Hello everyone.

I am in the market to purchase a lightly used R8, and I am looking to purchase one out of state. I'm located in Texas, and the secondary market is a lot higher than other parts of the county, so I am toying with the idea of purchasing one along the east coast or midwest.

I've never purchased a vehicle I cannot physically inspect before, and I was looking for advice from you guys especially since this is a higher dollar vehicle. Are there third party inspection service available, or something of that sort?

 

Every seller is a little bit different, but usually they help facilitate getting it to a 3rd party shop for an inspection. Some will only allow a mechanic to come look at it onsite, which isn't terribly helpful if you're from out of town, and generally I just move on to another car if they say that.

 

Oh, and I just search forums to come up with a list of good local shops, then call one to set something up. There are 3rd party inspection services that will go look at the car, but I've never gone that route.

 

Last year I purchased an Aston Martin Vantage roadster from a seller in PA. I live in Phoenix, AZ. I never actually saw the car, but it had every option that I wanted. It took a lot of conversations between the salesman and me.

One thing that sold me was the long history the owner of the dealership had with the car. He had purchased it from a client of the dealership's and had it as his personal vehicle. In addition, he named his son Aston due to his love for the company. That, along with a FULL service history, gave me the confidence to buy it without ever seeing more than a handful of pictures.

2 weeks later it arrived by protected cargo truck in beautiful condition. I never regretted this purchase.

I hope you have the same experience I had!