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Thanks for the kind words guys. Seems I've got a lot to post. Pictures at gas stations, why I had to have a manual transmission, Why I bought a .1 instead of a .2, etc, etc! LOL! So I actually started to pursue this very car when it was being sold new at a dealer in Huston TX two years ago. I unfortunately did not have all my finances together to make it happen at the time. So, when I saw this car up for sale here on rennlist I was presented with another chance to purchase the car. This was the classified add. (https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-...ition-cpo.html). Seeing that I didn't want to fly out to see the car in person I started looking for friends on the east coast that might be able to look at the car for me. I ended up contacting Nick Murray who some of you know from his You Tube channel to put eyes on the car after I discovered he lived in the same town as the seller. I was just looking for a verbal description from Nick but Nick ended up making a video of the inspection and posted it on YouTube for all to see.
1. Don't hold out for the perfect spec - it will never appear.
2. Don't let a $1-3K price problem keep you from buying a car - you may kick yourself later.
3. Don't forget rules 1 and 2.
Thanks much to STG for the continued commitment to HFS. Your voice and those of others with more experience in 991.1 cars is invaluable.
Steve
This is very good advice, having learned from my own experiences of car shopping over the past 30+ years.
1- You will never find the "perfect spec" used car, there will always be either something missing, or something that is there that you don't want. You need to order new to have your perfect spec car.
2 - My Dad used to say, "there's always another one" and that is true too. But it may take some time to find that other one. At some point you may just want the madness to stop, so go for it if it's close enough.
3 - Yea, don't forget 1 and 2 above. :-) And I would add one more:
4 - Even if it's not your favorite color, there is a lot that can be done to make almost any color look good. I've seen some real ugly colors on cars that looked purposeful when matched with the right accessories and color/graphics. I've also seen beautiful colored cars look terrible with the wrong crap added on. As they say, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," just make sure you've got both eyes open.
Thanks for the kind words guys. Seems I've got a lot to post. Pictures at gas stations, why I had to have a manual transmission, Why I bought a .1 instead of a .2, etc, etc! LOL! So I actually started to pursue this very car when it was being sold new at a dealer in Huston TX two years ago. I unfortunately did not have all my finances together to make it happen at the time. So, when I saw this car up for sale here on rennlist I was presented with another chance to purchase the car. So I immediately began a relentless assault on the wife to "allow me" to pursue the car. This was the classified add. (https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-...ition-cpo.html). Seeing that I didn't want to fly out to see the car in person I started looking for friends on the east coast that might be able to look at the car for me. I ended up contacting Nick Murray who some of you know from his You Tube channel to put eyes on the car after I discovered he lived in the same town as the seller. I was just looking for a verbal description from Nick but Nick ended up making a video of the inspection and posted it on YouTube for all to see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia1KNXrrdG0&t=1s. As of today their has been 29,667 views which is kind of crazy to think about. Of course 1000 of those views are from me! LOL! Now my other fun car has a friend to share the garage with!
Beautiful car, congrats! Looks like new. Nice savings vs had you purchased it new in Houston! Were you able to negotiate much on the price? Look forward to hearing more of the story.
I have always heard this quote as "beauty is in the eye of the beer holder" - just wanted to correct this post. Long time lurker - first time poster in HFS - couldn't resist this correction and love this section.
My Dad used to say, "there's always another one" and that is true too.
Not always. It really depends on what things you find important, and how rare they are.
For example, there aren't a lot of metallic red cars out there. Lots of Guards Red, a fair number of Carmine Red, but Amaranth or Ruby are awfully rare, or at least rare to see for sale (no idea how many have been ordered and kept).
I think the "always another one" applies more to cars with large production runs, or with fewer variances in options. The 991 comes in so many variants, even if you confine yourself to the truly major things (engine size, body type, transmission, drivetrain, color). I think "always another one" applies most if you're looking for a C2S PDK coupe in gray, which is kind of the "O+ blood type" of the 991's.
Here is a summary of my out of state buying experience that I hope is helpful to others. First, a little background - I had been looking for a Porsche for some time. This would be my first sports car (unless you count the Ford Pinto I had as a teenager). Initially I planned to get a Cayman - I really love the look of the car and the mid-engine concept. However, after a test drive I found that while the handling was terrific, the ride was a little too ‘active’ and noisy for me. I also thought that the small cabin might feel a bit cramped on long trips. This started my search for a used 991. After a very informative test drive of a 991.1 Carrera 4 in CT earlier this fall, I knew that was the configuration I wanted to purchase. I liked the security of all wheel drive (I love in a rural part of Vermont) and figured that the 19” wheels on the base model would give a better ride on our rough roads here.
After a lot of searching on the web and monitoring the HFS thread several times a day - I found a 2013 991.1 Carrera 4 in Wisconsin just outside Milwaukee. The car was aqua blue - a color I had never seen on a 911 in person, but loved it on a Cayman I saw some years ago. The car was not a garage queen and had 50K miles, but it had PDK, sport chrono, 14-way seats, Bose, metal sunroof, the 19” wheels I was looking for, and was under CPO warranty for another 18 months. The dealer put new front tires, rotors, and pads on the car as part of the CPO process and repaired some damage on the seat bolster.
It is very difficult for me to fly so I posted a request on the forum asking for help in evaluating the car. Almost immediately I got several responses. STG and budrichard were nice enough to go to the dealer and do a very thorough evaluation of the car. Having never owned a Porsche my discussions with them were incredibly educational. (STG seems to be a human encyclopedia of the 991!) After hearing positive reports from them, I thought that this was the car for me. I was able to pretty quickly negotiate an acceptable purchase price - $59K. I put down a deposit with the provision that I could back out if any problems turned up during the PPI.
The PPI (done by Nelson Automotive) went fine and I arranged for Intercity Lines to haul the car back to New England for me. The whole experience was very smooth, the dealer (International Porsche) and Intercity were both great to deal with. The truck arrived last Sunday. As soon as the delivery driver pulled off part of the cover and I got my first peak of the car I knew I had made the right decision!
A few thoughts on buying long distance. First, I asked the dealer *a ton* of questions and they responded quickly and with lots of photos. If the dealer wasn’t responsive I probably would have passed on this car - it's just too hard to deal with someone over the phone if they are not responsive. Second, having Rennlisters put eyes on and drive the car on my behalf was essential. You certainly need an objective view of the car before diving in especially if you are new to 911's. Third, having some time left on the CPO was a big deal for me. Finally, Rennlist has been invaluable - I have read (and reread) the threads comparing the 991.1 and 991.2 and the various options over the past few months. The fact that there is such an enthusiastic and well informed group of owners really adds something to the research and buying process.
I put some photos of the car in another thread. Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helpful!
I'm the proud new owner of this beauty so yes it still stays in the family. waiz did an awesome job keeping the car in an impeccable shape.This is my first 911 (and my first P car as well). I'm so deep in love with her already after a 1000+ mile drive back to Seattle so I do not intend to put her back on this thread again before it hits what...let's just say 5k pages.
I'll put up another thread regarding the trip once I got all the photos sorted out. All I got to say to all future HFS owner is that I highly recommend you GT silver!
Here is a summary of my out of state buying experience that I hope is helpful to others. First, a little background - I had been looking for a Porsche for some time. This would be my first sports car (unless you count the Ford Pinto I had as a teenager). Initially I planned to get a Cayman - I really love the look of the car and the mid-engine concept. However, after a test drive I found that while the handling was terrific, the ride was a little too ‘active’ and noisy for me. I also thought that the small cabin might feel a bit cramped on long trips. This started my search for a used 991. After a very informative test drive of a 991.1 Carrera 4 in CT earlier this fall, I knew that was the configuration I wanted to purchase. I liked the security of all wheel drive (I love in a rural part of Vermont) and figured that the 19” wheels on the base model would give a better ride on our rough roads here.
After a lot of searching on the web and monitoring the HFS thread several times a day - I found a 2013 991.1 Carrera 4 in Wisconsin just outside Milwaukee. The car was aqua blue - a color I had never seen on a 911 in person, but loved it on a Cayman I saw some years ago. The car was not a garage queen and had 50K miles, but it had PDK, sport chrono, 14-way seats, Bose, metal sunroof, the 19” wheels I was looking for, and was under CPO warranty for another 18 months. The dealer put new front tires, rotors, and pads on the car as part of the CPO process and repaired some damage on the seat bolster.
It is very difficult for me to fly so I posted a request on the forum asking for help in evaluating the car. Almost immediately I got several responses. STG and budrichard were nice enough to go to the dealer and do a very thorough evaluation of the car. Having never owned a Porsche my discussions with them were incredibly educational. (STG seems to be a human encyclopedia of the 991!) After hearing positive reports from them, I thought that this was the car for me. I was able to pretty quickly negotiate an acceptable purchase price - $59K. I put down a deposit with the provision that I could back out if any problems turned up during the PPI.
The PPI (done by Nelson Automotive) went fine and I arranged for Intercity Lines to haul the car back to New England for me. The whole experience was very smooth, the dealer (International Porsche) and Intercity were both great to deal with. The truck arrived last Sunday. As soon as the delivery driver pulled off part of the cover and I got my first peak of the car I knew I had made the right decision!
A few thoughts on buying long distance. First, I asked the dealer *a ton* of questions and they responded quickly and with lots of photos. If the dealer wasn’t responsive I probably would have passed on this car - it's just too hard to deal with someone over the phone if they are not responsive. Second, having Rennlisters put eyes on and drive the car on my behalf was essential. You certainly need an objective view of the car before diving in especially if you are new to 911's. Third, having some time left on the CPO was a big deal for me. Finally, Rennlist has been invaluable - I have read (and reread) the threads comparing the 991.1 and 991.2 and the various options over the past few months. The fact that there is such an enthusiastic and well informed group of owners really adds something to the research and buying process.
I put some photos of the car in another thread. Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helpful!
-dbk123
Central Vermont
Congrats! Looks like we just did the same thing at the same time. Enjoy yours to the fullest!
11-29-2017, 01:49 PM
