loungin

I prefer to get cars new but I missed the boat on the 991.2 GT3 so I’m stuck watching the used market. What do you look for when buying a used GT3?

I’d imagine it’s hard to get the right spec so you would likely be dealing remotely. How do you handle such a transaction?

A lot of them seem to be at the dealer too. Would they even be able to do an independent PPI remotely?

Would you demand or be able to see the following?
- service records
- DMV report
- oil analysis (?)
- paint meter?
- tire/brake condition? (Does it even matter on a car like this?)

If manual how how would you know what condition the clutch is in relative to new, especially shopping remotely? I’d imagine a GT3 is somewhat different from shopping for a daily.

Would you fly out for sure to see/drive the car in person?

Given that asking prices are often fairly inflated, are sellers willing to negotiate a price before you inspect the car and then adjust from there based on observed condition, or are you pretty much take it or leave it? What’s your recommended approach to negotiation?

The GT3 being a performance oriented car, are you concerned if the previously owner has tracked it extensively or daily drove it? Or if the previous owner had no clue or didn’t care and did burn outs on every cold start up just because it has 500 Hp? What signs would you look for to tell how the car has been treated previously, whether dealer or private sale?

Would you take regular track use as a hard no or could it be used as a point of negotiation and how much do you think that’s worth?

Do you trust CPO to validate that the car is in great condition or is that mainly for the warranty?

I’m also highly allergic to cats and dogs and most other furry things so how would you verify if the previous owners have used the car to take their dog for rides? Would you think this would be uncommon for GT3/RS car or you never really know these days? Pet hair really embeds in car carpet and I don’t know if it ever fully comes out.

Anyway looking forward to some healthy discussion here and thanks in advance for your input!

Dougr743

Are you shopping a 991.2 gt3? Manual or auto? Thats first, most cars are such low miles, that you really have nothing to worry about, they all have warranty. It would be obscure to see clutch problems, etc as most have less than 5k on them. Most are under 2k. So you are basically buying a brand new car. Plus, most gt buyers on .2 cars are previous, repeat buyers, and they understand the cars. Its hard to get an allocation, and a lot of the cars you see are flipper cars. Not a bad thing, but cars that are offered to VIP buyers or buyers who have multiple cars and just can't keep them all or sell them to get another allocation.

If you are looking at .1 cars, theres many threads if you search on what to look for with engine versions etc etc. 997 cars, get a rev report and go. Amazing motor, rock solid, bullet proof

GrantG

CPO is pretty reliable, especially since all the cars will be newer than 2 yrs old at this point (lots of warranty remaining with CPO)...

mdrums

Definitely CPO...find the spec you like and go for it.

mrmojom3

I've bought many cars remote.

1. You can do a remote PPI. Find a local reputable indy, have the sales guy drop the car off for you.
2. I've bought cars sight unseen. However in this case for $160k I would take a flight in to see it then ship or drive home.
3. My purchase pitch: "since I'm buying remote, I have the entire US to pick from. So here's my best offer or I'll move on to the next one"

good luck!

evilfij

Buy the owner and get a PPI.

loungin

Seems like a good time to mention my wish list:
GT3 991.2 for occasional pca autocross and hpde (just for fun)

Must haves

• wing
• lwb
• front axle lift
• extended range fuel tank
• PDK (strongly preferred)

Nice to Have in order of importance

• Led pdls
• auto dimming mirrors
• leather interior
• sport chrono

color preference

1. Miami Blue
2. lava orange
3. graphite blue
4. GT silver
5. rhodium silver
6. chalk
7. Racing yellow

No white, black, or red.

loungin

I agree and that’s what I’ve previously done but how do you do that with a dealer car?

evilfij

Figure out the previous owner, especially if it was a Rennlister. I tend to buy used from people, in person, without a PDI, but I understand that is not common. If you want a PDK wing car, you should be able to get a great deal on one with some miles and below MSRP considerably even with very low miles.

For example, my dealer has a PTS gulf orange car PDK for like 8k under MSRP asking with a couple hundred miles on it. It does not have LWB, but I think it shows it’s a buyer’s market.

nationalpreownedporsche is a good resource to find cars, but given what you are looking for, you should be able to find one reasonably locally at a good deal without a problem.

obbob

My advice is to always buy on condition. Too many people will look a great condition car, hear that it was tracked, and thus discount it versus a non tracked but poor condition car.

Things such as track use, winter use, owner count are indicators of condition. If you have a superior indicator that the car is in good condition (aka a detailed inspection), the others should have little to know further bearing.

Porsch

If you are looking for winged, you can get a good or at least decent deal. If Touring, there are no deals to be had. I wouldn't worry so much about clutch on a barely used GT3, nor would I worry about pets or track use. Get CPO from a dealership and don't look back. Or buy from a trusted RLer with PPI as a back up plan.

chance6

Here would be my priorities (and since I just got one with 800 miles on it, I feel compelled to squawk):

- Get a DME scan done that shows the revs on the car by ranges just as a sanity check
- Examine the bottom of the front lip, and also the rear valence for any significant damage
- Check the paint for any significant scratches
- Is the car wrapped? If so, that can save you some $$ and pain

Option priorities:
- Wing
- PDK
- PCCB
- Front axle lift
- Bose
- 18-way seats for DD duties with Alcantara
- colored seat belts

Here would be my color choices (I have Carrara white metallic which I totally love):
- There are many Chalk GT3's out there - a significant number have this color- looks great
- Guards red or Carmine red
- I am a Carrara white metallic fan, not so much the gloss white or gloss black
- GT silver, can't go wrong with that either.

Good luck!

chris2

I would add Sapphire blue to your list, check it out in person. I think it was still a standard color on the 18 GT3s before they replaced it with Miami.

As far as being worried about track use, as long as the previous owner wasn't an idiot I wouldn't worry about it, especially if you get a CPO (or even the remainder of the factory warranty).
Best of luck with your shopping

lbcgolf

So when you say you missed the boat, do you mean you missed getting an allocation to order the car just how you like it? Then yeah, you missed the boat because there are no allocations left. But if you're looking for them at the dealer, then they still have them. Quite a bit of new or 'new-ish' examples out there, and they're mostly categorized as used or CPO used. They fall in the category of used, where the original owner only had it for a little bit and turned a few hundred miles; and new, but the dealer made them used by designating them as demos or registering them.

I was also skeptical about finding my desired .2 GT3, as I'm also picky about my "must haves" (and after all shouldn't we be, when dropping $200 large on them?). I was looking for a manual, not black, white, silver or red, PTS maybe or maybe not, distinct but not look-at-me colors. Preferred sofas over LWBS, steel over ceramic.

Was casually looking for 6 months and more seriously in the last 3 weeks. Considered lowering my standards several times but eventually found one I just had to have so I bought it yesterday, with just a few compromises. New, manual, PTS Gemini Blue, extended fuel tank, LED headlights, interior black alcantara, Bose, LWBS, steel brakes, carbon fiber interior trim, white gauges, red seat belts. So other than the LWBS, I found a car that checked the majority of the boxes on my list, and a few more checks where I'll find out later whether it was worth the money of if it was a waste. Interior is a little drabber than I like (all 3 of my other P-cars have 2-tone leather interiors), but I figure that I can add comfort and a little splash to the inside by getting a memory foam insert from P1Design.

Good luck!

loungin

Congrats. That sounds awesome. I love the LWBs. Doesn’t feel like a GT car without them . Black is a proper GT car so you can just focus on hitting all the apexes =P