Dreamr Posted 11October, 2015 Report Share Posted 11October, 2015 So, with all of the frenzy going on at the moment with aircooled cars, and some of the stories being told about buying them, I have started thinking about the process of getting one.When you buy a car after calling the owner, introducing yourself and then saying "I'll take it", how do you know that the car actually exists?Do you just deposit money into someones bank account on the hope he owns the car? Recently one member bought a car from Darwin and has to wait 2 weeks for it to arrive. Obviously it's been paid in full. Does that scare anyone? Is that a risk doing business that way with a private seller? I can half understand buying that way through a dealer, but even buying that way can be risky?In short what I want to know is: How do we know the person we are speaking to actually owns the car being advertised? Is it safe / normal to put a large sum of money into someones bank account without actually meeting them or seeing the car? (and I'm not even talking about a PPI)I'm not in the market personally but just got to wondering with all the frenzied buying going on.Please share your experiences / thoughts as I'm sure there are others out there that would be hesitant in buying not just sight unseen, but privately without knowing the car actually exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboT Posted 11October, 2015 Report Share Posted 11October, 2015 luckily I have been able to get to see my two and meet the owners, but when i picked up the 964 I remember it felt pretty weird transferring $60k and not actually having anything in my hands - so as soon as I pressed 'send' I drove over to his place and grabbed all of the documentation on the car. He was pretty cool with that. Two days later picked up the car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBayChris Posted 11October, 2015 Report Share Posted 11October, 2015 When I purchased mine from USA, it was unseen. It was at a dealer and they seemed pretty honest.However.....I did the following.1.Reg check to see who the owner waswas2. Vin check for obvious reasons. 3. Google to see if the vin or rego had been sold in the past. This made sure it wasn't a scam ad by relisting a recently sold car4. Asked the dealer to take a photo of the car in his shop with him and the paperwork and a copy of today's newspaper on the car.5. Reviewed the sellers Facebook page (both personal and company) to see prior reviews, but most importantly to check out his personal life......does he have kids who play soccer each Saturday, or is he a single guy with no roots etc.However, I paid in August and first saw the car in December. It was a tad stressful wondering if it was all going to turn to s@&t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 11October, 2015 Report Share Posted 11October, 2015 If you read the pelican forums the scammers in they ensure have been having a field day. One even went so far as to fake the PPI (the car didn't exist) by calling the buyer and confirming the car was there and that it checked out. All they did was get the details off the company doing the PPI (under the guise of dropping the car there) and then rang back and said 'this is such such doing your PPI, car is good to purchase'.Background checks on the buyer as Chris has noted are a must. I always use a bank cheque and hand over cheque as car is handed over. That requires trust from the seller that you're not scamming them, but that is their problem, not mine.i have gone close to buying cars sight unseen in the past but bottled it each time as I just can't get over the risk. I think I have to see the car.its tough as Australia lacks a title system like the US, proving ownership is very tricky. Registration papers are a poor proxy, and if it's an unreg barn find...what do you do then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 Definitely have to be careful. I am selling a car (not a Porsche) on Carsales at the moment and a couple weeks back someone lifted all the pictures and description and put it on eBay...It was a pretty unsophisticated effort and a different car, but if someone did it properly in a white hot market like the one for air cooled cars I'm sure they could have taken someone for at least a deposit...Chris' advice is solid. If you're remote from the car then in this day and age it's easy to hook up a FaceTime / Skype / Hangouts call and get them to show you the car live on video too, just for a basic first step of seeing that it exists! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James P Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 So, with all of the frenzy going on at the moment with aircooled cars, and some of the stories being told about buying them, I have started thinking about the process of getting one.When you buy a car after calling the owner, introducing yourself and then saying "I'll take it", how do you know that the car actually exists?Do you just deposit money into someones bank account on the hope he owns the car? Recently one member bought a car from Darwin and has to wait 2 weeks for it to arrive. Obviously it's been paid in full. Does that scare anyone? Is that a risk doing business that way with a private seller? I can half understand buying that way through a dealer, but even buying that way can be risky?In short what I want to know is: How do we know the person we are speaking to actually owns the car being advertised? Is it safe / normal to put a large sum of money into someones bank account without actually meeting them or seeing the car? (and I'm not even talking about a PPI)I'm not in the market personally but just got to wondering with all the frenzied buying going on.Please share your experiences / thoughts as I'm sure there are others out there that would be hesitant in buying not just sight unseen, but privately without knowing the car actually exists.I touched on this a few weeks back when i purchased the Darwin Targa see my comments below, i would never proceed if i didn't receive photo evidence of the car & the cars details. I guess i will have interstate buyers thinking the same now as I'm selling my 1980 SC Sporto You have to be careful when buying a car from interstate or unseen & be willing to take the risk that the car is in the condition the seller statesI have purchased 12 classic cars in the last 20 years & most have come sight unseen from interstate, a couple of golden rules i have before sending any money are..Get a feel for the seller in you conversation (if you have experience in buying & selling cars you will know what sounds good or bad)Get the seller to take a photo of the registration papers & the sellers licence (make sure you can see the sellers address, VIN & licence details)Have them take a photo of the VIN or VIN plate on the car. All the details & numbers should match.Its also a good idea to send a photo of your licence to the seller so they are comfortable sending all their info to youThe most important thing to do is a PPSR check https://www.ppsr.gov.au to insure the car is not stolen, has finance or is a write-off. And always expect that the car will need some work done on it... Its always going to be a BIG RISK when you don't do a PPI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarreraG50 Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 My suggestion, get the seller to deliver the car to a respected indy shop (maybe even the PORSCHE centre if there is one) in the sellers area, once they confirm they have the car, hit the transfer button. At least then you know there is actually a car, Get the shop to service it before they ship as a thank you. It's no protection, but at least you know the cars whereabouts.Obviously this is after you have confirmed ownership etc. as detailed in the above posts.Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claywong Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 I definitely concur with your suggestions and I do all of what you guys have raised as us normal people are mostly risk adverse. There has been a few instances of this happening to me already but, by time you do all that...Another fellow with $$$ will just buy the car without giving a crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamr Posted 12October, 2015 Author Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 There has been a few instances of this happening to me already but, by time you do all that...Another fellow with $$$ will just buy the car without giving a crap.And this is exactly what I am talking about .....It's great to say do all the checks, but often by the time you even find the car, it's either sold or has a deposit.So, either you let the car go, or transfer a deposit on a car that might not even exist.I like ByronBayChris's idea of sending a photo with todays newspaper on the bonnet.It seems like it's a minefield out there at the moment, and if you don't "just transfer" the money, someone else will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 Buying without a full PPI is a gamble I would take for a car that looked alright (worse case you spend some money fixing things) but firing off a big chunk of cash without being 100% sure the car exists...to me that's crazy! If someone else is going to "just transfer" and take that risk, good luck to them. You just need to decide what you're comfortable with. Cars are already an 'emotional' purchase at the best of times, I wouldn't let things get any more out of hand by doing stuff like that.Maybe I'm more risk averse than others but I'd prefer to miss out on a car than burn a stack of cash and have nothing to show for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutch-monkey Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 have never bought a car i haven't seen/driven in person and gotten a ppi. usually pay in full after the ppi, sometimes put a deposit down prior to ppi but often not needed.has served me well so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KGB Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 Buy a 928, it's just like buying a car in the olden days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 I purchased my 964 sight unseen from WA but I was able to qualify the car an owner (thanks largely to this forum) before putting down a deposit. I believed the price to be fair and seeing as I already had several good references on both the car and owner I payed in full without a PPI - I had no issue with this and cant say it would have been much use in hindsight as my mind was already made up. Seeing the car in person is always preferable but if the car has any history its not that hard to make a few calls and get it qualified, agree the barn find/no recent history type deals make it harder but then again most of what you are buying in that case is a 'VIN' anyway. Its a pretty small community, chances are if the cars legit someone will be able to vouch for it. Safe shopping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shady Speedway Posted 12October, 2015 Report Share Posted 12October, 2015 Pay particular attention to see if it has had it's roof chopped at some time in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue964 Posted 15October, 2015 Report Share Posted 15October, 2015 I purchased my 964 sight unseen. The guy selling the car was inundated with calls and people making arrangements to view the car and being an interstate purchaser I had to simply take a leap of faith and transfer a 10% deposit without seeing the car and just based on my telephone call with the owner. I told the owner I would be on the first flight the next morning with a wad of cash (no cheques or EFT)--if the car turned out as he told me we would have a deal and if not the deal would be off. Worse case scenario I would blow my 10% deposit. Because of the demand for the car I didn't have the luxury of making my purchase subject to a PPI--he had people willing to take the care without a PPI. However, luckily the 964 had a complete service history with a very reputable Porsche service centre so I made a quick call to the service centre and they confirmed the car's condition and that the owner was selling the car. I was also lucky enough to have a good friend who knows 964's inside out so I bought him a plane ticket and a few cases of beer and he came with me to check out the car. The owner sent me VIN and rego details so I could do a rego/stolen history check and it came up clean. Fortunately for me the owner of the car was very honest and his warts and all description of the car was accurate and so I am now the proud owner of a 964. Did I like buying the car this way--absolutely not. I simply had to move quickly on my car, but it turned out ok for me. Can see how people could be scammed in the current frenzy of AC 911 when buying like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboT Posted 15October, 2015 Report Share Posted 15October, 2015 Pay particular attention to see if it has had it's roof chopped at some time in the past. rumour has it 2016 is the year of the 'cab.' Buy them while they are cheap people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue964 Posted 16October, 2015 Report Share Posted 16October, 2015 rumour has it 2016 is the year of the 'cab.' Buy them while they are cheap people Not for me it won't be;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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