Hey folks,

I'm about ready to purchase my next car. I've narrowed down to a specific vehicle that I want.
The unfortunate thing is that it's located about 800 miles from me at a dealership. As such, if I purchase, I will be doing so sight unseen & will have the car shipped to my local dealership.
The vehicle is a 2017 model, so still under factory MB warranty.

I have a few questions & hope to gain some feedback from you all.

• I've seen someone on here mention that they purchased sight unseen & had an independent mechanic perform an inspection on the vehicle. Any advice on the best way to approach this? How much did it cost? Who did you use? How did you locate them? Did they travel to the vehicle's location (car is at a non-MB dealership)?
• What is the best way to locate & choose an auto shipping company? The seller (dealership) said they have one they use.. should I go that route?
• For those who have shipped a vehicle before: How long did it take? Were there any nuances? Anything I need to know beforehand?

Other than that, please feel free to share any thoughts.
What did you learn from doing it? Any mistakes made? What would you do differently? Any tips?

Appreciate all of the help I can get. I've purchased many vehicles, but never any that weren't done in person. I'm a little wary of the whole process. I

 

I've purchased three cars this way - four if you count my current 2019 C63S. I don't count that one because it was new and at a dealership - albeit 600 miles from my dealer.

The first vehicle was a 2008 SAAB 95 Aero. It was a replacement for a 2003 that was totaled in an accident. A friend of mine that wholesales cars (normally much higher-end than the SAAB) located the car and had a colleague of his perform an inspection. It arrived on a flatbed trailer four days later. I just sold it last year after 10 trouble free years.

The second was a 2013 Audi S4 (still in my garage) that I located through car gurus at a dealership about 500 miles from my home. I had a friend of mine that lives in the same city take it for a test drive and to a mechanic for an inspection. I contracted with a transport company and had the car delivered in an enclosed trailer. Clean and neat - no problems.

The third was a 2014 Audi RS5 (traded-in on the AMG). I located it at a dealer about 800 miles from my home. I had no one in the area to drive or examine the car. I relied on car fax and pictures the dealer sent me. I located the original selling dealer and was able to get the original build sheet and service records. It was a bit of a roll of the dice but it came out just fine.

I used a web site call UShip to locate the company that transported my last two cars. It's a great app that lets you specify what you want shipped, how you want it shipped (covered trailer) and when you want the vehicle picked up and delivered. Independent contractors then bid on the job and you pick the one you want. I will use it again the next time I buy a car remotely.

I hope this helps.

 

Highly recommend against purchasing sight unseen. Especially as 800 miles isn't even that far. Negotiate a price conditional on passing your inspection. Schedule a mechanical PPI, then fly there, do a visual inspection, if it passes, complete purchase and drive back.

Now, statistically, you will probably be fine buying sight unseen. However, you don't know if you will end up in the minority that gets screwed. Why take that chance? In september I almost bought a preowned 2019 GT3 RS from a license Porsche Dealership. Pictures and history looked pristine. Thank goodness I did my further due diligence because I found thousands of dollars of undisclosed wear and damages on the car when I flew out and inspected it in person. Yes, I lost half a day and a few hundred bucks on the plane ticket, but I saved my self thousands.

Also, do not use Uship. Transportation is a highly unregulated industry, and going with the cheapest bidder often backfires.

 

Thank you both for your time & info, it is greatly appreciated!
Two very contradictory posts, though.
If you don't mind me asking, @obbob , my question to you is this: Can you give more context to what you found? I feel as if I can work with someone (a local indendent to perform a PPI - I know I saw someone the other day suggesting they had a good method for this) to identify these types of issues, then I should be okay as the car is still under warranty?

 

I would only purchase sight unseen if it was from an MB Dealer and CPO. You have a lot more protection that way and no PPI is necessary.

 

To be clear - I didn't use the lowest bidder - I did have multiple bids and the option to speak with the drivers. Worked just fine.

 

What were your time-frames on the Uship transactions (pickup to delivery, etc.)?
At what point in the purchase process did you begin the uship process (trying to determine how long it takes.. not sure how the dealer will feel about a purchased vehicle taking up space on their lot).

 

I bought a CPO 2018 C63S sight unseen, but it did have only 2000 miles on it. The seller was a MB dealer and the sales guy did everything I asked including a ton of pics and honest appraisal of any small scratches or dings.

Car was exactly as he described, like new so I'm happy. To your questions:

• I did not have it inspected
• Car was shipped via Safe Auto Transport, which the dealership selected. This dealership is one of the highest rated MB dealerships for customer service, so that was a consideration in the buying unseen. Truck driver was awesome, gave me detailed info along the way. It took longer than anticipated due to weather issues. But the truck was covered and all cars were loaded with care with a detailed inspection when it left, and again when it arrived to ensure no damage--especially under the front spoiler since the car is low and it's easy to not inspect under there.
• Car was shipped from Ohio to San Jose, CA. Took more than a week and there was at least one other stop. Also truck was enormous and it blocked half the street. Fortunately my street is very wide, long and straight. Something to consider if your street is narrow, windy, or has a lot of traffic. Took about 15-20 mins to unload and inspect the car. You don't want to rush that part.

Hope this helps.

 

Both of the dealerships I worked with were very accommodating. I kept them up to speed about the transport. I didn't drag my feet once the deal was finalized. Once I was certain I would do the deal I posted the trip on uShip. I had bids immediately, and conversed with a couple of the prospects but I didn't finalize the shipment process until the money had transferred. I was able to complete the deal on the same day. As I recall, pickup occurred within a couple days. Delivery was immediate thereafter - travel time from pickup point to my home.

All told, I had my vehicles in about 4 or 5 days.

 

I would not buy a car sight unseen. Given it's just 800 miles away, you can fly (or drive if you have someone who can come with you and drive back or if you prefer a one-way car rental) to inspect the car yourself in person. Do an independent mechanic inspection as well, and then purchase the car. The flight ticket would be very less.

I was planning to do this although for buying a new car. The car was in Portland, OR and I am in SF Bay area. I was planning to fly there, pick up the car and then drive back. It would have been a 700mi drive roughly and I do not mind driving roughly 12 hours just for one day (or may be take an overnight break somewhere). However just before I pulled the trigger, I found a local MB seller who not only beat the price by a good amount but had a car without unnecessary extra packages/options I wasn't keen on, hence went with the local MB dealer instead.

 

I would agree with the reply above - you buy an expensive car and a few 100 to see it in person and inspect it it’s worth it to me.
On shipping, same as said above - it’s unregulated and if not careful you can get a bad experience. I have shipped many cars and it was a hit or miss. Typically, if you choose a covered transport they tend to be more costly but also more tailored for more expensive cars. Avoid the open trailer - had cars sitting on top and front and they get beat up there. Also some of this double open trailers have steep ramps making it difficult at times loading cars lower than average - had one lowered car bottoming out on ramp. With covered trailers they often are single story and typically are more prepared for sports cars (even though our standard C63s are not that low). JMO

 

I've purchased cars like this in the past from private owners and all has been okay but there are always going to be surprises. It's always best to go in person unless it's a Mercedes CPO.

It's 800 miles away. Fly or road trip it there. You'll thank us later!

 

You haven't mentioned mileage, year, sedan or coupe. Any accidents showing anywhere? Any recurring issues showing a trend on Carfax or Autocheck? What was the mileage when first titled? If a few thousand miles, it means it was put into service and THAT date is when the 4/50 warranty really started. Watch that date. Another, even if it's a 2017, it could have been on the road since sometime in 2016... Careful.

 

Oh. I got burned real bad on transport the first time I did it on my own. I wound up giving my money to a broker and not to a transport company. Once he had my coin, I could not do a thing. Careful.

 

The carbon ceramic rotors required replacement. That's a $12K job. Car only had 3000 miles.

PPI is a must, and a good one at that. I've seen too many cheap $150 PPI where all the inspector does is lift the car and wave a flashlight around like it's a lightsaber. If you won't see the car in person, then you need an inspector who knows how to check for cosmetic issues in addition to mechanical and wear and tear. Car under warranty only protects against worksmanship issues. Wear and damage is not protected by warranty.

For auto transport, only use a highly reputable company. I say this as someone who generally schedules 1 shipment a month. Generally I found each region has a local company that is highly reputable, but usually that has to be discovered through word of mouth. If you don't know of such a company, then use a big carrier such as InterCity or PlyCar. These guys usually aren't cost effective for shorter distances like 800 miles, and often will give pick up windows of days instead of hours, but at least they are insured and will transport the car safely.

Whenever someone asks a question like this, there will always be a flood of answers of people saying they did minimal due diligence and came out fine and had great cost savings. You should look at these stories similar to buying cars at auction. Most cars at auction are in acceptable condition, so statistically, the buyer will likely save alot of money buying a car at auction. However, what happens if you end up unlucky with a piece of crap? Dealers are protected from this because they diversify their risk by buying tons of cars at auction, and they have exclusive resources to resolve bad cars cost effectively (either through repairs or just sending it back to another auction). Individual buyers are not dealers and do not enjoy the same protections. Same concept with buying a car without due diligence.

 

PPI's in general are overrated and a waste of money. If you don't know anything about cars, get one. If you know what you are looking for, a drive and careful examination should tell you a lot. I have bought many cars without PPI including exotics and have never had a major issue. There are so many overhyped horror stories posted that many people are scared into PPI's and over examination. I have probably bought 10+ cars sight unseen but you have to do your homework on the car and the seller.

 

Lots of good input here. After reading everything thus-far, I'm leaning towards flying out either this Friday or the next. Maybe my wife will keep me company for the drive back.

It's a 2017 C63S sedan, 32K miles, no accidents showing on the carfax. Was titled at less than 100-200 miles (can't recall the exact figure).

 

I've shipped my car from Boston to LA and back using ship a car direct.

I felt like I could trust them and I found their prices to be fairly competitive.

 

Forgive me. I need to ask. What cities was it registered in over the course of those miles. There's a reason for me asking. I'll explain later.

 

Two owners on the car.
First purchased at Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands in Conroe, TX. Serviced at MB in Austin. Second owner purchased from MB of Austin, TX and it has been serviced there ever since. What'cha thinking?

Also.. noticed on the carfax a "computer reprogrammed" at ~10K miles and again at ~25K miles. Is that an ECU reprogram.. what could that be due to? Could be a dumb question, I apologize if it is.

 

Never Ever a dumb question here! Here in Houston, we went through a hurricane. Lots of flooding. The Woodlands were okay. No flooding up there (unless the owner got caught somewhere that did have high water). Other areas were not so lucky. Austin was not a problem weather-wise. And, for both locations, no worries about salt or sand.

If this were a Macan, I'd tell you to pull the belly cover off and look for either a timing chain cover leak or a transfer case leak. On the Benz, a car of this caliber, you should be good. I'd still ask for ALL service records and I'd have the dealer put it up on the lift and let you and the mechanic walk it from bumper to bumper. NOTHING should be wet.

 

Ask if they have a You Tube, etc channel. Better yet snoop around.