jw97C2S

A flipper and/or dealer knows the tricks of the trade to dress up a car. For instance, there is a wax that temporarily fills in the paint chips. You wont find out about all of those paint chips until after the wax washes out. There are also cheap dyes that will temporarily rejuvenate the leather.

Of course anyone can use these techniques but a flippers job is to dress a car up to sell for a higher price than he bought the car for. And I wont even go into the potential title issues if the title documents werent transferred.

boman993

My apologies, I misread the PM, he was offering ONE of the 2 993s he currently has.

Mark in Baltimore

I don’t think the OP’s post was inappropriate at all, for the query depends on the context of the situation. In this instance, we are talking about a member who who tries to pass off the incredible number of cars that he sells (six cars in six months last year) as a “busy enthusiast”. This is an astonishing number in such a short amount of time and far beyond the norm of what any devotee would consume in terms of purchases, IMO.

So, the guy’s a flipper or car dealer; big deal, right? Right. It isn’t a big deal. I don’t have a problem with dealers or flippers selling cars here as long as the business status is being disclosed.

Unfortunately, deadhead1960 has implied that these cars are his personal vehicles when nothing could be further from the truth. Many new members incorrectly assume that if an auto is being sold by a Rennlister, then there is a reassuring credibility level that the owner has checked the car over carefully, has lived with it for a period of time and is being honest since that member has a supposed reputation in the community.

Furthermore, deadhead1960 has shown that he cannot be sincere when asked about the nature of his business, an approach that would force one to wonder what else he is being cagey about. As others have written, if his business is selling cars, whether it’s a hobby enterprise or not, car dealers and flippers have special techniques and tools at their disposal to temporarily or permanently make the car look better. Full disclosure would be the right thing to do to help the consumer decide if he or she needs to investigate further.

Because deadhead1960 can’t be truthful about what he does, is it really that wrong for a green and potentially new Porsche owner who is also new to the board to ask about a member’s already-blemished reputation?

lizSter

If someone is a dealer/flipper, that's fine if he represents himself as such. But if the flipper claims he is the original or long time owner of the car and has intimate knowledge of the car's history, service, treatment, etc., then that flipper is scum.

I once had it happen to me. Spent a long time on phone and conversing via email over several weeks. Flipper answered every question as if he knew first hand. I flew a long way to get the car, passed the PPI and wasn't until I got home and closely examined the title, did I realize what occurred. My fault, I take responsibility for being naive. A sucker born every minute and someone there ready to take you for the ride.

matt777

One of the first questions asked should always be "how long have you owned the car?". It puts everything else said into context.

lizSter

Yep, exactly. The flipper in question was asked this question both verbally and in email. They replied that it was their personal vehicle, original, one owner.

trickydisco

OP simply asked if anybody can vouch for deadhead1960, entirely appropriate.

Some of you say he's a great guy, that's lovely.
He also happens to think 8 cars over 8 years
is an appropriate representation of over 5 cars in one year. Laughable.

deadhead1960 is a great guy, a car enthusiast, who also happens to misrepresent
the truth about his car-flipping biz. If he can't be truthful about this,
how confident can you be about the car you buy from him?

what a joke

nile13

That's _the_ first question I ask, actually.

No HTwo O

There was a recent incident on the 993 Turbo Forum, and let's just say I don't think Deadhead1960 will be selling any more parts any time soon.

Mark in Baltimore

Why did it take so much Rennlist pressure for this situation to be ameliorated?

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-turb...rear-wing.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/for-sale...condition.html

Kika

first off, this is a PUBLIC Forum, it is really no different than going to Cars and Coffee on a Saturday AM to meet with a bunch of people that have similar interests, it is just in a virtual meeting place as opposed to a real one.

We all have the freedom of choice to enter the forum, and pick the topic WE want to enter. No one is forcing anyone to click on a particular topic.

Information sharing is one of the primary objectives for the Rennlist forums. The OP was requesting information, unfortunately, the request had responses that fell into the "opinion" category. While it is pretty easy to agree where facts are involved, the waters get muddy when opinions enter into the equation, and we know there is a huge range of opinions here, part of what makes it fun and interesting, but often controversial as well.

I don't have a problem with asking opinions about a fellow Rennlister, I do have a problem if false information or outright slander is involved, that is when things need to be taken offline.

In the end, I believe the OP got the information he was looking for. He had a gut feel, and it was confirmed through this thread. I hope he ultimately finds what he is looking for and wish him well.
Certainly this is one of the premier places to gather knowledge and understanding of Porsches, one just needs to use a little care in separating facts from opinions, which is not always easy.

The above is just MY opinion......

Slow Guy

+993 to the entire statement.

goofballdeluxe

Let's just say this thread, and more so the 993TT fake wing thread, would have me thinking twice before I considered doing business with Jay.

He may not be a used car dealer, he may be.

But one thing seems certain: he seems to comport himself with the same stereotypical ethics of a used car dealer.

rp911

It's been a for-sale fest over on Pelican, too. Eight cars in eight years?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/searc...archid=6377925

What's ironic is had this individual just been upfront about his business (or hobby or whatever), nothing would appear to be shady or untoward. I just don't get it. It's not as if the "private party" values are higher than the dealer values. As others have said, if the car is priced reasonably and checks out on the PPI, who cares?

Curious to know whether anyone who has bought an actual car recalls if the vehicles were ever titled to this person, as in, is he absorbing the costs to transfer the title, register and inspect the cars, pay sales tax in NJ, and so forth. It's hard to make a living as a flipper if you're getting tagged for five percent (or more) on every car you buy to resell. Which is why legitimate dealers pay their bonds, obtain insurance and have to maintain a brick and mortar facility to get their licenses. And why they absorb liabilities like initial warranties in some states, etc., or sale recisions that the private party seller does not have to worry about. And it's why curbstoning is illegal in many states.

Kika

caveat emptor....ALWAYS.

One would hope that buyer risk is drastically reduced here on RL, but you still need to make informed decisions.