Buying and Shipping truck

[liftlawssuck]

Hi All,
Anyone have any tips, tricks or other info on buying and shipping a truck from somewhere cross country? My son is 15 and looking for a 70s Chevy 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive truck. He doesn't have a lot of money but has found some trucks in his price range that seem decent for the money. I'm trying to discourage him from buying one from the northeast.

My questions are. How do you put money down to hold it until you can arrange shipping? Do you find someone near the location to look at it and get feedback? How do you handle VIN issues if they pop up? I understand there is risk with buying sight unseen but how do you protect yourself legally if something comes up? Any other info of tips that you have encountered would be helpful.

I used to buy trucks from junkyards years ago but didn't care about a lot of things because I was just parting it out and was dealing with a business. I paid right then and they shipped it. Easy.

I would love to go get the truck and drive back with it on a trailer but that might not be feasible. Depends on location.

Thanks in advance for the help! Brian

[mongocanfly]

its kinda buyer beware...buying sight unseen is a big risk...although I've committed to buy a few times but I never pay until I lay eyes on it...
you can put money down thru paypal..
make dang sure they have the tilte and its all correct....
if you know the town you may get some inspection help from our board members..if not you can hire someome to inspect it.....
if buying thru ebay they have some buyer protection...not sure how good it is...
important...cya cya cya...

[D13]

1. Assume that shipping will run you $2000. It won't usually but it might.
2. Unless you are buying a truck from a reputable dealer, or really really cheap, insist on an inspection. evilFlay offers an inspection service, as do many others. Buy a Hemmings magazine and find an inspector in the area. Prices range on how well and where. Not worth inspecting a $500 chassis, wouldn't buy a $20k truck without it.
3. Good pictures are great. More the better, particularly of the common rust points.
4. If someone on the board can lay an eyeball on it, even better.
5. Northeast, nice truck and low bucks -not likely. Consider a road trip to be mandatory, or that parts will need replacing.
6. It's difficult to check VIN's on these old trucks. I would be 1/4 of the trucks here in Mi have non-matching cab / frame VIN's. particularly with the rust. I myself have a frame without a cab. And it's very hard to see the frame VIN with the cab on.
7. Southern / western trucks seem to rust instantly here. I ltterally had my 69 Impala frame go from Arizona to missing in 4 years. Plan on spending some money for teardown and rust proofing.

I bought my 87 out of Virginia, guy was shocked that I wanted to ship it to Michigan. In his opinion it wasn't worth the additional shipping cost, he believed that I could find its equivalent locally for about the same price. And in today's Craiglist world, he would be right.

Having been a young man, my best suggestion is to buy a 'reasonable' truck and learn to fix it. Personlly I'd look at the 99+ S10's, easy to park, lots made so parts are relatively cheap, and air bags.

[rideair]

It might do you well to try and work with someone here on the forums that has a truck for sale. I have purchased a truck (87, CC, K30) off eBay. I asked a bunch of questions before hitting the "Buy Now" button. And even after that, when the truck arrived, the body was not as straight as I was lead to think. "BUT" it was a great truck regardless and happy to get it.

If you plan to purchase something from the Midwest, etc... be sure to asked where the truck came from, never know, you could get a truck who's life started out in the Northeast and was moved to the Midwest at some point and time.

Enjoy,

[LuvNLife]

I've been down this road several times, so here's my thoughts.

Before you call the seller (no texting, no emails, you want to talk to a human), write down a list to have in front of you to ask about. Do the speakerphone thing so your son can write answers as you talk. After the call, put the number into Google and do a search. Often scammer numbers are out there, with comments from people that have been burned.

If you're serious about a vehicle, ask for a photo of the VIN plate and either a photo or .pdf scan of the title. Google the VIN as well; it's amazing what's out there if you search. If the title is not in the seller's name, walk away.

Ask the seller if they can email you (or post on YouTube) a video of the vehicle running, to hear the exhaust and under the hood.

Get the seller's address, and put it in Google maps to see if it's a real location.

As mongocanfly said, ask here on the site if anyone can do an eyes-on for you.

The money end of it is tough. Put down as little as you can to hold a vehicle, but no seller is going to ship a vehicle to you COD - you're going to have to pay in full up front. Unless you have a real good sense of who you're working with on the other end, just walk away.

Once you strike a deal, try UShip.com - I used them 3 times, and all 3 went well for me.

Hope some of this helps...

[flashed]

Buy from a member on here , I did and it all went well ,truck was everything he said it was and I would do it again . Be careful of your shipping company , I used Uship and wont do that again.

[Jered1987]

For the love of god do not let him buy something from the northeast
The salt corrosion is so bad there you would spend an unimaginable amount
On new sheetmetal , then the frame is going to be so rusted it flakes off in BIG chunks. I lived in ny since I was born then just moved to Georgia the trucks are in amazing shape here. Aim for the south. Good luck 👍 on your shipping.

[CG]

Originally Posted by flashed

Buy from a member on here , I did and it all went well ,truck was everything he said it was and I would do it again . Be careful of your shipping company , I used Uship and wont do that again.

You would hope this would be the way, but its not necessarily going to be true. A long time ago when I was a newbie to this site I was looking for a burb. A member here had one for sale that looked pretty good in the pics. This person was someone that was on the board a lot, and contributed a lot in threads. I talked to him on the phone, got all the info I thought I needed and grabbed the dough and my son. We made a road trip (thank God we didn't agree and have it shipped) Rustiest piece of crap I ever saw. No idea how it didn't show in the pics.

No matter what you do try real hard to get someone to take a look at something you are buying that you aren't willing to go see yourself.

[special-K]

I don't think buying a classic truck from a far off place to have shipped is a good first time buying experience or a good first vehicle for a young new driver. Certainly not with limited funds. I would buy something local and easy. We don't even know what his driving and treatment will be yet. Buying a classic from across the country was a rare thing only for those experienced enough with classics to see the worth in the risk and extra expense of shipping. Now it's so common place we have your thread asking advise on your 15 year old son's behalf for something that will be driven to HS and all over year round in the same weather that ruined the trucks from your area. I say take smaller steps and if he proves to be a true enthusiast, let him decide what direction he wants to go with it.

[Never enough]

2 weeks ago, I drove from the MPLS, MN area to Denton TX for the truck in my avatar.... $2500. I took the original title from 1969 to my DMV yesterday and put it in my name. Found it on a craigslist search. I've put about $150 in it since purchase to make it road worthy and drove it to the DMV office. It cost me $400 in gas and food to go get it...1,900 miles rt. They are out there, just need to be patient and diligent watching ads, as the good stuff sells quickly. You just can't buy vehicles in this condition in the rust belt. I don't buy any vintage tin from the rust belt anymore either. I went thru that years ago and was only disappointed by what arrived here on a transport. I also bought a very clean, 2 year old 18' trailer in 2010 for 2k...basically the price of 1-2 shipments. I have been to Great Falls Montana, Casper Wyoming, Pagosa Springs CO and Denver for vehicles. I don't even look for cars in the deep south anymore as they aren't much better than the salt states, with all the humidity. I drove to TN 4 years ago for a '38 Chev and came home empty. Seller lied his a$$ off and sent very selective pics of the rust. He couldn't believe I wasn't going to buy it... just because I go to a far location is no guarantee the vehicle will come home with me, it's just part of the adventure.

[KrazyRay]

I sell about 2 or 3 trucks per year that are too clean to cut up for parts. I get them because they have problems with passing tough CA emissions and and end up with $1000 in DMV penalties. If your state is emissions friendly, I would look at a truck from here. The problem is it costs almost $2,000 to ship. You and your son could fly out and drive one home for some quality father son bondo time. There are some good threads on here about fun adventures driving home a new purchase.

[GOPAPA]

You can ask this of the shipping company but don't bet it will happen ,, and that is for them to haul the truck on the top deck so it doesn't get oil dripped all over the top of it if it is shipped on the lower deck.

My 39 came on the lower deck ,,the driver said he JUST moved it down there and it rode all the way on top.. I ask how the oil got on the roof of it and he said it must of been there before he loaded it .. They move their loads around for hauling purposes as they take some off on the way to unload your vehicle ..

So,, if you want to protect your cab top ,, you will have to have the sender cover it somehow

[liftlawssuck]

Well this is all great advice and tips from people who have done it before. Still nothing guaranteed but at least I have some more knowledge. I offered him one of my trucks to take but he won't have it. I get it I guess. He doesn't something his old man gave him. At least I talked him into a 73-80 as he can go up to the store and get whatever he needs. That's what I call the attic of my garage. Ha! It's so frustrating that everything we have up here is crap within 10 years or so. I even oil my trucks. It buys me some time but still rots out. I bought 1 truck from out west and never looked back. Won't deal with rot again. Not worth it.

Thanks again. I will relay this to my son and we can make a better decision when he finds something.

This place has really great people willing to help out!!

[davischevy]

The truck you describe is on Springfield, MO CL.

1978, 10,000 miles. It ain't cheap, $10,000.

https://springfield.craigslist.org/c...364257116.html

[D13]

Originally Posted by liftlawssuck

I offered him one of my trucks to take but he won't have it. I get it I guess. He doesn't something his old man gave him.

If he's funding it, it's his money, and that's OK. If you're funding it, great opportunity for life lesson, save up and buy a nice one, or buy what yu need now? Make him a deal - Dad will provide wheels while you get a job and earn enough money to buy the truck you want.

My dad gave me his 350,000 mile 67 biscayne, I paid gas he paid insurance, and I learned how to watch fuel and oil levels (1qt per 75 miles) and tire pressure and when I wrecked it I bought the parts and fixed it. I used that to go to sports and band practices and an evening job my senior year that paid for my college. Some of my friends were driving GTO's and SS Chevelles and big block Novas and GTX's and I had this crappy old car. But I HAD a car so I could visit friends and get a job and have fun. Lasted me into college when I bought a string of big block Impalas.

Learned the value of a buck and undercoating.. When we sold the 67 it has 425,000 Michigan miles on it. About a month later the driver tried to outrun the State Polce via a plowed field. Car broke in half - literally frame failed at the rear axle and the floor opened up at the rear footwhell seam. But my chicken wire cardboard roofing cement trunk repair still looked good.