tankertoad

I'm looking at a 2005 "S" at an independent dealer (who purchased it from a Porsche dealer via auction). It has 35K on it and is very competitively priced ($27K). I haven't had a PPI done yet but some of the wear items have me wondering. First, the top has the usual creases but also has a good scuff on the driver's side (rubbing while down?). The paint on the switch for the A/C temp is peeling. And, the rear part of the center console, around the ashtray cover, is peeling away in a bunch of places, as if the prior owner had a watch or bracelet rubbing it during shifting. Are these red flags or just aesthetic items that one would have to decide to live with or not? My BMW has 185K miles and doesn't show wear like that inside. Common on 987s or not? Expensive to remedy? I know there are lots of other cars out there but this one's GT Silver/Cocoa so I'm in a slightly forgiving mood.

Thanks.

ettsn

That kind of wear is not common in my experience. A new rear center console isn't too dear, so you could simply replace it. I've noticed on my Cayman (same console) that the ashtray lid is showing a little wear. Nothing I can't live with, but I may replace the ashtray anyway to get a new cover.

Another option is to pull it out, sand and prime it and have it painted exterior color. This usually looks awesome in most cars. If you're not comfortable doing the painting and whatnot, you can send it to bumperplugs.com to do the work.

RonCT

I picked up a CPO 2005 S between Christmas and New Year for $31k. So that's $4k more than the car you are looking at. For that $4k more, I got a pristine car with 25k miles, 2 extra years of warranty (so covered through June 2012), and the entire car was 100% gone over and probably $2500 in service and worn parts replacement was done, including things you can't even see. It's a buyer's market - I'd try to see what you can locate that is, or could be, CPO (ie: Private buyer where you could run it through his / her dealer to get it certified).

Or, here's another idea. Let them know you really like the car but will only buy it if it goes through Porsche CPO. If they are willing, they can "sell" it to the Porsche dealer who can then certify it and sell it to you for a pre-determined price. What a deal like that could do is make the current owner responsible for anything that the CPO process would repair or replace. So if your deal with them is $27k and CPO process costs $2k, you could work it out at $29k to you through the Porsche dealer. Any "repairs" needed by the CPO process could come off what the current owner gets. So if some of these issues have to be addressed, as well as many you can't see (brake pads, tires, fluids / filters, etc.) then the owner may only end up with $26k net. I can't see the owner going for this, but it's a process that I'd go through to buy a car not owned and CPO'd by a Porsche dealer.

tankertoad

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. BTW, as a cautionary tale, I asked to see the receipt from the auction but the dealer couldn't find it. He told me he would get a copy and then fax it to me but when I called a couple of days later with a fax number, he didn't have anything to fax and told me the car had sold. The way he said it sounded not quite convincing. Lo and behold, I just checked the dealer's website and the car is still available. I guess he doesn't want to deal with anyone who's diligent. Plus, if he's lying about that, what else is he not being truthful about (although I checked with the local Porsche dealer and the car had had all the factory scheduled maintenance done there)?

equ

I'd only buy cars from private party or same brand dealers. The only exception is that I once bought a bmw from a porsche dealer, it had been traded in for a cayenne... I guess my feeling is that if a porsche dealer passed on it and sent it to auction, I wouldn't hit it.