Dryfly57

Oh, I bought a Tim Holt car from a PO. That was one reason I bought my car but only before I had a complete PPI done.

Onami

I PPI'd the red C4S with 23,000 miles that they have on ebay before they bought it. It is advertised as no leaks, original paint and aerokit etc with no stories. I passed on the car because it has been hit lightly in the front with some wavy shee tmetal still visible behind the bumper, couple of leaky gaskets, not a factory aerokit and didn't come with one from the factory - so definitely not all original paint! Still a nice car, but not a colletor's piece as they advertise it.

Asg420

Hi -

First post here - long time lurker.

I have a 2011 997 Turbo S cab - love it, but just always lust after the 993's. was thinking of trading for two 993's - a cpe and cab.

This red c4s - is stunning in photos. I was going to order a PPI which top gear agreed to let me do after some prodding. Anything else you can share about this car??

I have heard all the stories about title issues and the PSAT, but I have visited the shop twice so far and while all the cars are not in the best condition, there are some nice finds in their inventory. They had a white C4s with aero kit a few months back that gave me wood. I went to look at the red turbo and blue turbo - my issue is, I am no where as experienced as you guys here - being able to spot repainting and non- factory items is not my specialty.

Does it really matter??? If the car is going to be a weekend driver, and the price is 25-40K less than what Richard Sloan will sell a car for, should I care about the 'all original' aspects of the car? I left Ferrari for my 997 because the most important thing for me is that the car starts when I want to use it :-).

I read a post where someone said they would buy any car from any dealer with a PPI from a shop of my choosing. I have a relationship with both jack Daniels and town motors and would take it there. There is a shop in Mahwah called eurotech I think but I don't know them.

You help and advice is greatly appreciated as I need some coaching to make the leap from comfy tech advanced 997 to classic, curvy, aurally pleasing 993.

Best regards,

Asg

JB 911

Welcome aboard ASG!

I would buy a car from a dealer if I was happy with the in person, ppi and maint history.

But the thing about dealers that wore me down during my search was the lack of knowledge, records or information on the cars in general. Not all dealers are like that esp the high end ones. But the high end ones are outside of a lot of peoples budgets. The simplest of questions met with: huh? Don't know.. Bob does this one have a rebuild? Yeah its all good.

Again, I WOULD buy from a dealer in the future, but probably just for a pecial car, not one somewhat readily available elsewhere. I really just came in at the end of this thread but the one red flag raised to me in your post was "agreed to let me do a ppi after some prodding" . The ppi is pretty standard fare as part of the sale.

Ed Hughes

Welcome and GLWS!

I would opt to buy from a private party-you are then looking into, at least the immediate past life of said car. It's nice to know what type of home it's from.

mdude

That was yours truly.

As you search this forum you'll see some dealers held in high regard (i.e. Holt, TruSpeed), and some not so, i.e. Victory, Top Gear...).

Truth is dealers bought cars as-is like the rest of us. Meaning: the condition is totally dependent on the previous owner. I don't think even top dealers do a PPI on every 993 they scoop up.

What separates top to bottom dealers are folks' perception of their sales practice, reluctance to allow for 'independent' PPI, or misrepresentation of the car's condition, photoshopping, etc.

This brings me back to my original proposition: as long as the dealer OKs a PPI by a shop of your choice, AND agree to adjust the sale price for the amount of repair (if) needed, you shouldn't have an issue w/ buying from anyone of them.

That said, I would recommend you 1st browse for-sale forums here, in Pelican, PCA and autotrader. Good specimens come up now and then (see Iko's car, that's a great buy!) with full service history; no dealer markup etc.

For private party sale always ask where the owner takes the car for service (except for DIY-ers, which tend to be found on boards like this and you can look up their posting history). Make sure the shop is a reputable air-cooled specialist. With a few exceptions Porsche dealers are NOT good venues to service 993s due to their age.

Always perform a compression and leakdown.

So there you have it. GLWBuy.

1st post and already a member, that's a good sign!!

Onami

Send me your email address and I'll forward the mechanic's email. The car was in AZ and I was negotiating with the fellow who owned it for the past 7 years. He had no idea about the repainted/replaced parts or accident. He bought the car from a well-known dealer in the 993 world and this was not disclosed to him (at least that is what he told me). The title had a misprint which concerned me due to the fact that I was exporting the car to Canada, but he got this cleared up after about 2 weeks of trying. The car also needed rear tires....I was buying it for $47,500 (originally $50K before the issues were found) and had no interest in flipping it since it wasn't the mint original that I was looking for, so I passed.

Quadcammer

Guys,
I just visited top gear.

I was impressed on a lot of their inventory. Some real nice vehicles, and certainly not cheap. Yes, some cars are nicer than others, but that goes for all 993s, with price points to match. I didn't see any indication of mileage tampering. I had a nice chat with the owner, and I believe he does want to sell good cars at good prices. If you want a truly concours car that is like new, you may have to look harder to find it, or pay more. Were there some cars at Topgear that could be concours...yes. Are there some that need some work? absolutely. Again, from my experience, the company was pretty straightforward about whats what.

Do your due diligence, decide what you want from the car, and then determine whether you want to buy the car. If you want to stop by there, I think you'll be impressed.

luv2race

Does this Top Gear have a website? I googled Top Gear Imports NJ and ended up with reviews and a litany of other links but no website.

My two cents, I purchased a few cars from Tim Holt and I have been very happy with the cars and my dealings with Tim. He is also well known in the PCA Club Racing community and that tends to be a tight knit group so reputation matters.

Sulley007

I bought a car from Top Gear Imports, LLC in New Jersey and dealt with Sean Rajan and Aret Yilanjian and based on my personal experience I could not recommend to anyone to purchase from them. If you google Sean Rajan you will see a number of complaints and lawsuits when he was involved with Riverside Audi. I wish I had seen that and sites like this before I had dealings with them.

rspon1

About 2 months ago, I spoke with Sean about buying a 993 C2S from Top Gear. If you listen to Mr. Sean's answers very carefully your BS alarm will sound repeatedly. Make sure your BS alarm is in top shape because it will be over loaded if you deal with these folks. Run, don't walk.

G-MASSA

I nearly completed a transaction on a white / chestnut 993 this spring. The description and conversations said clean auto check. That may be true, however I decided to run a Carfax at the last minute And it revealed accident damage. That was a quick lesson that not all car history services are created equal. It also showed that the car had not accumulated much mileage at all in the past 10 years. There were some inconsistencies with the vehicle's description that made me uncomfortable as well. I had initially set my gut feelings aside because of the excitement of getting a Porsche - Then I came to my senses and I canceled my wire transfer and the deal immediately. I guess I cannot technically complain; but it was a close call.

2qwik4u

Quadcammer and mdude hit the nose right on the head! A lot of cool cars, some mint, some not so nice and many are drivers and they are all reflected in the price. Went there today with 2 buddies and both bought a car with very fair prices. Process was painless and owner, sean is very down to earth. No ppi done, however both friends are mechanically inclined and owner let us put the cars under his lift and tear them apart.
Also any issues that were known were expressed before hand by sean. All in all a good experience.
Btw..they have 5 turbo s' in stock !

Mark in Baltimore

AC/911's

They've bought several of my cars, when I decide to sell a car, I put it out there for a little bit, no takers, I call them, its far to irritating to get little more $$ sometimes & I'll already have another Car in Mind.

That being said, they're no BS & have nice cars, everything I've sold them was Top condition, serviced etc. They just bought a 930 from me that absolutely stunning, Completely Modified, 15k original miles, wouldn't be surprised if they E Bay it, It might come up in the 930 forum.

There's two Shops near Them Protosport & Powertech that can do Very Reliable PPI's. I would NOT do business with demon motors ever again, that's for sure, three times was three to many.
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