My buddy fell for that "just needs a battery" line too (guy even had a fresh one sitting there as proof). Trick he uses now: bring a jack and spin the blades by hand, if the deck belts or spindles feel crunchy, walk away.

Check the one way and round trip flight prices too because that's the hidden cost most people skip. If you fly out to pick up a car you're looking at a ticket plus whatever it costs to get to the airport, and on short runs that can eat most of the savings from driving it yourself. The real math isnt shipping vs driving, its shipping vs driving plus a flight plus a day of your life. For anything under like 800 miles the drive usually wins unless the car is sketchy. Past 1500 miles or if the car has any age on it, book the truck and sleep in your own bed.