Jake - I voted for the cheap one as I think that you will sell more of them. Knowing what I know now (which is still not much in the grand scheme of Porsche knowledge) it would be best to have the highly detailed version. My only concern is that the price will keep too many people from buying or renting it. Also agreed that the amount of effort put into this type of video would be worth many times the selling price.

But with modern editing technology it should be possible to offer all three versions. Maybe even offer a “trade-in” if someone buys the basic version then decides that they need more info??

In any case this is a great project!
Daryll

 

$60 for the highly detailed video, or less to rent it, doesn't seem too high for a prospective buyer to learn all that should be inspected. For most buyers this will also involve a shop to do the actual work ( no seller would let a buyer do that invasive work themselves). So the actual PPi will be much higher that a typical PPi. But, avoiding a catastrophic issue would make it worth it. Heck, it would be worth owning to keep a better eye on your own car.

 

I would think the people needing it, are first time porsche purchasers? How are they going to know about it? I get it as a great resource, but people here (RL, RT, Pelican etc..) already should be able to search and find your excellent videos/ posts on what to look for.

like others said, I'm especially not letting someone (new porsche owner) show up and drop my sump, start disconnecting stuff and do their own ppi in my driveway. no problem delivering my car to a porsche specific Indy.

really miss the days of EarlySman, Grady Clay amoung others on PP 911 Technical Forum. You could find just about all you needed to know searching the Forum. Threads stayed on topic.

Good luck. I would not be a customer. Next Porsche most likely a 991.2 T.

I do own the LN Retrofit IMSB, LT thermostat, Spin on Oil Filter Adapter and magnetic drain plug.

 

Word gets around pretty quick for those searching about buying a Porsche. That said, many will find this after it is too late, and they already have a car. The Knowledge Gruppe has been better about marketing than I ever have been. Its my goal to spend less than 5K per year on advertisement, and 4,200 of that is spent here on RL, being a site sponsor.

Yes, forums used to be better. People used to be not quite so entitled, and demanding of free information. The internet, GPS, Siri, and Alexa have ruined us in so many ways. Amazon hasn't helped, either. No one has to think anymore, and no one has to wait anymore. Its an instant gratification, fully entitled society that most live in today. Personally, I still use an Atlas when I go on trips, and like to drive cars that have a set of points, a condenser, and are fed by a carburetor. I live on a dirt road, that I maintain myself. That's just me.
My point is that as people have changed, things with communication have also changed. To me, the change isn't for the better. It impacts how I have to run my business, and makes everything more difficult, just so we can keep a clean reputation, and continue to exceed expectations. It takes more and more up front understanding about what is being bought every year, to make sure people truly understand me, and my process. That means this week I have had to tell two purchasers "no", even though they wanted an engine. It sucks to leave money on the table, but we have to, as we are only as good as our next job that is completed. Enough rambling and going off topic. Sorry!

Anyway, you'll also need a PPI on that 991.2, every Porsche needs one IMHO.

Others, this video will be specific to PPI. If you want to learn more about the car you already own, TKG has many more paid videos on my schedule this year. I am converting my Training Facility to a video production studio, with 3 different studios, for doing different videos. I am putting all my hands- on classes on hold through 2020 to shoot all of these videos for TKG. I really enjoy the work of the videos, and its even a bit therapeutic.

@Battery Guy
I advised TKG that they should keep video sales simple, and straight forward. Allowing people to swap videos back and forth, and rent things just increases the chances that someone is going to be disappointed at some point with the process. Above sales numbers, I feel that drama should be avoided at all costs, even if that means leaving money on the table.

 

I would!
This might be a great way to stay ahead of the ball game...If I had to sell my (I don't plan on it) car, this will help me stay ahead of many unknown issues. And would make a buyer feel more comfortable if he knew what to look for.

 

There will come a time when these cars won't be sold unless a PPI is carried out, as we've discussed. The only people buying them will be completely uninformed.
Sellers will have to allow this to be done, if they want the car to sell. It sucks, but that's the facts.

Sellers that supply their own PPI also can't be trusted, BUT if a DIY seller could follow my video, and then do his own, fully video documented PPI the car would instantly be worth a ton more money. When I did PPI's on these cars I documented the entire process with video, sometimes it would be a couple hours of solid first person content with no editing. I wanted to be the eyes, and brain of the buyer, showing them everything I learned first hand, and explaining what that meant to future ownership of the car.

There were times I'd shoot a car down in the first 15 minutes. I'd not even complete the rest of the PPI, just shoot the video, upload it, and tell the buyer he owed me for 1/2 hour of work. No reason continuing on after I found a "downer".. Kind of like a pre- flight on an aircraft, once you find a downer, you aren't going flying that day anyway, so give up, and get to work.

Boy, I really pissed off some sellers, too... Uncovering issues that exist for "perfectly running cars" and then documenting them with video tends to do that. Each questionable point had a video that started with the VIN of the car, then I would move to the issue. Doing this eliminated the chances of being questioned. That's why I stopped offering the PPI services.

 

I agree - many/most sellers would be butt-hurt by negative invasive PPI results, probably with enough blow-back that any mechanics that actually offered them would stop.

People also ignore potentially bad news when it interferes with what they want. I checked out a WJ Grand Cherokee for one of my nephews; the "needs nothing" Jeep had expired tags, 10-year-old cracked tires, a check-engine light, and a crunchy transfer case. "Yeah, but Uncle Schnell, he says the lights are just because of TPMS batteries, and the seller will give me $100 off if I deal with the smog certificate myself." If I liked the kid less, it would have been easier to just let him buy it. Dude, there are nine bazillion Jeeps for sale. Buy a decent one and enjoy breaking it yourself.

 

I honestly don't see a market for this product. Most people are not going to rent or buy videos. If they have the time they will google search enough to be sorta well equipped. So people are going to buy a video to ppi their own car? it really makes no sense. They would need a scope, a pro duremetric among other things and they are getting into a pretty high dollar figure to ppi their own car? People and the internet in general are setup to get information for free, its available everywhere thats just the reality of being alive today. I have no doubt this is an excellent, well made product. Everything you guys make is. But maybe auto shop buys this to show day 1 techs? Someone is going to buy it to make themselves a better mechanic? maybe. Seems like a lot of work to put this out. People are going to hate me for saying this, but I have been around every kind of German car pretty much. They all have their own unique set of owners. 996 people are the cheapest of any car group I have ever been in contact with. They seem to want everything super cheap or put junk on their car to save a couple of bucks. A small percentage of 996 people are even interested in ppi's and thats just the truth. Most of these cars change hands without them. People on forums are generally 8-10 percent of the owners out there in the real world. I notice a lot of shops don't even mess with 996 ppi's anymore. Its not worth the trouble or BS.

 

We usually spend $20-$150 for information such as Wayne's 101, Bentley, factory service DVD.

$60 for a DVD with comprehensive PPI including boroscope compression tests Durametric etc. we would purchase. We already have a 996 and Durametric and would understand so much more if shown detailed info about them.

Even if purchaser/owner doesn't have Durametric or other tools and can't do PPI, they will still understand much better what their mechanic is doing.

 

Some really good points, but let me offer some thoughts...

Tell that to Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime and others. The theater industry had the same view at one point in history and you can see how they struggle to survive these days. Can you say, "Pass the $20 bucket of popcorn?

Video on demand is not going anywhere and at the end of the day the content providers are going to get paid.


How many Consumer Reports have you read in your lifetime? One of the largest, most profitable publications in the industry. People like to make informed decisions. 7 million subscribers proves that point and that's not just an opinion, but fact. I've always said, "learn from trustworthy sources of information". Too many blind guides on the internet.

Every since cars went to DME engine management with OBD hookup, it's helped DiY'rs repair their own problems and save money. That's smart. My gut feeling is that most people that are sports car enthusiasts have a scanner of some type. I use to pay to have the car diagnosed by the dealer. It usually costs between $80 - $100. My scanner was $150 and it has paid for itself many times over. I don't think you'd need the pro version of the Durametric, but it wouldn't be a bad decision if you're serious about these cars.

That's a good point and if you were owning a shop or a small used car business, wouldn't you want to become more educated on the good and bad of the Porsche 911? I would.

How would you even quantify that? There is no way to accurately gauge the amount of potential Porsche 996 buyers and if they'd hire a shop to conduct a PPI. But again, buyer's guides sell like hotcakes and the data proves it... not based on opinion. The beauty of video is that it explains things that might be vague in writing. How many times have you gone to YouTube and watched a video on repairing an appliance or a problem with your car? 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute! Again, video on demand is not going anywhere but up! Hold on for the ride!


Again, I assume this is just opinion because there is no way to quantify the amount of 996 cars still in existence (i.e. non-salvaged) and the exact amount of owners as well as the percentage of those owners that use the forums.

There is nothing free when it comes to the internet. You've been brainwashed to think otherwise.
1. You first have to pay for the internet connection to your home.
2. You purchase the computer or mobile device to access the internet
3. You pay monthly internet and/or cellular subscription fees
4. You log into Rennlist and see banner ads or pay a subscription to see less of them
5. You go to YouTube and before watching a video you subjected to ads with maybe the option to skip them. Depends on the content.
6. Google is watching your every move and populates advertisements based on your selections.
7. The next time you go into your favorite app, you notice all kinds of commercial content related to your last google search
8. Your children want to see Baby Yoda and so you subscribe to Disney+, but realize you have to buy an Amazon fire stick to get the programing.


On and on it goes. As I said before, content providers are going to find ways to pay the bills. And remember, just because the information is "free" doesn't mean it's accurate.

 

Nice reply Nutty. I found so many flaws in the points put forward by dz, but didn't have the patience to respond.

I don't have anyone on ignore - but there are a few here that make me pause and think about it...

 

My case in point. When I was considering buying my 996 I knew absolutely nothing about Porsches other than they looked good. I did some internet searches and ran across the PPI recommendation. As I don't normally buy used cars that was new to me. From reading I realized I should have one done but didn't dig deep enough to know what should be done. So I researched for an Indi who could do a PPI on a Porsche and depended on them to look at all that needed looked at. They turned out to be a great place with the owner having over 20 years of European car repairs including Porsche. I got a "good" PPI and they found several things that saved more than I paid them for the PPI. However due to my ignorance I did not know to request the more intrusive inspections. That has ending up costing me extra dollars over the next 4 years. If I had found accurate-specific information that told me what to look at on these cars I would have requested the Indi perform those tests and I might not have even bought the car. Best sight is hindsight.

Information is power. I'll probably buy the video just to learn what I don't know.

 

A blessing in disguise? Just think, if you passed on your car you may not have a Raby motor in it today!

 

The Basic might cover what you can do without a lift, not removing spark plugs or sump, no Durametric but regular OBD reader, and no tools but a flashlight. That would apply to the majority of typical buyers who don't have time or resources to go deeper. Very valuable for them to know normal and abnormal sounds and vibrations from engine and suspension and readings on gauges during start up and when hot such as oil pressure, voltmeter, and water temp.

The Detailed cover in order of cost to remedy: 1. All engine checks. 2. Automatic and manual transmission checks. 3. Wiring visual inspection of bundles and ground points should be clean with no damaged insulation causing intermittent problems. 4. Body gaps should be even and use paint gage. 5. Convertible top up and down twice (if hesitates might just need add fluid), top fabric not frayed, actuators no sign of leaks, headliner not sagging. 6. Sunroof and targa top no leaks. 7. Suspension. 8. Brakes and tires. 9. Interior including turn signal cancellation, radio volume, door microswitches (set alarm a few times and should get light flash not double beep), window regulators, and seat position switch operation, Also on interior visually note wear on buttons and especially driver seat controls these indicate number of times operated and if with care. 10. All exterior lights.

 

I'm sure they know what to do in each option they are considering.