’t buying as a daily, and I was pretty familiar with the make and model from previous personal experience – 1985 380SL. Price was right, the thing was only 1.5 hours away, CA owned. Drove it home the next day! It was a great experience, but so much depends on the car you’re getting. Were it a larger purchase on a car that was intended for daily use, I’m not as sure I would do the same

  12. Not exactly sight unseen, but a bit sketchy:

    After quite a long off-and-on search, I found a 2004 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited on facebook marketplace. There were about 5 or 6 pictures IIRC, and 4 of them were of the frame. It was EXTREMELY clean, and while at $10,000 the price wasn’t low enough to be red flag, it was definitely about 4 or 5 grand less than most lifted and built LJs ran at the time. Talked to the guy a good bit and he sounded stand up enough, and knew his Jeeps.

    Knowing it would be a week before I could get up to him with the money, I offered 500 over asking price to wait until the next week.

    5 days later, I had sold 4 of my guns, my daily driver (a beautiful OBS chevy) and a load of firewood, and scraped up the rest of the cash out of the safe at home, and I was ready for my new Jeep. If it was a stinker though, I was now effectively carless.

    Fast forward a week and the wife and I are driving 2 hours north, to Erie, PA in a snowstorm. My wife is less than enthused about having to drive back in this mess. I reminded her that she, in her AWD Pacifica on fresh snow tires, was in a way better position than me, about to drive an unfamiliar lifted Jeep on 35’s with unknown handling quirks home on unplowed roads.

    Either way, the Jeep looked absolutely terrific. Fired right up, clean, ready to go to it’s new home. Keys in hand, I handed the guy the money, and he went back into his house to grab the title.

    5 minutes went by. Then another 5.

    He comes out of the house, on the phone with someone. He explains he’s having some trouble finding the title.

    He goes over to a project vehicle in the yard, and fingers through the glovebox. Nothing. Heads over to a direlict ambulance, and looks through it. Nothing.

    Finally he offers to give the money back and we can do this again once he gets a replacement title.

    Luckily I had access to Chrysler’s dealerconnect system, and had already verified the name, address, and vin at work before leaving.

    I told him “no biggie, just mail it to me, this was a long drive.”

    Fired the Jeep up, and off and running we went. Couldnt believe the luck in the end, the Jeep drove absolutely terrific the whole way home, straight as an arrow, the heater cranked, the custom sound system was wonderful.

    Best $10,500 Ive ever spent.

  13. Wow, I never realized how much I’ve done this.

    Car 1, test drove before buying at an auction (Accord)

    car 2, test drove before buying from a used car lot (SVX)

    car 3, pre-ordered prior to launch, but they let me test drive one later before mine was shipped to give me a chance to back out (RX8)

    (project) cars 4&5, not only did I buy it sight unseen I had to help clear shrubbery to get to them (2 FB RX7’s combined into one working car)

    (project) car 6, neighbor: “hey, a friend has a NA Miata that broke its timing belt and would sell it for $400.” Me: “he knows it’s a non-interference engine, right?” Neighbor: “doesn’t care, it was the excuse he needed to justify buying a new car to his wife”

    (project) car 7, sister: “want my miata? odometer has 240K on it, but that broke 3 years ago”. I let her borrow car 6 for a year, and she liked it so much she bought one of her own.

    (project) car 8, insurance auction, not only did I not see it I only knew it ran but didn’t drive. I’ll never own another VAG product again… (A4)

    (project) car 6.5, friend I sold car 6 to 4 years earlier, “hey want the miata back? I bought a new car now that I commute 60 miles per day”

    (tow) car 9, bought from a friend and drove it years before buying it (Yukon)

    (project) car 10, (first project >$5K) bought an IS300 from Denver that lived its entire life there or Chicago. Have it shipped back to Chicago expecting a rust bucket, instead it makes California cars look rusty. Called the seller back after it was delivered and heard “Oh, I never drove it in the winter, I always used my jeep, and the guy I bought it from did the same thing.”

    In addition to this have bought an integra, integra, wrx, xt6, wrx, wrx, wrx at auctions but only to harvest drivetrain parts from for lemons cars.

  14. A 2013 Porsche Carerra, it needed new tires and the brakes squeeked but it was the color I wanted and didnt ever expect to see one close so I bought it all online and had it shipped. I wouldnt do it again for a car that expensive. I also bought a 2015 STi straight off the boat but that was new and I already owned a WRX so i knew what i was getting. Neat to have a car with only 8 miles on it.

  15. I have bought three cars and one moped sight-unseen. Two were in the US and two in the UK but all were a bit too far from Seattle to justify a visit, particularly as even the most expensive was less than $4000, not including shipping. So far things have gone well. In order of purchase:

    In 2007 I bought this 1980 KV Mini 1 from a guy in Georgia (the state, not the country):

    https://live.staticflickr.com/8388/28884592295_2d68f34126_c.jpg

    He had purchased it from the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, used it to teach his son to drive (!), then put it up for sale online. I still own it.

    In 2008 I bought this 1978 KV Mini 1 as a remote bidder at an auction put on by the Bubblecar Museum in the UK:

    https://live.staticflickr.com/1458/26018582300_ea68889f4c_c.jpg

    I just wanted it as a parts car for my 1980 KV so I didn’t mind that it had been in the museum’s storage area as a somewhat shabby non-running vehicle that was superfluous to their needs. I still own it.

    In 2015 I bought this 1981 American Microcar Tri-Ped from a guy in New York (the state, not the city):

    https://live.staticflickr.com/8650/15974049153_8a66ff5ca5_c.jpg

    I still own it, too.

    Last month I bought this 1982 Triumph Acclaim HL from a guy in the UK:

    https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53528300502_d8de7556f7_c.jpg

    I received confirmation today that it has been loaded onto a ship and should arrive in about a month. As I said above, so far things have gone well.

  16. 2 of my last three cars. Everything was done online just waiting for my signature. Flew out of state, signed, and drove them home. Personally I consider “sight unseen” not having laid eyes on it. Pictures can only tell so much, especially tiny listing pictures.

  17. I bought my Laurel from Japanese Classics only going off the pictures in their listing and one phone call with them. It was fine, the physical condition was exactly what it seemed like it would be from the pictures and the only other thing broken was the A/C which they told me about on the phone before I committed to it.

    Granted this was 2018 where we weren’t scraping the bottom of the barrel for decent imported cars from Japan as hard as we are now. These days, I don’t think I’d buy any Japanese import sight unseen from them or anyone else for that matter.

  18. Not totally sight unseen but I did once buy a diesel VW Caddy that I flew to Texas to pick up only to discover that even though I fit in a Rabbit I do not fit well in a Caddy. The small cab prevents moving the seat back as far as you can in the Rabbit.

    It was a miserable drive to Chicago and I ended up selling it immediately.

  19. I’ve purchased two cars via BringATrailer.com. I’m not sure if that counts since there were photos. The first was a 1982 Citroën 2CV and the second was a 1974 Javelin. Both transactions were smooth and everything with the cars was as expected.

    1. I’ve purchased three cars on BaT but this was before it became an auction site. All three were local so really it came down to seeing the local ad written up as an article on BaT and following through with an in-person visit, so none of them count for this question.

  20. Yep, our 2020 Model Y. Never drove a Tesla, there were no Model Ys around our area at the time because it had just come out and the pandemic was in full swing. I wanted to try one out so we bought it. 3.5 years on we still love it and have No Regerts!

  21. I recently bought a ‘94 Porsche 968 on BaT, flew down to SF to pick it up, and couldn’t have been happier with its accurate presentation in the auction. Other than the flight, it was just as easy as any of the many car purchases I’ve made on local cars from Craigslist, etc.

  22. Yes, once, with my MR2 Spyder. I wanted a specific interior/exterior color combo so ordering one was the only option. Further complicating matters was I was out of town when it was delivered, so my dear old mother had to pick it up (she drove an S2000, so it’s not like she was hopping out of a Buick). Since then I have test driven cars that have some annoying defect, like a rattle, and decided I would never again buy a car without driving it first. Luckily, the MR2 Spyder was without issue.

  23. I bought my current daily online, never seeing it in person until it was dropped off from out of state. So far I haven’t regretted it. The inspection didn’t miss anything. Was it a little risky? I guess, but I’m cheap and the examples selling near me were all overpriced.

  24. Yes, enough time to shatter your sanity. I’ve even had great luck doing so, with the exception of that brand spanking new ML320. That was a mistake.

    Edit: Even worse, I just realized that I have never bought a car I have test driven. Think about that. Of the couple dozen plus cars I’ve owned, I have not once test driven a single one of them. This was not by intention. However, I did once later buy a Mini after going along on a test drive with a friend. Does that count?

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