dutch86

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently on the hunt for my own 996tt. I have been at this for about a month so far and have been regularly checking the standard places, eBay, craigslist, cars.com, autotrader.com. But I often see pictures of everyone's new car and wonder how they came to own it.

Does anyone have any advice on how to find that perfect car that maybe I haven't been privy to?

Thanks in advance!

Michael

stilov

I found mine on ebay, with only 4 exterior photos and a 2 sentence description.

I knew it wouldn't sell there like that, so i contacted the owner outside ebay.

rnh204

I bought and sold my 996TT on rennlist. Picked up a GT3RS from RL as well.

This is a great community. PCA.org is another good place to search.

"02996ttx50

i got one from a porsche dealership and another one i saw on ebay, saw it was local; knew the owner, went to drive it and bought it the next day. overpaid possibly by a cpl K on that one but i was modded tastefully and i needed it then.

sinking

I really lucked out and found it on Craigslist around the same time I was selling another car. It was located only 10 miles from my house. Not bad when I was expecting to have to travel for the right car.

jwex16

I bought mine from a gentleman who advertised on autotrader. It was in Atlanta and I am in phila. Lots of photos and conversations including speaking with his mechanic and the one who did the PPI .

I used auto tempest as a search engine to scour the various sources. It worked very well for me. Use the completed items search on eBay to get a feel for how long pieces have been on the market and their final disposition. The rennlist an 6speed classifieds are also useful. They attract the enthusiasts. The cars with the spectacular write ups sitting on the corner lots seemed to be the ones to avoid. Remember that carfax is not perfect but useful in tracking down prior ownership and service.. I was able to rebuild the entire service history using it. The servicing dealers were a big help if you do not try to get the prior owners personal information.

I did find that patience does pay off in finding the right car and also in negotiating a price you are comfortable paying.

Best of luck. Pm if you would like to discuss.

rmc1148

Bought mine from a small dealer about one and a half hours from me. I did research on dealer first. Wanted low mile stock car in Midnight blue so that made my search a little difficult= but happy with purchase.

sdm100

Bought mine from Sunset Porsche in Oregon. Never bought a car site unseen but they were very professional and had Rennsport systems help me get a great PPI. Car arrived perfectly. Had almost given up after getting a lousy PPI on one car and dealing with a lousy Porsche dealer in PA. Use the board for help and suggestions. And of course the PPI is critical.

David A

Patience will help you find the right car, keep looking. Cars.com PCA.org and all the others.

fstede1

I'll add to all of the above Excellance Mag on line classifieds and PCA Mag print Classifeds. When using on line sites put 2000 miles from your zip code. Put in west coast zips. Generaly more cars out here As the buyer from Rhode Island will testify buying a car long distance can be done.

wrose

As the others have said use all sources -Forums such as Renlist are a good source of excellent vehicles. I use E-Bay to monitor prices,availability, etc.
I purchased my 02 996 tt( listed on 6-speed forum) in Phoenix and will pick it up in July and tour the west coast. I spent about 2 months looking at TT's before settling on the one I purchased- came down to color,mods,condition and gut feeling about owner. The forumns are good source of info. on vehicle you're looking at. Also get PPI done . Good luck
Wayne

NoGaBiker

I find Yahoo Cars to be a good consolidator of car ads from lots of sources. But my favorite is to look at the enthusiast pubs, as mentioned above. PCA chief among them. You'll usually find higher asking prices, but the chances of the car being right and having been right its whole life are higher. Plus, you'll be able to talk to the actual owner. So few online car ads are from private owners.

That said, I got both my Boxster S and my Turbo from online sources (eBay and Autotrader) and they happened to be less than 20 miles from me. But it took awhile in both cases. I'd have bought from out of town if the right car hadn't eventually turned up locally. But that's more likely in Atlanta than KC, would be my guess.

NoGaBiker

LOL, same here, for my Boxster S. It was a 2004 550SE, was 2 months old and had 192 miles (the dude won it in a raffle!) and he had 3 fuzzy phone pics, top up IN THE RAIN from far away, and knew nothing whatsoever about the car except its MSRP. His starting bid was $58,000 (on a $63k MSRP), so no chance he'd even get any offers. Best of all, he lived 12 miles away. I waited till the auction ended and started the negotiations. Wound up at $48k.

dutch86

Thanks for all the great responses. I can tell already I'm gonna like it here!

For those of you who purchased your car from out of state, any advice on things to ask the sellers or just look for since I most likely wouldn't be able to see or even drive the car until I'm committed to the purchase? A PPI is a must regardless, but it still makes me a little nervous to buy a car sight unseen, even with a solid inspection and maintenance documentation.

Also, is there any way to view the PCA classifieds without joining? I can't join without owning a Porsche, but want to access the classifieds so I could join...

ChemMan

Found mine on autotrader. I also looked on cars.com, rennlist, pelican, ebay, CL, etc, etc. My local PCA newsletter had one listed but out of my price range.

I sat down with a local car dealer and spoke to him too. He specializes in exotic cars. I helped me weed out some of the cars I was considering. Went and looked at a 996TT in Detroit. Sad, sad car. RUF in Southfield had ppi results for me.
Found mine in Nebraska. The dealership picked up my 996 and delivered my 996TT. Love door to door deliver.