dylanc

So I found a driver car I liked on the PCA site in Toronto. Originally a US car, Aventurine Green w/tan interior. My favorite. Car has 94k miles, 2 owners, full and complete service history, and we agreed on $26,500 USD.

Got a PPI at EU AUTOWERKS in Toronto due to suggestions on the board. Car came back with great reviews, no oil leaks, well taken care of, great documentation, clearly an enthusiast car, etc. Then we did the leakdown test.

Cylinder 2-6 show 2% loss or less
But Cylinder 1 shows 65% loss. Blamo.

So, the quote from AUTOWERKS is $5,500 - $6,500 for half the rings, $8-9k to do them all. Do I walk from the car? Or how do you negotiate this as part of the purchase price? Curious for some opinions.

certz

The original price seems like a very good deal on a driver that is not perfect cosmetically and may need some minor things here or there, but is a solid car overall. Now that you are looking at doing top end work that changes things. Have you shown him the results of the leakdown and the estimate from Autowerks? I would start there and see what he says and if he is willing to negotiate. He may not be willing to cover the entire cost of the repair, considering the price you have already agreed upon, but if you can get him to $22-23K then I would definitely consider it. If he stands firm, I would walk.

matt777

I'd walk. The car probably needs rings and a valve job so plan on a big number. It would be unlikely that the seller will knock $10k off the price. They'll just wait for another buyer.

ilko

If you really like the car it might be worth taking it to another shop to confirm the leak down numbers, considering the difference between cyl 1 vs the others being so low. Although at 65% it will be very easy to spot...

dylanc

Well, clearly if the seller stands firm it would not be worth it.

Is it fair to split the cost of the top end? Would this make sense? So figure for me that would be $30k for a solid car, 94,000 miles and a fresh top end?

solomonschris

I just went through this scenario with a 97tt. Terrific but for one low cylinder. I agreed to raise my purchase price by $1,500, the seller paid for a complete top end job and I was able to buy parts only to upgrade the engine. I think I ended up with a much better car than what I would have had if it passed the PPI. With 993's running around with several 100,000 miles I am surprised the car needs rings. The question for me is, which would you rather have, a car with the original valve guides that passed the PPI or a car that has had a proper top end redo with the improved guide material?

dylanc

Thanks Chris - that is interesting. I guess with a TT the top end job is a much smaller percentage of the purchase price. With this car it is about 35% of the total cost. And yeah - obviously having the top end done is a major bonus, it is just a question of cost.

UserA

Similar situation with the 993TT i got a year ago. PPI showed 8-12% leak-down numbers so I told the owner I would walk or split the 10K cost with him that it would cost in the future. We did that and I ear marked the 5K off for a future rebuild.

Mike J

Did you conclude rings by the mechanic listening to the leak?

Digging into an engine is always expensive so make sure you have the $$$ allocated. There are always suprises (like doing the clutch while you are in there, etc).

This is not your issue so the seller needs to pay to sell a fair operational car, or take a hit on the price.

Cheers,

Mike

dylanc

Mike - Yes, that is exactly how they concluded rings.

I have informed the seller of the results, and we'll see what he comes back with.

dylanc

Well. Seller agreed knock 2k off the price. Brings the total to $24,500 for a good car that has a dead cylinder. Guess the search continues. Too bad.