cpdjfd107

Hi guys and gals, As the title said I just put a deposit on a 1997 Arena red on cashmere C4S. It was at Porsche of Minneapolis, I saw it on Ebay and called within minutes of it being posted. They just took it in on trade. They serviced it there,and the previous owner owned it for approx 8 years. It has 71k miles. The pictures weren't too descriptive (options sticker, etc), so the purchase is conditional of the PPI. It has the wooden shifter, e-brake and steering wheel which is tan with wood. It looked in good condition. The salesman told me that it had a small spot of rust smaller than a dime starting under the rear windshield gasket. Obviously this freaks me out and I will have to see the close up pictures and figure that into the price if I get anything off of my original offer. So a couple questions I have is:
1. Would you let the Porsche dealer (Porsche of Minneapolis) that it is at do the PPI? And if not any reccomendations for a good PPI place in the Minneapolis area?

2. Does anyone know this car. Arena red on cashmere, wood shifter, ebrake, amd tan on wood sterring wheel. 71k miles. License plate is "97 C4S". It looks like it has wide ovals on the exhaust and with the plate thinking it may be an enthusiast or even a rennlister with some info on the car. Well, thats about it. Maybe I will be back in a C4S soon. Should have listened to you guys and not sold my Polar silver C4S.

heres the link on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...t_13910wt_1165



Chris

cmd4

Congrats!Looks like it was well loved and maintained!

samsnead

Congrats, looks like a great carr!

C4S993

Just based on the Ebay pics I'd say you did well.

RonCT

I would have them forward to you their own in-house PPI, which I've done before using the standard Porsche CPO checklist and the service schedule. They say 60k service just done, so they can provide you with all sorts of service information. That's all "free" and based on that you can decide whether to get an independent involved.

They can also provide you with a VIN report, which will give you all of the factory goodies that the car was built with.

Good luck,
Ron

nile13

Chris, i absolutely would not let the dealership do PPI. Any dealership, but, especially, the one selling the car.

What you should ask them to do is provide service history. Since car was serviced by them, supposedly, they should have easy access to it and can send it to you. What i would also ask for is the name of the previous owner. Or at least would try to find it. That will be a great source of invaluable info - just call him and ask about the car.

I see a US Turbo bumper on the car, btw. Did C4S come with it stock or was it a replacement?

RonCT

Differing opinions. I would let the dealership do PPI if it's a credible dealership and will stand behind the car it is selling. This isn't "Jimmy's Used Cars". And as I suggested, the first step is to get their full report on the condition of the car and then judge.

In my case I've purchased 2 cars from far distances using this method from Porsche dealers. In both cases the cars were better than reported. In one case something minor was an issue "after the fact" (hood struts) and the selling Porsche dealer immediately shipped 2 replacements along with a check for the labor to swap out the old ones.

P-daddy

Agreed

Onami

For $3,500 more I would buy the 46,000 mile one owner C4S that I posted the info on last week. No rust, better options and 30,000 less miles!

cpdjfd107

Yeah, I saw that one but I paid only 44k for this pending a good ppi and after I review the carfax and service records from them. They said they know the owner quite well, as he had them perform all his service. But I won't lie to you the tiny rust issue freaks me the F_CK out. I was in the market for something under 40k so I kind of accepted that it would be a NB, but seeing I can get into a mid-higher mileage WB for 44k I jumped at it. I totally have no problem turning the car down if I see or read something I don't like other than the rust.

nile13

My issue with _any_ dealership doing PPI on _any_ car is actually with how dealerships are set up and what they do for a living. 90% of their work is on newer cars. That's just the nature of the beast. Chances of today's Porsche dealership having any mechanic on staff who has any serious experience with any air cooled car are fairly slim, considering that they have not made them for 15 years and have not seen them under warranty for at least 11.

That is on the factual side. On the other hand, if you truly think that any dealership out there is that much different from "Jimmy's Used Car"... yes there is a chance of that but the chance is low and I'm not really willing to take it myself. It doesn't help that I've spent some (short) time in the industry, specifically in a high-end German dealership. Than again, there are reasons that I've never bought any car from any dealership in 27 years of buying cars (and about 20 cars in that span?), so I'm a bit of an outlier, statistically.

goofballdeluxe

NEVER let the place that is selling the car do the PPI. Always have the PPI done by an objective 3rd party with a knowledge of these cars.

cmd4

He may have gotten it for less than the buy it now.

cmd4

Oops! 3 posts all while I was typing ! Sounds like you did alright ... And yeah dealership doing ppi that's selling it may not be the best idea , but hey maybe they are honest .... Atleast they told u about the rust

cpdjfd107

Ok so I won't do a PPI at their dealership. I will get all the paperwork/service records and try to talk to the PO. The salesman didn't know too much about the car. When I started talking leakdown/compression check I might has well been speaking an ancient form of Latin, he had no idea what they meant.

Is anyone close by to do a quick rennfax for me before I schedule the PPI? Also, any reccomendations for a PPI area in Minneapolis?

Also, from the pictures the car seems a little lower than stock SUV ride height, can someone here do a double check on the Ebay ad for me and confirm this, it would be great if it wasn't sitting on the stock Monroes. Also, what exhaust tips do those look like?

Nile 13 I was going to ask you to do a drive by and check this out for me
http://providence.craigslist.org/ctd/4037619603.html
He is way overpriced but talking to the guy at the place seemed willing to lower very easily.