Has anyone ever bought a car long distance / out of state?

[East Bay Rider]

My son has graduated college and has his first real job. He's also attending grad school part time.
Up until now he's been using my '05 Xterra but it's getting old and his commute isn't great so it makes sense that he buys a new car. His plan is to buy new and pay it off before MBA graduation so that he still has a newish / reliable car under warrantee but no loan when he starts paying his (undergrad) student loans.
There are several that he's considering, all base models, AWD, sensible.
A search on Cargurus or Autotrader often shows the exact same year, model for thousands $$$ less several states away.
A call to the local dealer confirmed that there was no way that he could get that car locally for the price he saw advertised online. Are those advertised prices for real? How is that possible?
I know that if the dealership is far away they can't register the car for him and in RI it has to be brought to the local police station for a VIN check before it can be registered.
Are there any other hassles or inconveniences I'm not aware of?
Has anyone done this?
Are the savings real?
Is it worth the hassle?

[RW16610]

A huge congratulations to your son, Bill! You must be so proud! Shopping around is always good to do so can pay the lowest price, especially since interest will be a factor.

Luckily we've got quite a few extremely knowledgeable members on the forum from the US with years of experience in the car business.

Hopefully you don't have too many hoops to jump through since the vehicle is already in the US.

[Kimber007]

I've done it multiple times and each time it has been exactly as planned and everything went smooth.

A couple years ago I bought a brand new Corvette Stingray from a dealership in FL because the price I found online I thought was too good to be true. Turns out, the dealership was the 2nd largest Corvette dealer in the country and it was at the end of the year so they had a ton of inventory to move and everything was crazy discounted. I did the entire deal out of state and once finalized I flew down and just had to pick up the car. The car had 9 miles on it and I drove it all the way up to North Carolina where I was living at the time.

I also purchased my 1966 Mustang from a retired gentleman in Wisconsin without even looking at the car. I am heavily involved in the Mustang Club of America so I contacted a local club near where the car was and had an expert on first generation Mustangs go check it out for me and make sure everything was the way it should. Once I got the ok from him I had the car shipped to NC on a trailer.

Very happy with both transactions and got great deals on both since I widened my search to the entire US. Still have both cars today and couldn't be happier.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions on specifics!

PS - No real hassles although to save extra money on shipping the '66 I waited until a transport company could load up other vehicles along the same route. It took close to a month to get the car but since it wasn't my only vehicle I was fine with the wait.

The Corvette dealer had sold many vehicles out of state so they knew everything to do correctly to get my car registered and titled in my own state.

[gnuyork]

Yes, I did...I even bought a one way ticket... no issues. I had a PPI done before I would even commit to coming. But it was a somewhat dream car scenario, (it wasn't for a deal) so I was sold even before getting there.

[nick c]

Congratulations to your son. Well done ��


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[swils8610]

I have and have sold many out of state. Most but not all manufactures will be the rebate and incentives based on your sons zip code. Make sure they know where the car will be titled and registered. Also make sure your son qualifies for all the discounts and rebates that are driving the price down. Know your local and state laws as far as sales tax and registration fees. It’s really a simple process. As far your dealer saying they can’t sell it that cheap...they can if they want to. I recently took $5000 off a vehicle to make the sale. It was a true $5000 looser. However, we had a goal to hit with the manufacture that paid out $20k. Ask if there had been any damage in transit or any damage on the lot that has been repaired. 99% of the time there has been damaged. Rarely as in once or twice a year a vehicle comes off the with damage. If it’s minor we’d just fix it and would get reimbursed. Hope I’m not scarring you off...We did 20 cars a month out of state and never had an issue. It could also be a car that has been in stock a long time and the dealer wants rid of it.


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[droptopman]

Congrats to him on the MBA. I have bought several cars online and had them delivered. First time was scary but after that, no big deal. All cars arrived as described. Kind of fun meeting the driver in your driveway to unload your new ride.

Good advice above as incentives vary by region. All the cars I have done we more collector/muscle car types so not new.

[RichM]

Bill, congratulations to your son.

I lived in NJ and bought a brand new Corvette online from a dealer in NH. The entire transaction was flawless.

I was Fedex’d the paperwork from the dealer and sent them back the check and signed paperwork. As part of the deal, the car was to be delivered. It arrived about 5 days later in an enclosed Intercity Transport Lines trailer. It came with a 20 day temp tag issued in NH.

I took the paperwork to NJ DMV, paid the tax, and then to the nearby inspection station. No inspection was needed. They just slapped the inspection sticker on the window. No tax was paid to the state of NH. Pretty smooth.

Most dealers should be able to walk you through the process. Since you’re buying new there should be no need for an inspection. Next is how will your son get the car? Is it close enough for him to pick it up or will he have it delivered? Once you figure that out, you should be good to go.

[GB-man]

I buy most of my cars out of state. My local market is a bit of a bubble and luxury dealers have a monopoly.

I’ve had luck in NJ seems they are competing for tons of buyers between NY and Philly and there’s a lot of dealers.

[MSchu]

I've also done this several times... some times authorized pre owned, sometime dealer listed and sometimes private party... I've never had an issue.
I think the local market in an area can depress a cars valuation... within reason. If something is to good to be true, it probably is.

Becareful of flood prone areas and watch for salvage titles, unless you're willing to assume that liability. As a matter of consiquence, almost any title can be washed and reissued as 'clean'.

[Watchflair]

Be sure to find out if there are any 'fees'. This is the key to finding out the true deal - some dealers add on thousands.

Once you have that - then you can compare the true cost.

[MSchu]

True that... state sales tax is additive.

[Burlington]

Yes - we have just done this on two cars. No issues as both came directly from the dealership.

[DJ TT 2002]

Just did it in September 2019
No problems at all using an experienced BMW dealer.
Smooth as silk

[sparky]

Bought my new (in 2015) Cayman from a dealer in Chicago. cost $1k to ship hear, but was still $10 under sticker. found on Cargurus after looking of 4-6 months.

[Tricolore66]

Congrats to your son! If he buys a car from an out of state dealer and finances it the dealership will usually use a title service to determine his local taxes and registration fees, collect them as part of the deal, and the service will actually take care of the registration. Most states will require he have a state safety inspection performed along with the "VIN verification" you mention, and the title service will send him some docs to sign. The reason dealers use a title service on financed cars is because they need to make sure the title work is performed correctly and the lien recorded on the title. If he's dealing with a good dealership this should all be very seamless with minimal hassle for your son.

As others have noted, watch for any additional fees. A documentation fee is standard practice that dealer use to cover the costs of processing registration, FedEx'ing docs, etc. $50-150 is fair enough (you couldn't pay me $150 to go to the DMV!) but some dealers are downright abusive when it comes to doc fees. Some states have Vehicle Inventory Taxes that a dealer has to collect even if the car isn't registered in that state. This is typically a fraction of a percent and not a big deal.

I would definitely get the dealership to include the transportation and set it up themselves. If they arrange and pay for it, the sale isn't legally finalized until he inspects the car upon delivery and signs for it. If the car were to arrive damage, he can refuse it and the entire deal is void. If he arranges the transportation the car is technically his as soon as the dealer hands it off to the transporter. If, worst case scenario, something goes very wrong with the car or deal and thing go legal, this can also determine venue and home field advantage.

All of this being said, I would always prefer to buy locally if the difference isn't significant.

Hope this helps and feel free to PM me if you need any help.

[Gold Crown]

My last 3 Corvettes were all purchased from out of state dealers. 1 in Michigan 2 from Ohio. The only snag you might run into is having to pay the sales tax to your state and having to go to your local DMV to transfer the plates. Still not a big hassle at all.

[breitlings]

Yes it turned out terrible. But that being said I think had to do more with the JLR 5.0 than the dealer.

[Fabrice M]

I bought a Porsche out of state (in Seattle I live in Denver). I had to pick it up because WA state has a weird law about shipping cars out of state. Experience was pretty good but you do have to be careful as they always try to add some kind of extra fees for this or that. Nothing that the local dealer won’t try, but when it’s over the phone it get frustrating very fast....

[chubbychaser911]

Yes it is definitely in your interest to do this and on a new car I can’t see how it would be problematic. I think you also have three days to decline delivery if it shows up in bad condition

[dba]

In my neck of the woods, people are always going to Idaho for their trucks. All of the dealerships are used to out of state folks coming in and they know how to do what's needed.

[nick800]

I bought my first two 911’s sight unseen and had them delivered. Both were slightly used vehicles. Bought one while I was in Europe for work trip, the other from the south. Had PPi’s done prior to shipment. No issues.