Steam Driver

You have to expect some defects; these are used (some very used) cars for Pete's sake, even though they are Porsches. There is a book out there - I forget who wrote it - about buying a used Porsche that is very amusing. It is full of "if you find this, walk away" statements about some pretty petty items. If potential buyers went by that book's advice no used Porsches (or anything else) would ever change hands.

"If the ash tray is full, thank the seller and walk away."

I'm sure some of you know the publication I'm talking about.

theiceman

There was all kinds wrong with my car when i bought it . But noting i couldnt handle .. even the oil leaks i thought were relatively minor and have not increased in 6 years .. about 2 quarters worth on the garage floor after a spirited drive. Best purchase i ever made ..

I actually ran into someone years later who asked me about the car .. they passed up on it before i bought it for " issues" , but they told me after looking over my car it was the biggest mistake he ever made..

things i noticed on my inspection without a ppi ..

fan belt was on last legs .. only a few strands left ...
engine compartment was filthy and full of debris from engine pad crumbling ..
heater blower seized
filthy inside.
a few oil leaks ..
viny peeling off targa bar and falling down.
one headlight sprayer missing. front rubber on bumper falling off and broken
rear bumperette on one side half gone .

when i started it it roared to life ... sold ...

Tremelune

How can a few grand here or there on a car purchase be the worst mistake anyone has ever made? The more I think about it, the more the "right price" won't matter in ten years and 50k miles...

theiceman

well only if you buy a car for 20 grand .. then find out head studs are broken .. or compresion and leak down is off .. on a 911 engine you are looking at conservatively 12-15 grand.

yumyum1667

These cars are not getting any younger. A PPI is your best friend.

rusnak

there are some very valid points here. On my last 911, the one that I usually post about here, I didn't have a PPI. I had 20 years of driving experience though, and the guy let me check compression, get under the car, and drive it. After about an hour, I had a list of things that would need to be fixed, and a cost. The guy dropped the price by $3,300 right there, on the spot. We shook hands, and I paid him $500 right there to hold the car until I could come back the next week. Best car I ever bought, most fun drive ever driving it home. I'll never forget that day.

The items were: new carpet, new brakes, some bulbs out, door pockets, headliner, crushed oil lines on right side of car, and dodgy Dunlop tires. I spent $1,000 to fix the car almost as soon as I got it home, mostly on the two oil lines. The pluses were brand new gorgeous paint (silver blue), a first class stereo system that you simply have to hear to believe, a solid engine, solid clutch, good syncros, 160,000 miles, oil consumption was maybe 1 qt every 900 miles in winter. I paid around $15,000 for it. Edit: This is the car that has now over 400,000 miles with no engine work.

niche

Only way around a PPI is to buy the car so cheap it doesn't matter because you can dump it.

theiceman

im not sure i would go that far, but definitely a recommendaation to get a PPI for those unfamiliar with the marque or not the most technically minded.

TT Oversteer

A PPI is only as good as the mechanic doing it. To do it correctly one must spend several hours inspecting the car and doing a road test. For example: who cares if the lights work and the condition of the tires if you don't pull the valve covers to check for broken head studs? On a 3.2 will your mechanic take the time or have the expertise to determine the condition of the valve guides? To do a proper leak down test rather than a simple compression test? It takes time to get to know a car intimately. How much are you going to spend? As someone stated above, these cars all have issues. Which ones are you willing to live with at your budget? At some point you have to make a judgment call and accept a little risk...there are no warranties on 25 year old cars.

HarryD

You need do do a PPI but before you give a third party money, do your own.

In the car above, you could easily find out the non working AC, faulty indicator lights, non working windows etc.

When you inspect thte car be as through as you can. Get the PPI Chacklist and figure out what you can check your self with a flashlight and a careful eye. You will be amazed how many cars can be weeded out.

Decide what is a deal kiiler and what will require money off to make you close the deal. To me, Deal kiilers are things like bad engine needing rebuild (low leakdown/compression), obvious oil leaks, visible rust etc.

Tremelune

Most cars to be had are 1000 miles away from wherever you are...

Tremelune

Heh, believe it or not, I bought this car. Turns out the guy didn't really want to sell it, but I suspect that he had to try for wife reasons. He went back and forth on it for days, but I eventually wound up with the car. It's fantastic.

zirrah

Not to be harsh but if the cost of PPI's bother you, a Porsche may not be the best car for you unless you plan on doing all the maintenance yourself. They aren't particularly cheap to maintain. PPI's are worth it though, nothing like buying a car and forgoing a PPI to save $200 and then forking out $3k or more for something being broken or about to break.

SARGEPUG

This is a good point in addition to what a couple others said here. My car had 76k on the clock and now about 78,500. I bought my car w/ the knowlege of a slight engine leak. Of course the deal was contingent upon a PPI.
PPI confirmed that leak was so slight, that is was irrelevant and not worth the big bucks it would be to fix. Knock on wood, it has remained the same.
PPI also pickup up needing a E-brake adjustment, Valve cover gasket replacement, Wheel bearing adjustment, couple oil lines needed replacing, ckutch cable needed corrosion cleaned / removed, A/C barely adequate, Blaupunkt Monterey faulty other than for cassettes and radio antenna disfunctional. Overall it cost me $1,200 to fix all, inclusive of a LOF and the PPI cost. I didn't bother w/ the radio issues.
Shop owner raved about the car and loved it. It already came modded with all the suspenion / stabilizer upgrades and cat bypass. Since I bought the car about 2 yrs ago, I just needed the front calipers rebuilt and elected to change the old exisitng brake lines. Even the brake work and the time of purchase, would not have stoped me from buying the car.

If one gets too picky, they will wind with nothing or need to spend money on Barrett Jackson quality vehicle.

terbiumactivated

If you shop for cars above 100K miles you should expect oil leaks, dead suspension components, tired AC, worn clutches and synchros, even a Porsche is an old car past 100K miles unless the PO is a service maniac. As for PPI it's only as good as the person doing it, just like factory certification, it's not like a guy flies out from Porsche to do the certification as such the quality of the work is only as good as the quality of the dealer.