Would you really ever buy an old Charger, sight unseen? Really?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I was thinking about a time I had inquired about a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T from an auto "dealer" outside Auburn, CA and how it paid off to catch a flight to CA and inspect the car for myself...

This was around 1996, maybe in the summertime... Anyways, I don't think I had internet yet and certainly didn't have a digital camera... Found the "Dealer" ad in some magazine and called. Spoke to a guy who seemed personable on the phone, but a bit pushy for the quick sale - could line up transportation, or whatever...

Decided after hearing about this "Numbers matching R/T w/ only rust in the trunk the size of a dime", I would fly to CA and look for myself...

Now, in town, I was right on time... We were meeting at some old house he claimed his "mother lived" - looked like a retirement or group home... Anyways, drove the car, it was fine... But for $9,500, I wanted to inspect further... Asked the "dealer" where we could put the car on a lift - he said he didn't know of any place which had a lift... I suggested for $20, the local service station might help - "nope", he responded, and back to the "home" we went...  

Back at the home, I was skeptical of the deal... I pulled the car up on a ramped curb to park and crawled underneath... Not matching numbers  

He said "all these cars got warranty blocks and that's why there were no numbers" (as if he already knew...) When I opened the trunk, a spare 727 trans was sitting on a large pan - shifting the pan to the one side, LOTS of rust holes became obvious! I could have changed the fuel pickup through the trunk  

Lesson learned! I passed on the car and his $7,500 price (after he begged me to take the car) and bought another car the next day in AZ, driving it home  

So, who buys a Charger, sight unseen???

[drifter69]

I would never buy sight unseen, I allmost did on a R/T SE thinking I would miss out but decided to go see it 1000 miles away and was glad I did. It was a POS and not worth the price asked.

[tan top]

think your asking for trouble , buying sight un seen  !!   

[41husk]

I have had good and bad buying site unseen.  The car I made the WannaBee from was bought site unseen and I needed a donar car to do it.  I bought the Daytona clone from Larry site unseen and it was better than expected.

[UH60L]

Well, it wasn't completely sight unseen, but I bought mine off of e-bay.  All I had seen was the pictures.  I read the description thouroughly and corresponded with the seller before bidding.  When I won the car, I told the guy I would go ahead and send the money to comply with the terms of the sale (had to be paid for with 10 days of sale if I remember correctly), but told him I intended to drive out and get the car and if it wasn't as advertised, I'd get the money back, by any means necessary, and that I was bringing a friend, a truck, an a-frame tow hitch, and a firearm with me.

When we got to the guy's house, the car was pretty much as advertised except the exhaust, which he claimed to have "broken and fallen off".  In reality, he just threw and old chunk of exhaust pipe on there that went back to about the front seat area and turned to the right side.  No mufflers or any sign that it had had an exhaust system installed at all recently.  (pretty loud with a 440...)

Everything else was pretty much as he said, and I drove the car home from Utah to Oregon, in one day, and the only problem I had was that I needed to add tranny fluid twice.  Next day on the way to the DMV to register it, the ballast resister died, and not being a prior mopar guy, I didn't have any idea why the car stopped running.  

Overall, a '69 charger with a running 440 in it for $7100.00, that I drove home, turned out to be a pretty good deal.  Maybe I was just lucky.....

[RallyeMike]

So, who buys a Charger, sight unseen???

Do a search on this site using the word "screwed" and you find them all.

[speedfreak68]

I did it......It was the best/worst day of my life.... its still taking up space in my shop, and still isn't drivable.

[The70RT]

Ummm....NO!

[bordin34]

I may have bought two, my 74 and my 73, both were just as described. I bought the 73 on here from a member.

[charger01]

I bought mine site unseen in 04.  I won the auction for 7500 bucks for a 69 charger that was repainted 5 years earlier, but seller stated needed redone since it just sat in the garage and never got finished.   It came with a rebuilt longblock that had to be finished.  I was not too impressed when I first saw it, since I didnt know much about mopar at the time.  I had to replace/redo both rear quarters, rear cross member and the full trunk pan with extensions.  I wasnt really pleased, but I drove 850 miles for my dream car, and wasnt going to go home empty handed.  On the up side, the car came witha 24 ft staight truck full of 69-70 charger parts.  I had no idea of there value at the time and almost left them, because I only wanted the parts to finish the car.  The car ended up being more than free once the parts were sold off.  All in all, love to find the same deal a hundred times over. lol

[440]

All the cash from wasted flights and rental cars to inspect dud cars gets a bit annoying....

[TiMopar]

That's what most of us 'foreigners' do. Over the years I have imported I think 10 cars to England, 6 of which are Mopars. All the cars have been project cars and thus far I have not been disappointed. I would be MUCH more cautious if I was buying a big buck, finished or original car however.

[41husk]

Even if it is a project it is frustrating when it is not as described.  If you buy a project advertised as running driving project and find only 1/3 of that to be true and that is the project part, That would make you a bit angry

[gtx6970]

1992 ( pre internet )
I bought my 69 GTX convertible from California with nothing more than  pictures sent via snail mail and a voice on the phone. I mailed him a cashiers ck and prayed this voice on the phone line didn't vanish. When the car arrived 3 weeks later( it was the longest 3 weeks in my life ) 
But, It was everything he said it was , and more

would  I do the same thing today?? I doubt it

[hemi68charger]

I traded for my current '69 Charger 500 unseen with my eyes (only had photos to go by).............. I developed a relationship and trust with the owner. He did the same for me for all he saw was pictures of my former v-code '70 Charger R/T.

But, I remember going up to Volo, Ill with Johnny to look at a car for him (sort of doing the Galen-thing). The '68 Charger R/T Johnny was interested in looked real nice. Johnny was determined to get a car that had all it's original sheetmetal (who could blame him). Anyways, the jerk there at Volo charged Johnny something like $50 for a video (over and beyond the pictures in the original ad). Well, we both fly up there from Houston with all sorts of expectations and excitement. I was having the time of my life being on a no-expense-to-me-Mopar-trip with a friend.

Weeellllll, First thing I did was go to the trunk and popped it open. Cleverly concealed (but not from my eyes), were two weld beads along the top of the rear window pillars where the rear quarters had been replaced. Noticed I said "quarters", as in both...... Jerk played it off as this was a consignment car and he didn't know anything about it........ Yeah......... Right.......... I found some other stuff wrong here and there. Nice overall car mind you, but it wasn't what Johnny wanted and asked for.....

Johnny and I left sort of disappointed, but not taken for a ride. We jumped in our rental and headed to downtown Chicago to see the sites of the Miracle Mile, the Pier and have some famous Chicago-style pizza..  

[Chryco Psycho]

Maybe if I knew& trusted the person but generally no I would never buy without seeing it in person

[JPL]

If it was a great deal from a reputable guy, yup, I would.

[41husk]

I have met and talked to several members on here that I would not hesitate to buy a car from on there word

[irish_in_ny]

I bought my '73 SE site unseen as well. I had found the car on craigslist but I live in New York, and the car was located in Indiana. I called the guy, he seemed to be like a reasonable and honest guy. He helped the car get loaded onto the truck in Indiana and when it arrived to me in NY the car was as described by the seller and thankfully I got no unpleasant surprises. the only thing he didn't tell me the car had been repainted over the years but it had been redone it's original colour so that's ok with me. All in all I'm happy with my car and love it.

[Troy]

After looking at my history... more than I thought. I have purchased (or made a deal to purchase) nearly every one of my classics without seeing them in person. I had two delivered but took a trailer to get six others so I suppose I could have backed out then if I had to. Three others I looked at in person prior to making the purchase. I've bought a couple that I second-guessed but none that I truly regret. I have sold four cars to people who didn't see them until they arrived.

Troy

[PatrickPeeters]

Bought all of them unseen, expect to worse of a 40rty year old car.
I have never been dissappionted yet, lesser car=more work, and eats up time but still worthwhile.

[4aThrill]

I kinda did, I saw and got the car I have now on ebay back in 2002-03 I just saw the pics.

[MoparMotel]

Bought two cars site unseen. First was a 1969 Superbee 383 4 speed I won on eBay. Car got here and was in excellent condition, very pleased. Seller mentioned he also had a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 that he was considering selling, and after he mailed me a few photos we bought that one as well. The charger was still nice but definitely not as nice as the Superbee. Plus the seller forgot to mention that the Numbers Matching 440 had a huge cam that didn't like to idle below 800-1000rpm and that the transmission had problems...I ended up having to get another 727 case.

All in all, I'm not sure if I'd do it again. If it turned out like the Superbee I definitely would, but if it turned out like the Charger I wouldn't. The 440 in the charger was suppose to be rebuilt with only a couple hundred miles on it, and a few months after I sold it the 440 spun a rod bearing. Makes ya wonder.

[maxwellwedge]

Bought a lot of cars sight unseen.....probably most of them.

Out of around 30-40 cars - only 1 stinker in the bunch.

[Old Moparz]

I wouldn't even buy a parts car without seeing it first.