best way to pay for a car, when it requires shipping Options

[elvasoshexai]

for those of you that have bought a car when shipping was involved, what method of payment did you use? cheque? bank draft? credit card?

i already got the bank draft (frickin cost me $5) but i just found out i could credit my own credit card with enough money to make the purchase... and credit cards have fraud protection while brank drafts don't...

a credit card payment will need to be made via paypal. however... paypal's rate is higher than my bank's rate... AND they have a service charge... so i end up paying several hundred over...

the seller does have 42-43 positive feedbacks on ebay all from selling cars. (100% of the people have recieved the car). however, i am buying the car off of ebay. she seems legit... but i still wanna be careful... as this is the largest purchase i've ever made in my life

i'm not too sure if i can use my bank draft with escrow.. someone had suggested it to me.. but they only accept cheques... and i can't get a cheque in US currency because i have an account with canadian currency... they only accept CC payments via paypal. but the limit for that is $5000... and um. doing it this way i will get hit 2x the service charge

so i'd just like to here what you all would recommend considering my situation and also for those of you who have paid for a car that required shipping, what method did you use to pay. thanks!

o. and flying down + driving it back up is out of the question since i can't afford to take a few days off...

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Oct 12, 2005 - 7:31 PM

[jgreening]

pay cash through an escrow service. Its the safest and both you and the seller can have peace of mind. Have you seen the car? If not, the seller may be unwilling to use an escrow service. Have you negotiated whose car it is when it is on the truck? What if something happens in transit? If its yours, have you arranged insurance from the time that it leaves the seller? Just some things to think about...