As part of my search for a suitable pre-owned 991.2, I'm finding that I'm often not sure how to gauge whether a flaw is something that matters vs. one that is unimportant. In one car I'm looking at (and it's a CPO car at a dealership, albeit one far from me), in the door jamb, there is this:




This was found by the guy I hired to do a PPI. What do you guys make of those brown dots on the left (above the black plastic)? It looks like rust to me. And while the dots are small, I wonder if this is indicative of a larger issue. Or are you guys seeing this in your door jambs as well?

Many thanks in advance!

EDITED to reorient the photo correctly.

 

It does look like surface rust, but that could be something an iron fallout remover can take care of. The specs on the left are more concerning. Did you try rub them with your finger or nail?

 

Yep, that looks like rust to me. That area is steel on the 991 as well, if I'm not mistaken, so that makes sense.

If that were coming up from below you'd have a lot more bubbling of the paint next to the rust. That looks like damage to the paint left unchecked. Unfortunately you can't know the extent of the damage without stripping back the paint.

I would assume the car as a whole was neglected, as well as parked outside with rust like this.

It's CPO you say -- pointedly ask the dealership about the rust, what it means to the car, and what it means to the warranty. I believe the 911 comes with a rust warranty, but as these appear to be externally influenced (that is, caused by damage/neglect) it wouldn't be covered anyways.

 

I'll bet that someone shut the door with the seatbelt buckle in the jamb. Easy spot touch up regardless.
Rick

 

That's an interesting theory. I realize now that the photo is oriented incorrectly; this is the bottom of the door jamb (like we're standing at the side of the car with the driver's door open, looking down). So if it's a seatbelt latch plate that caused this, it would mean that the belt was hanging loose at the moment--that seems plausible. I guess your general point is something (seatbelt latch or whatever) dug a few cuts into the metal and so we're seeing some rusting around those holes. And more importantly, it sounds like you believe it can be addressed to stop any further rusting/damage to the metal? I don't really care about the aesthetics of these spots; I'm more concerned with whether these will become a headache to deal with down the road. Whatever my next 911 is, I plan to keep it for awhile.

Many thanks!

 

I bet more likely that somebody dropped specs of caustic material, or perhaps hot cigaret or cigar ash.

 

I’d rather it be caustic material than cigarette burns because I don’t want a car that’s been smoked in LOL. The problem is that I’m 1000 miles away.

 

And hit with a touch up pen. A body shop would do more damage than good. As mentioned above, it would seem an owner was neglectful to let this happen which may tell a larger story.

 

It was a leased vehicle so that may explain the general casualness the previous owner had. Of course, my first Porsche was leased (this was 22 years ago), and I babied that thing like you wouldn’t believe.

 

I agree with the above. Clean up the rust with a remover and buy a bottle of touch up paint. How else is the car? What are the details of the offer?

 

The rest of the car seems okay. It's a 2018 Carrera S Cabriolet with 30k miles, so it has some wear-and-tear. I'm mindful that I can't expect a flawless, like-new car. It's a CPO car. It's got a good set of options that I'm interested in having. In addition to the rust pinholes, PPI found the following issues:

The drivers seat shows some scratches, but that seems fixable:



One of the biggest cosmetic issues is a 4" scratch on the rocker panel below the driver's door. I'm not sure how hard or easy that is to fix:




Here is the scratch in larger context:




The dashboard above the center tach gauge has slight dent for some reason:




The dealer is wanting around $119k for it.

 

The rocker panel can be repaired by a good body/paint shop. The rust spots may or may not be just surface, but since there's no bubbling, it looks like a surface contamination. The dash dent would annoy the living crap out of me, and I'd see it every day, which would make me annoyed and make me want to replace that entire dash piece, which is expensive.

$119k for a CPOd 2018 model isn't terrible, but the mileage is relatively speaking a little high - presumably it was a DD to get that kind of mileage.

In "normal" conditions I would walk and find another one; however, prices right now are ridiculously inflated. For comparison, my local dealer is selling a 2018 Carrera 4 GTS cabrio for $160k - it has 16k mile on it. Granted, it's a GTS and not an S, and has half the mileage, but it's $40k more.

 

That looks to be small iron deposits on the paint itself (Generally from road debris/Brakes). You can see this along the sides and rear of cars that are not regularly detailed.

Some Iron Remover (IE: https://www.detailersdomain.com/coll...allout-cleaner) detailer should clean that up to see if its below the paint.

If its below the paint its an issue, if its on top its simply a matter of a good detail and the problem is rectified.

If left it will stain the paint requiring some paint correction. If left for a much longer period it will destroy the paint itself.

 

Personally, I would continue looking for a more pristine example. I know pickings are pretty slim at the moment, but I wouldn’t settle for the car unless you were getting a super deal. Remember… the chase is half the fun!

 

That’s not bad for the value. See CR below. As for the interior seat, etc. scratches, you can handle that with Colourlock (www.colourlock.com). I find my driver seat bolster constantly in wear and I use it with great results. How far does CPO take you out? 2023? With the PDK, I’d suggest pricing in a warranty extension (even now if you are financing). Look for the thread Fidelity Platinum Mega Thread for tons of info and pricing. Fidelity has become the insurer of choice and when mine expires in 2025, I most likely will opt for it. 20k for a PDK is just crazy. Good luck with your choice.