Would anyone be willing to share their opinions/experience with John Witmer at AIC Auto Sales with me? I would greatly appreciate it! Many thanks!

 

I have spoken with and exchanged emails with him regarding cars he as listed on his site and he has always been helpful and professional. I have never purchased from him but that is not a reflection on him more me finding something else somewhere else that I wanted to buy more than what he had for sale.

 

John's been nice on the phone.
He has a gorgeous '87 Cassis metallic coupe that's been in his inventory since 2006...I wonder why it's never sold?
$33 k is a bit high, but look at it...it's beautiful.
That's nice black Turbo cab too.

 

I will vouch for John. I have purchased several cars from him, and his inventory is top notch. I have driven the white 86 Carrera, and it is a sweet and well set up car, with working air. I have seen the Cassis car a number of times, and personally I can't get past the color. His prices are fair for what he sells, largely because you don't have to worry about the car being good. His cars are good, and I have never heard anyone say a bad word about him.

If I were a 911 virgin, I would buy from him. He is not my friend, and I have no affiliation. I have done a few deals with him, and believe me, if he pissed me off, I would make it my personal business to share it with everyone who asks. He has been doing this a long time, so he must be doing something right.

BTW, that green car that is currently off the market is his personal autocross car. If you are looking for that sort of thing, and it comes up again, BUY IT, because he likes fast cars and it is well set up.

 

I have the utmost respect for John... persoanlly sold several cars to him. I also recommended others who sold their p-cars and bought from him as well. His has a very solid reputation for selling high-end (low miles) Porsche and his prices reflect that.

In short, a good guy all around!

Cheers,

Jascha

 

Honest and straight shooting guy from my dealings with him.

 

I have also done business with John. Good guy, no pressure and very responsive.

 

This will be an odd first post.

I don't really want to detract from the positive comments, or throw any dirt--not my style--but, I do have a less than positive story with AIC.

I bought my first Porsche from John, and let him know that up front. I had several reasons for wanting to work with a private dealer/dealership like AIC, but those aren't relevant here.

Anyway, I purchased an '86 Targa from Whitmer. What I did not know and he did not disclose is that the right rear quarter had been damaged and repaired; not all that well. I was not so experienced and did not identify the repair. The car certainly wasn't priced cheaply to reflect the damage, in fact it was at a premium.

After I bought the car, lot's of more experienced folks upon first seeing the car immediately noted the repair: bad wheel well curvature, overspray, kinda mismatched colors, etc.

So, shame on me? Shoulda seen it? Whitmer had no duty to disclose? The car also had a faulty locking mechanism on the passenger door that I did not identify because I never thought to lock the door during my testing with Whitmer; he then refused to take responsibility for it. Again, my bad? His bad?

Otherwise, the car was as advertised/represented: generally well maintained, stock, tight, etc.

My overall thinking is that if the body work was so obvious to others with experience and more knowledge (powers of observation) than me, then it certainly should have been obvious to someone with Whitmer's experience. Also, Whitmer advertises that he thoroughly inspects all of his cars and will provide paperwork for the inspection and any repairs he undertakes. Again, should the damage obvious to others have been identified? It wasn't an functional problem, but more a question of disclosure and professionalism. And, if anyone cares to ask, he did not respond to my questions about the damage after the purchase.

Anyway, he is a stalwart in the PCA community and has been in business for many years with lots of pleased customers. I am only relating my personal, individual experience. It's not like the engine or tranny grenaded, or that there was extensive rust, etc. Also, you will have to decide if his premium pricing is justified.

YMMV

Aaron

 

Doesn't seem like an odd post to me. Was that a white targa ? I might have driven it.

A good reminder that we need to be vigilant with any potential purchase. A good PPI should still disclose things we might be tempted to gloss over when considering a nice driver regardless of the source.

 

Yeah, it was a GP White Targa. Basically a solid car. And, if I'd only known then what a proper targa top recovering should be like . . .

I thought my post was an odd first one because usually folks will first post to say "hello", "here's some pics of my pride and joy, project, etc", seeking help/advice.

'Course, you'd think I would have learned some lessons. The next car is a beaut of a story. Not really sure if the "average" PPI would have identified the need to rebuild a 3.2-3.4 conversion by a well-known builder after only 7,000 miles. I think I'm done buying cars for quite a while.

Bottom line, don't think twice about an independent PPI. Its a one-time insurance premium. Now, if the car comes with one heck of a warranty, matters are a touch different.

 

If you're in the area up there, try Tim Holt also. I got my 87 coupe (52K miles) from him last year. He's in West Chester. http://www.holtmotorsports.com/

 

Majic