Flying to get my FR-S
 

Hey everyone, long time lurker, first real post here so be easy on me.

Well as the title suggests, it's my turn to get my twin and I'm considering flying to get her.

Long story short, I would like a new one but the monogram trim isn't available and it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. I don't mind the hassle of traveling to get her, it'd be a fun trip I think. No, I don't want to consider getting a base and doing the mods my self. Sorry BRZ fans, I know I could get the limited, but you won't convince me.

So here's the point of this thread:


-Have any of you flown to get your twin/or any car for that matter? How was your experience?

-What are some essential questions I need to be asking over the phone?

-Is it appropriate to talk about pricing over the phone?


In the end, I want to avoid a worst case scenario of me and my buddy flying one way out there just to find out some horrible news about the car that will make me call the entire thing off.

Some additional details:

-I plan to bring a pre-approved bank loan to shop.

-1k miles is my limit for travel, this whole thing has to go down in one weekend.

-This will be my first "new" car purchase, so any input would be appreciated.

EDIT:

Will most likely be from a dealership, ideally I would like no more than 15k on the clock.

:burnrubber:

I flew to get mine. Already bought it as the dealership financed me and we handled all the paperwork before hand. Just showed up and took the car... BUT the online listing said keyless entry. They said they had the keys... guess what I drove home without? Make absolutely positive they have the damn key fobs cuz you won't get them after you leave.

Is this a private seller or dealer? If private you better have a check in hand and they need to know that's how it is or they won't give you the car until the check clears. Dealer, work it out before you get on a plane. Lot of room for things to go wrong. No one will care if you are stranded for 3 days until the check clears.

Questions for seller... keys, do they have the fucking keys in their hand?! (Its about $1000 to replace a master key and a spare from dealer btw) other than that.... the usual was it in any accidents, does it leak, etc. For a brand new car, none of this matters cuz it'll run fine. For a slightly used one... still too new to "probably"have any problems. And if it does they will just lie to you anyways. Cuz once you drive away, you aren't going to tow it back 1000 for them to fix it. This all sounds scary but 99% you'll be fine. Biggest problem is just making sure you will be able to sign the title or whatever and drive away

I flew to Denver to pick up my BRZ from Heuberger Motors. Drove home and did not have to sign any paperwork at the dealer (everything was taken care of before I arrived).

I think I spent a total of about 30 minutes on actual car-buying activities, including the time spent signing paperwork at home when they FedEx'd the documents to me.

-alex

I also flew out to Heuberger and drove back ~1200 miles over the span of that afternoon/evening and the next day to get home.

Well looks like you got your ducks in order.

You can talk about price over the phone, but I would save the part about me flying over as the last part. That just shows your willing to pay any price if you're flying to get it.
If your 101% sure they have it in stock offer to put down a refundable deposit. So they can't sell it.

Also make sure to do it on a weekday during business hours, just in case they or you need to call the bank,insurance. Weekends are great if your bank can answer any loan questions. If not its weekday for you.

If you already have a pre approved loan have your bank call the dealer and makes sure they are on the same page. Don't let the dealer tell you they can get you a better deal with their loans. It's just a waste of time, unless you think they could better.
Also keep in mind about transferring state to state fees with your bank and dealer. You may have to pay twice if things go messy.

Keep in mind they will offer you the "extended warranty" it's an extra $3-5k so think about it.

Also have insurance ready for the car. They will not let you drive off the lot with out proof. You'll need the vin # for that.

Bring a buddy and plan out for the worse. Check the weather conditions on your way back. You may or may not need chains or whatever

Flew on mine. Spent 6hrs on paperwork, 12min or so checking car, 20min drive and 40min bargaining.

I got free trd exhaust, intake (sold it for stock bc lack of carb sticker [idiot me] and now buying one hehe), free bespoke interior lcd thingy, free wing, free 6 oil changes when it was originally 3 and lastly free extra interior floor mats... from top of my head.


Push them to give you something free like cargo net or wing but dont just tell them, "what can you give me" or they will think you are a fool like when i bought my Celica.

Also, go in savvy because 3/4 of the FRS sellers are idiots...they call a car with a wing a special edition... lmfao?~!

uhm... dont be pressured to get what they have, you take control of situation. If not they will mind rape you.

I got mine below sticker price after correcting my salesperson on so many things the car had/didnt have. They kept on saying someone else had come that day so i kept asking who and they didnt know what to answer.

Remember its their job to take and make a living. It's a business not your friendly neighbor spider man.

if you get nervous, just tell them youll come back if you decide on getting that one or go see a different dealer.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^IMO


https://media.giphy.com/media/11wnaGZ0KW9xyE/giphy.gif


GET A CLEAR BRA. DONT DONT DONT buy into the POS interior guard and exterior. You can get that cheaper. Know this: dealers make most of their $$$ from add-ons! I spent $3k extra on my Celica when i bought it as a kid.

Flew to Rapid City to get mine. Just remember to have insurance in order beforehand lol. Or else you'll be spending at least one night in a hotel near the dealership. And obviously make sure the loans gone through your bank or the been pre approved by the dealerships financiers.

It will be the best drive home you have ever had.

@ricotheraccoon You should buy mine. :) lol

Come visit Canada at the same time. We're nice people.

DANG, @Packofcrows ...... how many times to you read ALL of the fine print ..... :D


humfrz

Can't you just get a CARB sticker?

Yeah lol but i was dumb so i got stock one. Bought a TRD one now ...lol installing later in week

@humfrz, i was scared lol... they wanted a b.s. price of 32k for it at first! Idk why paperwork took so long tbh. Got there at 11am, left at 6pm. Hot home at 8pm. Zzz...

I only drove about 2 minutes away to get mine and if I couldn't see the car in person to know exactly what I was getting,
I wouldn't be in any car no matter how badly I wanted it if I had to buy sight unseen unless there was 100% disclosure of what I was getting.
There are too many variables in a used car to worry about after you get that far to see it.
-Can you bring it to a mechanic and have it checked before you buy?
-Can you trust what the salesperson says about minor scratches or dents on the paint? (This one would be huge for me. When I bought mine I knew 110% what was scratched
or not as I knew how thin the paint was and I didn't want to be doing major polishing on a new car)
-Does the car smell inside?
-Are there small tears in any fabric inside?
-Any scuffs or cracks on plastic molding?
-Are there any scratches in the glass?
-Are there any weird noises coming from the engine bay while driving?
-Are there any creaks and squeaks while driving?
-Does the car need an alignment before heading back home?
-etc
I would nit pick the car to death before flying 1000 miles to buy.

If I had to get a car that far away, I'd have a huge checklist for the guy on the other end to check off. So much so that he'd probably just laugh and say he was too busy to take the time.
If you are dead set on this, once you know where the car is going to be, maybe have another nice forum member check it out for you and give their opinion. I know I'd take the 15 minutes if somebody wanted one
at the dealership by me and they were too far away if they needed that favor. And if I did, I would be giving that person the real truth on what they are getting into like as if I was buying the car myself.

Huge: Realize if they know where you came from, there will be no negotiating the price at all since they have you by the gonads for coming out that far to possibly buy.

Whatever you do don't let them know your flying in to purchase it!!!!

You do that and you give up your power in negotiations as they know they have you. Don't worry about them looking at caller ID. Can't rely on a area code to determine if someone is local or not with cell phones now. If they ask if your local because of it just say yes.

When you do land, make sure your rental has a local plate and when they ask about trade in just say your not interested in trading in and that your picking up a fun car......or have someone local on this board help motor you around in exchange for some beer and food.

If you hold the fact you flew in it gives you the bargaining power because in their eyes you can walk away potentially. You have to be ready to walk away as well if its not a good deal for you.


Lots of the other factors mentioned here hold true too. Have your insurance and funding lined up in advance so that its a phone call away by you.

Clear bra is a great idea but there's no chance they'll be able to get that on for OP without sufficient lead time as most dealers don't have it in stock. My dealer told me most dealers have their external body shops apply it because it's too time consuming for in house and too many were wasted during application (co$tly goof up).