Buying Blind - In another Country - WTF do I need to ask the seller?

[BorniteIdentity]

Hey.

 

So yes - I've got a nice P.O.S in the cross hairs at the moment - and we've agreed to correspond a bit on email to make things easier whilst at work.  Hopefully this will help me not to forget something vital, only to be greeted with it after a 5 hour journey.

 

I know here at AS we laugh in the face of danger, but I'd quite like to not fuck this one up if possible.  Car looks pretty decent from the pictures.

 

I already know to ask for photos of the car (prefably with a can of my preferred tinned food in shot) and photos of the history etc.

 

What am I forgetting?

 

I'm a mess of excitement, yoghurt and blind panic.  If I fudge this I'll be cross - but not as cross as her indoors.

 

 

[Frogchod]

Which country?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Come on man you ask the same stuff as if it was anywhere else, are the tyres round, can you see out the windows etc etc.

[stripped fred]

I always ask if the car has any problems that they know of. It's not guaranteed to tell you everything you need but it's surprising what they do tell you. The last car I looked at he mentioned that the guages didn't always work. It was a modernish Skoda and what he actually meant was that the whole instrument panel was kaput.

[BorniteIdentity]

I know I sound like a massive jessie - but I know what'll happen.  I'll ask all the boring questions and then forget to get a picture of the interior, forcing me to drive home on an old school chair cable tied to the floorpan.

[oldcars]

80 QUID/EURO/DOLLARS 2NIGHT MATE? 

[cort1977]

One thing to consider is the correct paperwork establishing who owns the thing, important to be able to show customs that it is you and also the DVLA so you can register the thing.   Carte Gris, claen title, etc etc.

[Christine]

Ask if they speak English first. Any cracks on the windsceen ? Make & condition of all the tyres .Spare tyre ( cheapo ones might mean they skimped on other things). Jack and toolkit present. Glovebox Handbook ,- sevice history . Accident damage (even heavy scuffs on the bumper corners) Ask him to walk round the car ,whilst on the phone ,describing every fault panel by panel .. Don't say .. How much for cash M8 ? Bolster wear on the driver seat might be good haggle point if the car is common over here , it's then a passenger seat down the breakers !

[anonymous user]

My only advice is to make sure it's a price you are prepared to write off if it all goes pear-shaped. I've bought a few things unseen that have been much worse than I had expected. Different people have differing views on such things as, no rust, mechanically sound, etc.

 

When you say another country is it a plane, train or ferry away or just Scotland, Wales?.

 

 

[panhard65]

If it is France just take a trailer as they sometimes forget to mention that the steering has been disconnected and the wheels point in opposite directions. Go on ask me how I know this !!. To be honest he wasn't French by birth and did live in Lyon. Ask for pictures of all the known rot spots on the car and if you expect it to be worse than they say it is you might be ok. If it has been standing a while I really wouldn't risk driving it as the test in France isn't as strict as here.

[stripped fred]

Yes definately establish who owns the car and that all paperwork is correct. The Skoda I was talking about was in the UK but it turned out it wasn't his car but selling 'for a friend' even though he wrote the advert as though it was his. You don't want to go a long way to then find problems.

[pshome]

Ask a critical question again after a week, you will be surprised how often you get a different answer... dont buy then.

[BorniteIdentity]

Helpful stuff.  I've requested photos with a can of baked beans in each of them just for reassurance (!)

[Bren]

Surely it can't be any worse than using ebay?

[nigel bickle]

Where is it? What is it? How much is it?

 

Let's go from there.

 

I've done it loads of times, rarely come a cropper

[cort16]

Come on man you ask the same stuff as if it was anywhere else, are the tyres round, can you see out the windows etc etc.

Hold on let me write this down

[Felly Magic]

It's not extracting a Volvo 740 estate from Scotlandshire is it?

[hairnet]

more chance of understanding the french lingo

[Cavcraft]

hai M8 , co jest najlepszym dziś cenę gotówkową

[Taff]

depends what it is, how rare it is and how much you have to sink into it in future.

 

When I've bought my yanks in from the States, I ask about:-

 

the glass. New windscreens would cripple me.

the trim. Some specific-to-model stuff is simply unavailable.

the engine. does it have one?

if yes, complete? left alone & in one piece or has Uncle Clyde pulled the heads 15 years ago and lost them?

if not, who removed it and how? was it loving removed by a trusted time-served mechanic or chopped out by a redneck with a gas-axe?

Interior. has it got one? has a family of diarrhetic badgers been living in it?

body work? Gently aged by nature or used as target practice by the neighbourhood children for 6 generations

does it run? Yanks charge through the nose for loading non-running cars. non-union Mexicans don't come cheap, you know...

if it doesn't run, why not? and when did it last run?

Paperwork? clean and accurate? Get a picture of this sent over

 

I reckon the same would apply to virtually anything

 

edit to add, tyres. do they hold air? Loading a car on four flat, shredded tyres is a punishment too far even for Jimmy Saville

[cort1977]

I thought US longshoremen were the highest paid unionized workforce in the country?   See The Wire or that strike in Long Beach earlier this year.

[BorniteIdentity]

It's not extracting a Volvo 740 estate from Scotlandshire is it?

Closest guess yet. I'mma keep it vague as it's too Sexy for you lot to handle (!)

 

Stuff like windscreens is great thinking. It's this sort of thing people omit to mention until you're there... in the flesh... both looking at a crack. Same for panel inspection etc.

[Ghosty]

Don't mention the war.

 

 

242 coupé?

[anonymous user]

Closest guess yet. I'mma keep it vague as it's too Sexy for you lot to handle (!)

 

 

You are going to Greece to buy a Smart car off Fred Fairbrass

[Alexg]

Helpful stuff.  I've requested photos with a can of baked beans in each of them just for reassurance (!)

 

Seriously? Some foreign dude asking the ins-and-outs of a ducks arse is one thing; but a request to photograph tomorrows breakfast as part of package would be beyond my level of patience. Just ask if it drives alright and then bite the bullet.

[BorniteIdentity]

Seriously? Some foreign dude asking the ins-and-outs of a ducks arse is one thing; but a request to photograph tomorrows breakfast as part of package would be beyond my level of patience. Just ask if it drives alright and then bite the bullet.

Unless, of course, it's not actually his car. Hence the request for niche interest photos.

 

If he's got nowt to hide then there's no problem.

 

If someone asked me for custard photos then I'd laugh and do it. Hell, I'd probably be more likely to do it.

 

Then again... I am a bit of a tard.

[Taff]

Seriously? Some foreign dude asking the ins-and-outs of a ducks arse is one thing; but a request to photograph tomorrows breakfast as part of package would be beyond my level of patience. Just ask if it drives alright and then bite the bullet.

 

 

Unless, of course, it's not actually his car. Hence the request for niche interest photos.

 

If he's got nowt to hide then there's no problem.

 

If someone asked me for custard photos then I'd laugh and do it. Hell, I'd probably be more likely to do it.

 

Then again... I am a bit of a tard.

 

tend to agree with Alex on this one. Just ring the bloke and ask him your questions. If he's a bluffing cnut, you will soon work it out from his answers. Don't waste his time with bone requests for pointless pictures. If there are any specific area's of concern/rust with whatever car it is, ask for pics of those area's instead of dicking him about.