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What Is The Safest Way To Purchase A Car Interstate

DPham

By DPham,
in Victoria

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DPham Explorer

DPham

Posted
Posted

Hi, i am looking to purchase an R34 GTR located in Perth and bring it down to Melbourne but i do not know how to. i am also concerned on how i could trust the seller to hand over the car to the transporting company if i do purchase it. Opinions please, what would you guys do?

Odium Grand Master

Odium

Posted
Posted

You're buying an expensive car, so...

1. Find some reputable performance workshops nearby the the cars location, call them up and ask if they'd do a pre-purchase inspection for you.

2. Ask the seller if you can take the car for a pre-purchase inspection, if they say no. Walk away, it's not the car you want.

3. FLY up there, we're not talking about a $3000 R32 GTST, spend $500 on a weekend trip to go see the car in person... Drive it, get the pre purchase inspection done.

4. Once happy, go into your bank and get a bank cheque drawn up (make sure they're open on the days your planning on buying)

5. Make sure all the paperwork is in order before you leave, you don't want to be missing an interstate signature.

6. Deliver the car yourself to the car transport place. Taking plenty of pictures of the car out the front of the facility, to prove any damage that could be caused.

7. Hire security guards if it is going to be travelling through NSW at all... I hear they've got a problem with non-34R owners getting jealous.

  • Like 8
T.D Experienced

T.D

Posted
Posted

You're buying an expensive car, so...

1. Find some reputable performance workshops nearby the the cars location, call them up and ask if they'd do a pre-purchase inspection for you.

2. Ask the seller if you can take the car for a pre-purchase inspection, if they say no. Walk away, it's not the car you want.

3. FLY up there, we're not talking about a $3000 R32 GTST, spend $500 on a weekend trip to go see the car in person... Drive it, get the pre purchase inspection done.

4. Once happy, go into your bank and get a bank cheque drawn up (make sure they're open on the days your planning on buying)

5. Make sure all the paperwork is in order before you leave, you don't want to be missing an interstate signature.

6. Deliver the car yourself to the car transport place. Taking plenty of pictures of the car out the front of the facility, to prove any damage that could be caused.

7. Hire security guards if it is going to be travelling through NSW at all... I hear they've got a problem with non-34R owners getting jealous.

Hahahahhahahah

Birds Grand Master

Birds

Posted
Posted

Pretty much what Simon said. If you're planning on buying the car if it turns out to be everything you expect it to, nothing short of a few grand worth of insurance measures is a waste of money on making sure it's what you want.

But if I can add some advice from my experience: stay there for a week to view the car and get the transport sorted. Also, book transport and insurance before you even look at the car - some transport companies don't need payment upfront and most insurance companies will do a cover note for transport.

My story (shortened): I flew up to Canberra to buy/pick up my GTR and I pulled off what can only be described as a miracle with the help of the seller who went out of his way to help me (someone else may not). Landed in Canberra with bank cheque, met seller who picked me up, looked like a gangster / stand over man, felt like if I didn't buy the car off him I wasn't gonna see Melbourne again (nicest guy ever though, and was a public servant lol). Inspected car, liked it (still kinda scared of him), handed over bank cheque. Go to book car transport - most of them told me they needed 24-48 hours notice before they could accept the car. f**k. After a couple hours of ringing around and waiting on hold, one company out of all of them managed to take my booking on the spot and let me take it to the depot (which was actually the same depot of a company who knocked me back with the 24 hour shit; the guys I ended up booking through were just a front for them who tacked on their middle man profit; go figure). No complaints though, cause I had transport (or so I thought) and it was only 3 hours until I was due to fly back home. Didn't wanna leave seller with bank cheque and the car, even though he offered to take it there the next day for me with the other transport companies.

Got tow truck to take the car to the depot. They came out and looked at it. Put a wheel under the car and said too low (minimum height needed to be 15cm!??!!). GTR was about 10-11cm so they said can't take it. My plane trip back home was due to leave in 2 hours, so it was either miss the flight and stay overnight to fix or find a workshop who can help me raise the coilovers - in the space of an hour. Found only workshop in area - all hoists full. Borrowed a jack off them - no C spanners to raise coil overs, attempted using screwdriver and hammer. Not working, too slow, may not even be that much travel in suspension. Rip off front lip and brake ducts - 6cm cleared there. Left rare front lip in Canberra :( Deflated front tyres a bit and overinflated rear tyres. 15cm clearance achieved. 1 hour until flight. Get car to transport mob, plead with them to take it and I'll even sign a form to indemnify them of damage to the car during transport (I was over this shit by now, having spent 8 hours fking around). Car cleared all good. Seller drove me to airport (don't judge a book, dude was a legend - was with me all day instead of looking after his kids). Fly home heart pumping and thanking my luck.

And yes that was the short version cause more shit happened!

tl;dr / Moral of the story is, you can never plan too much. Book EVERYTHING beforehand and plan to stay there longer than a day in case you have to. Also check the car height and that the transport company can accept the car etc. It's seriously a miracle that I got my car back to Melbourne. If it had a functioning engine I would have driven it home to save the fk around. Getting it registered was another miracle, but that's another story for another day!

:cheers:

  • Like 2
Robzilla32 Mentor

Robzilla32

Posted
Posted

Yeah ground clearance. Tell me about it. Most transport companies have a minimum of 15cm.

Bought a GT-R in Sydney and could only find one company that would transport it to Melbourne as it is 12.5cm at the lowest point. Similar to Birds experience, I still had to indemnify them wrt potential damage.

  • Like 1
Birds Grand Master

Birds

Posted
Posted

On the plus side of interstate buying - you're already miles ahead of people who are scared / cbf doing the travelling you're doing. There's real bargains to be had and to assume the best of the lot can be found in your own state is an arrogant gamble :)

Extending the search Australia wide is the best hope of finding your perfect vehicle. There's nothing dodgy about interstate cars; you're really in the same position you are when you buy locally...just with a plane ticket, a schedule and a transport company. The rest is the same but 6 times more chance of finding a great car :D

DPham Explorer

DPham

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the advice guys. Unfortunately i cannot afford to be taking any more than the weekend off to look at this car so that leaves me with a really tight schedule. I am also unsure on booking a Transport company prior to looking at the car considering the tight schedule i have and my decision on buying the car (right now my decision is 50/50 as i have only seen photos of the car and it may not be to my liking in person).

L33SH Grand Master

L33SH

Posted
Posted

Hi, i am looking to purchase an R34 GTR located in Perth and bring it down to Melbourne but i do not know how to. i am also concerned on how i could trust the seller to hand over the car to the transporting company if i do purchase it. Opinions please, what would you guys do?

I used CEVA to transport my skyline from Perth to Melbourne, no problems. You can track it online throughout the journey too.

Birds Grand Master

Birds

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the advice guys. Unfortunately i cannot afford to be taking any more than the weekend off to look at this car so that leaves me with a really tight schedule. I am also unsure on booking a Transport company prior to looking at the car considering the tight schedule i have and my decision on buying the car (right now my decision is 50/50 as i have only seen photos of the car and it may not be to my liking in person).

To buy a car interstate, or to wanna spend $700 on flights to Perth, I'd want to be 90/10 about the car and that 10% is merely you checking to see if there are any scratches that weren't in pictures or any obvious mechanical issues.

  • Like 1
Trex Grand Master

Trex

Posted
Posted

Pretty much what Simon said. If you're planning on buying the car if it turns out to be everything you expect it to, nothing short of a few grand worth of insurance measures is a waste of money on making sure it's what you want.

But if I can add some advice from my experience: stay there for a week to view the car and get the transport sorted. Also, book transport and insurance before you even look at the car - some transport companies don't need payment upfront and most insurance companies will do a cover note for transport.

My story (shortened): I flew up to Canberra to buy/pick up my GTR and I pulled off what can only be described as a miracle with the help of the seller who went out of his way to help me (someone else may not). Landed in Canberra with bank cheque, met seller who picked me up, looked like a gangster / stand over man, felt like if I didn't buy the car off him I wasn't gonna see Melbourne again (nicest guy ever though, and was a public servant lol). Inspected car, liked it (still kinda scared of him), handed over bank cheque. Go to book car transport - most of them told me they needed 24-48 hours notice before they could accept the car. f**k. After a couple hours of ringing around and waiting on hold, one company out of all of them managed to take my booking on the spot and let me take it to the depot (which was actually the same depot of a company who knocked me back with the 24 hour shit; the guys I ended up booking through were just a front for them who tacked on their middle man profit; go figure). No complaints though, cause I had transport (or so I thought) and it was only 3 hours until I was due to fly back home. Didn't wanna leave seller with bank cheque and the car, even though he offered to take it there the next day for me with the other transport companies.

Got tow truck to take the car to the depot. They came out and looked at it. Put a wheel under the car and said too low (minimum height needed to be 15cm!??!!). GTR was about 10-11cm so they said can't take it. My plane trip back home was due to leave in 2 hours, so it was either miss the flight and stay overnight to fix or find a workshop who can help me raise the coilovers - in the space of an hour. Found only workshop in area - all hoists full. Borrowed a jack off them - no C spanners to raise coil overs, attempted using screwdriver and hammer. Not working, too slow, may not even be that much travel in suspension. Rip off front lip and brake ducts - 6cm cleared there. Left rare front lip in Canberra :( Deflated front tyres a bit and overinflated rear tyres. 15cm clearance achieved. 1 hour until flight. Get car to transport mob, plead with them to take it and I'll even sign a form to indemnify them of damage to the car during transport (I was over this shit by now, having spent 8 hours fking around). Car cleared all good. Seller drove me to airport (don't judge a book, dude was a legend - was with me all day instead of looking after his kids). Fly home heart pumping and thanking my luck.

And yes that was the short version cause more shit happened!

tl;dr / Moral of the story is, you can never plan too much. Book EVERYTHING beforehand and plan to stay there longer than a day in case you have to. Also check the car height and that the transport company can accept the car etc. It's seriously a miracle that I got my car back to Melbourne. If it had a functioning engine I would have driven it home to save the fk around. Getting it registered was another miracle, but that's another story for another day!

:cheers:

i want the rest of the story. pull out your diary and get typing

Rekin Grand Master

Rekin

Posted
Posted

I used PrixCar from Melb -> Perth. They transported it door-to-door. 15cm clearance a must. No issues. Happy :)

I then used a different company from Perth -> Melb. I drove it to depot & had it delivered to premise.

The truck driver unloaded the car down the street & drove it to my premise...Engine temp was also warm...

Not only that, there was a scuff mark on the door (probably from another car door) which they did not admit to.

no doubt took it for a joy-ride before pulling up on the driveway, didn't see him unloading as the truck was around the corner...

The above can happen with any transport company as it comes down to the individual moreso than the company.

Just make sure to take plenty of photos & be there when delivery occurs.

I had the car delivered without me present & hence the person accepting it was not confident to challenge any marks or unloading of vehicle.

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