Proper steps to buying an out of province car? (please help)

[PureDeXteritY]

So I'm in the market for a new car and I finally found the car that I like in a manual and is a good price, However it's in Oakville Ontario.
I've contacted the dearlership and they said they ship cars, and quoted me around 600 to ship a car to calgary.
Although I'm not %100 sure it's a dealership cause when I called the number some lady (wife maybe?) picked up and just said hello (as opposed to a business greeting), then gave the phone to him. This guy does however have plenty of cars for sale.
I looked up the dealership but I can't find much else on it other than his website.

http://www.oakvilleautosales.com/

I asked him for additional pictures of the car and he's sent me about 15 photos. so it seems legit.

So what proper steps should I take to not:
1) Get stuck with a Lemon
2) Be left standing with no car, and down 12 grand.

Is there a payment system, besides escrow that I can pay him and have the bank hold the money until I get my car?
Is a bank wire transfer safe since my bank would have all of his banks info?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[funkedelic2]

Which car are you looking at? The first thing you should do to ensure you don't get a lemon or be left without a car is to go to Ontario yourself to look at the car. There is a lot that pictures miss out that you could only see in person. Take a look at the under carriage of the car, Cars in the east are often exposed to salt roads in the winter which results in rust. look for an abnormal sounds. For your peace of mind it wouldn't be a bad idea to schedule in an inspection for it as well.

You should just drive it back yourself, seeing how gas prices have gone down significantly it wouldn't be too much money.

You should also spend the money to look into the vehicle history. You don't want to find out that the car is a Salvage title or has had rolled back milage or 10 previous owners.

However the $600 that he quoted you is very resonable. Depending on how the car is shipped. (Trailer/train)

I don't think wire transfer is the safest way to pay. Maybe the easiest but i think you can still get scammed regardless if you have all his information, bank info, ect.

[PureDeXteritY]

Thanks for the advice.

I'm looking at the Nissan X-trail
http://www.oakvilleautosales.com/node/44

I'm not too overly worried about getting a good deal, it's just that I looked all over kijiji, canadatrader, and bargain finder and this was one of the only SE or LE models I can find in a manual (don't want the base model)

[88jbody]

ontario cars fail OPI 80% of the time oce they are 2 years or older. I do OPI's and they are the rustiest most rotted out cars that ussually come in, bc, sask, man, are ussually not bad rust wise any thing east of that and welcome to a rusted out POS anything over 3 or 4 years old

[Deetz]

Yeah, cars out in the east cost less because of the shorter life they have do to rusting out. That car be newer, but for sure it would already be starting in small or hidden places. I wouldn't buy from there at all. Get a clean car from western Canada, its a much safer bet.

[corsvette]

You should be safe if its 1 or 2 years old,however alot of ontario cars are undercoated yearly which helps theolder models out.I also belive ontario has its own type of AMVIC so dealers are watched over and governed under it.

[Proboscis]

Talkin about hidden places Deetz. I worked on a 1997 Nissan maxima from ontairo. the windshield wiper joints in the cowl all gave out.

[PureDeXteritY]

Cool that's good to know, Thanks everyone.
I'll probably just stick to an alberta car then.

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