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I've been looking for a while now and I think I found my car

It's a 1997 with factory aero kit, sport seats, limited slip, motorsound.
Silver with grey interior.
It has high mileage, 35000k and a couple small blemishes. But since I am going to track the car, I think that's all ok.
I put a deposit on it today and I think I am going to fly up on Friday to see it and hopefully drive it back to miami (800 miles)
I am having a PPI done on it tomorrow but I am buying it from a reputable Porsche dealership. It's not certified, but the dealership said that it's not worth it to certify and they went through it throughly.
I think I'm going to get an aftermarket warranty though.
It has a aluminum shift, brake, dash cluster. (white-dash color scheme)
and it's in the low 50's. I think I got a pretty good deal.
Just wanted to share my good news with all you already lucky PCAR owners.
Can't wait to join the club
The tires are Michelin Pilot sports. I am also going to ask them to do an oil change before I get there.
Any advice or suggestions before I close the deal?
ie: should I kick the tires? (just kidding)
Thanks guys...

B-Line home

here's a pic btw....

CA993

The Porsche dealership can certify the car for around $950 (their cost) through Porsche if it meets certain criteria. If it doesn't meet the criteria (i.e. no collision damage, etc.), you probably shouldn't be buying it in the first place (I hope this is not why they have attempted to dissuade you). And $950 for a one year Porsche warranty on a 1997 is a steal. If you are paying them for the PPI (which may run about $250), they should deduct this from the price of the certification. Good luck.

johnsopa

B-Line, drop me an email ASAP. I may have a silver C2S for you...

Regards,

John

B-Line home

Hey CA...

I can have them do the certification but there just going to charge me for it.
If I were paying a premium on the car, I would agree that they should do it. But if they are not doing it, just means i'm not paying for it.
I have a independent shop looking at it tomorrow and they will inspect it carefully for me.
The dealership said they don't certify because they do there own inspection which "surpasses" porsche certification and costs much less.
I won't believe them blindly though. That is why I am having someone else look at the car.
I do agree with you though and that is why I was hesitant at first. But, why should I pay an extra $1000 for a inspection that I can get for $250. The year warranty then costs me $750. I can get an extended warranty 3 yrs/36000 miles for twice that.
So, I am going to be careful, I did check it with carfax and am having it looked at privately..
I am hoping that this is enough to ensure that the car is on the level. I am also going to test drive it before buying. I can look at it too but I wouldn't know what to look for besides the obvious blemishes.
I hope that everything is cool, I'm just trying to spend wisely..
And the certification from Porsche is done in house and can be smudged just as easily..
those are my thoughts on the situation..
I do appreciate the input and if you think I'm making a mistake please let me know..
thanks.

E. J. - 993 Alumni

That price seems REALLY good - I would have a good body shop also check it out. Sometimes it is very hard to notice when a repair has been done and only a body shop will catch it.

E. J.

B-Line home

well,
I had the car PPI'd and it looks like it has some problems. I'm glad I took measures to check certain things.
The dual mass fly wheel is shot, the rear rotors are bad, and there are some other problems too. I got back my deposit and withdrew my offer.
I would not buy the car now unless they certify it and fix the problems. I'm not sure if they will do it or not but I have a bad taste in my mouth.
Hopefully they will do the right thing and make the car right and certify it at the original offer. Otherwise, I am going to call PoA. They told me they have the best reputation in the country for customer satisfaction, well, lets see if they pass this test. Otherwise, I'm going to slam that dealership.
They told me the car was above certification and that was not true. I laid out $250 bucks for a PPI and it's probably the best money I ever spent.
I guess it's times like this we see if some dealerships are on the level.
If they do the right thing. I'll post and let you know it's a good dealership and they made a mistake. If they don't, all's fair!!!

Greg Fishman

If that is the only two problems with the car and they will deal a bit more, take it and run. You would want to do the RS flywheel anyway so this would be a perfect opportunity. Rear rotors are less than $200 I think. What are the other problems? I wouldn't give up just yet on this one, what you have described so far happens to the best examples.
Good luck
Greg

Phil

remember you get what you pay for! You had siad you did not want the added expense of the certification?,,now you do? you also siad, has I recall...950.00 for a 1 year warrenty?..Please dont think this is a flame, but being an auto dealer myself, volvo, gmc, buick, pontiac, honda. I find it odd, that you would have a problem, your getting the car cheappppppp....did not want the added expense for certification, I do hope you reliaze that most car dealerships to not tear down engines, or drivetrains to inspect the car, we also understand, and agree, that people do not want to spend the extra 950.00 $ for certification!, but like any other business, the more we spend on a car, the more we have to sell it for!good luck, and I hope you dont call POA, they have nothing to do with this. A used car, is just that used, and if upon inspection there are problems, then pass on it! the manufacture has nothing to do with it! just my .02, and I hope i did not offend anyone

B-Line home

The problems were...
The dual mass fly wheel ( i think, i'm not a wrench turner!)
The rear rotors were shot and rusted, the pad did not have good contact.
the pads had less than 50% on them.
There was some minor dirt in the paint on the rear spoiler. It looked like it might have been retouched or something, they matched the paint extremely well, or, it was from the factory like that which would be extremely rare.
it had some scratches and rock chips.. (which i expected, not looking for a garage queen.)
the leather on the drivers seat was pulling off or something.
there was a ding on the rear bumper, (an outie not an innie) which means, it might have been lightly hit, backed up into something, or parked on by a suv or something.
but the ding came outwards, was not pushed in.

I will probably still get the car if they make it right. And, certify it. Just for my piece of mind. They either made a mistake, or were not honest with me but either way I need to trust the car is legit and i think certification is the only way to do that. But, that should come out of there pocket, not mine. I acted on good faith and they screwed up.
The car probably needs about 3g to bring it up to spec. But they told me before the PPI that they went through it and it was above certification level.
So, if they try to renegotiate, or charge me for certification. They are wrong!
We had a deal based on certain conditions and they didn't live up to those conditions.
I have already lost money because of it.
So, my fealing is, they need to do a lot to make me happy at this point. They probably won't see any profit from the car hence they probably won't want to satisfy my requests which at this point I think are reasonable.
If they do, I will be a satisfied customer.
I wonder what they are going to do.
I do not expect a perfect car by any means but they are in the wrong. they should have fully disclosed the problems before making the deal with me.
Or, they should fix the problems, certify the car at there expense.
That will make me happy, satisfied, and will leave me feeling im in the right car..
Otherwise, I will fell it's my fault I'm paying more, (for the certification) for a car that was under par.
I hope this makes sense..

Phil

sorry, but I do have a 2nd post, and once agian I hope it offends no one! From what I have read, many folks refer to dealers has "stealers", and I take no offense to that, but my question is, Why is so much trust given to the shops doing the PPI's?, guess what, just like everyone else, they are "selling", trying to make a living! I guess I could go on and on about this subject, however I will not.

B-Line home

Hey Phil...

Actually, I did want the certification. The dealership talked me out of it. I presume because they wanted me in the car cheaper or because they knew it wasn't on the level.
I'm not sure which.
All they had to do was turn the car on and off to tell that they fly wheel was bad. So, how well did they really inspect it?
Maybe they don't want to certify because it's not certifiable. Maybe they didn't disclose something.
The reason I am buying from a dealership is because of certification that I originally wanted. They said, it's not worth it, go aftermarket and I believed them, till this happened.
I have no problem with porsche, that is not why I would call PoA. I would call PoA because this dealership stated they are the number 1 in the country with customer satisfaction. Well, as of right now, I'm an unsatisfied customer. So, maybe they should be number two in the country!!!
see my point..
We negotiated a deal based on certain conditions. I lived up to my conditions. Left a deposit, was flying up to take it. Changed all my weekend plans. They were negligent about this car.
And btw, I did get a good deal on it, I know this. But I have found many good deals. I like this color/combo and that's why I'm moving on it. But I found one in texas for 3g less. Had no motorsound and no aluminum and 1000 more miles but they were pretty close.
So, that's why I want it certified.. So, I know it is certifiable. If it's not, who knows what might be wrong with it or what happened to it that's not in the records.
They need to have some accountability. They have already done wrong. And the last thing I am going to do is trust (please don't get offended) a car dealer. Some are honest, very honest. Some make there livings scamming customers. Had I not done a PPI, I would have some real expensive costs. Some other buyer, maybe someone's son, or wife, or daughter, or whatever, might get scammed because I didn't speak up.
Or, maybe I will come back here on Monday and tell all you that I found the best dealership in the country for satisfaction and they really took care of me..
and did the right thing..

B-Line home

and to answer your questions about doing a PPI. Why do I trust them.. Because they were recommended. And they told me what problems they found. They did not give me a reason not to trust them.
I trusted the dealership till this happened.
why did I get a PPI.. because it's smart to have an independent party look at a vehicle. In this case, they saved me from making a mistake. Yes, it hurt the dealership but helped me.
Why would the PPI shop tell me the car has problems if it didn't.
They make the same money either way..
not arguing, just trying to understand your point..
are you saying car buyers should not do a PPI and we should just trust the dealerships?

Phil

well then I guess I am the idiot, 9 or so months ago, I bought my 98 c4s from a porsche dealer!, we agreed on the price of the car with cert!...(if 950.00 is gonna break me, i better go to bk court right away} a day later the battery went south! Out here in california, if the pads are above 20% we do not have to replace them, nor do we. Now if its the Champion porsche of which I am thinking, in Pompano?, (not sure) they are the number 1 in the country, but I do believe in a prevous post you had siad you dad , had bought all of his porshces from, and even knew the owners name?

B-Line home

No phil,
your mixing up my posts..
I'm not buying from champion. Neither the one in Florida, nor the one in NY.
This is a dealership I have never been to.
I didn't buy the one in NY because it had low mileage and cost more. I was looking for a car that I did not have to worry about a few paint chips.
I didn't buy the the other C2S I found at Champion in florida because it was purple..
hope this helps clarify..

Both champions are great dealerships, but neither had the car I wanted.
I have relationships with both dealerships but that's not who I'm buying from..