Jting01

Heaven help me. I broke every rule and impulsively bid and unexpectedly won an auction for a crashed 2016 911 Carrera 4 GTS with a salvage title from an insurance auction. I didn’t do a PPI or VIN check. I lowballed a bid on a whim and ended up winning the lot. I could use some advice on what to do when it arrives on Monday. It will take 30 days to get the title and then I have to get a special inspection from NY State to look for stolen parts. So I have a few weeks to get it fixed up and roadworthy.

It is a 2016 with 29k miles and a 7 speed manual. It suffered front end damage. It has a salvage title. Airbags did not deploy and it runs and drives. It did not look like there was frame damage, but I won’t know till I see it. The only visible damage was some distortion to the front bumper cover and cracks to the outer edges of the headlights. And things looks a bit sketchy under the front hood.

You are all probably shaking your heads in disbelief thinking “who would do something so dumb?” And you would be right. But for less than the price of a new Camry I own a 911! I’ll post pics soon.

The VIN is WP0AB2A91GS122162. Does anyone know how to lookup the build sheet? And where to find a reputable body shop on eastern Long Island or in NYC?

Many thanks in advance.

Jess

Jting01

This pic worries me. Is this a damaged tub?

Jack F

I guess you are quite a gambler. It should all work just right. No problems. 😉


Let us know how it works out. Best is lock with the bargain buy.

Carlo_Carrera

Looks like the front crash structure/sub-frame, or "tub" as you call it, is damaged. The front wheels look push back, not sitting properly in the wheel arches. This car might need some serious repair work.

Jerry991

Go to Vinanalytics.com although that serial number doesn't come up. So I am wondering what is the real story. those wheels aren't right for a GTS

TheChemist

The engine cover is also incorrect for a GTS

ClassJ

Looks like this one has had some cover up work done before it was sold.

They could have bolted up some other wheels and parts to get the car rolling.

ClassJ

So. Did you google this VIN? Same car?

https://en.bidfax.info/porsche/911/3...1gs122162.html

fnckr

Certainly looks like the same car. It looks like a lot of effort from that first sale at $20,000 to get to $33,000. Perhaps this is a way of making money. Take a heavily destroyed car, make it look like it's only mildly destroyed, and sell it to someone that can (or thinks that they can) take it to final completion. Is that possible on this car? I know nothing about repairing body/frame work. OP, I hope this turns out well for you.

BlueShell

I would fight tooth and nail to refuse delivery and return that car. Claim false advertisement or anything you can.

A quick google reveals that this car was mangled. Airbags were definitely deployed. This car belongs in a scrap yard. Not salvageable in my opinion.

One of the photos has the door sticker with the VIN that matches yours. It also has a non-GTS engine cover, same color, same miles as your car. Looks like someone put lipstick on a pig.

https://en.bidfax.info/porsche/911/3...1gs122162.html

Jting01

I wish I had found this forum beforehand. That is def the same car. What a mistake and an expensive lesson learned. Does anyone know of a good shop to have this taken to in the nyc area?

BlueShell

With all due respect, you don’t need a forum to tell you this is a bad buy.

It doesn’t take much to Google a VIN number — takes all of 30 seconds worth of investigative work.

It’s just basic buyer competency to do research before a major purchase.

With that said, return it if possible or sell it to cut your losses. The money you’ll spend getting this car to drive straight would cost you the same as a used 991.1 GTS in my opinion.

I know you’re emotionally invested at this point, but who knows what sort of repair work has been done to the car already and what the quality is.

Jting01

Good advice. I will start working on this ASAP.

Does anyone know the relevant laws in this type of case? The dealer was copart in California.

BlueShell

Step 1 is documenting everything. Take screenshots of the ad, save every conversation, and note everything. Organize it into a folder somewhere.

Then, I would just start with a simple call to the seller to say that it’s falsely advertised and see if they’ll accept a return. They likely won’t considering how shady they were to start with (airbags were definitely deployed).

If they charge a fee, from experience, I would personally pay a couple thousand bucks (with some hard negotiation of course) for them to take it back and cut my losses. Consider it tuition.

Otherwise, I would lawyer up locally, share those documents and get advised on whether it’s worth pursuing further or to just sell it. Don’t take law advice from us in the forum.

MarcusG

Yes.

^^^^

And if you go the lawyer route, stop posting in this thread.