Nooch

Hey! Looking for someone who may have the time to look at a 1996tt at Northwest Investment Cars. Vehicle looks and sounds good. I've put down a deposit, contingent on passing a PPI.
Need a recommendation for a decent shop to perform such a PPI.
Hope for some success here to put me in the driver's seat!

Thanks,
Adriano

Dave911G

Stuttgart autotech 503-635-3098 Very good shop, though probably more expensive than some others.

Marque Motors 503-293-5386 I like these guys for good work at a more reasonable price.

Sunset Porsche is also very close to Northwest Investment Cars, and hopefully could handle a PPI, but I've never had them work on my tt. They do good work on my Audi.

I'll try to stop by and have a look tomorrow afternoon. If it's the black one on their website, those wheels have to go but otherwise it looks interesting. Hopefully they have details on the mods.

Dave911G

Saw the car this afternoon. Interior looks very nice. Exterior has some issues that may be small, but certainly worth thinking about.

The paint doesn't look new... road rash in all the usual places and lots of swirl marks, probably from bad drying technique. Nothing serious there, but certainly not pristine.

The seals between the front fascia and fenders and hood don't look right. They aren't even and they feel very soft like they're new. The seals between the fender and cowl are hard like you would expect on a car this old. Perhaps the PO had the front fascia/bumper off to install an extra oil cooler or to do some other work.

19" wheels have 245s on the front and 275s on the rear??? The nose looks a little high, and it probably can't be lower without tire rubbing issues in the front.

If you have anything in particular you want me to look at let me know. I'm only 4 miles from the car and will do what I can to help.

David

Nooch

David,

Really appreciate you taking of your time to check this vehicle out. NWI stated that the car had had a respray.
I've decided not to proceed with the seller. He had asked for a deposit ( I gave him a credit card #) until I made arrangements to come out and see the vehicle, and get a PPI done.I was faxed a purchase agreement, together with the credit card copy to sign. The agreement clearly stated that the deposit would be non-refundable, if the deal fell through. This was never mentioned in the lengthy conversation I had with the salesperson previously. I politely told them to shove it.
I don't condone these type of business practices.
I read posts on the questionable reputation of this dealer....guess I should have listened to them and spared us all the aggravation.

Thanks again, good to make friends,
Adriano

RollingArt

Good call. I wouldn't deal with NWIC. I know someone got their pants pulled down by those guys. In the past I've talked to them about a car or two and they were arrogant as hell with me.



Phil

jimhsu

That's good Adriano. Any of those "deposit first then we'll talk after PPI" outfits are not to be trusted.

Speaking of such outfits....Aston Martin of New England once had a perfect 993TT as far as my dream color combo was concerned: silver and red interior. I asked the manager Steve Serio if the car can be PPI'd 8 miles away at a Renn-recommended indy shop and the head honcho Steve Serio basically told me "You buy it, then you can take it off my lot."

I asked the rather jerky Steve Serio many different ways, offering to pay for the employee's time, and gas, and detailing, and Steve Serio (rather jerky to me, yes) insisted that I pay for it, then if I didn't like it after the PPI, he may or may not let me take the money back (I know what his answer would be). His only "suggestion:" "Let MY mechanic do the PPI for you." What a nice guy (not) Steve Serio was there! And he must think I'm such the idiot. Oh, and he also said "Or your mechanic can come here and borrow our tools to inspect the car."

Why am I talking about that? Because I promised myself after that irritating incident that whenever the opportunity presents itself I will mention Steve Serio by name and what a jerk he was in the context of my trying to buy his car.

Thanks for letting me vent, pardon the interruption, and now we'll return to our regular programming....

96_993TT

You made the right choice. I stopped in and took a look at this car about a month ago and they wouldn't let me drive it. They had to have a "firm deal" in place with a deposit. The sales person did offer to take us for ride. The car was pretty nice but I agree with David's assessment of the condition. One thing I did notice was during our test ride the check engine light was on. He said they were going to have that fixed so not sure if that's still and issue but it was a red flag for me and I walked away. We bought another car locally from a private seller. Personally, I feel the car shouldn't have been up for sell with a check engine light on.

Nooch

Thanks for the advice guys.
Just to close out the thread, I did E-mail Dan Rupp, owner of NWIC. My deposit has been refunded. Maybe there is some good in these guys????
Anyway, the hunt for a 993tt continues.........