Hey Jim, thanks for the note and vote of confidence That's exactly how I explained the VMI to my wife. And is exactly what the case was with my 960 volvo... the dealer repair receipts from the orignal owner stack 1" high -- but even with 160k on the odometer, she's the most reliable car I've ever had.

I was surprised too. about the lack of quality cars in the DFW area.. but everything I was finding here was either retail priced or had prior accident issues. One car I looked at last week ('02 / black) had factory paint all over it except for the rear drivers door and quarter and one side of the trunk lid, yet the hood and fenders had been removed.

Not a good sign. And none of that showed up in the carpy carfax report. Total red flag.

The quality/private party valued cars just aren't here -- which suprised me. I concluded that all the nice one or two owner cars were getting snapped up by wholesalers and then auctioned, which are primarily procured at various car dealerships in the metroplex. Most of the car lot cars (craigslist, autotrader, etc.) I saw had issues.

Nice thing is my flight will cost nothing (employee perk). I'll just lose hotel fare for a night and some fuel money and about 10 hours of driving time