Buying a vehicle long distance?

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
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My '97 Chevy K2500 pickup refused to start Friday, so I had to have my dad flat-tow me home. I think it's the fuel pump I replaced last winter. Yay quality replacement parts. It's not a hard job (mercifully the fuel tank is under 1/4), and I'll fix it, but the dispatch rate for the old girl has been suffering and I don't think she's got many years left in her. My backup, an '01 K2500 suburban, has decided it no longer wants to shift out of first, leaving me going into harvest with 0 functioning farm vehicles.

Which leads me to the current issue... it's a terrible time to need a pickup. I was hoping fuel prices would improve things, but the truck market still seems to be pretty tight. The few dealers that have HD pickups on their lots seem to be pricing them over msrp. I found the exact truck I want supposedly in transit to a dealer in central Missouri. I emailed them Saturday. I got a response, to which I responded in turn, but radio silence since then.

Do dealer's not want to sell long distance? Maybe they already have this truck sold and since my needs are pretty specific, they aren't going to bother responding? Am I better off approaching a local dealer and buying it through them? I suppose they can probably find units in the production queue or shipping much further away than I'm willing travel and get them shipped in.
 
I’ve bought many of my vehicles long distance, and all new ones.

Call the dealer, talk to them, make a deal. Understand some dealers suck and you can’t make a deal with them. There are also high volume dealers out there that specialize in basically every brand and thrive on long distance sales.

With that said, it’s still a bad time to buy a truck, I would be surprised at any deals out there. Instead, buy a car nobody wants like an Alfa Romeo. Deals still exist on them.
 
Many dealers have a salesperson or perhaps even group dedicated to online sales. I replaced my old Silverado with a car I found online at a new car dealership just a couple years ago, in the middle of the "covid madness". 400 miles away. It all worked out ok.

Fast forward to earlier this summer, several of the dealerships locally here had either zero or close to zero cars on the lot..... I have no idea how it is now, but it could be they already found a buyer....
 
Ted said:
Instead, buy a car nobody wants like an Alfa Romeo. Deals still exist on them.
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Hmm... how does your alfa handle a 12k lb trailer...;)

NealRomeoGolf said:
Holy cow, trucks are expensive. This much for a 100,000 mile vehicle???

https://www.chevystore.com/used/Che...eoria-il-f5aac0e90a0e087f1aa1d10f5c7e0c11.htm
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That's just it. I'd normally buy used, but prices on used trucks make new ones look almost reasonable. When I bought my 97 in 2002 I paid $4200 for it (best money I ever spent....). A five year old truck with 80k on the clock today would be 75% of new.
 
In a normal market, wouldn’t faze me a bit, and I’ve bought a few by only the pics they sent. Right now I’d be afraid of getting some junk w/the market as short as it is.
 
I know several people that have purchased a vehicle a long distance away during this crazy time. One several states away and another two-thirds across the country. Might be some specific reason you hit a dead end on your search for another pickup, but doubt its the out of state issue.
 
I love ''no haggle'' pricing.

''We guarantee NOT to lower the price one penny under MSRP plus 35% ADP and you will love us...Just come in and we will tell you what your monthly payment to us will be and you WILL pay it.!! So Easy.!! :lol::lol:


As for the long distance a good sales person will know that they have one chance to sell you this vehicle and will make it work. I have no problem with long distant sales. Might work it in that final sale depends on inspection with a refundable deposit.

My friend the dealership owner died a couple months ago. I was learning so much from him.
 
Buying new? Order it. Otherwise first come first served. Inventory is still turning over in days, not months.
 
I bought our used Cadillac CTS VSport several months back by emailing a dealership in TN which was pretty quick to respond. They had posted an ad but didn't have pictures of the vehicle yet, just a description. I was able to get pictures sent before it was ever detailed for the online ad and put down a deposit for them to hold it for me while I arranged travel. They even picked me up at the airport almost an hour away. Dealer was very low hassle.

I also bought our Excursion up in Oshkosh and drove it back home, but that was a private seller so not quite the same as a dealership.
 
Both vehicles I currently own have been purchased states away. All through email and then a deposit down till I got there the following weekend. I'll day if you're being specific with things regarding the sale they may ghost you as someone will be right along. I was told by a dealer to basically be fast and drop a deposit to hold otherwise no guarantee. And yeah trucks are high, I bought a new ram 2500 Jan 2021 and it will bring a tear to your eye.
 
We just bought our “new” truck 1000 miles away. Private party and inspected it via video messager. Made the deal he sent me a bill of sale, I wired the funds he mailed the title. Transporter delivered it for $1000. Smooth as glass

9C880B0E-AB79-4D92-937B-DC1BBA34D88E.jpeg
 
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Jim K said:
Hmm... how does your alfa handle a 12k lb trailer...;)


That's just it. I'd normally buy used, but prices on used trucks make new ones look almost reasonable. When I bought my 97 in 2002 I paid $4200 for it (best money I ever spent....). A five year old truck with 80k on the clock today would be 75% of new.
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I am thinking that once we get the recession that’s being predicted with the layoffs, that supplies of trucks will go up and the numbers of buyers will come down. Already I hear that out in the west vehicle repossessions are at an all time high. The pictures that I see at the auction houses have parking lots full of cars and trucks. I am thinking that by early spring my bank account will intersect the price of a repossessed truck.
 
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Morgan3820 said:
I am thinking that once we get the recession that’s being predicted with the layoffs, that supplies of trucks will go up and the numbers of buyers will come down. ….
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I think the manufacturers are quickly adopting/adopted Toyota’s philosophy to not do speculative production. Looking back, volume was seen as growth and was valued so smaller margins were acceptable. Going forward, profit has to reclaim losses suffered (and continuing to suffer) over the last couple of years. Declining volume requires price increases to generate equivalent revenue. Then add inflation driven parts increases. Spooling up for EV production is going to require new costs as well and those costs have to be offset by profit, too. Stock prices today aren’t appreciably higher than they were 5 years ago, so the market doesn’t seem to be rewarding manufacturers, either.

I think the new car sales model and associated rules we’ve come to believe have fundamentally changed. I also think that 2+ years of diminished production has altered the used market and will continue to do so until the supply bathtub is filled. Going forward, if overall volumes remain lower than historical production, the bathtub never really goes away.
 
Morgan3820 said:
I am thinking that once we get the recession that’s being predicted with the layoffs, that supplies of trucks will go up and the numbers of buyers will come down. Already I hear that out in the west vehicle repossessions are at an all time high. The pictures that I see at the auction houses have parking lots full of cars and trucks. I am thinking that by early spring my bank account will intersect the price of a repossessed truck.
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That was my hope as well, but having 100% of my light truck fleet down at the moment is making me reconsider my timeline. I've been thinking about buying for a couple years, but other priorities and insane prices have stopped me. Inflation of.... well everything.... makes the prices of new ones look less crazy. MSRP on the specific one I'm looking for has actually gone down over the last couple years as it's getting a new interior for next year's model.
 
What about used from an online place? Carvana or vroom? They deliver to your door.
Carmax will deliver for a low fee also, to your nearest store. I dealt with carmax and have nothing bad to report. zero pressure and hassle.
 
Huckster79 said:
We just bought our “new” truck 1000 miles away. Private party and inspected it via video messager. Made the deal he sent me a bill of sale, I wired the funds he mailed the title. Transporter delivered it for $1000. Smooth as glass

View attachment 109532
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Man, you took a bath on that one. All you ended up with is a rusty old Dodge! ;)
 
charheep said:
What about used from an online place? Carvana or vroom? They deliver to your door.
Carmax will deliver for a low fee also, to your nearest store. I dealt with carmax and have nothing bad to report. zero pressure and hassle.
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Carvana has been banned in Illinois.
 
A pilot bud sells a lot of vehicles on e- bay. Primarily Cross-treks and GM . Almost all are salvage/rebuilt . This is done via e-bay . He is very concerned to maintain his 100 % Rating. I’m driving 2 SUVs he did 4 years ago. Zero problems.
I’m sure there are folks that do not maintain the same level but you may want to see what’s out there. If you drive it forever the type of title matters little.
There are people wanting to buy 15 year old Crown Vics for $1200 get bothered by the title. That’s little more than price of the tires.
 
TCABM said:
Curious why
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They got caught selling cars that they didn't have physical possession of the title so their dealer license got suspended. Lots of complaints of people not getting titles.
 
Magman said:
… If you drive it forever the type of title matters little...
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It may matter to the insurer. Many will not insure a vehicle that has a salvage or rebuilt title.
 
True. State Farm has no issue though.


btw- My bud uses factory parts for the project. You buy the car before the rebuild if you wish and can monitor the process.
 
charheep said:
What about used from an online place? Carvana or vroom? They deliver to your door.
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I've heard lots and lots of bad reports of people being ripped off or scammed by these online delivery companies. No customer service to speak of and people out 10's of thousands of dollars with little to no recourse.
charheep said:
Carmax will deliver for a low fee also, to your nearest store. I dealt with carmax and have nothing bad to report. zero pressure and hassle.
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+1 for carmax, I've sold a couple vehicles there and they beat the dealership both in price and in experience. I'd certainly recommend selling a vehicle there, buying I have no experience with, but they seem reputable overall.
 
EAA you can get xplan on Fords. Takes out a lot of the BS and market adjustments. Or Costco auto-buying does the print the paper and walk up and pay the price on paper, also skipping a lot of BS.
 
I'm specifically after a gas,4 door, long bed, 4wd 3/4t, which isn't the most common combination unless you can live with white... Which I can't. The gal did finally email me back today, albeit without a price.

masloki said:
EAA you can get xplan on Fords. Takes out a lot of the BS and market adjustments. Or Costco auto-buying does the print the paper and walk up and pay the price on paper, also skipping a lot of BS.
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I've always had Chevys, though I'm not married to the brand. When I've gone through this exercise on the past I thought I would end up with a dodge. As it turns out the Chevy MSRP is a couple grand lower than the Ford x-plan price, and dodge doesn't show any trucks available that meet my spec.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
They got caught selling cars that they didn't have physical possession of the title so their dealer license got suspended. Lots of complaints of people not getting titles.
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Ban was lifted by a judge yesterday. Requested a temporary restraining order against the secretary of state's office. What a boondoggle.
 
Jim K said:
I'm specifically after a gas,4 door, long bed, 4wd 3/4t, which isn't the most common combination unless you can live with white... Which I can't. The gal did finally email me back today, albeit without a price.

I've always had Chevys, though I'm not married to the brand. When I've gone through this exercise on the past I thought I would end up with a dodge. As it turns out the Chevy MSRP is a couple grand lower than the Ford x-plan price, and dodge doesn't show any trucks available that meet my spec.
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I can recommend where I bought my Ram from in North Carolina. They specialize in long distance/high volume sales if you want to investigate. They had the exact truck I wanted in stock, color and everything. Of course I got the diesel, but nothing wrong with a Hemi. The tech in the new ones is very good. But then that’s more complexity, which is also in the new LS engines in the Chevy trucks.

I tend to think that GM probably builds a better truck than Ram, I only bought mine because of the engine. That said I’m close to 5 years and 60k miles in, and it’s been essentially trouble free. I’ve just now started having issues with the ABS module which I’ll have to replace at some point. I wouldn’t bother but it disables the cruise control without functioning traction control, which is also disabled when the ABS module quits.
 
Ted said:
I can recommend where I bought my Ram from in North Carolina. They specialize in long distance/high volume sales if you want to investigate. They had the exact truck I wanted in stock, color and everything. Of course I got the diesel, but nothing wrong with a Hemi. The tech in the new ones is very good. But then that’s more complexity, which is also in the new LS engines in the Chevy trucks.

I tend to think that GM probably builds a better truck than Ram, I only bought mine because of the engine. That said I’m close to 5 years and 60k miles in, and it’s been essentially trouble free. I’ve just now started having issues with the ABS module which I’ll have to replace at some point. I wouldn’t bother but it disables the cruise control without functioning traction control, which is also disabled when the ABS module quits.
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Whoa that is long distance. Now that you mention it, the place I bought my triumph is out that way... somewhere. Same deal, they ship all over the country. I need to find the Chevy equivalent.

I'm a huge fan (who isn't, really) of the LS family, and the idea of a 400ci/400hp small block gives me the warm fuzzies, probably because of my dad's '77 k25 that I learned to drive in, behind a much less stout 400ci small block. I'm also a fan of the ram hemi, and the new Ford 7.3 gas is pretty attractive. Every Chrysler product I've ever been around has gone through transmissions like Joey Chestnut through hot dogs, but now that everyone has a new eleventy-dozen speed transmission I don't know if that holds any more. Actually the Chevy gasser still uses an older 6 speed, which I think is pretty reliable; don't know about the other two.
 
Jim K said:
Whoa that is long distance. Now that you mention it, the place I bought my triumph is out that way... somewhere. Same deal, they ship all over the country. I need to find the Chevy equivalent.

I'm a huge fan (who isn't, really) of the LS family, and the idea of a 400ci/400hp small block gives me the warm fuzzies, probably because of my dad's '77 k25 that I learned to drive in, behind a much less stout 400ci small block. I'm also a fan of the ram hemi, and the new Ford 7.3 gas is pretty attractive. Every Chrysler product I've ever been around has gone through transmissions like Joey Chestnut through hot dogs, but now that everyone has a new eleventy-dozen speed transmission I don't know if that holds any more. Actually the Chevy gasser still uses an older 6 speed, which I think is pretty reliable; don't know about the other two.
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My truck is an 05 Silverado Dually with the 6.0 gas engine. It has plenty of power for what I need. It’s bulletproof and anything that may break could be fixed with a simple tool kit in the auto parts store parking lot. The new 7.3 gas engine is an upgraded LS knock off. They beefed it up and I’ve heard a lot of parts interchange.
 
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