Warpig

I have made a pending deal with a seller of a 91' C4 with 50K miles in the Indianapolis area. Looking for PPI in the area. Seller says car has been maintained by Bob Farmer of Farmer's Automotive since ~35K miles. I have done some searching on Bob & have read nothing but praise. He will talk your ear off, great guy, is a straight shooter, honest, will tell you like it is even if you don't like it, fair prices, has forgotten more than most Porsche mechanics know, specializes in air cooled 911's etc etc. Sounds like the perfect mechanic for my PPI. My conflict is that the seller has also recommended him for the PPI. I normally would insist on a independent PPI, however It seems as if Bob would be the best choice for the job in the area. I was planning on at least talking to Bob about the car in question before purchase at a minimum. Anyone have any feedback on whether I should use Bob Farmer for PPI even though he was also recommended by the seller?

Nick

Streetfighter

If he is the best in the area than that maybe your best option. It does sometime help to have a mechanic that knows the car well, I would not let put you off. If you feel comfortable with Farmer then I say go for it.

wellcraft290

Wnt thru the same thing my self with a car in NJ. I would talk to the mechanic about teh car, but bring it to a 3rd party. The car i looked at ended up having issues. Do you really think that the original mechanic would tell you or the seller that after 15k in work the engine is shot only after 10,000 miles since they put a turbo kit on? NO WAY.

talk to BOB and ask him about the car and if he is so talkative he will tell you about the car but then bring to 3rd party

ABQ Slim

The mechanic who worked on the car cannot be unbiased. Certainly Bob's a great source of information, but he must recuse himself from the PPI due to conflict of interest. Get the "verbal" PPI from him for free - I'm sure he'll tell you a few foibles here and there. But you've got to take it to a third party for an honest inspection. My 2 cents.

DWS964

Bob Farmer is a good guy and pretty straightforward. And, really does like to talk, a lot. I don't know how he ever gets anything done. I would trust him for a fair opinion on the car. That being said, no car is perfect, and it doesn't hurt to get another view and opinion. Other options: Terry Heath (specifically ask him to look at it) at Euro Motorsport near Castleton and Thomas at Autobahn near Greenwood. I have taken my car to all 3 places with pluses and minuses at each one.
Care to share any details on the car? Perhaps it is one of the cars that I looked at in my recent search for a replacement.
Good Luck.

Bearclaw

I personally would be okay with using the PO's guy. Normally I would say it's a conflict of interest, but in this case if he's really the local guru, a guy who likes to "talk your ear off" usually likes to display his knowledge and show you what he's found. He may not be totally objective, but I don't think he'd hold anything back either. Good luck, sounds like a nice car so far!!

Streetfighter

That is what I was thinking as well.

Warpig

Sure why not... I'm taking a leap of faith and adopting the standpoint that these cars find their owners and if it's meant to be my car, it will be my car.

You probably did look at it. It was on ebay a few weeks ago and didn't sell because he is asking allot for it. I e-mailed the owner after his last auction closed at ~15K with no sale. I made him an offer he was not that fond of at first but said he would think it over and get back to me. We exchanged phone #'s. We talked again and he said he would accept my offer *IF* this current re-list on e-bay ends in a price lower than my offer without a sale. I told him I would only pay what I offered if when I see the car the interior/exterior is truly in the near perfect condition (it has a ding otherwise supposed to be perfect) he says it is *AND* it does well in a PPI.

Back to the leap of faith here... if someone else wants to give him more for it than my offer... that's great... I'll find another... I'm not going to pay more than my offer... He is aware I am not willing to pay any more than my offer period! I have offered a very fair price for the car if it's in the shape he says it is. He is VERY confident that when I look at the car I will want no other.

I'm actually surprised he re-listed with the exact same listing as the first listing. That listing isn't going to help him sell his car for his asking price. Because of the original listing I was hesitant to contact him when it was over. I'm glad I did. Some of the issues I had with the listing that seemed weird to me were explained during the normal course of conversation without any prodding from me when I talked to him on the phone. He really seems like a nice guy, just maybe not with the best writing/sales skills. He has sent me a spreadsheet of what he paid for the car and everything he has put into it and has receipts for proof. I can see why he was hoping to get his high asking price. If I spent that much on the car and goodies for it over the past 3 years I'd try to get that much too. Anyway here is the link.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=

If it's meant to be, It will be! If not another one will be meant to be!

Nick

DWS964

No, I have not looked at that particular car. It did not show up for sale when I was searching. In fact, I had specifically asked Bob Farmer if he knew of any 964's for sale, and he did not mention that one.
Have you seen the car in person yet? Since I am in the Indy area, I could take a look at it for you and give it the sanity check.

Warpig

Have not seen it in person yet and I appreciate the offer to have a preliminary look. If it was going to be a week or two until I had a chance to look at it I'd take you up on that offer just to prevent the potential waste of a 3 hour drive if it wasn't all it should be. But We have already set up an appointment for Friday for me to look at it and take some Porsche **** err... umm... pictures and a test ride... Err... Umm.. drive. If I love it as much as he says I will then I'll schedule a PPI for sometime next week, and if all is well... wait for his auction to bomb for the second time and then close the deal. I may also look at one more I found this weekend before pulling the trigger (depends on this one) as I prefer a C2 over a C4 and this one is a C4.

Nick

amr89c4

I met Bob when I bought my car from the Porsche dealer, Tom Wood, in Indy. I looked seriously at one of Bob's customers cars and he had no problem laying out all the beauty marks and warts. He took me for a rde in it and then pitched me the keys. I ended up buying the dealers car (because I wanted a C4) but I was impressed by Bob's honesty regarding his customers car. Checking around all, I ever heard was he was a straight shooter and was the best around on Carreras. Even the dealer recommended him. He does like to talk, and I think he is definitely one you should listen to. Never heard a bad word. He builds some seriously quick cars and they bring top dollar. Its just my 2 cents, but I'd have no problem buying on his inspection.

timatt

I had Bob Farmer do a PPI for me in March on my '89C4 under the same circumstances and was pleased. Same situation; he had done some work on the car previously for the seller. He identified the same minor problems that I was already aware of from my own previous inspection of the car. If you have Bob perform the PPI, my recommendations are: 1) inform him of any specific areas of concern beforehand to make sure he evaluates 2) Pre-arrange a friend or relative to call you on your cell phone at a pre-arranged time so you can gracefully extricate yourself from the extended conversation you will inevitably have with Bob.

Seriously, Farmer is a great guy and good P-car mechanic.

T

Bearclaw

Is that the "ding", on the left rear fender? Funky angle, but looks like a simple PDR job.

swmic

Your story may not be the same in this case, but for the benefit of others reading this, I was burned once but NOT twice by relying on the PO's mechanics evaluation.

When I purchased my current C4 964, I talked to the PO's mechanic at Eurosport in Sheridan, CO who had worked on the car for 3 years. ( PM me if you want the name of the mechanic.) The mechanic seemed nice enough and talked to me for a long time. He assured me that the car in decent shape with no major problems and listed some things that would need to be addressed. The shop website lists all sorts of PCA events and good stuff like that. I felt fairly assured and went ahead with the transaction without a formal PPI at an independent shop.

I was really busy when I took ownership of the car and after several months learned that the PDAS controller was non-functional due to water damage. By inspection, the corrosion in the PDAS controller indicated this had not been a recent development. The dash light for the PDAS system was also removed. I decided not to pursue the issue with the PO due to the time that has elapsed. I also had no leg to stand on with the shop since I did not have anything in writing. I wrote it off to experience!

Next story,

This past winter, a long time Rennlister was selling their high mileage 993 C4S. I've always loved the look of these cars and decided to inquire about it. I talked to their mechanic who had worked on the car since 2003 and praised the condition of the car. I ended up making an offer but insisted on a PPI at an independent shop. The PO agreed to the PPI and said they would be very surprised if any problems were found.

Not too long after the PPI started, I received a call from the shop performing the PPI. They notified me that the CE light had been pulled. If you know anything about the OBDII 993, the first thing you think of is a SAI problem. A bulb was replaced and sure enough, the light came on after a short drive. I notified the owner, who totally flipped out. He's a great dude, and since they don't have emissions inspection in his area, he had no idea the light had been pulled. He purchased the car in this condition. He might not have not known after all this time, but his mechanic certainly should have noticed this.

I ended up purchasing the car but at a much reduced price due to the issue. The great news is the CE light was cased by a O2 sensor wire harness plug that was not fully seated. I guess someone pulled the CE light when they could not solve the problem many years ago. The car passed emissions with no problem.

I guess you live and lean.

Banana

If you are going with this guru at least get a warranty out of him on certain items on the car to cover yourself.