# Can you buy a used car without visiting the dealer?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [July 5, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816 "2014-07-05T11:50:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816/21 "2016-09-21T16:34:58Z")

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> [@AntonioKat](#):
>
> for future reference, it can be done successfully.

Yes, and it is also possible to jump off of building and survive the fall, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend that anyone takes the chance. I’m very glad that it worked out for you, but I would urge others to **not** follow your example.

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**Author:** ![sgtrock21](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/sgtrock21/32/246_2.png) [@sgtrock21](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sgtrock21)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816/22 "2016-09-21T17:25:45Z")

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Most people jumping off buildings survive the fall but not the impact. Sorry. I couldn’t resist.

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**Author:** ![AntonioKat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@AntonioKat](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AntonioKat)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816/23 "2016-09-22T00:21:25Z")

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I don’t think I was insanely lucky or anything here, but I did admit risk was involved. EBay has a lot of safeguards in place for buying used cars, and there are multiple reputable companies that offer pre-purchase inspections. The one I actually got to test drive was the one I most quickly turned down after getting the pre-purchase inspection results, even though I would have never known it otherwise. Like I said, I appreciate the feedback received, but I don’t agree that buying used cars from afar is wildly risky and absolutely not worth it, at least when the right precautions are taken.

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816/24 "2016-09-22T02:20:41Z")

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A bud bought a karmen ghia that way, he was happy enough, a few flaws but you take a chance for sure.

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**Author:** ![DfromSD](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dfromsd/32/1669_2.png) [@DfromSD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DfromSD)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/can-you-buy-a-used-car-without-visiting-the-dealer/85816/25 "2016-09-23T00:23:17Z")

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It can be done but I wouldn’t advise it, unless you have a trusted mechanic in the area check it out for you first. Even then it would be risky IMO.

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