hf1

OP, is this the same car that you decided to buy in early Jan for $39k?

Kg11

No, that car got traded in a few hours before I got back to him; he told me his wife fell in love with a Macan and that was that. This one is super close though; I have been searching for awhile, almost the same build. It seemed to be worth a bit more, or perhaps it is just me.

981S2013

Pep!RRRR

981S2013

fast1

I wonder how Edmunds derived those numbers. Just for the hell of it I just went to a dealer that uses the KBB buy it now price. I put my car's condition as good and not outstanding, and the price they came up with was $38,400, and the site didn't capture all my options.

manifold danger

Is an overrun really all that damning when considering a used car? I didn't get a PPI as I bought from a reputable dealer and it still has 3 years left on the CPO, but some folks on here seem to consider it a death sentence. Is it REALLY that big a deal, and why?

^For the love of God please, someone buy Phil's car off of him.

I also agree with most on here, a clean well-optioned MANUAL 981S will sell for over $40k even with a handful of miles. Anything less should be considered a steal, despite what KBB values are currently. There just simply aren't many out there to choose from so it is a seller's market for sure.

I will advise against the base stereo though. The Bose is not great, but it's serviceable. The base system is probably best left to talk radio, or turned off.

Phil G.

Ha! Really not desperate to sell. May change my mind altogether once Spring arrives and the 981S comes out of its winter hibernation. I'll be reevaluating in a month. It really is brand new, no excuses car!

manifold danger

Your car is desperate to be sold!

storii

I'm with you on this one. When I was competitive in SCCA autocross at the national level, I would set the rev limiter at least 500rpm higher than the factory setting (with an aftermarket tunable ECU) and routinely bumped off the rev limiter, sometimes for more than a few seconds at a time. Mis-shifts often happened even to the best of us since the car was almost never straight and constantly under a G (meaning the transmission was moving all over the place in relation to the shifter and making it extremely hard to find the next gear), momentarily sending the rev way over the already high rev limiter. I raced the car (a heavily modified 1999 Miata) like that 30-40 times a year for nearly 10 years but never experienced an engine trouble. I broke many chassis parts: the subframe, control arms, axel, engine mounts, ball joints, PPF (a frame connecting the diff to the transmission), etc., etc., but never the engine. I sold the car to a fellow autocrosser in 2011 and the car is still active and very competitive.

So, at least to me, a few over-revs are not an issue. Especially if there is a warranty coverage for a few years like you have for your car. If past over-revs actually damaged the engine, the symptoms should appear relatively soon: within the warranty period. YMMV

hf1

Wear from running an engine hard (at WOT) for long periods of time (or most of the time) is cumulative. That's why race car engines time out and require a refresh after a certain number of hours. A PPI with leak-down (compression) test and an over-rev report confirms or conflicts with the seller's claim about the past usage of the car and helps estimate the wear/age of the engine. Years of remaining warranty don't eliminate the need for these tests. A hard-run engine could wear out (time out) just as it leaves warranty even years after the cars was purchased. The $300-500 spent on a PPI from a trusted qualified shop should be viewed as a prudent investment with a high expected return over the long run and over many transactions.

storii

I am not denying the importance of PPI. I am just saying that over-revs may be taken out of proportion by some. A few separated occasions of over-revs don't necessarily cause a catastrophic damage to an otherwise well maintained engine.

Race car engines typically require a rebuild after 40 hours of racing. At least it was the case with the Formula Ford that I used to run. It is very hard if not impossible for a street-driven car to achieve that kind of exhaustion in its lifetime.

manifold danger

Great responses, thanks. Kind of confirmed what I had always thought... I by no means have been easy on my engines in the past but never ran into any issues as long as they were properly maintained. Nissan, BMW, and Mazda motors are great but I'd imagine not engineered to the same standards as Porsche so I wasn't beating myself up over trying to force a PPI when I already had to work out picking the car up from 900 miles away. Had it not had the CPO it would have been a different story. I know many folks would have done the PPI anyway for peace of mind, and in hindsight maybe I should have. I realize a PPI is much more thorough than a used car reconditioning... but there has to be a point of diminishing returns when you're already buying from what should be considered a trusted, qualified shop.

I'll have the car thoroughly inspected before I take it to any racing events as due diligence, but if it comes out it's been overrun a few times I fail to see how that's such horrible news. I get that you're looking to confirm it hasn't been abused, but it's tough to say I haven't "abused" previous cars I've owned simply by driving them harder than your typical commuter, and I've had no issues. I am still curious if there's anecdotal evidence that Porsche in particular for some reason is sensitive to overrevs. I've seen some posts on here and planet-9 that imply if it's been overrun at all avoid it like the plague. Makes no sense to me.

meteor10

fast1

That's exactly the way I feel. As the original owner of my 981BS, I know that it was maintained according to factory recommendations. After five years the car has been trouble free and doesn't even have a rattle or squeak. So why should I let some stranger get my car for the low $40Ks? Moreover, what would I buy for that money? I suppose I could get a stripped Audi A4 for that money, but it wouldn't give me 5% of the pleasure that my 981BS does. If I buy another Porsche it means writing a $50K check plus my car for a new car which won't give much more pleasure than my current car.