drmain1

So i've been looking every day for my ideal car, and it appears that 70% of the nationwide listings for these are at random small dealers across the country with 0 service records. the last 2 dealers told me their cars on on "Consignment for owners" but carfax shows they were sold at auction within the last year.

Would most of you guys avoid any Porsche that has been sold at auction?

Thanks in advance

911andchips

I bought my 997 gts at an independent dealer in Portland Oregon.
Was a good experience for sure. Also both this car and my previous 997 C2 were auction cars and didn't have issues. One thing though is i did have the service records of cars.

Jaskfri

I bought my car 4 years ago from an independent shop that maintained lots of Porsche race cars and did a little used car business on the side. My car was an auction car with no records that had 1 or 2 owners(per carfax). He got it on trade from someone toward a GT3 he had. I assumed he wouldn't buy it if it weren't good and verified that with a PPI from a nearby dealer. I have been very happy. Sometimes you roll the dice.

voiceprint1

It's up to you, but you can see that dealers are not being upfront about cars they are representing. I had a decent experience at CarMax, the only reason I would recommend them is due to the 5 year warranty, and they tend to stock newer cars.

johzev

Purchased at Carmax. They have 24 hour grace period which I used to get PPI completed. Worked out great.

Caustic

Also purchased from CarMax 2 years ago. they have a 7 day return policy, no questions asked and I bought a warranty. Great experience.

BaileyII

I have the craziest story I would have to believe. I bought my 05 C2S almost 5 yrs ago w/ 11k miles from one of those side of the road dealership’s where the 1st row is the 10k cars and the back row is the 20K. The owner of the dealership said that he typically buys a car for himself & keeps it for awhile then sales it. I did not get a PPI done at the time. I did ask him to put it on the lift so I could look under it. Like I knew what I was looking at. Turned out the car came w/ Cargraphic 19in racing rims and Cargraphic mufflers. I had just recently lost my dad & he left me his Cadillac Escalade w/ only 13k miles on it. I didn’t want his truck I only wanted to swap metal for metal. His truck was very executive however I felt like I could sell dime bags out of the back of it. It just wasn’t for me. Long story long we swapped metal & he gave me 4K in cash. My 911 has been awesome over the past years. I’ve had to address most of the things that get brought up on this forum except for the IMS. Road Scholars in Durham Nc did not feel that I needed to have it replaced when they replaced my clutch even though my engine number falls into that category. I have about 53k miles and most of the popular mods completed.

Balr14

I bought mine from a dealer in California that specializes in high-end exotics. No service records, but verified it was a one owner car. I could not tell if it came from an auction, but I suspect it was. PPI came back fine. I have not had any problems with the car, but had AOS replaced, oil change, 60k service done (at 54k) and new ecu tune, as a precautionary measure.

captainbaker

As long as they let you do a PPI, sure. What are you looking for exactly?

user 72902

I bought a Carrera here and there were three times as many cars inside as there were on the website. Cars were mint. Flew into Springfield, MO

https://www.premiercars.com/

TheBruce

I purchased from an indy mechanic who would sell a couple 911s on the side. Before I made an offer I checked his Yelp reviews and a Rennlister vouched for him. Turned out to be a great guy. Made the offer over the phone, flew down a week later and took it to a local shop for the PPI. Got some lunch and tooled around in the car before my flight. Gave him a check after he agreed to fix a couple small things from the PPI. Car showed up at my house 10 days later. Pretty simple.

997_4me

Bought my 997 from a dealership in So Cal that specialized in "high end" exotics. The Porsche was the only non-exotic in the lot at the time of purchase. Dealer bought the car from original owner so i'm the 2nd owner. I had a PPI done by another shop I trusted and got a clear bill of health. I then purchased a 3rd party warranty from the dealership just for peace of mind. Water pump gave out about 1 year later and I was covered for it. No major issues.

To answer your question, I would not avoid buying a Porsche solely based on them being sold at an auction.

jamesinger

I know the question was auction sales specific but with no warranty/independent dealership, I researched the VIN as much as possible for my car and found that the services were traceable and done by time rather than mileage. I also found that a PPI had been done a year prior by the owner at the dealership the car sold at originally, another PPI was done by the selling dealer, and I did my own independent PPI. With all those results, the conclusion made me feel confident that the car was solid besides a few issues easily addressable. So, if the same car (which took a looooong time to find with the right combo of options), and if it was the same situation BUT was sold at auction, I would have still moved on it with the same information otherwise. ...just IMO.

rw229

There are some well respected independent dealers like Holt’s who only do Porsche. If the dealer has a bunch of different make high end cars, they are probably an up market Indy, but not necessarily an expert in the marque.

As far as auction, my take is that it’s fairly common early in a car’s life to be moved around by dealers trying to move inventory. Recent auctions, not so much on a 10 year old car, unless it’s high end like a GT3 RS and the dealer is is just profiting on the current (maybe) declining bubble.

Petza914

Not either of my 997s, but bought my Cayenne from a high end independent dealer in FL. It is probably still the lowest mileage 09 957 Cayenne Turbo S in the country at 35k miles, but we put 7,000.on it last year - it's our family vacation car.

Just treat it like any other purchase from a private party. Take it off-site to an Indy or Porsche dealer near the selling dealership for a full PPI, and if it checks out, then buy it.