DeepSouth

How would (or did) you buy a 993 long-distance away from home? Would just having an independent PPI done in the location of the car do? How would you arrange that? Does it need to be an independent Porsche mechanic? Or would you fly out to where the car is and check the car out yourself?

993chaz

Hi Deepsouth,

if you have the time I would fly out and check it out yourself, and be there while the PPI is done. I have purchased 3 P-cars and had independent PPI's done. I also had someone in the area check it out for me, just for piece of mind. If you let the board know where the car is usually somebody will be willing to help.

I actually had the FL chapter's president of the PCA check my last car out for me. I sent him $100 and all was good. A few $$ goes a long way when your spending thousands.

Bets of luck!! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

fbfisher

Many photos exchanged. Car fax report. Spoke to various P-car dealer service managers where warranty work (what little there was)and service was performed. PPI from local P-Car dealer. Once all was satisfied, I flew out to inspect personally. Paid for the car and drove it home. 12,000 miles later, all is well.

steve g

I saw the ad on the Internet. Carfax. Porsche NA. Spoke with the owner who consented to bring to local Porsche dealer who did the PPI. Friday, I flew to Florida to speak with the service manager who did the PPI and met owner same afternoon, exchanged bank check for title, signed copies of bill of sale. Friday night in Tallahassee 40 miles in 2 hours. Drop car at transport center and return to Chicago on Saturday night. Car amazingly arrives via Intercity 10 days later with the Florida dust barely disturbed. Go for it.

Pete Lech

Ask someone from the list or PCA to look over the car, and then if all seems OK, arrange a PPI. Personally for this kind of money, I would want to see the car before I bought it, however I do know one person who bought a car in Atlanta sight unseen, after inspection by the local PCA President, and shipped it to California. He was very pleased. I had a deal on an Arena Red C4S in the Boston area, subject to a PPI, and was going to fly back to oversee the PPI, with a Cashiers Check with me. Too bad the owner used my offer to get another prospect to up his offer, and reneged, fortunately before I flew back. He did reimburse me for the cost of cancelling the ticket, at least. Good thing I had another car in mind, so I drove to San Diego and bought my current C2S. Think of it as an adventure, take precautions, and have fun.

Steve 96C4S

Ditto. Had a Chicago Porsche dealer 750 miles from my house do the PPI for me from a Luxury Motors car (for $315!!!), and 3 local Rennlisters checked it out (one of which test drove it for me - Thanks Saichin). I trusted their pics, and their words. I bought it "sight unseen", wired Luxury Motors the money, and flew out 4 days later to drive it back to DC. VERY happy with the way it turned out...

This was the 2nd PPI I had done in 2 months on the same model, same year, same exact color car. I only wanted silver with black interior C4S and I'm glad I stuck to my guns. The first PPI was $212 in NJ. These dealers are high.

Good luck.

Steve

grouchy

Spoke with my Porsche service director and had him pull any available service records, requested PPI locations from rennlist, spoke with the current owner, ran carfax, tried to locate any previous owners and quiz them, ask about complete records.

Then worked out financing, arranged the PPI, purchased a plane ticket and a hotel room, flew out to check it out and drive it home.

I wasn't able to attend my PPI due to work but everything turned out fine.

sy308

Purchasing a car unseen certainly has risk attached. However, it is still used and mistakes can be made an out of town PPI. You probably won't miss major things, but I have personally seen used cars taken in on trade at dealers that were wrecked, rebuilt and put on the front line (until I came along that is). The point is even a dealer can make mistakes. Yes, one has recourse which certainly does exist with a dealer and probably not with a private seller.

Here are some points that usually make sense.

1. Get as much information on the particular vehicle as you can by telephone and FAX. Ask about service records and have copies to review from the current owner. Try to call the dealer or shops who worked on the car and determine if they have information the current owner does not have. They can FAX it to you. Porsche did not have national records on cars by VIN like other makes until recently. So calling Porsche will not give you much information except to identify the dealer who originally sold the car. You might be able to get warranty repair data in the first years by searching by VIN.

2. Carfax will give some information that you would not easily get otherwise. However, I have successfully negotiated several deals without a Carfax and to be honest with you the information in each case would not have made any difference.

3. Become familiar with the car model you are most interested in. Be sure to ask specific questions like "how many miles are on the brakes or tires?" instead of "how are the tires?". Be sure to inquire about leaky transmissions, engines and cooling lines. Those repairs signify a car that has possibly been neglected versus a car with an owner who has paid attention to problems in great detail. If you need to make up a check list of questions when speaking to the seller.

4. Get a rough idea of how to transport the car to your location before a commitment is made for price and time. Car transporters can be found in Hemming's or by asking at local clubs or local shops. Sometimes, transporters will assist the buyer in making the final deal and other times they will not. Be sure to include the car with your insurance company prior to the transporter picking it up. In this case, you and the investment are protected, regardless of who actually damages the car. It costs only a few dollars to insure the car for the week it takes to transit.

5. I have also purchased vehicles without PPI via long distance in several cases. In each case, I felt comfortable enough with the transaction ahead of time and I was very familiar with the car and its value. In fact, I would easily sell the car when it arrived for more than I paid. To this point, I would add "do not try this at home" because professional expertise I had outweighed my risk of not using a PPI. But still, you may find yourself in a similar situation and YES it can be done.

6. I plan to have the car serviced and inspected when it arrives. In this way, I can get it on a lift immediately and correct defects or make repairs before the car is resold or driven.

Just some ideas. Good luck.

Mike J

I also bought my 96 Targa remotely...about 3500 miles away. As part of the process, I:

- negotiated a price with the PO via email while travelling all over Asia. I think I finalized the deal in Beijing if I remember

- made my offer condition on a number of things including lien checks, mechanical inspection, body shop inspection, and my personal inspection once I thought it was all in order

- I had the PPI done by what I thought was a good shop in the area (this turned out to be a mistake...I used Pfaff in Toronto and was disappointed when I got the car since they missed several things that they deny missing...I am still steamed about that).

- The PPI turned out reasonably clean. I then checked the local government registration for liens, carfax, and smog check (if applicable).

- I got this far so I caught a flight (on points) to checkout the car. I took the car for a long drive, inspected as much as I could myself, and decided to purchase it.

- Cut the bank transfers, arranged to have the title transferred, and then drove the car down to the shipping company to get it shipped back home.

- Waited for the car for 2 weeks to arrive...arrived with no incident. I then took the car into my garage for the next month and did all the maintenance to bring it up to my standards (which is part of the fun).

What would I do different next time? Get two mechanics to check the car...the PPI that I had done missed items that luckily were not expensive...but I could have been compensated for it by the PO. Live and learn!

Cheers,

Mike

User 4621

I also purchased my car sight unseen long distance and had it shipped to me. However, I had lots of pictures, the car was owned by a Rennlister and vouched for by several other Rennlisters. A clean PPI and Carfax was a condition of purchase.

I paid up front for the car and the seller put it on the transporter once the check cleared, but that was because I ended up trusting the seller's character for a variety of reasons. If I had not felt that way I would probably have worked something else out. The car was everything I expected and more.

Good luck,

workitjr

As with Pete and Kim, I am a sight unseen purchaser as well, and as with Pete, a lot of it has to do with the character of the person you are dealing with in addition to good research.

I bought a 95 993 with 31,000 miles from a gentleman in Atlanta, who had purchased the car from the original owner in Costa Mesa off of E-Bay. Our transaction was E-bay as well. After deciding to take a run at the car, mostly because it was the right color and low miles, I sent an e-mail to the owner with a list of questions. He immediately responded and answered every one (typical stuff, no dents, dings, accidents, etc, service history, etc.) I then called him and stated I would bid to purchase the car contingent on a clean PPI.

Needless to say, over a few days, the owner and I communicated a lot, and he showed me the good faith of getting it in for the PPI to the shop I selected (recommended by PCA Peach State members). He even ended the auction early because he knew I was a legitimate buyer.

The PPI turned up very little. I spoke directly with the shop owner, and he made me feel confident the car was as advertised. The only minor surprise was the car would need a clutch at some point, not imminently, but at some point. I went back to the Owner with this information, and asked him to meet me halfway. He stated he couldn't because he had a standing local offer for $1k more than what we had a deal on. Then it was decision time, and I felt good enough about the car, knowing I would have to spend a litle to as Mike says 'get it into the condition and level I expected', and I went for it, sight unseen.

Car arrived last Thursday. With the exception of the drivers side bolster showing some wear (which wasn't mentioned or picked up), it's all there. It is a very tight car that feels like 31k miles should. I spent all day yesterday claying the car, waxing, polishing and detailing. It has a couple of minor scratches, a stone chip here and there, but on the sum total of the whole, I feel I got value and the car I expected to get. It goes in tomorrow for its 30k service from an Independent, and he will give me one more objective opinion on anything it needs. The clutch is strong, and it runs like a raped ape!

Moral of the story....there is risk in everything. Only you can decide your comfort level. Would I do it again, maybe, but ultimately, if you buy the car right, do the best you can to minimize the risk, deal with integrity, and do the research (thanks Rennlist), you can make it work, and if it is not all that, you can flip it and keep on looking (although that would be the worst case!). The cool thing about believing in people when it works out, is that the Owner sent me a check for $400 to assist with the clutch, when and if I decide to have it done. Pretty nice character and karma when in actuality he didn't need to do that, and could have sold the car for an additional $1400 locally. That was kinda like the cherry on top!

I have put a couple hundred miles on the car the last several days, and I am totally hooked. I am glad I didn't go for the practicality of the 540-6 spd, or the newness of a 350Z. This is the car, and I am sure yours is out there too. Some of my friends think I am crazy for buying a car sight unseen 2700 miles from California. Oh well.