Buying a Taco from overseas! Need some help!

So I'm currently deployed and will be until August-September of this year. I sold my Tundra before I left so when I get back I have nothing. I've been looking around and thinking about buying a Taco while I'm here and pick it up when I get back. Reason being is that I think it would be fairly difficult to find one in my price range within a weeks time frame of my return.

So in my searching I have found this truck. Which seems to be exactly what I want.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...COAL&searchRadius=0&listingId=322477232&Log=0

I contacted the dealer just to see if they were even willing to work with me and hold it until I return. They said that would be no problem. I was thinking of making an offer of $19k flat (cash) which is a little lower than the KBB value of the truck. I don't want to shoot too low though since they are willing to work with me with this situation. One of the condition will be that they maintain it while it's there as well i.e. wash it every couple weeks, drive it around the block etc.

KBB Value
http://www.kbb.com/toyota/tacoma-ac...e&condition=excellent&pricetype=private-party

After I get back I will be able to make the 8 hour drive in a rental to pick it up no issues there.

What are your thoughts? Any advice? If it sounds alright does anyone know somebody in the Denver NC area that might be willing to take a look at it for me?

Thanks a lot for any help guys!

 

They are only askin 19,883. I'm sure they would come down to 19. But then again I feel like 19 for a 2006 is a little much. Maybe I'm wrong though

 

low miles and a clean looking truck though for a 6 year old truck.

OP maybe you could post in the NC regional thread and ask if anybody is local to the area to check it out/test drive it for you. Just an idea.

 

If you're paying cash I'd offer 18-18.5. Don't worry about them being "nice" for holding onto the vehicle for you. Nice looking truck.

 

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll get it posted in the NC thread and see if anyone would be willing to help me out.

 

KBB way over value our trucks, I would look at edmonds. Also are you looking at offering 19k OTD or 19K sale price?

 

19k sale price was what I was thinking. I'm not sure if they do sales tax for military in NC. I know in TN Toyota sales are tax free for military.

 

I just checked out the carfax on that truck and it was originally purchased in Maine. I would find someone in NC to look at the undercarriage to check it out for any rusting issues caused by salt. The dealer there could also email you undercarriage pics.

 

Yeah I posted in the NC Region thread to see if anyone would be willing to. And I emailed the dealer a few questions one of which was if he could provide more detailed pictures of the engine bay, under carriage, and drive train.

Thanks for the info! I was going to ask him for a carfax report too but forgot about that.

 

Agreed about not worrying about being 'nice' to the dealer. I mean c'mon, they would screw you given half a chance.

 

I'm calling the dealer in a few hours to discuss all the details and possibly make an offer on it. Any last minute advice? Questions I should ask? I'm thinking I'll offer 18k sale price if they will ship it to my family in california instead of holding it. Then I'll just get a rental until I go on leave and fly home and pick it up.

 

Alright so I just got off the phone with the dealership. They said that it did have some rust issues but they had a guy come clean it up. He said it's still a little noticeable but not bad. He's sending me pictures in a little while and I will post them for opinions.

 

I did just find this one
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...5000&searchRadius=0&listingId=320112396&Log=0

My brother is like 15 miles away so he could take a look at it. He's been a mechanic for about 15 years.

 

OP, +1 on this comment. I would not buy something that expensive sight unseen. I've done that in the past and didn't get burned, but did get slightly singed.

You need someone you trust to check out anything that you can't check out yourself. I'd suggest trying a few other things first; you already mentioned a family memeber could check one out, good idea; you could also check into pre-purchase inspection services in whatever area a propect is in; you could also just let it ride til you get back, then either rent a cheap car for a week or two, or find some cheap beater to drive for a few weeks/month until you find what you want.

 

Considering the investment, I would say set aside cash to buy a used car (anything) when you return, then shop for your truck and trade in the temporary car when you buy the truck.

Have you considered new? Check out the USAA car buying service and see what kind of deal you could get on a new truck.

 

I didn't even know about pre-purchase inspections. I'll look into that and see if there is someone near the dealership that can do that. Thanks!

Renting a car for a few weeks could work but at the same time if I did that I could be driving all around the country looking at prospects.

USAA just told me about their car buying service when I applied for a loan so I'm going to look into it a bit more today.

As far as buying new is concerned that's an extra $12k minimum that I just don't have nor do I want a payment that high. I'm approved for $14k @ 60 months @ 3.4% which is about $250 a month. That's as high a payment as I'm willing to go so I need to make sure I can handle the rest with cash and then still have some left over for other things I need.



But I do thank you all for the advice you have given. I know that buying without seeing it myself is not ideal I'm just finding it fairly difficult to do it any other way. And trust I've thought about all the options out there pretty extensively.

 

Good luck with the purchase, and thank you for your service.

 

So pretty much everything I was looking has sold.

But I found this today
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...5000&searchRadius=0&listingId=320721945&Log=0

It's gonna cost a little bit more but I think I can spare a little more cash down on it.
I have www.lemonsquad.com do a pre-purchase inspection on it tomorrow and the dealership already sent me photos of the undercarriage as well. It looks super clean. The exhaust is rusted to shit but that always rusts first.