A friend of a friend of mine down in Chicago bought a grey market diesel W126 with velour seats on e-Bay located in AZ. The seller had all records, books etc. The car wasn't checked out by a mechanic, but the seller said if he didn't like it, he'd refund the plane ticket and give him his money back. Plus he was willing to let the buyer have a mechanic of his choice inspect it, nothing to hide. Basically he had nothing to lose, but one weekend.

He flew down to Phoenix and drove it back --Turned out to be great car and a great deal -- one of the lucky ones.

Another friend of mine attending law school in FL wanted an "entry level" sports car and bought a Porsche 912 from autotrader or Hemmings (don't recall). The owner took it to HIS mechanic and called my buddy back with a list of potential probs and was quite honest which gave him some negotiating room. He flew out to Texas and drove it back, turned out to be an OK deal as well.