Are there any + or - to buying a car out of state?

It seems that I can find my car but the ones I found are never in state.
I think that's the reason I haven't heard back from car finders

I also get the feeling that if I go to a dealer and show them where the car I want is they will jack the price up a few thousand.

Also any tips on how you can have a car checked out in another state?

 

I brought my car from out of state, by the way off topic

let me give a shout out Autoplace Infiniti in Buffalo New york. Great staff there Ask for Cindy she will hook you up.

Anyways, I brought my car from New York and the transaction everything was painless, they negotiated with me over the phone and Text. I got a great deal and we are in the works right now of getting the car shipped to me.

Depending upon where you are located I wouldn't go over maybe 300 miles, make a trip out of it..Take a bus or train or fly and pick your car up.

You also can hire a local mechanic in the area you are thinking about buying and have them look over the car. I trusted the dealership I went with because the cars there are all certified and backed by a lifetime powertrain warranty.

They won't jack up anything you negotiate with them just like you would any other dealer.

The only hassle with buying a car out of state would be getting the money to save up for Taxes and tags etc when you finally possess the car in your area.

I find that process frustrating because the Motor Vehicle administration want all the money up front no payment plan.

 

Used or new?

I bought my G new, about 5 states away. Since it was new from an Infiniti dealer I didnt really think about having it "checked out". The DMV process where I bought it (Virginia) is very very strict about new cars before they are checked into dealer inventory so I had no worries.

Used cars, I bought one out of state once. Had the owner take it to a Nissan dealer (it was a Frontier) and I paid the dealer to inspect it. Cost me $85 bux, but they basically did a strict state inspection on it to make sure everything was good. They gave me a go, provided me with copies of all the service history, etc and I went up and bought it a few days later.

Advantages in both of these cases: price. My G was at least $2K less than I could have gotten it for up here, and all it cost me was a $120.00 train ticket down to VA (my parents live there so I got to visit with them too)

 

I'm looking at a used G 2012 37S 7AT and there's No way I would buy a car with out having it checked out first.

My worse case thought would to have a local dealer do what they do to get the car here and take ir to my car guy and have it checked out and test drive it. Then let them deal with the tags and tittle stuff.

I'd gladly pay a lil extra loot for that if it would save my time and aggravation dealing w/state and country government.

 

I live in Texas, and bought a car once from Florida. I paid the same amount of taxes once I came in state with it, but saved close to 7k for the same car I was looking for.

Win

 

New to the forum here and dealing with this exact thing. I am going to the dallas area (about 375 miles) to buy a g37xS. They were asking about 4-5k less than comparable one's in my area. Also the one's in my area didn't have the sports package and wasn't the color I wanted (black on black). I didn't send a mechanic or have them take it to an Infiniti dealership, but it's a 2012 with 24k miles so it still has plenty of warranty and I've seen the carfax report as well so I feel comfortable with taking the trip.

 

Is the OP associated with any of our Armed Forces? If so, then state tax exemptions could apply. Also, your military friendly car insurance companies could save you as well.

Worked well for me when I was active duty but I know my buddies in the reserves and Guard timed it while on 2-week active duty orders.

GLWP.

 

If you want to drive it home registration issues can be a real headache. Here in NY the DMV does not issue temp tags to NY residents who buy a car out of state. Some states do not issue temp tags to out of state residents who buy a car in their state and some will only issue temp tags to out of state residents if they purchase the car from a dealer.

When I bought my G in Connecticut I considered buying the car, taking the title across the border to NY to register it and driving back to the seller to put the plates on it and driving it home. However since Connecticut will issue temp tags to out of state buyers, the seller was kind enough to pick me up at the train station, drive me to the local DMV where I got temp tags which I put on the car in the parking lot and drove him back to his house before heading home.

 

I did this once YEARS ago (pre 9/11)
Got it in Jersey with a temp tag and had it registered in VA.

I don't think there were any issues.

It seems like those good ol' days are over

I also remember if I found a car in another state a Dealer would do what it takes to get that car in the state I was in.

In today's world it just seems like a lot of trouble. (Not too mention getting pulled over every 10 miles for having a temp tag.

 

I bought my car in Chicago and I live in Kansas City. Only reason I bought mine out of state was due to selection and price. I saved around 4k bucks buying from a dealer in Chicago and got an xS vs x's going for more here.

 

I have gone some crazy distances to get exactly what I wanted. We live in SC, and went to the far reaches of AL to get our truck. And then went to NY for our current Subaru.

I've considered flying one-way to get the G I'm looking for. I almost always get an inspection done and it is always a gamble and a hassle doing it from a distance.

Next time if it's far away I'm going to go with these guys, they offer a warranty too after their inspection if you choose to buy:

AiM Mobile Inspections - Professional car inspection service for new and used cars.

Sounds legit from what I've read. They do off-lease inspections for the OEMs. So this way someone else does the work of checking out the car and if it sounds good to you, then you travel.

If you buy from distance though, IMHO it changes the negotiation strategy. When a car is local, I do most of my inspection stuff first and then use that to leverage the negotiation. When it's at a distance, I've taken my best guess at condition from the pictures and worked them down over the phone over multiple calls. The conversation is mostly like "if it's in the condition you claim then my offer is $$" and I reserve the right to change if the inspection isn't up to snuff.

My $0.02. The pain you endure to do it right and find what you want, even out of state, is worth it to me to get what you want. Years later you'll have what you want and forget the pain of finding it ...

Edit: Having a truck and a car trailer really helps too