Best Way to Buy a Car For Sale Across the Country?

[x2ski]

Today in Northeast Wisconsin, gas hit the $3.09 mark and all I have to say is: F-that.

Our current family automobiles are an '05 Expedition and a '99 Tahoe, each averaging about 14 mpg.

Since I live in Wisconsin and want a safe car for my son to ride in, I've decided on the 2005 Audi A6 quattro (awd).

Now, the problem is there aren't many available within 200 miles that are certified pre-owned from an authorized dealer. I plan on trading in the Tahoe, but don't want to waste time, gas money and miles driving to Jersey or Atlanta or Dallas or wherever to not like that particular dealer's specific A6 or trade-in price for my Tahoe or the salesman's codpiece or whatever, so what's the best way to do all this?

I plan on going to my local Audi dealer tomorrow and saying something like this:

"I'm looking for an '05 A6 with less than 40,000 miles for around $30,000... I know there is one at So-And-So Audi in Jersey and a few at WhatsIt's Imports in Atlanta. They are also also authorized Audi franchisees like yourself. Are there arrangements that can be made for you to get one or more of those cars in your inventory, so I can see if I would be interested? Otherwise, what can you do for me? I don't want a new model or different model, so don't waste your time"

Is this type of thing common, or unheard of? I would think that this type of thing goes down all the time... A potential customer is interested in a specific vehicle that isn't on the local dealer's lot, so the salesman hunts it down and delivers it in order to make a sale. Perhaps I'm out of my mind, but so what if I don't buy it (chances are I will)? Just throw it on the lot and sell it to someone else. It's not like I'm asking for some rare car that no one else would be interested in.

What are the chances of this working? If the chances are small, what is the best way to buy a car on the other side of the U.S. without wasting too much time and money? If it does work, is there a chance I would be obligated in any way because of the shipping costs? Just curious because I have absolutely no experience with this stuff whatsoever.

One final question - Who here has purchased a car through eBay, cars.com, AutoTrader etc. and had it delivered without ever test driving it? I don't think I would ever be capable of doing something like that, but maybe someone can convince me otherwise.

Thanks for the advice all.