Ok so I don't know if I am over-reacting or where to even begin, so here we go. About 4 months ago I put my car for sale just to see if I get any takers. This was pre-mod bug bite. I basically have been having so much fun modding the car that I forgot to take the car down off the website. I get a call the other day asking if this guy could take it for a test drive. I say sure.

We meet today and he pulls up in his 1990 Carrera and it is very nice. He is trying to sell it as well. Anyways, he gets in the car, starts it up, and immediately takes off, almost stalling the car...it must be a VERY different clutch in his car because I would say it was like his first week of driving stick. We start to go on the highway, and he is EXTREMELY hard on the clutch i.e. downshifting and being brutal on the syncros...instead of RPM matching he is literally just dropping it. NOT GOOD. OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

So after raping the car for a good 10 minutes on the HW we finally get to some off-HW driving and start having a conversation. He mentions that someone took his car for a test drive the other day and "didnt even drive it to it's fullest potential". I would call this being polite and respectful of other people's BEAUTIFUL and EXPENSIVE BELONGINGS. Maybe it is just me? I baby my car, do not track it, and just felt like I got out of a 6 months stay in prison once we got off the HW. Is this normal to do? Has anyone else experienced this before i.e. someone else just absolutely ruins 20 minutes of your time with your Porsche? Again, maybe this is normal but I am NOT used to it and certainly don't ever abuse it like he did. NOR would I ever abuse someone else's car! And I understand if you KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING then fine but instead he reminded me of a 16 yr old who just learned how to drive stick (barely) and though he was Johnny Nascar even though he AWEFUL.

So for the finale, I just installed my front bumper and lip a few weeks ago. We ZOOM up to the parking spot and CRUNCH. He nails the curb. It is completely scraped underneath now and has some scratches on the front of it - not to mention 3 screws were stripped from it bending so much. This might not be fixable and I might have to now buy a whole new lip/paint match = a few hundred bucks!!!!!

Am I just WAY too over-protective of my car or what? Needless to say, the car is NOT for sale anymore

 

I probably would have punched the *** in the side of his clueless head.

 

take my word for it...next time someone wants to take YOUR car for a test drive, you should be the test driver and the presepective buyer be on the passenger seat. Tell the IDIOT that he needs to pay for the repairs.

Also never let anyone valet park your car...

 

I tried my best to keep my cool, but it wasn't easy...I was basically in shock I think.

 

Point well taken.

 

Fortunately for him, I am not one to press charges, etc. I would rather just try and fix it myself...hopefully I can buff and paint touch up a bit and it will look fine. LESSON LEARNED and hopefully this thread will help other people with what not to do when looking to sell.

 

Also, I have NEVER hit the redline limit once since owning the car - he definitely did MORE than once. When pulling the test does it show what date and time the redline was hit? Probably not, but just curious. I just emailed him with pictures attached, told him I would try and fix it myself this weekend, and will follow up with him next week if it requires more work.

 

Honestly, I don't know how you avoid *** hole test drivers if you're going to sell your car quickly. Holding out for the buyer who will buy without driving could take awhile. Sorry about this situation. I read this thread thinking that you had just driven some super car, not that yours had been brutally raped (a vivid and probably accurate image!).

 

Lesson learned the hard way...

 

I don't understand how you didn't tell him to take it easy the minute he started driving aggressively. If you want to test the full potential of a car do it in your own car. When you're in someone else car you check to make sure everything is functioning and there are no problems. You're testing this example of the car to make sure it's okay for purchase, not testing the car to see what it can possibly do.

 

was he serious about buying? did he even warm the car up? He sounds like an A-hole... but FWIW, Porsche guys will try to at least feel the pull and handling of the car... but not actually beat on the car and hit the limiter... He might even be an aircooled high high horse type of guy...

 

How do drive pretty much any 911 that has a functioning engine and four inflated tires "to its fullest potential" on a public highway and not be thrown, not just in the jail, but completely under the jail?

That guy's a complete idiot and I'm sorry he owns a P-car.

 

Wow. I think I might have asked him to pull over and swap seats the second I was uncomfortable. Send him a copy of the estimate for the repair.

 

It warmed up for maybe 30 secs. Not good. I understand you want to test it to a certain extent, but no need to hit the limiter multiple times, especially in heavy traffic...I can't believe I made it out of there alive!

 

What was his reaction when he hit the curb?
Did he seem interested in buying your car or was he just taking it for a joy ride?
I'd be pissed as well, and I drive my car hard when the time is right.
In my mind there is a big difference between driving a car "hard" and abusing it.
If this guy was just slamming through the gears (and curbs) is seems that he either lacks the ability to drive or at a minimum lacks basic human decency buy showing such a lack of respect for your property.
Of course it's hard to say how hard he was actually being or your car.
I'm sure if a pro driver took me out for a ride in my car I might feel be a bit (lot) shocked at how much farther he could push it than I could.
If I take a car out for a test drive, I first make sure that I'm serious about buying, not joy riding, not time wasting. That being said I would carefully, w/ the owners consent, test the reasonable limits of the car to make sure all seems to be in proper working order.
The last car we sold privately was my wife's Acura Legend with a manual transmission. On the first test drive a potential buyer assured me he knew how to drive a stick. By the end of the first block of the drive he had made it perfectly clear that he didn't, and I made it clear that the test was finished.

Regards,
Aron