How far would you drive on a gamble for a used car?

[nwjones18]

Around 2012 I decided I wanted a stick shift 5 series BMW with the inline 6. Not an easy car to find anywhere, much less middle GA. One popped up (a 2003) near Washington DC green with tan interior and looked good in the pictures. I talked to the salesman on the phone and he assured me it was in good shape. Drove up there (11hrs one way) only to find it was beat up from one end to the other and interior was rough as well... Was a fun road trip with a friend and we got to eat at a cool Irish pub across the street from the capital. Was pretty sick to my stomach about the car though.. I test drove it around for probably 45 min before I admitted it would be stupid to buy it.

I also drove 3.5hrs to buy the 05 Cadillac STS I had. That car was as described and a good deal. No regrets there.

Now that I think of it I also drove 2hrs for my Mazda, and 3 hrs for my tractor.. At least my Ram was local

 

[Elkins45]

I'm more curious on how you seem to be perpetually buying used cars.

I’m perpetually shopping. So far I’ve only bought a few.

At the peak of my pocket knife collecting phase I was probably buying and selling 100 knives a year. I would buy one just to see if I liked it, sell the ones I didn’t, and keep the very few that really appealed to me.

I’m planning on doing the same thing with cars now. I have the dual luxuries of being retired and having a steady income stream so I can indulge myself.

 

[fdcg27]

I took a trip for fun and business from central wi to southern Ohio to get a Subaru 360

Its very rare a vehicle I actually want is locally to be honest

Did you end up buying this Subie?
An interesting two stroke two cylinder mini-Beetle.

 

[Rmay635703]

Did you end up buying this Subie?
An interesting two stroke two cylinder mini-Beetle.

Yes and a few years later the brakes and seals went then the shift and clutch cables coorded. Then the gas tank started leaking through layers of gas tank sealant. (Thanks po)

In storage I’m told someone is making reproduction wheel ends and brakes who I should get considering how otherwise simple and efficient the car is.

 

[mrsilv04]

I'm in Illinois. I've bought vehicles in Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Indiana.

 

[02SE]

It depends entirely on what car it is, as to whether I would travel to see and possibly buy it. I recently traveled 650 miles round trip to look at a car. I gave a reasonable offer, but so far they're just slowly coming down in their price expectation. I'm of the opinion that if it doesn't work out, I saved a bunch of money. So I'm in no hurry.

 

[dishdude]

I’m perpetually shopping. So far I’ve only bought a few.

At the peak of my pocket knife collecting phase I was probably buying and selling 100 knives a year. I would buy one just to see if I liked it, sell the ones I didn’t, and keep the very few that really appealed to me.

I’m planning on doing the same thing with cars now. I have the dual luxuries of being retired and having a steady income stream so I can indulge myself.

You should consider a consultation with the good doctor.

 

[andrew_j]

Two hours max each way with a decent lunch involved. Basically long day trip where hopefully only half day burned up.

 

[Elkins45]

You should consider a consultation with the good doctor.

Says a guy with 16k+ posts on an oil forum over 16 years.

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[dishdude]

Says a guy with 16k+ posts on an oil forum over 16 years.

Pot, meet kettle.

Just having some light hearted fun after you called another poster Dr. Freud.

 

[Elkins45]

Just having some light hearted fun after you called another poster Dr. Freud.

I know. No offense taken. My reply was in jest as well. I just don’t use very often although I probably should.

 

[Dave9]

I’m looking at a $5000 car online. 2008 model, 114k miles. I’m withholding any further details for the sake of discussion. The photos all look good but it’s listed on the dealer’s website as “not inspected, sold as-is.” I’m interested in this particular vehicle because it is a somewhat uncommon manual version so there’s not another comparable vehicle any closer.

How far would you be willing to drive to view and possibly purchase a $5000 car?

If I wanted that particular vehicle with a manual tranny, and there are none closer, I'd hop on a plane if driving there didn't fit into my schedule. Driving, I'd want it close enough to go there and back the same day so I'm not sleeping who-knows-where or paying for a motel, unless it was something really special that I'd been looking for a long time, then I'd do a sleep-over OTR for it. It still needs to fit my schedule, really hard to speculate without knowing how *special* it is, or just some commodity item that happens to have a manual tranny.

However, it depends on how you're getting it delivered. You need a second person willing to come along to drive one of the two vehicles back if it's driveable, or a trailer, or a shipping service if all you're going for is to inspect and close the deal.

I suppose the real question is how likely is it to be in reasonable working order, road-worthy. "Not inspected" could mean not inspected, or could mean there's something wrong but they don't feel like volunteering that info.

 

[Nick1994]

Says a guy with 16k+ posts on an oil forum over 16 years.

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[JoelB]

Probably no more than 30 minutes for a $5k car. Unless it's a killer deal then MAYBE an hour. They are always worse in person and the chance of wasting my time is high. But I'm not retired so my time is finite.

 

[ls1mike]

Drove 4 and half hours to pick up a 3rd gen Trans Am GTA for my kid. When got there the guy couldn't find the title.

Drove 4 and half hours to look at a 2005 2500HD gasser for the my kid. Pictures looked awesome had the guy even send extra shots. Got there. It was a horrible truck turned around and went home.

I don't really have a limit if is something I want to look at. I will make a trip out of it.

 

[IndyIan]

I've thought about flying somewhere down to the rust free areas of the US, to get a nice rust free older car could be a good adventure. But the prices on used cars in the US seems to be about the same as a newer nearly rust free version here.... at least with the exchange rate as it is now. Quebec used cars seem to be much cheaper now though, so I might drive 3-4 hours to do some car shopping in the future.
I have gone 4 hrs to get a car, and it was as described, but I didn't get much off as I really wasn't willing to walk away for a few hundred bucks...
I have flown 3000 miles for a free car, and drove it back. I would do that again, it was a nice drive home.

 

[Barkleymut]

He said its a 2008 with 114K miles and has a manual trans and they want $5K. Its clearly no classic.

We could start a guessing game? Civic hatch back?

V6 Mustang

 

[brages]

I've been disappointed a lot... About an hour each way is going to be my max. I live in a major metropolitan area, so lots of choices closer than that.