TeeJayHoward

I didn't see a "New Members Introduce Yourselves Here" kind of topic, so hopefully this is okay.

It was Dec 23 2013, and all I wanted for Christmas was a Porsche 911. I was broke. It just plain wasn't gonna happen. But the dealership people were super nice and answered all of my questions. They even let me sit in a bunch of cars I never thought I'd be able to. Mostly because of that experience, and partially because of a certain bedroom poster growing up, I told myself I'd get one before I hit 40. In the mean time, there were other important life events happening. I was freshly married and financially foolish. Thankfully, my wife wasn't. We moved into a new neighborhood. We got new jobs. Our standard of living rose. I started filling savings accounts and putting away for retirement. My wife started fixing up the house and I kept on pluggin' away on rusty old heaps.

I ended up with all manner of junky little project cars. As long as I kept the noise down and the ugly out of sight in the garage, nobody seemed to mind. Fast forward to a week ago, give or take. I had just gotten rid of my latest heap and was looking for a new project. My wife told me that my 2015 Chevy SS was insufficient as a sole means of transportation in Colorado's icy winters. I agreed with her. I figured a cheap little Subaru would be a great way to get to grad school and that I could keep my SS for a daily driver in nicer weather. I don't know what sparked that old memory of the Porsche dealership. I might have seen one on the road, or maybe it just popped up in my search for AWD coupes. Whatever it was, all of a sudden I found myself cross-shopping a 997.1 C4S and a GC8. And to my surprise, I could actually afford the 911.

I made a post in another forum asking about the 996 turbo and how it compared to the 997.1 C4S. There was a lot of great advice given, but the one that really hit me was someone saying "I’d save some more and get a 997.1 or 997.2 Turbo which I believe is the last Gen turbo P-Cars available with a manual. They will cost more but they won’t depreciate." I scoffed at it. I was stretching my budget to be able to afford the C4S. There's no way I could step up to a Turbo. But I gave it a serious thought or two and jiggled some numbers around. As long as I was okay with just having one car, I could easily afford the note on a 997.1TT. That blew me away. The only reason I'd been mucking around with little tuner cars for the past half a decade plus is that I didn't think I could afford any of my dream cars. All of a sudden, I could. And all I'd have to do is stop buying crappy cars.

So, I used my daily as a trade-in on an out-of state purchase and soon I'll have a higher-mileage 997.1 Turbo. There's a lot of shipping and paperwork to go through, but I've started the process. Needless to say, I'm excited. It's my first Porsche and my first semi-modern German car. Hopefully it's as reliable as everyone claims it is. I realize that there aren't a lot of options on this car, and that some of them are actually missing (the fire extinguisher) but it's still a big deal for me. I'm hopeful that this will be the start of a long and exciting road.

ltcjmramos

Congratulations! Suggest you post over on the Turbo forum, too.

TeeJayHoward

Bye-bye old friend. You've been amazing.

saabin

Congrats! Post up some pics when you get it. You will love the torque!

TYPE911

Congratulations, you bought a great 911 in a 997 Turbo.
Atlas Grey metallic is probably one of the coolest colors you could choose as well. I know as I just acquired an Atlas car a week ago.
More blue than gray, so unique it just pops every time you look at it.
Turbo is perfect for Colorado altitude. Prepare yourself to become addcted to the DaBoost !!!

Cheers,... now post some pics

TeeJayHoward

Unfortunately the only pic I can paste right now is this one:



That's my signed paperwork on the way back to the dealer. They haven't received my trade-in yet. From chatting with them, it'll be about a week before I see my car. Maybe even two!

TeeJayHoward

It's here!

And it's dirty.


Very dirty.


And... Broken. The coolant temp sensor is throwing a code and not displaying the temp. The passenger front turn signal needs a new bulb. The driver's seat adjuster has a lovely "thunk" sound whenever you try to lower it. The rear wing doesn't move. The center console has a nice big hole in it because it's for a Cab. There's an aftermarket microphone thingie that's dangling off the steering column. The driver's front tire has a leak and two valve stem caps are missing. The license plate light doesn't turn on. Cruise control does absolutely nothing. The fog lights won't turn on even though the LEDs inside do. The fuse box is the worst though... It looks like this:


I ripped out the extra wiring, only to discover a "M4C-RK997". A dohickey that lets you control your convertible top with your key. I did not buy a Cab. WTF.

Let's just say I'm not very pleased with the dealership right now. These are all things that should have been caught on the PPI. I'm talking with them to see what they can do for me.

This is also my first Turbo 911. I thought that the whole "Variable Geometry" thing was supposed to eliminate lag. It doesn't feel any different from my '11 WRX. At about 3500RPM, you get a sudden rush of power. I expected it to be a lot more linear... Or at least kick in at a lower RPM. Is this normal, or is there an engine/turbo problem too?

TeeJayHoward

Found two more issues. Passenger door doesn't close properly. The window stays up. However, if you pull the handle and gently close the door, the window works properly... You just have to nudge the door closed AFTER the window is properly seated.

And the other one is the passenger tail light. Big ol' crack in it. Couldn't see it due to the dirt. Most of which has now been washed off:


A proper detailing will come later. I'm taking my car to a local repair shop 0730 tomorrow to check out all the issues listed so far and get a quote for the dealer. I'm hoping they'll offer to fix at least the big things.

edit: Oh, three things, not two. One of the rear foglamps is out.

E368

And your PPI did not find any of this?

ttreat

Wow! All that was missed in a PPI? If it was purchased from a dealer, I would be in some hard negotiations to have some of this fixed, if it wasn't disclosed. These aren't things that would scare me out of a car if I knew they were there but I would expect a healthy discount.

TeeJayHoward

Right? This is basic stuff. They're asking me to get a quote to fix everything I've listed. We'll see what they do once I've got it. None of these are particularly major issues (except for the coolant temp sensor) but if they missed all this, what ELSE did they miss?

I'm withholding the name of the dealer until this all gets sorted. We're all human. It's easy enough to make a mistake or two. How you handle it once you DO make it is what makes a dealership good or bad IMO. Right now I'm upset, but not particularly pissed off. Gonna give them a chance first.

E368

Was it a Porsche dealership?

TeeJayHoward

The PPI was through one. The purchase was not.

Lighting finally got decent for a pic outside the garage. It's still in need of a bath and a wax, but it's a damned sight better than it was. Here it is just after I got my garage door programmed. (And what a PITA THAT was...)

E368

Looks great! Hoping all works out for you, and that the dealership makes it right. Buying out of state can be tough, unfortunately.

saabin

Damn, dude. what a mess. I cant imagine a PPI not mentioning ANY of that.. I freaking check engine light wasn't mentioned for the coolant sensor?

FOr the life of me I cant think of why someone would put a center console from a cab into a coupe.. Unless the original one was trashed and the cab one was lying around or the "cheapest" one could find..

That fuse box is frightening, though.. With no rear spoiler and license plate light working, it may be an electrical harness or whatnot issue.. If it's the hydraulic ram(s) themselves or a microswitch (which is not a rare issue on these cars) then be prepared for a big estimate from a dealer, like 3.5K or more.. Of course there are other ways to repair them cheaper, but a dealer will just replace it all..

I guess the good news it there is only 1 foglamp, so take that one off your "problem" list..

Taillights are gonna be about $400 from a dealer..

I think you mentioned in the other thread you had an issue with the fog lamps.. more electrical isues, ugh..

Regarding the lag, I suppose it's just relative to what you are used to.. I wouldnt call a stock 997TT laggy, nor would I say it has no lag.. I would say my tuned turbo with a few other go-fast bits has a "tinyist" bit of lag, much more responsive than stock..

It's possible there is a turbo problem, or maybe a VTG actuator is lazy/stuck/discontected.. given the state of the car, I would question the mechanicals as well..

How much boost are you getting when you floor it in 6th gear at 60mph? (so you can see what its max boost is)