Buying car out of province

[coldes]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to buy a 2006-2007 wrx sti. I live in Edmonton, Alberta and for whatever reason, they are much more expensive here then other provinces in Canada.

I found two I am interested in, but this is where my problem is. One of them is in Winnipeg and one of them is in Montreal. I wanted to buy whichever one I choose, then have it shipped up. Only problem is, how do I trust the seller? Has anyone done something like this before? I am sure I am not the first person to do this. I will have the car inspected and have a compression test done to make sure it is running fine, I have test driven many 2006-2007 wrx stis, so when I receive the car it will not be a surprise. I know I want the car, but Montreal and Winnipeg are both a far drive. The amount I would use in gas/hotels/restraunts or even flights along with the costs of missed worked would be more costly then just shipping the car from there.

So to get to the point, I just would like some insight to those that have potentially had success doing this in the past that could shed some light for me. Should I have a contract written up? Do I pay for the car after I receive it, do I pay before? How do I ship this car from Montreal or Winnipeg to Edmonton, and have it guaranteed to be a successful transaction. With the amount of scammers, I wouldn't want to give someone over $20,000 and they don't send the car, or something of that nature.

Thanks,

CJ Desaulniers

[t-im]

Book either a one way ticket and drive it back, or round trip and ship it out after seeing it...if you are really that concerned, it's worth it.

[Hash_man]

My recommendation, as I have done this before is this;

First, find a shop local to the vehicle which is reputable and can provide a proper pre-purchase inspection. Then have the vehicle inspected before flying out, if you are happy with the results, then worry about compression test later (I would however recommend a leakdown test instead as I find it more comprehensive the compression.)

Second would be to drive the car back. I did this from Vancouver and it was lots of fun. I would see if you can have a return flight which can be cancelled though, as I did fly out for one car and got stuck out there as it ended up being a big bag of shit.

Also, be sure to get carproof reports on the cars before having them checked out, and IMO beware of eastern cars as they usual rust waaay quicker then cars out west.