"It must suck being stupid" - Ian

LOL!!! So true, it just must!

It's just human nature: When you've taken the time and expense to travel somewhere to look at a car you've got your rose-colored glasses on to begin with, plus you're probably screwed up from the jetlag. At that point it's just too easy to say "OK, I'll fix this and that later..." when you'd have walked away in a second if it was just across town from home.

I've never once heard anyone tell a story about a positive auto buying experience from EBay, or any other online venue where they had to fly somewhere to look at it. Once you've gone that far, it's hard to walk away and fly home. Best thing to do, if you're going that far to look at a car, is to set aside a week and get a rental car. Then make sure you have a dozen or so cars scouted out in that area to look at while you're there. If one's not right, shake the sellers hand and spirit off to the next one in the rental. You're bound to find at least one you'd feel good about driving home in.