Hey everyone!

[snowtrooper1966]

Hey, logman..
I bought my Dragon about 5 weeks ago, sight unseen from a forum member in New Jersey. There was a bit of trust built up over our negotiations, so I was not worried about the title.
I had it shipped to me in California. There are alot of autoshippers, so be careful. You might find a chepaer price than the reputable ones, but you get what you pay for. It cost me $1,500 to ship across country, so you could do it for a bit cheaper than I did from the same company. I did alot of research before I chose DAS (dependable auto shippers). They are AAA certified, used by eBay motors, and have sat tracking, so you can see where your VX is the entire move.
I got the seller to pay for shipping. The Dragon in Montana has been for sale for a few weeks, so I think he may be motivated to do the same...
James

[Joe_Black]

I've used DAS quite a bit sending and receiving and they're a good outfit, unfortunately fuel prices now have raised their rates almost 400% over the last few years. I've also done a good many "fly-n-drives" where you go one-way airline out and drive the rig back. Relatively quick and a good way to grok your new ride, plus you might get to see a part of the country you never did before.

[logman]

So here is one of my main concerns with the VX. Lets say I'm driving it and I hit a deer... which is quite common where I live in the woods... or if I get in a minor fender bender. What happens next? Will I be out of luck if I need to replace a hood, or body panel? My brother is a mechanic, and he keeps stressing the point that I'm about to purchase a 8+ grand truck with slim chances of finding parts. Has anyone here had this problem, or stressed over the same thing when considering purchasing a VX?

[johnnyapollo]

Body parts became scarce in the 3rd quarter of last year, then Isuzu shipped over a container or two and now they are fairly plentiful. My understanding is that they have to be made available for 10 years from the last year offered, here in the US (some trade or manufacturing standard to sell here).

-- John

[logman]

I've been looking at higher miles VX's, because I'm not looking to spend over 8 grand... But I found a black one with 116k miles in Missouri, which is within driving distance of here...

I've herd from people that trucks with higher miles have engine trouble... would it be a bad idea for me to pick up one of these with high miles? How long can these 3.5l DOHC engines go before they become problematic no matter how well you keep them oiled?

Here is the link to the one I'm looking at.

Black VX 4 sale.

[etlsport]

its often actually the opposite, once you get past like 70-80k miles a lot of times your engine runs great, if something is going to go wrong it often comes between 35-60k

[nfpgasmask]

I would say it also depends on how it was cared for for the first 100k.

Bart

[tom4bren]

My Proton has less than 40K on it so I can't really speak to the longevity of the engine.

"Also, what kind of complications are there with getting payment/title? is it all trust based?"

It doesn't have to be trust based. You should create your own sales agreement to be signed by both parties. It doesn't have to be in a high level of legal jargon. Just make sure all of the issues are mentioned.

Once mine was shipped from MO to VA & the title came by registered mail, it still took several weeks to get the title transferred to my name (there was still a lien against the title - it had been paid off but the lien was never removed). The sales agreement had a statement in it that the seller was responsible to ensure the title was transferrable so he had to get a letter of lien satisfaction from the lien holder. The sales agreement also had a statement that the seller was responsible for ensuring that the vehicle could be picked up by the transport company (that helped too).

[logman]

Thanks for the information. When I first purchased my VW the owner had a standing lien on the car, and wow... I can't tell you how annoyed I was by the amount of time it took to have it satisfied, and removed from the title.

I'm hoping to avoid that at all costs this time.

My brother is a mechanic, and I guess he's done quite a bit of work on similar engines. Worst case scenario I have to rebuild the engine.. I'm always up for a good learning experience after tearing my TDI apart 3 times for upgrades/cleaning.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

[don moore]

I just picked up a perfect VX in Cali. its like new..115k on it ...sounds and runs perfect./.....you should be able to tell if it was well taken care of .