BillTlook

Hi all,

I'm considering buying a 996 through a porsche dealer. I am having a lot of difficulty finding anyone to do a PPI on the car and I can't inspect the car myself without flying out to see it (and my schedule will not allow that in the near future). The car is a Porsche certified pre-owned vehicle with a 2 year extended warranty still left. It looks in good shape based on the pictures I have seen. My question is how necessary is getting a PPI on this car? Thanks.

JBRipps

First of all....WELCOME TO THE BEST 996 FORUM IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!

It never hurts to get a PPI, even on a CPO. I bought a CPO car last May, and based upon time issues, I was not able to get an independant PPI. I took delivery of the car sight unseen, had it shipped here in NY from Florida. No issues, and I'm as happy as can be. The CPO is HUGE piece of mind. I brought the car to my local dealer once it arrived, and they did a courtesy inspection. The only issue was the horn, which was fixed under CPO of course!

PPI would be great to check for any unseen body issues. I ended up having a friend look at the car for me, and while they didn't know what to "look for", it passed his visual inspection big time. If you want, you can post a thread asking one of us to go look at the car, or even drive it. Many locals like to help out, and if you really can't get an independant PPI (and dealers don't like to bother with them either...they have better things to do with their time), send one of us out to take a gander.

Best of luck. How 'bout some details on the car??

J

BillTlook

Thanks for the welcome and the tip! The car is a white on black interior '02 996 with ~38k miles on the clock. It has the Aero rocker panels and leather seats, but apart from that no other significant options. The car is in Tallahasee, so if any rennlisters are in the area and would be willing to go out and take a look at the car for me, please pm me. It would much appreciated!! Here is a pic.

tooloud10

I didn't get a PPI done, but my car had just had a new engine installed by the Porsche dealer and I spoke with the wrench that put it in. I guess I didn't see the point of getting a PPI done by the same dealer that had just installed an engine.

Keeping that in mind: only a Porsche dealer can do a PPI, correct? And only a Porsche dealer can CPO a car, right? If both would be done by the same guy (literally, at my local dealer), it probably doesn't make much sense to pay them to do the PPI.

rcg412

no.

tooloud10

Is that a "sunroof-delete" car? It's hard to tell, but that would make it a pretty rare one...

Benjamin Choi

YES

gregorycarl

A CPO is a full go-over by Porsche service. 100 point with a sign off and stamp in the book. Why would you spend $ for something that was already done?

jimq

My 996TT was a CPO. I took it in for the yearly oil change. The horn needed replacing under CPO and they said the passanger window regulator was worn out and needed replacing for $500 but not covered. I had never tried the horn and dont think I have lowered the passanger window more then 3 or 4 times since I bought the car. They are the same dealer that did the CPO check and check off the windows worked correctly on the form. I dont understand what they mean about the window as I have tried it since and works fine. I think its a crap shoot myself. I have never gotten a PPI on any porsche and have never not gotten what I paid for.

spiderv6

Is it a Porsche CPO? That looks like a BMW dealer and therefore they cannot offer a Porsche CPO. If that's the case then I guess they are offering a generic 2 year extended warranty.

In which case, I would personally take it to a P dealer for a PPI

Benjamin Choi

yo greg, i expect more from you - i guess it comes down to your level of tolerance for risk.

unless i have a buddy of mine who works in service at that porsche dealer i am going to purchase from who can say this car is MINT, then maybe i would step away from an indy doing the ppi. even then i'd tell my service bud to do a full leakdown/compression check to make sure cuz that's nto something you can just look at visually and say it checks out. nor can you detect any issues on a test drive unless something is seriously amiss.

but since the above scenario is not true for me and for many others esp since a lot of us rennlist folks would reach far and wide for that right 911, the best protection is to drop that 3 bills to have a reputable indy shop do a full PPI including the engine leakdown/compression tests.

you need representation.

porsche service isn't anything special man. 100 point inspections... dude you rlocal midas shop can do that job.

full PPI always by a reputable third party porsche shop. i had mine done at modderman's in SF. awesome shop thx to a rennlist referral.

pl

yes. i would do it.
1. many things are NOT covered by CPO. coolain tank, window regulator, etc. why? cause porsche knows they freq. fail.
2. do u mind if the car had accident history? dealer sometimes CPO cars with acc. history.
now if the dealer flat out reject your request to do a PPI, then u know the story........

BillTlook

Wow, thanks for the quick response guys! The car is being sold by a Porsche dealer and its a Porsche CPO, not generic extended warranty. The car has a sunroof, so unfortunately does not have the rare sunroof delete. By the looks of your responses, opinions are fairly evenly split as to whether a PPI is necessary on a CPO'd car. I can see things both ways: on the one hand, a third party who is on your side might at least have less incentive to hide the bad points on a car; on the other hand, a CPO is a pretty extensive test backed by a Porsche warranty (although it does not cover all the things that a thorough PPI by an independent would go over). Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions.....

JBRipps

if you don't mind disclosing....how much are they asking?? We can help you with that as well.

J

gota911

Nice looking car.

The car is a MK II but the side skirts look like MK I. Not that is a bad thing, but the "design lines" from the front bumper to the skirts don't match. MK I design is more rounded and MK II is more chiseled.