Unseen long distance buy of your NSX, who holds the record??

[NSX2398]

Clearly, I don't have the record but for what it's worth .. mine was about 2000 miles .. from Tucson to Saskatchewan. I know exactly what you're going through as people questioned my sanity for buying a 10 year old exotic with 90000 miles that had been tracked, from someone I didn't know, 2000 miles away, in another country. Best thing I ever did but I recognized the risks and tried to minimize them.

(my next comments were made before I saw the other thread: http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95530)

In the previous posts, nobody has really commented on what things they did to minimize the risk of buying a car sight unseen so let me add my $0.02 worth. Personally, I don't think pictures reduce the risk much. Obviously there is some value in at least seeing the basics but when it comes to road rash; minor dints; interior; etc, a picture isn't of much value unless the car has some obvious fitment issues. So, if your buying criteria includes a need for "near mint", pictures aren't going to do it in my opinion.

I would highly recommend finding an independent third party that you think you can trust. It could be someone else on Prime taking a look at it. In my case, the seller referred me to a mechanic who had maintained the car last that I felt I could trust. He was well known on Prime and well respected and was nice enough to talk to me by phone about recent repair work he had done and his recollections about the car. This might work for you. Another idea might be to ask for the name of a previous owner.

Another source of input is Carfax. Others have made the claim that it can be altered so you shouldn't rely on it too much but it's better than nothing and one of the things you could check.

Another might be to search Prime using the VIN to see if anyone else has reported seeing it or knowing about it.

Anyone else have any other suggestions?
...Ian

 

[Weedwhackers]

bought mine on ebay..... had a ton of pics sent, spoke with the owner a couple times....

upstate ny to los angeles, ca (2817.11 miles according to mapquest)


enclosed top shelf truck 7 days door to door was $1800

 

[Tony Montoya]

The NSX I bought was 15 minutes away from me by foot.

I've bought cars long distance and that experience has good points and bad points.

 

[Meeyatch1]

I bought a parts NSX in Tokyo Japan based on photos only.

That's 6428 miles from home.

What did you do with it??

 

[ChrisK]

San Francisco CA. to Honolulu HI. Not sure how many miles that actually is though. Bought unseen, but I bought it from a friend of mine so I believed everything he told me about the car, so it was pretty low risk for me.

 

[fangtl]

First time visiting Prime in a few months and immediately come across a topic I can partake in.

I bought my car sight unseen from a Prime member in Sacramento, flew from Dulles VA to get it (~2800 miles), then drove the car back via the ~3300 mile scenery route back (Sac -> LA -> Phoenix -> Albuquerque -> KC -> Cincinnati -> VA), totality of the trip is over 6k miles

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17259

 

[ExCfive]

I cannot beat the Dubai story but I did buy mine from the engine control room on the ship I work on in the Bering Sea from a dealership in Chicago....took care of all the "foreplay"...waited 2 more months and flew home to Michigan. One day later, flew to Chi town and drove it home. No hassles and NO complaints...the car is great.

 

[nsx-tech]

So who holds the record distance for unseen long distance buy of a NSX??

I recently bought a CTSC NSX from Sterling VA fully based on massive amount of pics and on speaking to the owner who was a Prime member too.
Car is in the process of beeiing shipped to my home near Leiden in The Netherlands, Europe right now, hopefully arriving in about 3-4 weeks.
Must say I'm still a bit nervous on how the car will really be when it arrives.

My buy distance: about 4.730 Mls :wink: :biggrin:

Who bids more

I have now bought 3 un seen NSX's. The first was 400 miles away the second 1800 miles away and the third was 1200 miles away. The first two were from dealers and deals were easier than the private deal was. The first car had a few untold minor issues which were fixed before I left with the car. The second was the easiest and the car was perfect. The third was a pain thanks to American Honda not the seller but the car is in perfect condition. So I'm 3 for 3 for good condition buy's with out seeing the cars. The first one had 40k on it and was a 91, second had 4k was 05 and third has under 3k and is 05.