bennwerk

I'm looking at buying Carrera 3.2 and want to get a prepurchase inspection conducted. The private seller lives a stone's throw from the well-regarded Porsche specialist who regularly services the car. Are there advantages/disadvantages to getting PPI at the place that services it? Should I get a fresh set of eyes on the vehicle? Would like to hear some thoughts.

BLACK3.2

Yes, you should absolutely go with a different mechanic, not so much for a fresh set of eyes, but to avoid bias because the seller's mechanic is going to rate his own work highly, and he may want to protect the seller, with whom he has an existing relationship. By contrast, he may never see you again.

inspectX

@bennwerk: Totally agree with @BLACK3.2. If the owner takes the car in and the shop comes back with lots of findings, it undermines the quality of the work that the shop has done on the car. A shop has every incentive to underreport issues on a car they service, so an impartial opinion is important.

If we can help schedule a PPI on the car, please let us know. We have a network of modern and air-cooled Porsche specialists who travel out to a car for a full PPI. Thanks!

oldskewel

I think that if the mechanic has a good reputation (and deserves it), they will give you a fair evaluation. They don't want their reputation tarnished. And I don't think there is much incentive for the mechanic to be deceitful just to benefit one of their customers.

Here's my data point on this:

When I bought my '85, back in 1996, the PO had it serviced at a reputable mechanic (the Stable) up in SF. The PO had a final service (oil change, etc., just because he wanted to send it off in good shape) and also paid (yes, the PO paid for the inspection) for a minor PPI (once-over, but not a compression test, etc., since the car was basically know to be solid) that revealed a few very minor things. I finalized the deal and picked up the car at the mechanic's shop in SF.

and ...

Everything was perfect, and still is.

cfiiman

I agree with this, it is about the mechanic's reputation. He shouldn't discover anything that the owner doesn't know regarding any "previous" work, and if there is anything "new" to discover so be it. When I purchased my 996TT I purchased from a dealer that had it on consignment. His brother, the lead mechanic and owner, ran their other business which was a well known Porsche performance/repair shop. I let them do the inspection because I trusted their reputation. Also if you think about it, to me at least, I would tend to think a mechanic that works on a car would be even more thorough because if something does come back there is no "well it must of been the other shop that did it" excuse. But again, the key is a "reputable" shop/mechanic.

BLACK3.2

You guys who are happy with getting your inspections or PPIs done by the seller or seller's shop are just lucky. Most people are honest. Hell, most sellers are honest. You do a PPI to screen out the significant minority who are out there to screw you and get theirs. The PPI will protect you from that 10% chance that you will lost tens of thousands of dollars buying someone else's problem.

Yes, if you KNOW a shop has a good reputation and you KNOW they want to keep that reputation, then by all means use them. That is a rare situation when buying a car from so far away that you have to go on the internet to ask for recommendations.

GTgears

A good mechanic is not going to lie about the car on behalf of one guy at the risk of later having you slam his reputation all over the internet. If their reputation is good now, I would trust them to do a PPI.

Kurzheck

This. However, I will say that the tech that was recommended for a PPI for a purchase I made (I did not use him for this reason), had serviced the car prior to being offered for sale, as he does for all their cars. A few things were missed, such as a missing air box strap to the CIS system having a by-pass performed on the fuel enrichment device. Ironically, the tech I did take it to who has a solid rep also missed this stuff. So go figure.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed that Porsche experts could miss such simple items. When I took it to my guy where I live, he saw this stuff, among other items, in minutes.

theiceman

if you are expecting a PPi to catch everything you will be sorely disappointed. personally I am not paying a Porsche tech to report on a 5 dollar rubber strap. You are looking to avoid major thing you can see on a lift that you cant see anywhere else.

I would expect him to check for rust in suspension , obvious or hidden accident damage. maybe pay extra for compression or leakdown including head stud inspection. I don't care about minor stuff.

RFP

I agree 100%. Mayo Performance services my car (I've known Ed Mayo for nearly four decades), and he and his shop would be completely honest and objective... and I would want them to.

GTgears