ScubaCat

Found one I like, got plenty of pics, talked to the guy etc etc... I want to make an offer but I have never bought something like this from a distance. Nice trucks with the options I want in my area go for a premium so I extended out my search.

There is a lien on it with FORD, I have financing already. I cannot meet he buyer in person due to other constraints. I asked for the 10 day pay-off info from his financier to be faxed to mine. The loan amount outstanding would be wire transferred to his lender with the balance going to him in a cashiers check.

How do I go about protecting myself and how is the actual paperwork handled between him and I, if any?

Scuba

ATOM

ford credit is absolute BS, i will never finance anything thru them ever again, i am in the process of transferring my equity to another party. it takes forever for the retards at ford credit to get anything done. 10 days to approve a loan application, but i got approved for a $50,000 worth of credit in 5 minutes, what a crock! according to ford and i called 3 times, they do not accept money transfers. but on the website they do, so who the f'k knows.

if you are serious about buying the truck, have it inspected by a 3rd party. your safest best.

ray h

I bought a Jeep off Ebay a few years ago. What I did was buy a round trip airline ticket, it cost me about $100 more than a one way ticket but allowed me to feel ok about just getting back on the plane and going home without the Jeep if there was anything wrong with it. I took a cashiers check with me for the full amount and I called my insurance company in advance to let them know I may be driving the Jeep back. I had about 3 hours between flights so that gave me time to look the Jeep over and decide if I wanted it or not. For me it was just a title swap and bill of sale deal so I cant comment about the lien issue. The seller left his tag on the Jeep and I mailed it back to him when I got it home.
All I can say is dont give him any money until you varify that you want the truck. Recently a good friend of mine (against my urging) bought a classic Nova and got his a** handed to him because he did everything wrong. He payed before he saw it, he didnt have a plan on coming back without it, the seller didnt have the title in hand. Just a bad deal all the way around but a $22000 lesson learned.

hcbph

Just did, bought a truck from a LA dealer and brought it back to Mn. One thing to watch is sales tax. I couldn't take the truck without paying Calif sales tax - period, no exceptions. My original offer was $$ for the truck and I'd pay the tax and license in Minnesota, driving it back. Calif was the fly-in-the-ointment, they wouldn't budge. Minn would accept the taxes paid there with a signed copy of the doc but Calif wouldn't let it leave without paying the tax there. I lowered my offer due to the higher sa;es tax in Calif, which was accepted and I did get the truck.

Talk to your state DMV along with the DMV of the other state, assuming it's in another state.

In my case, I flew out to pick it up and it worked out but it added about a week or two to the process.

Good luck

Paul