pp000830

Unfortunately few dealers know what to do with air cooled cars. Before taking the engine apart I would investigate one of the less invasive solutions documented on Rennlist.com, As for an oil leak. These are quite common and in most cases are something simple such as a valve cover or an oil return tube. I would just have is sorted out so it does not continue to aggravate you and chalk it up to experience.

TrappistMonk

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cobalt

I am curious why you chose JDP?

I always suggest using an independent who specifically knows the vehicle being inspected. I then ask for a detailed list of what will be inspected and how their findings will be documented. If I feel more is needed I negotiate a price for the additional work.

Did you solicit here for a good place to have a PPI done? This area has some of the best independents in the country sorry you didn't chose one of those instead. I also make sure I never use the same shop that serviced the car to do a PPI. I will say that I have had good luck with all the people I used that fellow rennlister's recommended. I did however have a PPI done on a 944 years ago by someone who I consider one of the better independent shops in the NE and even he missed a major issue with the suspension. He was initially arguing that I got a great car for a great price but eventually realized his mistake and refunded me the cost of the PPI. Nothing more I could ask for it cost me considerably more to have repaired but what can you do.

If you do a search on JDP you will find several issues with PPI's over the years done by them and some other local dealerships I won't mention.

I would never trust my older Porsche's to a dealership. If they can't plug it into their computer they don't know how to deal with the cars. I'm not saying they are bad mechanics just when you deal with the new stuff all day the old stuff requires a different approach.

Best luck with it sorry it didn't work out as you planned but if it is a nice car it will be even better when you are done.

Mark Harris

Why are you punishing the transport company? You admitted in your post it wasn't their fault.

MJBird993

I've asked folks that I know to look over the car for me. People from email lists or forums like this - and in return have done the same for others. I don't want some guy from a forum doing my PPI, but I have no problem asking if anyone local will drop by and do a visual inspection of the potential car. I've done it for Porsches, BMWs, etc. and it's not a big deal to help out another enthusiast. Karma. Paying it forward, etc.

pp000830

Buying a used car is always buyer beware: PPIs are notoriously incomplete and having a dealer who had a long standing relationship with a previous owner inherently causes a conflict of interest in the inspection.

i do not put a lot of faith in Pre-Purchase Inspections by third parties:
• As they will generally only capture gross mechanical issues and miss most wear related parts and body condition items;
• Inspections by any dealer or local servicing shop should be reviewed very carefully as items you would consider expensive repairs they may consider routine maintenance or minor nuisance items and not worth mentioning until after you have made your purchase.
• Most new car Porsche dealers are no longer familiar with these older cars and therefore do not provide any enhanced inspection simply because they are a Porsche dealer;
You are better off looking at the car yourself with a friendly local PCA member who knows how the car should drive and feel. Making a request through the 993 Technical Forum on Rennlist.com will usually turn up a PCA member in the geography where the car is located who will be more than glad to assist you.
A CarFax is only as valuable as the facts they have in their system. Once out of warranty, something that happened a long time ago with these cars, they are generally serviced and repaired by their owners DIY or small independent mechanical or boutique body shops. These sources of repair almost universally do not report on their work to anyone CarFax uses as an information source. Beyond having a salvage title in its history these reports, I feel, are of little value.

Andy :-)

ilko

While getting a PPI done is always the prudent thing to do, I can see how on a 1000 mile car it might be considered overkill.

Do you have the paperwork from the shipper showing the condition of the car when it was picked up? Every reputable (and I'm sure some unreputable) transport company has one. If they list the damage on the sheet then your beef is with the dealer. If the diagram is clear then you take it up with the carrier.

TrappistMonk

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pp000830

... removed duplicate entry

VintageRacer477

If only 600 miles, what stopped you from driving or flying there to look at it yourself?

As for Jack Daniels - they have been around for a while. My folks took delivery of and had them service their 1978 Audi 5000S for as long as they had it. Never a problem. May have been because they knew of my relationship with VW-Porsche+Audi as a journalist. Don't know.

BTW, re. the Audi - it never "ran away." Nor did my 1979 5000S.

Back to PPI's.
When I found my current 993 Targa in Laguna Beach, I called some of the local SoCal PCA people and asked for a reference for a shop. I used the shop they recommended and was extremely pleased. When the car arrived in Florida, it was exactly as presented.