Purchasing the "S" ...
06-24-2008, 11:10 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
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Purchasing the "S" ...
Well, things change don't they. 
The '05 Boxster car that was touted to be 'what it was' .... was not. I could not believe how badly the interior of this car was treated in 3 short years. I've had trucks I've used to haul wood that had better interiors.
One wheel had serious rash ... another had a bent rim ! OUCH ! One tire was cut down and would fail at speed. There were quite a few stains, blemishes, worn areas on the natural full leather interior, too. The passenger side kick piece was torn loose and had been reglued ... and failed. Bird doo on the car in several places, dirt in the boot and it would take a toothbrush to get the crap outa the buttons.
Pretty unbelievable when one is selling a car. (sigh...) And, this is a Porsche certified car !
I drove 2 hours to the Porsche shop to view this crap. What a waste of time. Yes, most of the 'problem areas' were cosmetic, but WTF ... what Porsche shop would just take in a car several weeks ago and leave it in the back like this? I was a bit put off. And, said so.
Anyway, the deposit is back on my card and I have a new car that I have viewed/driven that I will buy. It has a few more miles on the clock ... and has a few less options, but is a far better car inside and out. It's a better car.
I will take the Z3 to the Porsche shop on Friday and drive home the '05 B-car-S. It's pretty nice. BTW, I had a $20K offer on the Z3. It's a good offer. Maybe this can be done at the dealer I sold the car to. I'm sure they would do undr $20K
The '05 Boxster car that was touted to be 'what it was' .... was not. I could not believe how badly the interior of this car was treated in 3 short years. I've had trucks I've used to haul wood that had better interiors.
One wheel had serious rash ... another had a bent rim ! OUCH ! One tire was cut down and would fail at speed. There were quite a few stains, blemishes, worn areas on the natural full leather interior, too. The passenger side kick piece was torn loose and had been reglued ... and failed. Bird doo on the car in several places, dirt in the boot and it would take a toothbrush to get the crap outa the buttons.
Pretty unbelievable when one is selling a car. (sigh...) And, this is a Porsche certified car !
I drove 2 hours to the Porsche shop to view this crap. What a waste of time. Yes, most of the 'problem areas' were cosmetic, but WTF ... what Porsche shop would just take in a car several weeks ago and leave it in the back like this? I was a bit put off. And, said so.
Anyway, the deposit is back on my card and I have a new car that I have viewed/driven that I will buy. It has a few more miles on the clock ... and has a few less options, but is a far better car inside and out. It's a better car.
I will take the Z3 to the Porsche shop on Friday and drive home the '05 B-car-S. It's pretty nice. BTW, I had a $20K offer on the Z3. It's a good offer. Maybe this can be done at the dealer I sold the car to. I'm sure they would do undr $20K
06-25-2008, 09:52 AM
#3
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That is exactly why you always take a first hand look at a car before you buy it... it's amazing what some people (even some dealerships) will try to pass off.
When you brought it up to the dealership, what did they say in return, out of curiosity? I can understand things like wear, stains, etc. but there absolutely should not have been any especially dirty areas.
When you brought it up to the dealership, what did they say in return, out of curiosity? I can understand things like wear, stains, etc. but there absolutely should not have been any especially dirty areas.
06-25-2008, 10:40 AM
#4
Burning Brakes
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That is exactly why you always take a first hand look at a car before you buy it... it's amazing what some people (even some dealerships) will try to pass off.
When you brought it up to the dealership, what did they say in return, out of curiosity? I can understand things like wear, stains, etc. but there absolutely should not have been any especially dirty areas.
When you brought it up to the dealership, what did they say in return, out of curiosity? I can understand things like wear, stains, etc. but there absolutely should not have been any especially dirty areas.
When the dealership brought out the car, they were talking about how 'very nice this unit is', and that it was a 'local lease return'. The car looked like any other semi dirty car in a mall parking lot. Not what I am used to seeing in any Porsche ... 911, Boxster, whatever.
I'm certainly not some neat freak (far from it, so I am told), but my cars are pretty clean inside and out. I don't detail anything, just wash, dry, vacuum, yada, yada every couple weeks or so.
Anyway, when I brought up how much wear and tear was on this car that was just 3 years old .... the agent said, "Well, these are just cosmetic things. We can fix all of this. Maybe new tires, 2 or 4 .... I don't know. The rim will be picked up and repaired. We have a guy that can make the interior look like new, too. The scratches can be buffed out or repainted."
This may be so, but I wonder why they were showing me the car like this .... and not like that. I would fix the car and get it ready to sell. And, altho the car had been there some weeks (I've seen the selling ad for some time and the price dropped $3K), the car looked like it was just driven in and dropped off by some slob.
The agent said that all this would be fixed by Friday. If it only takes 4-5 days to do this, why would they not do this in the past weeks? I dunno. But, the condition of the car put me off. If there is this much wear and tear on the outside, what about where I can't see and the mechanicals? And, this car was certified by Porsche? This leads me to believe that Porsche certified preowned (CPO) is like the Good Housekeeping Seal.
06-25-2008, 11:38 AM
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I can understand their offer to get everything cleaned up for you... but your 100% right, it's all stuff they should have taken care of BEFORE showing it to a serious buyer. Your proof positive that that kind of attitude will only lose sales.
It also speaks about the dealerships customer service. If they didn't care enough about your money to even clean the car, then they don't care enough about your money to provide you decent follow up customer service, should you ever need it. At least, that's my two cents.
It also speaks about the dealerships customer service. If they didn't care enough about your money to even clean the car, then they don't care enough about your money to provide you decent follow up customer service, should you ever need it. At least, that's my two cents.
06-25-2008, 01:19 PM
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Sad. A lot of dealerships only care about flipping cars and making a buck. Maybe they are hoping that the next customer was a slob, too! When my wife got a NEW Lexus, on multiple pre-delivery checklists, every item was checked off and initialed. Yet, there were several items initialed by two different people that were clearly not done (such as configuring some accessory for USA operation). If they can't even inspect a new car, I lost all faith in the CPO process. </rant>
I, too, have seen some cars that were only 2 or 3 years old (Mercedes, BMWs) that were IMO disgracefully thrashed, such as the leather had been all clawed by their pets and filthy in every nook and cranny despite the 5 gallons of Armor-All. I let the dealer know these were in worse condition than the 10 year-old car it would be replacing. You did the right thing and congratulations on your new find. There are too many Porsche folks out there that love their cars and take excellent care of them to settle for something less than you expect.
I, too, have seen some cars that were only 2 or 3 years old (Mercedes, BMWs) that were IMO disgracefully thrashed, such as the leather had been all clawed by their pets and filthy in every nook and cranny despite the 5 gallons of Armor-All. I let the dealer know these were in worse condition than the 10 year-old car it would be replacing. You did the right thing and congratulations on your new find. There are too many Porsche folks out there that love their cars and take excellent care of them to settle for something less than you expect.
06-25-2008, 08:07 PM
#7
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06-25-2008, 10:59 PM
#8
Herr Unmöglich
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I drove 3 hours to a dealer in a nearby city to check out a 2000 S that the sales manager told me was a solid 8.5/10.
When we got there, the rear window was in need of immediate replacement. The top had several near tears. The CD mechanism and radio were sticky from soda spilled from the dash cupholder. There was coffee or soda staining the floor behind the passenger seat. And they were asking 27K for it with no warranty, with over 60K miles and did not seem to want to budge.
It was ridiculous. Was quite dissatisfied with that experience. But we found an 01S with lower mileage, better options, and much cheaper a month later.
Glad to hear you got a car. I have really been enjoying mine lately with the perfect weather we have had in Portland. Go for a nice long drive and have fun!
When we got there, the rear window was in need of immediate replacement. The top had several near tears. The CD mechanism and radio were sticky from soda spilled from the dash cupholder. There was coffee or soda staining the floor behind the passenger seat. And they were asking 27K for it with no warranty, with over 60K miles and did not seem to want to budge.
It was ridiculous. Was quite dissatisfied with that experience. But we found an 01S with lower mileage, better options, and much cheaper a month later.
Glad to hear you got a car. I have really been enjoying mine lately with the perfect weather we have had in Portland. Go for a nice long drive and have fun!
06-27-2008, 10:44 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Well ..... I picked up my 2005 one owner, 25K mile, black/black Certified Pre-Owned Boxster S today. And, I must say, it is a fun car to drive. (of course all my P-cars are fun to drive, eh)
It would not have been my 1st choice of color .... black is sooooooo damned hard to keep looking great. But, it was all shined up and stuff .... drives like scalded rabbit, too. Very clean, seems well maintained ... and, I really enjoy driving it.
Sooooooooooo much better than the Z3 in every way. Including more expensive by twice. BTAIM .... it's only money.
It's a bit early to say this, but I think I could deal with a Boxster S with 315 ponies for $62K new vs a 911 series with 370 horses running $100K+. The 2 cars drive so very much differently and lay down the power differently, too. Of course, the 997 is much more powerful and brutish. And, it looks better to me .... that said, the Boxster looks like it's brother. The DNA is certainly related. Yeah, I could live with a bit more powerful B-car ... But, that remains to be seen in a couple years.
I did look carefully at the hood and front end .... light 'sand blasting" on the bumper cover and a few stone nicks on the hood, too. I was going to have the car Simonized and a clear bra done, but I think it will need a respray of the front end before I do this. No sense covering stone chips and sand blasting with $1200 worth of clear bra and Simonize.
Anybody do a respray?
It would not have been my 1st choice of color .... black is sooooooo damned hard to keep looking great. But, it was all shined up and stuff .... drives like scalded rabbit, too. Very clean, seems well maintained ... and, I really enjoy driving it.
Sooooooooooo much better than the Z3 in every way. Including more expensive by twice. BTAIM .... it's only money.
It's a bit early to say this, but I think I could deal with a Boxster S with 315 ponies for $62K new vs a 911 series with 370 horses running $100K+. The 2 cars drive so very much differently and lay down the power differently, too. Of course, the 997 is much more powerful and brutish. And, it looks better to me .... that said, the Boxster looks like it's brother. The DNA is certainly related. Yeah, I could live with a bit more powerful B-car ... But, that remains to be seen in a couple years.
I did look carefully at the hood and front end .... light 'sand blasting" on the bumper cover and a few stone nicks on the hood, too. I was going to have the car Simonized and a clear bra done, but I think it will need a respray of the front end before I do this. No sense covering stone chips and sand blasting with $1200 worth of clear bra and Simonize.
Anybody do a respray?
06-29-2008, 07:30 PM
#14
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Thanx for the congratulations.
I must say the car is very fun to drive. We took it down to the shore today for lunch .... spent most of the 200+ miles on back roads with lots of twisties and little traffic. I did the same roads this morning on a motorcycle, but did it 'backwards' in the S.
Top was down the entire time (air management is pretty good) except when a small shower came thru. Got some rays and I love the car's appearance with the top down. Looks kewl.
I don't think I will miss my 997. Well, maybe a little .... but I still have 9-10 months on it's lease. Just being proactive about buying an S while I was still thinking about it. Odd, eh.
I must say the car is very fun to drive. We took it down to the shore today for lunch .... spent most of the 200+ miles on back roads with lots of twisties and little traffic. I did the same roads this morning on a motorcycle, but did it 'backwards' in the S.
Top was down the entire time (air management is pretty good) except when a small shower came thru. Got some rays and I love the car's appearance with the top down. Looks kewl.
I don't think I will miss my 997. Well, maybe a little .... but I still have 9-10 months on it's lease. Just being proactive about buying an S while I was still thinking about it. Odd, eh.
06-29-2008, 08:22 PM
#15
Herr Unmöglich
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Looks great... ours isn't mint but it's a driver. Heck why spend 62K for 315 horses when you can just buy a used one for 25 and then put a 911 powerplant in it for much less money?
They really are great cars to drive. I've been driving ours a lot lately and we are doing about 500 miles in it next weekend. I can't wait... it really is a great road car.
They really are great cars to drive. I've been driving ours a lot lately and we are doing about 500 miles in it next weekend. I can't wait... it really is a great road car.
