gunlover05

Has anyone went through the process of buying a 964 from a long distance away? What are the expected costs/hassles involved? I imagine you pump the owner or dealer for as much as you can, then arrange for a PPI in thier town? If that checks out good, then what? I've heard of people flying out, completing the deal and driving it back...ever bought one and have never really driven it and had it shipped based on a PPI?

Just curious as I've never even contimplated this @ a car before, but searching for a really good 964 deal might mean I have to find one far away from Knoxville, TN or wait for many months for one <100 miles away.

last toy

Bought mine in Texas, cost $650 to ship to Cleveland where I picked it up. Driver did a good job. I would not do this again without seeing and driving first hand. I really lucked out because I think my car is better than expected but I did throw $1500 into it in the first 4 months. Dealer did a less than average job preping it. I had to go over it and tighen every screw and not happy with the burning oil smell from a minor oil leak. If you buy one from afar, try to get the name of the prior owner and discuss the car with him or her. You can get from a Crafax. Join rennlist and you can get a member near the seller to do a better PPI than a local shop. Go one step further and buy a Porsche from a PCA member. Better chance of getting full disclosure and better quality.

Bearclaw

I did 3 long-distance PPI's on 3 different '80's Carrera's, each with lousier results than the one before, all had major issues that the owner either didn't know about or didn't reveal. It sucks, turning people down AND telling them bad sh*t about their car. The last owner felt so bad about it, she reimbursed me the money. Just about threw in the towel. Decided that I'd have better luck if I ponied up more dough and tried to buy newer, so I started looking for a 964 (very glad I did). Saw this '91 C4 in Autotrader at a Porsche dealer, talked to them, had all the service recs for the last 10 years faxed to me and had them do a paint thickness check. It had just had the 60K service. That was basically my own PPI. I felt ok about it, and I basically rolled the dice. I felt like, if I dinked around too much, somebody else would step in and buy it - so I guess emotion had taken over by that time . Shipped it out from IL to Seattle and it turned out to be really sweet - better than they described it. It's developed a little balkiness in the heater fan control, but hey, it's 15 years old...

I told myself I would never buy one without putting my hands on it, but then I went ahead and did it anyway. My friends were convinced it would be a piece of crap, esp. coming from a dealer, but I guess you can actually trust a few of them.

PS, if you do buy one long-distance, I can recommend a great guy to do enclosed shipping with 'gentle tie-down' (to quote Quagmire: "Oohhh, yeahhh..." ). I've shipped a lot of cars, and this guy is the best.

Bill Gregory

If you haven't already, you might try a search, as this gets periodically discussed.

N51

This has to stop. Depleting my State of its' natural(Targa) resources. Anyone thinking Targas are unloved should trying buying a clean 964 Targa. They move quickly.

Gunlover',
Don't let distance stand in the way. I found mine in California. Did the PPI. Bought a roundtrip flight. At the last moment, decided to drive it home. Everyone should do it. Try to pick an area of the country you know the least. The drive and experience are all worth it. Never forget; you're doing it to have fun.
Best wishes on your search.

Noah

Bearclaw

Hey, it was sitting there waiting for a new IL home. Salesman said, "I don't get it: we've had this car out front for a week. Nobody even looked at it. Then some guy calls up from Seattle and buys it. Next day I got 5 people on the lot wanting to buy it...???($$$ ) "

I'm usually one of the 5 guys who's a day too late.

Steven C.

Did the opposite of BearClaw, bought mine from Cleveland and shipped it to Texas after a PPI. Turned out better than I thought it would be. Bought my 996 from Atlanta and had it shipped to Texas after a PPI. Turned out exactly as I expected. Bought a hobby car from San Diego in 2000 off the net and after a PPI had it shipped to Texas. Turned out better than I expected.

So, after all these experiences I would suggest. 1. Make up or get an inspection form for the shop to use. 2. Call anyone and everyone whoever even looked at the car and ask questions....100's of questions. For every car I have bought I have passed on 10 to 20 others and I e-mail on cars on EBay all the time for the fun of it.

Gary R.

Bought my 91 from a great guy in Atlanta, GA (Michael) and flew down for a final inspection and test drive after having a local PPI done. Mike was 1st class all the way, even had me picked up anf brought to his home in a limo. I drove her home and loved every second, about 1000 miles. I bought my 93 from Ken in Tulsa, OK and had a similar experience, and a great drive home... Would do it all over again in a heartbeat! Get AAA for a bit of insurance against problems and do it!

hawk911

Bought mine from CO; PPI by the dealer's mechanic; wrong choice. nothing major on it, but ya just never know. There were more cosmetic issues than mechanical, which I'm fixing over time. Drove it home from CO to WI; took 18 hrs to do it, but it was pure joy!!!!

mhm993

I've bought 2 long distance--lots of phone conversation, good kharma from the PO, satisfactory PPI, drove it home.
First time car was good and a good experience. Second time the car was great, and the PO even offered to fly me home if the car wasn't as offered.
Do it.
Oh, and drive it home, for heaven's sake!

AOW162435

I found my '95 last year after searching for a few months. Many, many emails and phone conversations with the owner gave me a pretty solid feeling for the car. I arranged for a PPI local to the seller and then bought a plane ticket once the clean PPI results came back. Flew out on September 12 and spent the next five glorious days driving it 3,145 miles from Seattle to Baltimore, via Canada. An absolute road trip of a lifetime - without a single hitch.

Andreas

Smokin

I bought mine after seeing it on the Internet. I live in Maryland and the car was in California. I didn't go with a PPI... I had a friend in the area stop by and drive it. He also went over all the records (a lot!). I then paid to have it shipped by covered carrier cross country.

I couldn't believe the condition of the car. It litterally looked like it was driven off the showroom floor. (And still does except for two small stone chips and a ding in the windshield!) Knowing what I know now... I think I would have waited until I either found a car close to me or found someone on Rennlist that wanted to sell.

I got REALLY lucky with my car. (As others in the same situation have said.)

doug751

Live in Michigan. I am 2 for 3.

Nice 911 from Fort Wayne, private seller. No PPI, car was awsome.
Nice 968 from Arkansas, private seller. No PPI, minor issues, happy overall.

POS 964 from Houston Dealer (Cheeseball Hummer Ferrari place), Paid $500 for PPI from local shop listed in Houston PCA mag. Paid $27,500 for "mint" 1993 964 with 45,000 miles. Shop told me to buy car, exact words "nice car, buy it. Car had rust under rubber seals, leaked oil from every possible place, needed shifter bushings, AC rebuild, AC fan, power steering pump, weeks upon weeks of work to fix oil leaks, too much more to list. Dealer or shop topped off oil with about 3 quarts too many so that oil was squirting out of top end. Should have returned car that I picked up on a Saturday. Weekend of Katrina, had appointements in Austin, Houston, Beaumont, Tulsa and then drove car home. Never again. Do not buy from Houston. PM me and I will tell you the name of the dealer and shop. Finally got car sorted out this spring and rust repaired. Crashed car at Watkins Glen. Bad Start, Bad Karma. Should have just kept the truely mint 1989 911 that I sold after I bought this bomb.

Smokin

I'm in the business and can tell you that auto dealers out there are slicker than owl sh*t. When it comes to making a dime they would sell a heap to their own mother (90% of them anyway!)... When it comes to buying a new car you have no choice and it's just a matter of price. With our cars it's not only a matter of price but of quality of the car and of the service it has received. On Rennlist I know the condition of pretty much everyone's car from the posts they make. If I don't... I can always research the problems they have had. You can't do that with a dealer. Buying from a private owner (preferably a PCA., Rennlist or ******* member would give me more peace of mind. I have witnessed many trouble free sales here at Rennlist.

**Part of what I do is train auto dealers. I can tell you... when it comes to money, most of them would tell you anything to make that extra dime!

911addict

I'd NEVER do this again.

The dealer was a SH*T and didn't do alot of the work promised.
The inspector, while he picked up alot of issues, he missed out loads, and also a 3rd party will almost always miss out on 'soft' issues, ie. personal preferences of condition of interior, carpets, paint on callipers etc.

I had to spend a lot of money on bringing the car up to my required standard, and a heap of hassle with disputes. Frankly if I'd seen it myself I'd not have bought it. Its much better to take a day off and spend the travel costs (or even stay away overnight) as a couple of hundred is better than the thousands it could cost you.

And don't believe promises or recommendations, DO IT YOURSELF!

Good luck.