We bought a car out of Louisiana. We looked at plenty of pictures of course before making our decision. Lots of phone conversations with the owner also. We called NHRA and had them do a chassis cert on the car before we would head down to get it. The NHRA tech guy was very helpful in the fact that he not only passed the car for 8.50 cert he also called us back and let us know his thoughts on the car.
One thing to make sure of is make sure the car was built for a driver your size. We had to move a couple of bars when we got the car back to Michigan so I could fit more comfortably. Other than that it was a good experience.