TMc993

A PPI done by either the dealership or independent that has serviced the car presents conflicts of interest on multiple levels and almost guarantees a less than honest assessment of all but the most perfect cars.

laz74

Never get a PPI done where the original owner takes his car for servicing /repairs. HUGE conflict of interest (in favor of the original owner).

911Dave

I appreciate all the opinions. This is his first Porsche, and he's never been a car enthusiast before so this entire experience is new to him. I advised him on getting a PPI but didn't suggest a dealer - that was his choice. Considering that the car had been serviced there for the last 13 years, it seemed a reasonable choice given that they were very familiar with the car. My uncle isn't an idiot - he's a smart guy who unfortunately got taken for a ride by an unscrupulous seller and a negligent dealer.

Of course, no PPI is guaranteed to find everything that can be wrong, but we're talking about a MAJOR service issue that was discovered just 4 months earlier, and documented in the dealer's own records. When a PPI is done, the dealer is responsible to whoever pays for it, and obligated to disclose EVERYTHING they know about the car that could be relevant to a purchase decision. JDP really screwed this up.

M. Schneider

Sorry to hear of your non-disclosure SAI issues. These things often workout with "goodwill" on the part of the parties, however with the car in Denver...

Who is the servicing Denver counterpart?

+1 Same here.
I know the JDP service people for decades ... Was just in Ramsey NJ in fact although I'd hotel in the city. An ATL to NYC to ATL road trip ...

CamsPorsche

Load of BS. I'm a guy from Canada and they gave a crap about my PPI so let's all just take a step back and realize that all car dealerships, like any other business, can have bad days.

Its not as if JD Porsche is constantly slammed in forums for deception, poor service etc. Its clear some of us have had positive experiences so the OP should do the right thing and advise his uncle accordingly.

OP - make sure you have the full story from your uncle and make sure your uncle reaches out to the service manager and or owners of JD.

Academictech

It does not matter on dealer versus independent 'expert air-cooled' shops. PPI might give you peace of mind but, but it's a false one; they're never going to find everything.

If you're going to go after a faulty PPI for some oil on the under tray after the car was transported cross country, you probably don't want to own a 15 year old Porsche.

If anything, the seller should be the guy on the hot seat. This would be a good time for your uncle to discover a thing or two about his car, there are some great DIY's here and elsewhere on addressing leaks and just about everything else that could go wrong with these cars.

If this was a truly low mile example (by the way it's a 2 minute mod to ensure these cars stay "low mileage"), he probably paid a premium why not inspect the car and records himself before handing over the cash?

He just got his dream car and there are some unpleasant things to deal with....get him to join Rennlist, post some pictures here and we'll get him on the road to happy ownership/motoring.

cgfen

Probably keeping a lo-pro if he is / was.

Magdaddy

I'm a couple of months behind reading Panorama. I was just in the "reading room" looking at the Jan 14 issue...loo what I found in the classifieds..

1997 911 Carrera
Zenith Blue Metallic/Grey leather. Litronic headlights, clear turn signals, paint protection film, sunroof, split rear grill, colored wheel crests, brushed aluminum stick and brake lever. Excellent condition, meticulousy maintained. Just serviced, including four new tires. Never raced, always garaged and covered. Second owner since 2001. 48,900 miles $47,500. Steven Osborne New York, NY 917-969-4664. swosborne@nyc.rr.com

seems a tad over represented, considering the OP's info. Not the first seller to mis-represent a vehicle...nor the first shop doing a PPI to miss a few things. That being said, the dealership that maintained the car/did the PPI, was surprisingly forthcoming with the latest bad news service report...post purchase. The hard question to ask the service manager is...why that didn't get reveiled during the PPI. If he answers unsatisfactorily, I'd ask the owner's.

We know the previous owner was at the very least a PCA member from his ad in Pano. I assume his name is on that bad news service report also? IMHO, he should buck up and pay a significant protion of the repair cost...especially if he got near his asking price for the car.

Best of luck, and keep us in the loop.

911Dave

I have no idea. I hope so.

I do hope JDP steps up and at least shares in the responsibility for this, but neither my uncle nor I are expecting anything like that to happen.

911Dave

Gunbarrel Motors in Longmont.

jscott82

Don’t you also have to remove the springs and retainers (can’t be done with the heads on) to accurately determine this?

911Dave

Indeed, that's the one

JB 911

My biggest beef in the story is with the PO and the sai non disclose.

Certainly doesn't tie in with the ad details Magdaddy found...

To the op, if I was in your uncles shoes, I'd probably have them do the leaking gaskets, sai flush and enjoy it for the summer while monitoring oil consumption. Sounds like he doesn't drive it in the winter. Assess situation and put it back in in the winter.

Quadcammer

the glaring difference, which I'm actually shocked you didn't realize, is that your car was sold by JDP.

Furthermore, on your 997, they pretty much plug the car into the computer and if nothing comes up and there are no overrevs, they go "car looks good".

With a 993, you may actually to bring out a few wrenches.

My only experience with them is when they forgot what price they quoted me on a part, and tried to mark it up 100% once I got there.

Nice try.

JDP sucks.

Quadcammer

OP, please post the ppi report.

they gave you one, right?