hello everybody.has anyone ever bought a car sight unseen before?if so can you tell me how it turned out and your experiences.i found a 70 oldsmobile cutlass convertible that I want to buy at a great price.any feedback will be great.thanks

 

Not recommended at all. It worked for me once. A lot of sellers forget to tell the truth as far as condition. Pictures dont show true condition.

 

ok thanks.i found a oldsmobile cutlass convertible for 3,500 obo.i want a convertible oldsmobile bad but I guess ill keep on looking for the right one.thanks

 

I'm a touchy/ feely type of buyer. I want to know exactly what I'm buying if its a running, driving car that I'm spending a lot of $$$'s on. If it's a parts car, who cares.

 

I have bought a couple of cars sight unseen. And there are always issues that pop up after getting it home. Mostly rust. There are a lot of places where rust can hide. And most sellers either don't know where to look for said rust or don't want to look. That way they can plead ignorance.

It doesn't hurt to ask quetions and for detailed pictures. If the seller has any issues taking clear pictures, well, then definitely run away. $3500.00 for a convertible is really cheap. I would look at it if I were you. But beware, at that price I am asking myself, why it hasn't sold yet?

 

your right.yall got some good points.its on craigslist in rhode island.asking price is 3,500 obo.no title.check it out and tell me what you guys think.1970 oldsmobile cutlass.needs a trunk pan its rusted out

 

I'd be asking what's good on it, the list will be smaller. My guess it's in need of a lot of work, be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

 

There's no way I would buy a car without seeing it first. Even if it was 3000 miles away, I would fly there to look before I bought. The price of that ticket, and a couple of nights in a motel, a rental car and food, is a lot less than getting skunked when the sight-unseen car arrives at your house.

I know of two instances where (1) it didn't work; and (2) it almost didn't work.

In the first instance, a good friend of mine bought a "frame off" 56 Chev on ebay from a so-called restorer in Georgia for $25K. When the car arrived at his house, it was stuck in 2nd gear and it had to be pushed into the garage. Upon further inspection, you could ride a surf board down the side panels, they were so wavy. The shift linkage was put together using pieces that were welded together in some sort of haphazard fashion. And that frame-off restoration? The original frame-to-body bolts had never been removed. The frame was full of bead blast sand and, when you rubbed your finger across the freshly-painted underbody, the paint rubbed right off because it had been applied over a sandy substance. That was 2 years ago and he is still trying to make the car right.

In the second instance, a friend of mine got wind of a rare Corvette (in pieces) on the east coast and he was convinced it was the real deal and what he wanted. He drove all the way to NJ from WA with his truck and trailer, only to find the car wasn't anything as advertised. He came home with an empty trailer. The cost was a lot less than buying the car sight-unseen, but the cost could have been even lower if he would have just flown back to NJ to take a look.

Oddly enough, I am now liquidating my dad's estate and I advertised his 35 Ford in Hemmings over the last couple of months. It sold, sight-unseen, to a buyer some 1500 miles away, for 5 figures. I know he's getting a solid, somewhat rare car at a great price. I just hope he thinks the same when the car arrives at his house.

However, I reiterate: I would never buy a car until I saw it first and gave it a day or two of thought.

Randy C.

 

This car should be seen in person before making a deal. Northern cars have a lot of rust due to the winter road salt. And this particular car is missing parts and shows signs of rust. It may be too far gone to even provide quality parts for another car.

 

thanks for all the good feedback.you guys are so knowledgable that's why I love this site.i know I wont be buying this car site unseen for sure now

 

If you are considering buying a car sight unseen, read Skúli's story here, and see his videos.

- Eric

 

I have bought vehicles sight unseen with pretty good results you have to ask the obvious questions proof of ownership, condition etc etc you also have to go with your gut and read a little beween the lines if you get a bad vibe or something sounds sketcy that you dont want to deal with best to stay away, you have to have the stomach for it also i guess...but if it doesnt turn out exactly the way you want oh well worse things can happen sometimes you have to take a risk for something you want

 

Another point nobody has yet addressed is no title? What's up with that? Rebuilt wreck? Maybe stolen? That alone would be a deal breaker for me.
Oldsmaniac and Old442sredberet are also correct, especially in my experiences with anything EBay related. Sad, but some people are good, but some are just plain snakes. And if it spent its life in RI, you can pretty much expect to pick it up with a dust pan and broom.

 

Car looks pretty good...it will probably sell quik at 3000.00

 

I bought my '70 442 "sight-unseen" last June. While technically I didn't pay anything until I saw it, I did essentially make the decision to buy before seeing it in person.

My primary goal was securing a real, 1970 442 with a clean title. Saw 1 offered for an awesome price on 442.com. Contacted seller and began a lengthy communication via email. Seller was in Chicago, car was in Michigan, I live in NJ. Through our communications (probably 30+ emails), I was able to feel him out. I gathered as much info a physically possible (asked TONS of questions (which seller was happy to answer), got pics of specific things, videos) before driving 700 miles with bank check in-hand to pick it up. I guess if it was discovered that I was seriously misled once I saw the car in person, I probably wouldn't have gone through with it. Turns-out the man was 100% truthful. His family, who helped me get the 442 and all accompanying parts out of their barn where it sat for the past 7 years, were the nicest people. I don't think I got "lucky". I did my homework and took a shot.

My point: while not recommended (and I don't recommend sending someone $3500 after seeing a few pics and a quick write-upon CL!), it's not impossible. Do your homework! Ask around this site. There's a lot of very helpful people around here. Someone may live near this car and would be happy to be your "eyes".

 

The ultimate answer depends on how much you want the car and what is the price. No way would I buy a $25,000 car sight unseen. I HAVE bought cars for less than $2,500 that way, however. First rule is to assume the car has more rust than you think. Sellers are either uninformed or untruthful (take your pick). I've found that "no rust" usually means "no rust visible at the moment because it's been bondo-ed over". I am very skeptical of any car that's been repainted, especially from the rust belt, because I guarantee it's had rust repaired, usually poorly. Nothing else really matters, because mechanical problems are easy to fix by comparison.

 

If you don't have much experience buying or selling cars I would not do it. Most of these situations don't end up well. I have done it with good results but not without doing my homework. I would talk to them at least 3 times on the phone and ask the same questions in 3 differant ways to see if the answer was the same. Also remember what they said in the first conversation on the first call that was unrelated to the car and get back to that subject on the last call to see how those stories relate to each other compared to the car stories relating to each other. On a couple of the ones I did I would even google there name and city and see if there are any news on them in there local paper. If you have a user name for them try googling there user name and see if they have any forums they are active on to get a better feel for them.

 

Also, if you get someone to look at it for you make sure they know cars. Ideally they would know about the car you want to buy and the typical problem areas.

I bought a car long distance with the help of a friend who went to take a look and even take video for me. The problem was that the video didn't show the problem areas and my friend wasn't much of a car guy, so he didn't catch some important things.

 

I've done it three times. Two were OK, one was a disaster. I got the seller to send me $400.00 on the problem car; it was something, but certainly not enough to fix what the guy lied about. Now, I see the seller advertising in Hemmings (where I found the ad), and his descriptions are all the same---his favorite words are---"excellent original condition and sacrifice". I'll leave the rest up to you. The other two were private owners that happened to be selling their parent's car because the parents had either passed on or were too old to drive. The cars fell into the $5,000-$6000 price range, so they weren't that much of a gamble. I'm not saying I WOULDN'T do it again, but it all would depend on the circumstances and price of the car.
I will say that very recently there has been some scam artists operating on eBay where they take a previously listed ad from eBay and duplicate it. Then they have a "Classified Ad" listing the car for about 1/2 price. The sellers name has varied, but there are some similarities such as location (usually in the New York or New Jersey areas) and feedback or transaction numbers which are "0". In this age of technology, I really can't believing eBay can't catch the scam before the listing is approved and appears. I have noticed that this has been going on at least a week or so now.

 

its hard trying to find a convertible at a reasonable price but listening to all the posts I cant see me buying a car sight unseen.i cant afford to run into all those problems that might happen.i just wanted a convertible for the summer

 

Buying a car sight-unseen? I'm doing it right now! I'm buying this car:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post552749

I admit it's not the typical car one is thinking of when someone talks about buying a car sight-unseen, but I am buying it that way. I'll be flying to Cleveland next month to drive it back home. As the seller suggests, it will actually end up as my daughter's car.

 

I have no problem with "sight unseen". So long as you do your research. Ask for lots of pictures and videos while it is running. If it is a business, check them out with the better business bureau.

However, $3500.00 for a 70 cutlass convertable? Unless it is family selling you this car, or you are in the mood for a complete frame off restoration, run from this deal!

 

ok thanks

 

just bought a 70 Cutlass convertible sight unseen .look at lots of pictures ,talked on the phone ,but still the car was it what I expected when I got 800 miles away to check it out . re negotiated drove the car home .but it was a lot more than 3,500 dollars .

 

do you have pics and what did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

 

you guys are real lucky , livin in australia it can be hard ...usually once you ask for detailed pics espically underneath it if you dont get a reply ya figure out the car is a POS...

 

I bought my Cutlass off of eBay, lots of pics and then drove 8 hours to pick it up, no problems at all.

 

The bottom line answer to this question is that there is no simple answer.

In 99% of cases, no, it's not a good idea to buy a car sight-unseen. But there's that 1% out there where it can be successful.

One thing is for sure, though, and that is if there was any human activity in which the disclaimer "past performance is not an indicator of future performance" applies, it's buying cars sight unseen. So other people's experiences, including mine, are completely irrelevant to your situation (unless you're buying from the same seller).