lukster

Hi everyone. I am looking forward to be a first time p-car owner.

I have been looking at the market for 6 months for a 991.1. I always wanted a 997 when it came out but never got to getting myself one. I chose the 991.1 so I can at least experience a pre-turbo porsche. I have found c2 pdk with 38k miles. I am doubtful about having a history on the service records and carfax does not say anything. I am taking it in for a ppi. Here in northern california, I am close to pacific power and fister. I chose to go to fister for my ppi as they were the first I called and have been very responsive. I have been reading and the most important ones for ppi is dme reading and bore scoring? What else do I request to check? Do indy shops do those as standard ppi? This is the first car that I am actually doing a ppi on so just asking for a bit of advice from the group.

toph4242

Have them do a solid check of the suspension and brake life/tire tread etc... also just FYI the 911 calls for a major service at 40K miles (all porsche cars do)... I just hit 40K and had this done and to have it done right might run you as much as $1500 depending on the shop that does the work, but at 40k miles the spark plugs need replacing along with all the fluids, filters, possibly drive belt etc. Id check with current owner to find out if they have had a major service yet.

Have the shop also use a paint meter if they have one readily available to check the paint depth across the whole car... usually its between 3-6mil, so if they come across a panel that measures a lot higher than that, you know its been resprayed and possibly in an accident. Other than that, im sure the shop knows what to look out for, but id pay to have them take their time with it because it is a major purchase and you want to make sure you are getting one thats been treated well

Good Luck! and welcome to the club

lukster

Thanks! Will keep the suspension check in mind. I believe the rear tires are new. I read about the 40k service and have asked for a quote. We will see during ppi. They did tell me it will take 3-4 hours to do the check.

spiderspider

**shrugs** I just clicked 'buy it now' on ebay. worked out okay.

991.1 Guy

If rear tires are new that suggests that possibly the alignment could be out of spec. Have them check and adjust that as well.

lukster

I have the car with me now and ready to take it to ppi in the morning. I decided to go through carmax as I can have a ppi done and the maxcare warranty is reasonable. I believe since the front tires have a date code of 3815, the rear tires may have been really bad already. So far cosmetically, it needs some paint correction, the driver door panel is warped and the headlights have the micro cracks. Maybe I am just expecting a lot from an 8 year old car so they may just be wear and tear. I don't see any leaks going under the car and everything works. Will find out more at ppi.

991.1 Guy

Looks great!

toph4242

You are absolutely not expecting too much. I would say a 911 is unlike most other 8 year old cars in that their owners tend to really care for them and preserve their value. In some cases that is not true and that’s what you want to look out for.

in terms of the brakes, I just did a full front and rear brake job (rotors, pads, sensors) at 41k miles and they told me I still had life left on them. But since I had calipers painted it just made sense to do it all at once. 37k seems a little early but very possible that they could need to be replaced.

tire codes are pretty old, I’d negotiate the price a bit on those since a good set will run you $1200.

Paint correction can be done and really make a difference! Good luck with the process!

manifold danger

I think there's a certain level of reasonable expectation when considering a Porsche is being sourced through Carmax. Paint correction and micro-cracks on the headlights are actually typical wear and tear for any car, including Porsche- maybe if you were buying a low-mileage CPO car through a reputable Porsche dealer you would expect these sorts of things but even then there should be some tolerance built in for things not being entirely perfect across the board. Not that Carmax is a bad place to buy a car, quite the contrary- I just think expectations should be kept under control is all.

The big things have been mentioned; I don't think scoping the bore for scoring would be in scope of most typical PPIs, nor would I think it's entirely necessary for a 991. DME report is really only necessary for manual cars. Otherwise good recommendations as far as identifying areas that will likely cost you down the line; tires and brakes are expensive on these cars so it would help to have them as close to new as possible when you take delivery.

Another thing I'll mention is the tire manufacturer; that can also be important with these cars. You're going to want at least OEM Pirellis, but even they aren't widely considered the best tires. Most on here prefer Michelins for general use and some have their own preference for autocross/track use if that's your intention for the car. Off-brand tires should be avoided, if possible. I'm not just saying this from a position of brand snobbiness- it really makes a difference. I made the mistake of buying my Boxster a few years ago with "new" kumhos on it... I got some use out of them but it was a CLEAR difference when I upgraded to Michelins.

Finally, 991s are prone to door panel warping, at least for non-leather panels. If this has manifested, it's annoying and a very expensive repair. Obviously it wouldn't affect the driving experience but something to consider if it's present.

fluguy

Ask for a sample report first.
My first PPI was from an out of state independent that told me a lot of what they would be checking which sounded great but then they never produced a real report with listed items. All I ever received was a generic sheet saying everything looked good which really didn't tell me much. Next time I'll use someone that has a lengthy form of everything with pass/fail/note for each item. IE, Just because he says the brakes are fine that doesn't tell what the pad thickness was or the rotors are down to the final phase. Get a real list of what's going to be checked & the results. If it's not in the report - it's not verifiable. There are probably sample PPI reports on the web.

docskeet

docskeet

As an example, this was the report from my PPI.

lukster

Thanks everyone for your advice. PPI was done yesterday. The only two that were pointed out were the front tires cracked and some cosmetics. Paint thickness was the same as factory, no leaks, driveability was good, dme was checked just in case. I purchased the car with a 60 month warranty. I asked them to replace the front tires before purchasing but they said since tread thickness meets their standards, they will not replace and should that be an issue that I am not willing to correct, I can return the car.

They did install brand new p-zeros in the back. Now I am looking for fronts. P-zeros are not cheap by any standards so now I am thinking, what if I replace all 4 with potenza re980as? I can probably sell the like new rears. Or should I stick to p-zeros? I do not plan on tracking the car. It will be mostly canyon runs. I recall when I had an evo 8 back 15 years ago, i ran the oe yokohama advans then decided to switch to sumitomo htrz. That was a bad decision because it did not grip as well.

toph4242

not the answer you want, but def at least stay with the Pzero. I know they aren’t cheap, but if you do a little reading on the forums here in the tire threads, you will see an overwhelming opinion on tires... either upgrade to Michelin PS4S or stick with the OEM pirelli. Seems pretty much anyone that has tried anything else has been very disappointed. Michelin’s are the top of the line, And certainly a splurge, Pirelli aren’t much cheaper, but certainly worth a couple extra hundred dollars to get them matching to the rears and give you a really solid driving feel.

fyi. I personally had potenza on a Cayman S and trashed them after 3,000 miles becuase they did not ride well on the car at all. Super hard and uncomfortable

chuckbdc

Do yourself a favor - especially given new rubber, and get to a shop with a modern rack for an alignment to the specific specs of your car. Makes for optimal ride, handling and tire wear.