rsabeebe

the issue is, unless a 'knowledgable' PPI was performed - which is often skipped on auctions, it wouldn't be hard to believe that prior incident damage could go overlooked due to a 'clean' carfax. if you see a carfax that lists no prior accidents, you're going to feel relatively confident it's accurate. tough situation.

Olemiss540

I cant imagine participating in an online auction and not atleast googling the VIN number (to find previous listings and threads like this one?).

Culina

Hi,
I actually was surprised the car was sold for that much as the owner would have accepted lot less due to known issue of the car. The car steering rack and front suspension is a mess. Although the motor run strong and shifts well. The drive is not what GT3 is. I have gone through the car in detail and used paint meter and have a list of things for this car beside history and why Phillips Auto rejected the consignment. Good luck to new owner!

I am not sure why the major accident was not disclosed and it's also noted on Carfax.

cgfen

I ggogled the VIN and mentions of this thread don't show up.
Buyers loss.

Olemiss540

https://rennlist.com/forums/rennlist....php?t=1041160

This was the 4th result when I googled the vin. Frame damage warnings galore.....

HDA

same for me

sithot

I firmly believe you should inspect any car you're buying. An Elcometer or equivalent will find paint issues. If those cannot be explained to your complete satisfaction, "walk away".
Any of these cars that's backed into a berm, retaining wall etc. will get twisted. How much depends on impact. A "good shop" can repair one to "new" but not all shops are "good".
I know 2 really good frame guys and that's what you have to have in the case of a twist/torque/tweak/bend. Bondo won't fix that.

Back in 2013 during some doldrums I ran VIN's on cars for sale that I was interested in and turned into a thread.

____________________________________________________________________
https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...-Due-Diligence

Due Diligence

I've posted a similar thread on Pelican after uncovering facts on a couple of cars I was interested in.

While there is no reason not to take someone at their word, it is always in your best interest to "verify".

It's become pretty common to use Carfax or Autocheck these days and I for one am a proponent for these services IF you are dealing with a 17 digit VIN.

Not all of the cars I've been poking around are Porsches. Yes, Virginia, I am a back-slider when it comes to sticking with one brand. There are a lot of cars
that I haven't owned but have been on the radar for many years. And I still like Corvettes.

Over on Pelican and Rennlist,where you will find more modern cars for sale, imagine my surprise when I uncovered 3 cars in 2 days, 2 of which had salvage history and one had a honest to goodness salvage/rebuilt title. Before you take up for the cars (which are innocent) you should know that one was claimed to be "minor" and the other one (a Rennlist sponsor) made no mention of it at all.

As for "salvage title/rebuilt title," understand that an insurance company has determined the damage to the car to exceed roughly 75% of value. For example, a car worth $53,800 would take $40,000 damage to total it. This would seem to involve more than "a fender, door and bumper" as described by one of these sellers. Another interesting fact about that car was that it was involved in a second accident as well.

Note: Once a car makes it into the category of a roughly 90% loss it is marked as "Parts Only". It is not to be rebuilt.

Not wanting to start a fire, I politely PM'd the owner regarding the issue, as I did have a genuine interest in the car. I mentioned the data that I had discovered and got a very cryptic note stating "SOLD". I followed up the "for sale" thread on the car and the seller thanked Pelican for the exposure (I guess) and nothing more came from him. I saved his ad and the Carfax and Autocheck in PDF format. I'm guessing this car will be seen again.

As for "where to buy", Pelican is a free for all and anybody and his brother can sell a car there. I expected a little more from Rennlist but one figures that a bad apple might slip by every now and then. Can't say for sure that the seller there knows, but he should if he's done his homework. Nothing worse than an unearned reputation for hawking bad wares. I contacted him and await his reply.

On a good note, I did uncover a Carfax clerical error for one gentleman. He's attempting to fix what I found and hopefully CarFax will do the right thing and take care of it. His original Carfax (of which I have a copy) had no mention of the issue regarding the odometer reading. He ordered the original report before he bought the car a few years ago. At $53,000 I wouldn't think anybody would miss out on the opportunity to use any and all means to "vet" a car. I received an e-mail from him with his letter to Carfax and his original documents. Without getting into too much detail, the car was brand new when the odometer fouled up, which was clerical in nature, occurred.

Keep your guard up folks.

Tom

cgfen

i like the aggressive wing angle and the silver spacers

sub-zero

from what i got this car is probably leaving us and going away

Indiana Jones

I struck up a conversation with the owner again, he stated he backed into a barrier wall on track...cracked the fiberglass wing (repaired not replaced), replacement of the taillamp and bumper cover too. After reading the previous posts...Im not sure what to think of this. I am rationalizing this as normal, while others are saying it is a big red flag. Either way, car is priced in the low 60's, which I think is fair as its on the lower end of the spectrum. But, has almost 60k miles, track incident, and mods including the hood pins etc. which makes me think it is closer to a $50-55k car, but unlikely to see that from the seller.

HDA

makes sense, these cars are worth more abroad.

carreram3

Hello everyone,

My brother bought the car from directly from the seller. The car has a clean carfax and the seller never stated the car had any damage at all.

a friend of mine went to look at the car and told me everything looked fine. No issues at all. I will contact the seller and ask for more information.

Thanks for the heads up ! A friend of mine redirected me to this post.

20C4S

sucks to hear. Deal would be hard to unwind if it was private to private transaction. If through EBay, not sure if there’s recourse or protection from them.

sknandigam

post deleted, GT3 off market

Rambler_13

Or maybe also try the Carfax guarantee if that is worth anything.

Edit: Appears to be basically worthless.
The CARFAX Buyback Guarantee helps protect consumers from unknowingly buying a vehicle with a DMV-issued title brand, such as Salvage, Junk, Rebuilt, Fire, Flood, Hail, Lemon/Manufacturer Buyback, Not Actual Mileage, or Exceeds Mechanical Limits. If you find that any of these title problems were reported by a DMV and not included in this report, CARFAX will buy this vehicle back according to the terms and conditions of the Guarantee.