Thread: Buying a Vehicle interstate..anyone done it?

hey stevo, i guess the major concern would be the final pre purchase inspection of the vehicle.
very hard to do from a distance, to be sure the seller and the inspector are not friends.
we often do it with aircraft, but the log books are a bit more complete records than a car

Yep bought my Defender in canberra just over 2 years ago , I tried to get someone off the Forum to check it out for me , i didnt have any luck there

So i took a punt and drove up , it was exactly what i wanted and more and have not regretted it once nor have i had any drama,s

It was a private sale , which made it easy for me as i hate car yards and the salesman that go with them

Yep

Brought the Princess from Ritters in Melbourne. Lived in Hobart at the time.

Looked at the pics on Thursday night, flew over saturday morning, had a look at it between 9 and 11 Saturday morning and had it back on the boat by about 5 pm.

Pro's

Much bigger market to choose from
Reputeable dealer (alegedly)
product available (what your looking for)


Cons

Addtional $1000 of cost
Risk of losing that money if the vehicle is unsuitable once viewed
Long way from the seller if something is wrong after pickup.
potential registration issues

I am in Melbourne and in the process of buying in QLD Had a friend look over the vehicle, and flying up on Wednesday to pick her up....If she comes up to expectations. Checked service history, called the Land rover dealer that did the servicing and also got a great report from them.. In Vic, you have 14 days to roadworthy, register and pay the stamp duty on the vehicle.. Need to make an appointment with Vicroads for an inspection.. Check with the local RTA for their requirements because I think they differ from State to State..

Good Luck Mate!!

ssk

I bought my last Defender in Sydney and it was no problem. For a near new vehicle, if it's still under warranty then there is no reason not to.

At the time when I bought, there was a glut of new-ish Defenders on the market in Sydney and very few in Brisbane. Consequently I was able to sell the old one at a very good price locally and flew down to pick up the new one. So the biggest benefit was that I was not buying and selling in the same market.

It turned out I knew someone who knew the guy I bought from so there were no issues about the seller not being genuine. The drive home was a good opportunity to check the vehicle out and upon arriving home I simply booked it into the local dealer for minor warranty work to iron out the kinks.

Changing rego was no real hassle. Just had to get a roadworthy certificate which again was no problem on a near new vehicle. I used the results of the RWC inspection to find items needed to be attended to under warranty although there was nothing much to speak of.

Qld transport then took the old NSW plates and issued me with new QLD ones - I was careful not to get the poxy "Smart State" ones. All I needed was a receipt from the seller as proof of ownership. Qld transport then printed out their own receipt that I had surrendered the old plates and I faxed this down to the seller so he could cancel his rego.

Technically speaking the vehicle was briefly registered in two states - between the time I surrendered the old plates and the seller processed his rego cancellation. The most important piece of paper in the whole exchange was the receipt. This needs to be totally accurate with VIN, Rego and the sellers name and details as it is not actually an official document but it is what the whole transfer is based on. Make sure it's done right.

I checked out the vehicle history on-line with the RTA before I went down to see it and due to it being under warranty I wasn't going to bother with an inspection. I literally bought it on the spot. Having a pre-written bank cheque in your pocket for what you want to pay plus a bit of cash at the ready is a great way to force a sale. With frequent flier points and cheap airfares you can even buy a return ticket if you decide you don't like the vehicle. It also indicates to the seller that you aren't desperate.

I was fortunate enough to have meetings in Sydney so the trip down was covered for work already. I just killed two birds with one stone.

Bought BUB002 from Melbourne,,


Pro's,, much bigger market

con's,, most/all dealers have no idea whats on a D2. The 2 cars i put deposits on and (flew down to ) inspected were nothing like what was advertised and verbally offered.


was really VERY lucky to spot BUB002 hiding up the back, (there must have been over a hundred cars under this roof,,, good 'ole Disco rooflines) unclean, undetailed, and perfect, and bought on the spot.

We bought the (then 6mth old) Defender from a guy in QLD, who was moving overseas. I asked on here if there were any tire kickers interested in taking a look for, got a few replies , but it ended up being bought before I could get it looked at. Oh, and Scouse's pm helped .

my defender was 700km away, private sale, i got an racq inspection done and all has been good

an inspection by a landy specialist would probably be better, should not cost much more than $100 - $200