Berkley

Gentlemen

I have agreed to buy a '98C2S "sight unseen" subject to a full PPI and a Certification/One Year Full Warranty from Porsche AG..... A very helpful Porsche dealer, after the inspection and if it passes, will buy the Porsche from an individual, Certify/Issue Warranty and then sell directly to me....I am paying a very slight upcharge for this customer goodwill service....convoluted but a way to buy at long distance..... what service!!!!!

I had posted before about some of the details and the following came from a third party not involved....

Color: Forrest Green...was this option offered on late '98s ?( I know it was on the 996 which was then being built for ROW markets ) Price?

Interior: All Cashmire except Black headliner (?) and Dash(?) with Sport Seats/Crest

Other: Motor Sound, 18" Turbos, ____ Radio/CD with Hi Fi Sound, CD Holder Option

Price: MSRP was $73,300 or $72,300 ????

Does the above make sense as options, special paint and MSRP....Can anyone fill in blanks?

Also there was one recent warranty claim at the 30,000 mile service at less than 28,000 actual miles....oil leaking from both cam cover seals...help please!!!!! Is this a normal "fix" issue on a 993? I just had this issue on my '00 C4 Millennium last week....

I know things get mixed up when two model lines are being built at the same time.... but I will not be able to see the car until I fly out to pick it up....it is a one owner with one servicing dealer..

Any and all advice, input etc....will be appreciated, Oh Viken, I agreed with your points to Chris yesterday on another board

Thanks, again

A C2S Waiter, hopefully

JC in NY

Sounds good unless the PPI is going to be performed by the same Porsche dealer you're buying from. That would not be advisable.

vjd3

In theory, since the Porsche dealer is going to certify the car for the one year Porsche warranty, they will be looking it over very closely, indeed. In fact, to qualify for the warranty, they have to fix everything they find wrong with the car, right down to wear on the tires and brake pads, as well as ensure that the car was not damaged in an accident.

Now, I say "in theory" because I just bought a 95 C4 with 38k miles that was certified by a Porsche dealer and I immediately discovered a rear main seal oil leak. So, I'm not sure how careful they really are looking over the cars, but the selling dealer right now is fixing the seal, and throwing in a new clutch disk while it's apart, as well as replacing the transmission seal as a precaution. I have little doubt that this particular repair will run well over $2k, and the salesman told me the dealer is going to have to eat it because if they charge it to Porsche, Porsche will freak out because the car is certified and should have no issues.

So, if you're getting a certified Porsche warranty, anything that's wrong with the car can be fixed at any Porsche dealer within a year, which takes some of the sting off that PPI. I would be very upset right now if the C4 I bought had not been certified. As it is, I get a fresh clutch and dry engine, although the car's been down for a week now (awaiting the clutch disk). And whichever tech did the original certification is probably nursing a new a--hole.

Vic
95 C4 "certified"

B-Line home

Hey Berkley..

J.C. is giving good advice but if the car is being certified that means a couple things.

1) It is certifiable. (Porsche won't certify it if it doesn't meet certain criteria.)

2)The certification costs the dealership $600. Assuming the car does not need to be brought up to standard, ie: tires, brakes, etc.

3) If the car doesn't check out with the PPI, the certification should cover the problems assuming it's not rotors, pads, clutch, flywheel, etc.

But even if one of those things is bad, I'm sure you can negotiate with Porsche for parts. After all, they are certifying a car. If it arrives at your door with a bad clutch, I've been told they will work with you.

Just so you know, I bought my car in January sight unseen. I had a PPI done and the report came back bad. The PPI guy said it had a bad flywheel, bad rotors, the rear wing had been painted, and he said it was fair at best and would advise I keep looking.
I worked out a deal with the dealership after they disputed all the claims of the PPI that at the time of delivery if I wasn't happy, I had 3 days to send the car back if I paid for the transportation. I agreed.

The car arrived at my door and was in great condition. Very clean!!! I got more car than I was even expecting. The supposed bad fly wheel was nothing more than a belt that needed replacement. There was no repaint on the rear wing and the rotors, although not brand new, were fine.

We've all heard nightmare stories about cars being bought sight unseen. I am happy to say that in my case, the car surpassed my expectations.

Good luck..
B

Berkley

Thanks for the input so far....The private seller is taking the car for the PPI/Certification inspection....if it does not meet the warranty standards by Porsche, he will have the option to repair/replace on his dime so that it can be certified or the agreement to purchase is voided (or price with me might be renegotiated).

Greg H.

Do the dealers generally try to charge more than $600 for the certification if you ask for it? What does the $600 go for - is that a payment to PNA? Or is that the cost of the mechanic's time to go over the car.
Greg

Speedraser

I can add my experience with the Porsche certification. I know enough to reject many potential purchases without a PPI, but not enough to buy without a PPI -- I bought my '81 SC only after a PPI.

However, I bought my '95 993 from a Porsche dealer with the certification only -- no independent PPI. I did this because of the "theoretically" extensive inspection that a car must pass to be certified, and (crucially) because it comes with the 1 year warranty -- that should take care of anything a PPI would have discovered.

Three days after I took delivery, I shifted very quickly from 1st to 2nd at redline for the first time -- and the clutch slipped wildly. I thought (hoped!) that it was just my unfamiliarity with the car. Although I had driven the car fairly hard when I test-drove it, there was no trace of clutch slip. It proved to be quite difficult to make this happen -- it needed to be a very fast (but not brutal) redline 1 - 2 shift. Nothing else that I would ever do to my own car would cause any slip, and it took several weeks before it happened again.

The dealer immediately offered to pay for the parts and to "discount" the labor rate. I pointed out that the clutch was obviously worn when I took delivery, mentioning that I had done over 240,000 miles (now 260,000) on the original clutch in my Saab -- no way I wasted a clutch in 3 days. They said they'd "see what they could do." Turned out the rear main seal had a TINY leak, which was a warranty item that involved the same basic labor as that required for the clutch. So, I got the new clutch and a new rear main seal at no charge. All in all, a good experience with the dealer and the certification, although I do wonder whether they inspect everything as thoroughly as they should.

Greg -- My understanding is that the dealer pays for the certification process, and it includes the mechanic's time plus whatever work the car requires to meet the certification standards. I heard it's more like $1,000 -- I guess it depends on what each car actually needs. I'm sure this gets factored into the price the dealer sells the car for.

Berkley -- Welcome back to air-cooling.

Berkley

It is my understanding that the dealer pays Porsche AG $600... the warranty is good anywhere in the world

We are paying $200 for the inspection and $600 for the Certification/Warranty since is a privately owned Porsche, if it passes muster

If it was a dealer owned car I suspect they absorb the shop time and try to recover the shop cost in the sales price

Berkley

Greg

When I bought the '00 996 C4 Millennium, the dealer quoted a $1000 for inspection/certification/warranty after we agreed on a price....they did it gratis....I didn't pay it but I probably paid a $1000 or more than I should have for the Porsche...

You pay one way or the other for what you get!

B-Line home

Hey Berkeley,

Generally a dealership will mark up a minimum of $1000 for a certification if they can get it.
But the cost actually is $600 that the dealership pays to Porsche..

That cost does not include any labor that might be neccessary to bring the car up to spec though.

Hope this helps...

and I have to mirror speedrasers comment, "Welcome back to air cooled..."