I made the mistake of trusting someone when I bought my vette. I thought I was getting a $7500 vette when he sent me a $2000 vette that was not even close to how he represented it on ebay and this was after 4 months of him screwing me around to even ship the vette. I had to threaten him with lawyers to even send it. Big horrible costly experiance and I vowed to myself never buy a car sight unseen.

|UPDATED|11/15/2004 3:10:21 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I also would be a little nervous buying the car site unseen, and sending money, although there is a good chance the guy is on the level. At least being an Oklahoma car you shouldn't have any rust issues. Get someone to go check out the car at least.

I'll just tell you about my trials in finding a vette. I went to look at everyone of the Florida cars on e-bay that I could afford, and get to. Some of the pictures were great and the write ups even better. They all had major problems. One guy was honest enough to tell me he bought every car he could for under 5 grand and put them up for sale on e-bay and I could never get his started. I'm sure there are some good cars out there but I wouldn't buy any of them I couldn't look at and drive first.

Good Luck

I did buy mine on e-bay sight unseen, but I knew it was a basket case, and I didn't spend a lot. But it was still risky. It worked out, and I'm happy. But I don't recommend sending cash ahead of time.

I've driven about 3000 miles the last year and a half(Minneapolis;Detroit;Canton,Ohio;Ann Arbor,Mi.)to check out low,low mile original Vettes. Not one of them was what the seller promised! Granted, they were higher priced cars and I was being extremely fussy, but I would have been disapointed if I had purchased any of them sight unseen. Other people's opinions of condition can vary greatly from what you have in mind.
You seem to have a broader range of what you are looking for. Something closer should turn up. How much is shipping? Find a way to check it out if you're sure it's what you want .
Mike

$.02 from a newbie. DO NOT SEND MONEY!!!!!!! I finally convince the wife that we needed avette and I looked everywhere on the net, e-mailed dozens of people found one down in texas 1070 BB vert.( this was before I new about this site) Called the man, made arrangments to go there, wife not pleased, the night before I was flying the guy called said he sold it, I was out a plane ticket and room, was able to use most of it for a trip to CNV corvettes down it AZ., wife not pleased agained, to look at 1968 vert, nice looking, nice driving, little more than budget with shipping and washington state sales tax, but I went to the bank to wire money from home bank to the one in AZ, as I was in line it got really knotty feeling in guts and trouble breathing, so I walked out with out the money and came home with out the vette. Couple weeks or so later I found a 1970 LT-1 vert down in Oregon 21/2 hour drive from home, with in my price range, drove it and bought it. Morally of the story, who it the F*** knows, the is important and major decision for most families so you owe it to yourself and your family to make a logical decision, a pissed off wife will got over you spending a couple hundred bucks to make the right decision, but it will take for ever to get over getting screw out of a $1000.00 and getting a P.O.S that is sitting in your gargage reminding her and you every day. Just a thought. In the end it is all up to you.

A friend of mine bought one sight unseen.. he went to pick it up and found out why all the pictures were from the drivers side..

the passengers side was trashed.

when he backed out the owner pulled a gun on him.

my friend and his big cornfed brother in law of course pulled their own and the redneck backed down.

but you never know

I've mentioned this before, but it may be worth repeating here. Mine was advertised to be more complete than it proved to be when we looked at it in person. The seller intended to "pass the car off". When deficiencies were pointed out and a much lower offer made, it was accepted. I would not have known this without checking the car out in person.
A good friend of mine restored these cars as a hobby, he would NEVER accept a deposit on a car. He always insisted the buyer look at the car first before any deal was made.

You might try calling the local Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce and get the name of an attorney or professional auto appraiser and give them a call to see what they suggest.

You need someone at the other end to represent you and your money.

If there is any way you could make the journey yourself that would be best.

You have to see what you are buying and you really should have someone who knows Vettes look at it with you before you agree to buy it.

Be patient. No need to rush.

There are MANY good vettes out there. There are also many disappointing Vettes.

My advice- Buy local.