Buying the Car

My process of buying a car is one that I would suggest to anyone. Make sure you research the car and the seller as thoroughly as possible. If you plan on buying the car off an internet site and aren't able to to see it yourself before picking it up, spend some serious time talking to the seller. Get to know him or her and get a feel as to what kind of person they are. If you feel they are honest, then go with your gut, but ask for documentation. The first thing I did after talking to the seller was get to get a CarFax Vehicle History Report. It's free and it will show you if the car you are buying has ever had any major problems reported.

The next thing you should do is ask the seller to send picture. Ask for lots of them. I had the gentleman who sold me this car send me pics of it from every angle on the outside, the inside, inside the engine bay, and even underneath it. So that by the time I got to the pick up location, I felt I had a pretty good feeling for the car.

Also, don't hesitate to ask the owner about upkeep and maintenance that has been done. It is important that you know exactly what it is you are getting into. Find out how often they change the oil, when the battery was last replaced, how new the tires are, and if at all possible, get the owner to take the car into a shop for a check up. I had conversed with the guy I bought the car from for several weeks and had a pretty good feeling about him. So I trusted him to have the car road ready for me when I picked it. I had asked him to have an oil change, which I paid for ahead of time, and all I asked for was the receipt. Surprisingly he even gave me my change back and replaced the battery at the suggestion of the lube shop at no charge to me.

Before you drive off and made sure that you are 100% comfortable with the purchase, just do a routine check of fluids and tires. It would suck halfway home to end up stranded because of something small.

The Drive Home

I was lucky. I had flown from Indianapolis to New York City to pick up my car. I met the owner across the river in New Jersey, had breakfast, did the deal and hopped in and headed off. I filled up the tank immediately and stopped every hour or two for the first half of the trip to check fluids and stuff. After a couple of stops I felt 100% confident in the car and only stopped for gas the rest of the way. All in all it was about a 12 hour trip from New Jersey to Indianapolis, but it was fun. I saw allot of beautiful countryside and was able to plan out the next phase of the my journey into converting this 82 Firebird into my dream car.