H3 Advice on Buying an Out of State H3 - Private Seller

[fowlken8]

Hello guys,

I found a Hummer I'm wanting to buy, and it's a private sell across the country.

Has anyone ever bought a vehicle several states away via private sell? How can I make sure I don't get ripped off, and are there any good ways to verify to the seller I am not a scammer?

I thought about an escrow account that we both sign off on, where the company holds the funds, and per a contract, upon arrival I have a day to verify the vehicle is good to go. Then I inform the company that everything is okay and they release the money to the seller.

Any other ideas, not including flying out and driving back haha a 1,200 mile 16 hr drive doesn't sound like something I want to do.

 

[3Hummers]

Yes, I have bought a number of vehicles across country. What I do to protect myself depends on the seller to a degree. I bought a 2006 H1 Alpha from Jim Lynch in Missouri sight unseen. Because of Jim's reputation I had no worries. I bought a 1025 Armament Carrier from Florida from someone I did not know. Spoke with him numerous times, had him send me dozens of photos, spoke to other people in the HMMWV community about the guy and wired him the money after I had him send me copies of the title and registration. Does he owe on the truck? If so you could possibly set something up with his bank that would make you both comfortable...something like an escrow account. Where is the truck? Is it possible that a forum member here lives close by and could check the truck out for you? I have done inspections on quite a few H1s for people from across the country. You could possibly have him take the vehicle to a dealer/service shop of your choice for a pre-purchase inspection and get athird party evaluation of the vehicle.

 

[Jeepwalker]

One potential method might be to have him list it on some auction site as a private auction. He sends you the link, then you buy it. You might google that to see what auction or car selling sites people are using ...along those lines. I know there is a 'vintage auto' site, perhaps they do private auctions too and handle the money. Ebay for instance give you a fairly risk-free way to go. I'm not sure what the current 'take' is by ebay on car purchases, but even if it were, say, $250, that may (or not??) be worth it to you as an investment in peace-of-mind.

I've engaged in a couple cross-country deals and they were somewhat risky ....but they worked out and I didn't come away with a sad story. But those do happen and a couple hundred bucks might be worthwhile insurance. It was eating away in the back of my mind the moment I mailed of the $$. In my case the dollar amt was around $3k, but if it were much over that, I would want to do something with buyer-protection. One time I DID engage in a sight-unseen vehicle and it was much worse than the pictures showed. I drove 12hrs to find that out. But the $$ amt wasn't great as it was a classic fixer-upper. I would have backed out but having paid most down and driven that far, I went ahead with it. Maybe on that deal I shouldda turned back. I've been with friends on deals that were worse than they were described too.

A couple weeks ago I looked at a H3 for $2500. I would have bought it but it just needed so many little repairs. I could have fixed each item including (just a partial list) the cracked windshield, engine knock, bodywork, interior rips, interior smell, you name it. But the more I thought about it, buying one for $7k that only needed a few items suddenly seemed more attractive.

Good luck.

 

[atvspeed4]

What state is it in?

 

[Jeepwalker]

Say, you might also post this question on some classic car sites too, or just a bunch of google searches.

When you figure out what the current 'best way' to handle this type of a situation is, could you please come back and share it with us and how it turned out? Thanks

 

[Alpha X]

Perhaps this thread should be retitled "The Rube Goldberg Method Of Auto Purchasing".

Get on a plane. Test Drive it. Physically touch it if it makes you feel better. Leave a deposit. Fly home. Have it shipped.

Or buy something local.

 

[fowlken8]

There's literally nothing good local. New Mexico isn't a good place to buy a private sale vehicle. My entire family and I have purchased all of our vehicles from out of state. I tend to like modified vehicles so dealers don't usually have them, or they charge a premium.

This one is in Jacksonville Illinois. Didn't even know they had a Jacksonville haha it's an 07 Steel blue on 35s. Great interior and looks clean.

16 hrs driving seems horrible to me. I don't want to pay 500 for a round trip ticket then another 1500-2000 for shipping. I'd rather fly in for 225 then drive home. But.... Sounds painful

Sent from my Mi MIX 2S using Tapatalk

 

[Jeepwalker]

It's probably going to be rusty ...being from IL. Do you really want a rust-belt H3 when you could buy one clean and rust-free? Why not look towards TX ...a lot of H3's there and they don't bring as much as IL and upper mid-west. Dallas-Ft Worth ..fly right there on American Airlines.

Or Arizona. Be better to pay a grand more and see it before buying it ..and not have to drive that far. But if you are set on it, negotiate a deal and have the guy put it on ebay and I think it's $125 what ebay takes, so pay him that much more. Then buy it and go get it.

Just a thought.

 

[alrock]

It's probably going to be rusty ...being from IL. Do you really want a rust-belt H3 when you could buy one clean and rust-free? Why not look towards TX ...a lot of H3's there and they don't bring as much as IL and upper mid-west. Dallas-Ft Worth ..fly right there on American Airlines.

Or Arizona. Be better to pay a grand more and see it before buying it ..and not have to drive that far. But if you are set on it, negotiate a deal and have the guy put it on ebay and I think it's $125 what ebay takes, so pay him that much more. Then buy it and go get it.

Just a thought.

That's actually a pretty good thought. AZ has been a bit light for H3s in the past few weeks but generally there's a decent selection. If you find one in Phoenix I'll happily volunteer Reloader's time to go look at it for you. :giggle:

 

[rascole]

Plenty in So Cal too.

 

[fowlken8]

I'd love Colorado, TX, Arizona, Cali. I've been burned three times already. Wanted to get 2 alphas from Phoenix, and lifted locked adventure in Houston, etc. The sellers always flake out or get scared I'm a scammer. Or sell it out from under me. It's really annoying.

The good thing about the Illinois one is they moved there and had it shipped. They say it's rust free. Sent me pictures as well that looked great but who knows how recent.

I'm not dead set, but it's hard to find a moderate mileage, lifted H3 with a nice interior. I can wait, but finding something under 10 grand is a little hard.

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[Jeepwalker]

...They say it's rust free. Sent me pictures as well that looked great but who knows how recent.

Ok, that's new information. Well maybe it *is* worth persuing. Most of the vehicles I've looked at via internet sellers matched the pictures pretty well. Chi area has a lot of decent deals on H3's. There's a site called, "Bringatrailer.com" they must have some kind of tactic they advise buyers and sellers to use. You might check out their language.

Otherwise, if you think it's a good deal and are set to buy it if the condition matches the pictures, ask the seller if he'll hold it for you for 30 days if you can land on a deal ....send him $200. Then fly up with cash in hand. Cheap tickets one way to CHI.