Purchasing Car Out of State

[M.Power]

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to possibly purchase a car out of state and was wondering if any of you guys have experience with this? What would be the safest way to go to make sure both the seller and I are protected for the transaction? (Don't need help on shipping/ppi, all of that has already been taken care of) And yes, it's an M3

[Wally1552]

Originally Posted by E92.M3

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to possibly purchase a car out of state and was wondering if any of you guys have experience with this? What would be the safest way to go to make sure both the seller and I are protected? And yes, it's an M3

I just recently purchased an e90 out of state. The seller was using cargurus. They helped facilitate the sale including handling the lien payment to the sellers bank and getting me the title. Worked out relatively well and I believe its secure including some kind of fraud protection for both parties

The seller was also nice enough to let me pick and drive the car back to my state using his plates..

[mrspecter]

When I purchased my car out of state I was a little worried as well, but luckily the guy I purchased from had a lot of experience and definitely trustworthy. He sent me his license, title and all paperwork necessary to ensure that everything matched. If you are still concerned, you can look into some escrow services that will help facilitate the transaction in case anything goes wrong, you'll be protected.

Also, if you plan to go out of state to drive the car back I would do a little research on DMV title transfer and plates. I ran into some issues, so I decided to ship my car.

[M.Power]

Originally Posted by mrspecter

When I purchased my car out of state I was a little worried as well, but luckily the guy I purchased from had a lot of experience and definitely trustworthy. He sent me his license, title and all paperwork necessary to ensure that everything matched. If you are still concerned, you can look into some escrow services that will help facilitate the transaction in case anything goes wrong, you'll be protected.

Also, if you plan to go out of state to drive the car back I would do a little research on DMV title transfer and plates. I ran into some issues, so I decided to ship my car.

I'm planning on shipping. I was thinking of using an escrow service as well but some seemed sketchy.

[chiro444]

I purchased an M3 in January from across the country from a Chrysler dealer. I wanted to do a PPI at a BMW dealership but there weren't any close by. I paid for a mobile mechanic to go out and do an inspection. Based on the things I have found since, I would not recommend this. They missed a few things that would have been caught by the dealership or an independent BMW shop. Good luck.

[LuckiSevens]

I imported mine from Canada, private sale. Got to know the seller quite well while we were working on the process of import and shipping so there was a degree of trust by the time we closed - in the end it was like we were both working on a project together and payment was just one of many steps. I didn't use escrow, wired the money via Santander. Very happy with my deal and the condition of the car I got.

My recommendation would be to go see the car in person if you can. Buy private, and negotiate (slightly above trade price is always a possibility for those that need to sell). Buying from someone that has multiple vehicles is always good - there's a good chance the M3 wasn't used as a multi purpose, like for hauling mulch and stuff like that 🤣 my seller had 4 other cars.

I would ship the car if it's a nice one (shipping within the US is obviously much cheaper, doesn't it run like a $1000 cross country? - well worth it IMO). The thought of adding 2000 mls to the odometer in harsh conditions was a big no no for me. Also, didn't want to deal with the temp tags across boarder & states (would have created too many complications and risk). Of course there's always the risk of being stranded halfway through the journey since you don't know the car and outstanding maintenance items. that most certainly would have happened to me, since one of the brand new tires had been damaged by the guy who fitted them in Canada. Front drivers side failed 1 mile from my house second time I drove the car.

Hope this helps. Anyway, here's mine being loaded on the Trailer in Saskatchewan (she was worth it) 😄 choose the best shipper, check their feedback wherever you can find it. GL!

[M.Power]

Originally Posted by LuckiSevens

I imported mine from Canada, private sale. Got to know the seller quite well while we were working on the process of import and shipping so there was a degree of trust by the time we closed - in the end it was like we were both working on a project together and payment was just one of many steps. I didn't use escrow, wired the money via Santander. Very happy with my deal and the condition of the car I got.

My recommendation would be to go see the car in person if you can. Buy private, and negotiate (slightly above trade price is always a possibility for those that need to sell). Buying from someone that has multiple vehicles is always good - there's a good chance the M3 wasn't used as a multi purpose, like for hauling mulch and stuff like that 🤣 my seller had 4 other cars.

I would ship the car if it's a nice one (shipping within the US is obviously much cheaper, doesn't it run like a $1000 cross country? - well worth it IMO). The thought of adding 2000 mls to the odometer in harsh conditions was a big no no for me. Also, didn't want to deal with the temp tags across boarder & states (would have created too many complications and risk). Of course there's always the risk of being stranded halfway through the journey since you don't know the car and outstanding maintenance items. that most certainly would have happened to me, since one of the brand new tires had been damaged by the guy who fitted them in Canada. Front drivers side failed 1 mile from my house second time I drove the car.

Hope this helps. Anyway, here's mine being loaded on the Trailer in Saskatchewan (she was worth it) 😄 choose the best shipper, check their feedback wherever you can find it. GL!

I've never dealt with this before so thank you for the informative explanation. I'm going to check out what the best way to go would be tomorrow. Don't have time to fly out but it's a very special car .

[6ixSpd]

Easy:

-Fly out, see it for yourself
-Arrange a PPI while you're there, or if you know what you're doing just have it hoisted and inspect it yourself
-Close the sale and drive it or ship it back

[M.Power]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

Easy:

-Fly out, see it for yourself
-Arrange a PPI while you're there, or if you know what you're doing just have it hoisted and inspect it yourself
-Close the sale and drive it or ship it back

I don't think I worded my question correctly, my bad. I don't have time to check it out and everything is already good to go. All I want to know is what the safest way to purchase would be in order for me not to just send the cash and have the chance of getting screwed, that's all. Thanks.

[LuckiSevens]

Originally Posted by E92.M3

I don't think I worded my question correctly, my bad. I don't have time to check it out and everything is already good to go. All I want to know is what the safest way to purchase would be in order for me not to just send the cash and have the chance of getting screwed, that's all. Thanks.

Sorry I went slightly OTT with my answer - ship the car imo, save the hassle and risk of any issues or damage to the car. You can specify the vin and model details in the wire trans so there's some coverage there. GL

[njguy]

You should get a bill of sale. This is a written agt to to evidence the purchase price to be paid, vin and mileage on car. Add a good and marketable title representation. You should also search the dmv website of sellers state to make sure no lien. You should get a copy of the clean title in advance of wiring any cash. There is an element of risk here if not sending someone to check the car exists and related paperwork in order in person. Perhaps a local dealer would be willing to broker the sale for 250 if you can't get there yourself.

[kcdedric]

I just went through this process for the first time with a private seller out of state. I got creative with my "escrow" and used the shop I got my PPI done at to hold the car while the seller and I completed our transaction. The seller agreed to drop off the car at the shop which was a safe/neutral party for both of us. The shop agreed to not release the car for shipping until the seller verified he had received the funds. So after the seller dropped off the car I sent him the funds and the shop released the car for shipping.

[LuckiSevens]

Originally Posted by njguy

You should get a bill of sale. This is a written agt to to evidence the purchase price to be paid, vin and mileage on car. Add a good and marketable title representation. You should also search the dmv website of sellers state to make sure no lien. You should get a copy of the clean title in advance of wiring any cash. There is an element of risk here if not sending someone to check the car exists and related paperwork in order in person. Perhaps a local dealer would be willing to broker the sale for 250 if you can't get there yourself.

Good advice, notarized Bill of sale would be useful here too

[dakarwu]

I am from cali and purchased mine from new mexico. Flew there looked at the car, went to the bank and got a cashier check made it out to his credit union who had the title. The credit union released the title to him and paid him the difference and he signed the title over to me. I then drove it back to Cali.

[Fredo]

I recently sold a 335i to an out-of-state buyer. Some items worth mentioning:

- The bill of sale included scanned pics of our DLs
- Buyer paid via PayPal. He covered the PayPal fees. This gave him confidence in case something went really wrong in the process.
- Upon payment, I signed the title and sent a PDF via email so buyer could verify it was done
- The next day, I sent the title via USPS one-day service

I believe that's it. GL !

[dparm]

My advice would be to just pony up the few hundred dollars for a plane ticket to take care of it yourself. Much more peace-of-mind. This is exactly what I did when I bought my current car.

[brwafl26]

I fly out in the morning to Atlanta to pick up my 11 M3 50k miles. Car was at a local Chrysler dealership. Dealer agreed to take car to the local BMW dealership for inspection.

I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve. Can't hardly wait. We'll get to know each other fairly well on our 5 hour drive back to Mississippi.

3rd BMW - 1st M3

[Cbozz]

Originally Posted by E92.M3

Hey guys, I'm getting ready to possibly purchase a car out of state and was wondering if any of you guys have experience with this? What would be the safest way to go to make sure both the seller and I are protected for the transaction? (Don't need help on shipping/ppi, all of that has already been taken care of) And yes, it's an M3

I'm going to Boulder CO this Saturday to pick up my daily driver - X5 50i