Had a friend considering making this mistake with a dealership that shall remain unnamed (jk it was Porsche Chandler AZ), but is common practice in a lot (maybe all) places. Hopefully this will help another innocent soul from a less than pleasing ownership experience.
While assessing the condition of a vehicle is not an easy job and cars should normally not be discarded because of one thing there is one rule that I would never deviate from:
Never buy a car that is within CPO limits but is not CPO from a Porsche dealer.
There is one simple reason why this happens, when the dealership inspects a vehicle after trade in and they determine that the amount of work($) needed to CPO is too high they simply sell it non CPO. This guarantees you will get a car with problems and you'll be on your own to deal with them.
PS Also be suspicions of seemingly desirable CPOable cars (ok millage, ok history, etc) auctioned off after trade at Porsche dealer.

 

That’s good advice, thank you.

I’m not an expert on buying used Porsche’s but I had the same thought when looking for my first. There was a good example at a good price for me at a Porsche dealer but they couldn’t come up with a good reason why they were not doing a CPO on it.

 

Gotta be careful and get a PPI for all of them. Great example of a CarMax car being shown "clean" but they are getting called out as its "anything but clean" in the HotSales section.

 

That dealer is local to me and I personally would never buy a car from them unless I was paying full sticker on a brand new specialty car... Even so I'd continue to look elsewhere. I've dealt with them before and their sales team is straight up rude among many many other things. The other local dealership is no better but they're not as bad as chandler.

 

Yeah i agree, I wouldn't by any car that didn't have a CPO that was eligible. Either something is wrong, or they are being lazy.

 

Dealing with them the last 3 years I have found them to be very helpful and friendly. Sales and service guys I have had were always a pleasure but I have not worked with everyone.

 

No doubt they have a fantastic service staff. They go above and beyond IMO. Wish I had luck as good as yours with service.

 

On this note, I always ask "how much will it cost extra to get it CPO'd"? Sometimes they'll respond with $5K or something or that the car in question is too old and outside of their range to CPO. Howold was this car? I think they go back as far as 10 years (?).

 

I have seen many cars waiting on lots not CPO but they were willing to CPO them for an additional cost. I think that their concern is that they would rather not have 20 991's with CPO sitting on their lot, since that could have been $3k in each car, so $60k in CPO costs. Most people will value CPO not all, so I think they would rather give the option. But in most cases, I would say that yes, if they are not CPO'ing it, their may be something wrong with it or they are having to spend too much. If all they have to do is a service and then they can CPO it, that is a small cost to them to be able to charge a premium.

 

I’m on my 4th 911, three CPOs and one lease. My time is most important to me.

The dealers have taken great care of me doing warranty work- I get delivery and pick-up service if I need it, as well as loaners - most recently a boxster s. It’s been my experience that dealers are predisposed to go the extra mile because the factory is paying. I’ve had two free (to me) repairs that could have been judged not to be my fault (including damage that possibly happened from having the car shipped).

It’s certainly working for Porsche, in addition to the 911s, I also own a diesel cayenne and a Macan (both bought new). My wife is considering a cpo 991 as a “fun car”.

I would not buy a non CPO Porsche unless it can’t be CPO’d due to age, like a 993 or 964.

 

The dealers cost to CPO a car is very little and is mostly just shop time, which is negligible as their staff are never fully utilized. If a car is in a dealer lot that isn’t CPO it is likely because it would never qualify.

 

CPO Procurement & Recondition... very informative!

 

A consideration that I think has been overlooked here is that sometimes a dealer pays too much to buy a used car (usually to help move something else) on trade. If they pay to CPO it (remember, they have to pay $2000-2500 to Porsche for the warranty, over and above any reconditioning costs) it may end up being priced over typical retail, which means that it won't move. So, to keep the price in-line, they simply don't do a CPO.

For me, buying a not-very-old low mileage Porsche, I'd rather save the money and not get the CPO. This is getting harder to do.

 

Had my PPI done by Porsche of Chandler and the did a fantastic job. For $500 I received a very detailed inspection report including about 50 photos and a 20 minute video.....they even picked up a plug in one of the rear tires. Complete rear bumper removal, alignment check, and wheel balance check as well.

It’s been just over one year since my purchase and other than a blower motor controller that went south a couple weeks after purchase, no issues whatsoever. I just started my extended warranty with Fidelity, but the blower motor controller was covered under the factory warranty.

 

CHECK THE CARFAX - MANY MANY DEALERS CPO CARS WITH ACCIDENT DAMAGE
Also, make them put the car on a lift....
inspect the under body yourself for any damage.

I've been looking to upgrade, and I can tell you I've seen many CPO vehicles that were in accidents......

Lastly, know what your trade is work, avoid stealerships... I've gotten low balled by a few and (they were thousands off what others gave me for trade)
I havent reached the point to sell it yet..myself. I hate dealing with purchasers, low ballers, and tire kickers.

And I still might keep it, because the car is perfect!

I just wanted to go faster....