[thstone]

Its a world economy - don't pay more just because a car is "local". All you have to do is hire a car inspector for about $300 in the city where the car is located and he'll go and do the PPI at the owners location and then write a very nice report with all of the findings and tons of photos. Then call him and get his impressions of the car in person. I've bought two cars this way and they have both worked out great (I've also passed a several cars using this approach after finding out they weren't what I had hoped for).