So a friend of mine is in upstate New York, I'm in southern Kentucky. He wants to sell me his '95 Talon TSI AWD for $1000. I want to buy it from him. Now we have a geography problem.
My truck is currently in no shape for this kind of trip, but I think the car runs good enough to pull off a fly and drive. 2 issues though, I have no idea how airports work and I also have no idea if it's possible to get a car registered in Kentucky while it's in New York.
So, um, any advice?
Airline tickets?
Fly and drive. Have him photo underneath for a bit of pre purchase rust inspection. Otherwise GO FOR IT!!!
Look on a map at a few cities near your destination and check a few airline websites to see who can get you from your airport to the one you want to get to the easiest. If you want post the area where the car is and we can recommend airports.
Airports are a cinch as long as you don't forget to leave all your guns, drugs and Islamic State propaganda at home.
The biggest issue I'm seeing is the fact that tags are currently expired and he thinks it might not pass New York inspection, and I don't know who I need to talk to about getting the right legal documents to be able to drive it down here.
50 to 60 cents per mile and a proper shipping company will bring it right to your front door.
https://dmv.ny.gov/registration/transit-vehicle-permit-temporary-registration
Where in upstate? I wouldn't worry about NY inspection if your plan is to get out of the state as quickly as possible (recommended). You don't need to pass to register the car.
Just drive the car with no plates. As long as you have a signed title in hand, you will be fine. Ive been pulled over and he ran the VIN to make sure it wasnt stolen and sent me on my way.
How is KY with issuing temp plates? Have him send down the title, get temp plates, fly and drive it home.
I was going to call in the morning and see what I had to do for temp plates. Also he's in Schenectady.
RossD wrote: Just drive the car with no plates. As long as you have a signed title in hand, you will be fine. Ive been pulled over and he ran the VIN to make sure it wasnt stolen and sent me on my way.
That law varies from state to state. WI is pretty lax about it but I was threatened with a trip to jail in IL 
Check the strut towers. An ny car might not be worth it.
Guy claims he found a tiny place of rust on the strut towers then garaged it. Admittedly that's the part I'm most unsure about. Last time I bought a car with "a tiny bit of rust" I found myself looking at carpet while laying under it. So yeah, I want some good underside pictures before I go.
NY has a travel tag available for just what you are doing. Intrastate temp permit or the like.
Schenectady is not far from Albany International Airport. I don't know if you can get a direct flight there from anywhere as it's as international an airport as IHOP is an international pancake house. We flew to Disney World from there on our honeymoon and between transfers and prop planes it was slightly longer than taking Greyhound.
As a DSM owner I would recommend you have the following spare parts with you if you fly and drive... Crank position sensor, Cam angle sensor, set of coil packs, and a TR module. Those are the 4 parts that ARE NOT readily available and can leave you stuck with no notice.
Also, a note, check the timing belt before you drive. If you can push down on the timing belt between the cam gears and get more than 3/8" of deflection I would not drive it. These cars are interference engines.
I don't know if it's still like this, but the TSA used to look funny at people making one-way flights with no luggage.
KY doesn't issue temporary plates for private sales, and you absolutely cannot register it here without an inspection since it is coming from out of state.
I'd drive it here on the old plate, personally. If he needs it back, mail it to him after you've returned. This would attract less attention than driving it with no plate. Of course, I doubt it'll be much of an issue since it'll end up on a tow truck. 
NY does offer temp tags for out of state purchases, just make sure to have the registration form and title with you and a filled out NYS bill of sale form. IIRC the temp tags are good for 10 or 30 days, can't remember which. They are not friendly to cars without plates and registration in NY, might even slap on the cuffs if you get stopped, and you will get stopped without plates.
Was '95 the start of OBD-II? Or was that '96? They don't do emission inspections anymore on pre-OBD-II vehicles in NY, the dynos were too expensive to maintain for dwindling numbers of vehicles using them. But they still do annual safety inspections. For in-state purchases you get a 10 day temp inspection sticker anyway when you first register, so I wouldn't worry about that part at all.
'95 was still pre OBD-II. I was talking with him as I posted that, he says it probably will pass inspection actually, he just hasn't bothered because he's been driving his BRZ and wants to get rid of this one to make room for a 1G.
Chadeux wrote: I was going to call in the morning and see what I had to do for temp plates. Also he's in Schenectady.
I'm about 20 miles north of Schenectady. Cut the deal, get valid paperwork, make it legal for Kentucky, then fly to Albany, NY with plates in hand. I can run you from Albany to Schenectady, you drive it home.
Dan
914Driver wrote:Chadeux wrote: I was going to call in the morning and see what I had to do for temp plates. Also he's in Schenectady.I'm about 20 miles north of Schenectady. Cut the deal, get valid paperwork, make it legal for Kentucky, then fly to Albany, NY with plates in hand. I can run you from Albany to Schenectady, you drive it home. Dan
Again, this isn't an option. He cannot transfer nor register it in KY without an in-person inspection.
Rats. If you buy it shoot me a PM and I'll get you from the airport to the car.
Dan
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