I've done this three times. I've never had any issues. There are a couple must's that have to happen.
1 - Owner will take the car to the dealership and have a PPI (pre purchase inspection) completed. I will speak directly to the mechanic that looked at the car and the service advisor.
2. The person is willing to take any pictures you ask for and videos. If they won't, they could be hiding something and I'm not paying for a plane ticket to be disapointed.
3. Overall good communication with the person. If they can't spell in texts or they wont pick up or return phone calls. That becomes a bit sketchy.

And most of all, don't be afraid to buy another plane ticket and fly home. It would suck to purchase the car just because you made the trip out there to only dislike that car for the next couple of years.

 

I bought my LS430 (3 years old with 13 k miles on it) from a Lexus dealer and flew 1k miles to pick it up. Bought it same day (early in the week) it was listed on their web site. Put 5k down using a credit card and told the sales manager I'd fly up and pick it up on Saturday. Also told him that they would sincerely and significantly regret it if they had misrepresented the car to me in any way. When I arrived to pick it up they had it inside under spotlights, completely detailed and looking absolutely pristine. That was 9 years ago. Its a risk buying remote, some folks definitely get lied to and they get screwed, some get lucky like me.

Way better to go pick it up so you can cut your losses and reject it if it misrepresented. Higher risk (which I suggest never doing) is to buy sight unseen and then pay extra to have it delivered .

 

When I saw how many cars my former colleague brought to work, that were potential used car purchases, two things.

I would not be afraid to be given a used car for at least a day to drive around (we're not talking road trip, we're talking the equivalent of to and from work, around town), and to decide not to buy it.

If I had done the above, I would have realized the driver door actuator didn't work at all, the front brakes pulsated, high mount light not working, 12v lighter not working, cupholder broken, interior worn b pillar, seat cushion sagging, on my car. Luckily, on the two most important items, the dealer fixed free. The rest, I may have used as ammo to lower the selling price. Not so much the 12V and high mount, but the wear on seat/pillar and broken cupholder. At least $300 because I would say I've got to spend to fix them (even if I DIY). Many people are "shy" about haggling and so they leave a lot of money on the table. my .02

 

I've done it 3 times now. Bought a 2002 Oldsmobile Aurora back in 2003 in Dallas and drove it back home to Atlanta, I bought a S2000 in 2004 when I lived in Atlanta and it was in Virginia Beach and the last one was my Dakota I bought in Atlanta, and drove back to Milwuakee.

The caveat to this is that I work for Delta, so flying is not really so much of an issue.....

As others have said, make sure it's the car for you, as the expense of flying can start to add up...

 

I've done this once, and it was a great experience. I would recommend it if you are able to get a pre-purchase inspection. Additionally, I brought along the majority of the purchase price in the form of a cashier's check and the rest in cash in case I found anything that I needed to negotiate. Although, you have less leverage if they know you are coming from out of town, so having a back up plan to be able to walk away would help. My cousin flips cars and has bought over a dozen sight unseen and had them shipped to his house and never had any issues although he isn't buying the cars to keep.

 

I purchased my 2010 Jaguar XK Coupe 5 years ago by flying out to PA from Florida right before a snow storm. I negotiated the price beforehand and there was no money exchanged until I got there. I was picked up at the airport by the dealership (huge well known PA dealership) and brought directly to the car which was sitting on the showroom floor. I viewed a personal video of every inch of the car with paint meter readings. When I got there, I Put the car up on a lift and examined it myself as well as comparing it to a brand new model on the Jaguar showroom floor. The car only had 4,600 miles on it so the risk was small and it was covered under factory warranty. Yes......there was little to no leverage on my part for any additional negotiation (which I needed for pulsating brakes). I flew in so they knew I was buying. I got only $300 for the brakes, but had them replaced by Jaguar under warranty at no cost after I got the car home. I paid a fair price at that time, and had it put in a pre arranged enclosed carrier the next day and received it at my front door within 3 days. End of story.....No surprises. However I would NEVER buy any car without seeing it and touching it regardless of the price. This car was quite expensive at that time but I'd do the same if it was only 10 grand.

 

I found an 04 LS in Florida that I wanted to see. I had The Lemon Squad inspect it for me and was able to have the dealer ship it to me. Would have flown down but I didn't want to wait until after the hurricane. Glad I did because it kept some miles off it. All told, I would do it again.