norcoastal

Here's what I didn't do:

Get a PPI, have the car checked out by ANYONE.

Here's what I did do:

Bought it with my heart. I know...stupid, stupid, stupid

I checked the CarFax and it checked out. But while waxing it the other day, I've determined that the car has been in an accident (that may be why it has a custom nose). I wonder why the accident wasn't on CarFax???

So....

My fingers and toes are crossed.

It runs great, it drives great and I LOVE IT!!!

I know it was too good to be true. A car with on 51,000 miles in beautiful condition for 22 grand? I should have known better.

Oh well, she's mine now. I am not going to sit around and worry about ANYTHING.

I like it and that's that.

However, I have a question for the little part of the worrier in me...

What (if anything) should I be on the lookout for?

I assume a bad RMS will leak oil (this car does not).

The ONLY thing I can see is thet the front passenger radiator has a small leak as I can tell by the little water puddle on the diveway floor.

Anything else that anyone can think of? Anything to keep my eye's on?

I anticipate many years of trouble free driving.

Thanks for your thoughts

RF5BPilot

Just because you didn't get a PPI before the sale doesn't mean you can't do the same thing now and see what you have and what the key service/repair issues might be for the car. You might find there's very little, or enough that you'd put together a repair strategy or sequence so you will do things in order of importance and what you can afford. And then, you will still have a car that makes you smile.

chsu74

$22K for a 55K mile 996 '03 is not a bad price. Are you a DIY guy? Check to see if the radiator leak is related to the accident part not replaced. It may be a simple o ring replacement or it can get expensive. Find a good Indy to look over the car and then assess.

A leaking RMS can be replaced during your next clutch change with also an updated IMS.

norcoastal

I am a pretty good DYI'er

I'll take a look

03911TT

Great attitude! Get a complete PPI and determine your next steps toward ensuring many years of awesome driving.

norcoastal

Anyone have any idea how much a PPI will run me?

chsu74

PPI is usually 2 hrs but you should befriend a local Indy. They will probably give you a break because you are going to be a future customer. There are a lot of NJ guys here and can recommend a shop.

LVDell

for a very thorough PPI (not a 1 hr walk around) should be about 2-3 hours.

EastBay

Don't waste your money on a PPI. Just give it a once over yourself. If you must spend money, do some maintenance.

I've been on on a lot of different car sites over the years, and the Pcar sites are the only ones I see with the PPI mantra.

Take a deep breath and repeat to yourself, it is only car, just like all other cars, it operates the same as other cars and has the same mechanical systems as other cars. There are no magical parts or engineering on a Porsche that require a high dollar 'specialist'. This is proved daily by many board members here. If you know where to buy the parts, costs are no different than other makes of cars.

Like all other used cars your ownership experience is directly related to whether and how badly the car was thrashed or neglected by the former owner(s)

Byprodriver

$22.k & you like the way it looks & drives, I would say you did fine. Car fax didn't show anything because nothing was reported for Carfax to find. If you just take your car to a great shop for a oil change & brake fluid change,

(2 things that need to be done unless you know they have been done recently)

and mention you just bought the car they will be happy to look for other repairs they can do without you paying to have them look.

Pac996

Here's what I did. Took my car into the dealership after buying mine to have them do the oil and filter. The service manager was very nice and had his guy go over the car looking for any future problems and gave me a run down of what services would come up in the future and talked me out of buying a battery since I wanted to just for safety's sake of not getting stranded some place. Anyway I figure dealerships would like to have the business and find what needs to be handled.

Nice car you got. I found mine bottomed out on the front which snaps the fromt clips of the front end and dents the bottomg of the luggage holding compartment. Might be what you think was an accident.

Enjoy the car what ever the case. Have fun playing with it and enjoying the cruising. If I were in your area I'd probably dump fuel tankers on the roads and light thm on fire to get the pot holes smoothed out. Probably why I don't live on the east coast anymore Take care and enjoy!

LVDell

Worst advice ever on the pre or post purchase of a car. There is NO WAY you will be able to inspect and identify the items a real PPI (i.e., through check) would. Unless of course you are a Porsche mechanic and also have a PIWIS.

I thoroughly inspected a car that I recently purchased as well as had it "looked over" and it had Carmax's full inspection before delivery. I still spent 2 hours of labor at the dealer after I took delivery to have it totally inspected and found several thousand dollars worth of items that needed attention that Carmax took care of 100%.

So no, it's not a waste of money. A waste of money is to ignore the inspection.

Start a thread and ask how many people have WALKED on a potential car that wanted to buy when they got the results of the PPI.

C4CRNA

Tell me you only got one key with the car also.

BruceP

Nobody could have done it dumber than I did, so don't worry. I walked into a dealership on impulse one day and wrote a cheque for the first one I looked at priced below my choke factor. Since then, have spent multiples of its value on over-maintenance, preventative maintenance and questionable mods. I'm a gold plated, certified idiot who books his car expenses on Quicken as 'recreation'.

All those of you who worry that you've been silly about your Porsches, bow down before me. I am your king.

LVDell

Now that's some funny **** Bruce!