Westside997

Yeah tire wear is really the only way to tell even if the static alignment test checks out. Unfortunately I believe they are new tires. It was a Texas car (Dallas area) before it got shipped off to VA

Westside997

Listing: https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-fo...1-porsche-911/

groovzilla

No matter what you do stay away from a salvage title.
H&R Sping's lower the car 1" and also allows use of the PASM suspension function which is controlled via button on dash.

Good luck in your search!

swingwing

Just me, but I think OP's off track here. He lives in LA and says his budget is $35k; this car's in Virginia. If he buys it there's $1k+ of open transport cost (more if he opts for enclosed). Add CA TTL and now he's pushing $10k above his budget. Recipe for trouble IMO.

swingwing

You're not going to get a PDK car (which means 997.2) with a $35k budget. As for the paddle shifters, they come with the Sport Design steering wheel, which can be purchased separately and refitted. Reading your posts I get the impression that the features you want overrule your budget. Have you considered buying an enthusiast-owned 996 that's had the IMS/RMS issues attended to? There are plenty of those around. Caymans and Boxsters abound as well; you could get a very nice car within your budget and start learning Porsche without getting upside down immediately. Join PCA on the Test Drive membership and that gets you access to full contact info on member ads; local PCA chapter members in LA are also going to have cars for sale. Excellence Magazine (excellence-mag.com) has a nice Buyer's Guide for $14.95, and their website also has a cars for sale section.

As for the car you're looking at, ask the seller to scan/email the title. Carfax may be accurate but if you're really in love with this Virginia car I'd make dead-nuts sure it's got a clean title.

Westside997

Was actually considering a road trip back to LA with an old pal I've been wrenching on cars with since we were in high school.

My budget was somewhat arbitrary (pre-research optimism) and it's increasing by the day. "Scope creep" at it's finest. That said I very much appreciate you looking out for me; it wouldn't be the first time I needed to be saved from myself.

Westside997

After much debate I'm likely sticking to the 997s and see what I can balance between $$ and features. PCA is on my to do list!

swingwing

Good luck with your hunt. For what it's worth I spent most of 2017 researching my first Porsche buy while I waited for a buyer of my last (of nine) BMW, an '02 E39 M5. I really liked the Cayman S (still do), 996 C4S, 997.1 and was also drooling over 996 Turbo. Settled on an '09 base Carrera 6MT with 35k miles (the one pictured with my user ID) in Florida. Upgraded wheels and not much else, for me a perfect first Porsche. I paid $42k and have added Fister mufflers and a GT3 shifter. Car has plenty of power and is a delight to drive. I recommend you look for an enthusiast-owned car as opposed to a dealer, as you'll a much better chance of getting maintenance history with a car that's been well taken care of.

Westside997

Yeah I think this could take a while. Nice ride!

Westside997

And then cars like this come along and twists my brain: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

This would be prescribing to the "buy the newest car with high mileage you can" strategy as suggested above. Carfax is free in the listing: Two owner car. Fully loaded.

sandwedge

Biggest question I think you have to ask yourself is whether or not you care about resale value. Sure that car can be repaired but it will always have a history of a pretty hard hit. I had my GTS on the market recently but decided to keep it after getting hammered over a replaced rear bumper that doesn't even show up on Carfax. I started a separate thread including pictures right after it happened so it wasn't exactly a secret. And Porsche will CPO a car with a simple bumper replacement (or repair) as long as it was done right or even if it wasn't done right based on some threads here so basically a non-event with no affect on the value of the car.

With air bag deployment and what looks like quarter panel damage you're looking at a car with a much harder and more involved hit than I did so I don't even want to think about the discussions you'd be up against if you bought the car, fixed it perfectly and then tried to sell it. That car could not be CPO'd by Porsche no matter how perfect the repairs are.

If it would be a "keep forever" car and there's not more bad stuff that can't be seen until you start to peel things back, I wouldn't rule it out if I bought it to keep it. Very subjective though. A lot of guys out there don't care about body work that was done to be undetectable and won't affect the value of the car. Then you have another crowd who won't get within 10' of any car with body work no matter how minor, never mind cars with big hits like the one you're looking at.

Westside997

I've abandoned that particular car based on some carfax research and first-hand feedback, but your questions/ observations are fair ones. The purist side of me wants the perfectly pristine show car with tasteful mods that will get props at the Cars and Coffee mornings. The boy-racer part wants some go-fast parts (PCCB) and maybe some aero, just incase I decide to do a few track days now and then. Not sure where I'm gong to land yet but the reality is this car is going to get chewed up a bit when it's parked on the streets in LA (copious door dings and bumper rash), so I don't mind a car with a few subtle preemptive blemishes.

This won't be a "forever car" so resale is a real consideration. Trying to convince shrewd Porsche buyers that a replaced bumper/ or light bodywork is not the end of the world does sound exhausting.

At this point I've talked with quite a few Porsche specialist shop managers/ mechanics and they all seem to agree that 2005-2007 low-mileage-for-their-age cars tend to exhibit bore scoring more than their harder-driven counterparts. On the other end of the spectrum my fear of buying a high mileage car (90-110k miles) is that by the time I release it back to the wild it'll need a new motor, making it difficult to sell.

Seem like the wise play would be to find a 2005-2007 with 60-70k miles on it. That way IMS is likely taken care of, bore scoring will either show up on a PPI by then, or it'll be fine. When I sell the car after putting 40-50k miles on it, the next buyer will be able to drive it for a bit before facing a rebuild. I don't really want to be the last one standing when the music stops.

keynes

I paid $39k for a 2009 base Carrera with 45k miles. It's not sexy, its not loaded with options, but it has the DFI engine and PDK. And it puts a smile every day on my face going to a crappy job. I would bite the bullet and just get a 997.2 for a lot of reasons already ruminated repeatedly on this forum. GL with the hunt.

G.I.G.

Sounds like you've thought this through and are on the right path. I would have loved to have purchased my car private party from the original owner without a single blemish having been meticulously maintained with all of the service records and all of the options, colors, and specs that I wanted. Fact of the matter is, these are not not Honda's, and while Porsche made a lot of them, they're not on every corner. There is a reason why we're buying ~10 year old cars for less than half their original sticker price.

I went through an exhaustive search and landed on a one-owner car that ended up at a small specialty dealer in Dallas by way of auction. I don't have all of the service records, but I did talk to the Porsche dealer and the indy shop in Vegas (where the car lived previously) that serviced the vehicle per Carfax. It shows that it was well maintained. Between that and the PPI, the car checked out mechanically. My Carfax is clean, however, the PPI uncovered high paint meter readings on the front and rear passenger quarter panels, but not the passenger door for some reason. Whatever the case, there was no structural damage found. I'd love to know the full story on the paint work, but what difference does it make at this point? My car looks pristine and it's getting a ceramic coat and full front Xpel wrap as we speak. It will look way better than most cars half its age when it's done.

From a resell perspective, keep in mind Rennlisters (including myself) are the minority of buyers. My friend just bought an '11 C2S cab with a PDK out of state. He didn't even know that we have different engines, much less know what an IMSB is or bore scoring. He just wanted a convertible 911 in his price range. He had a PPI that checked out mechanically and that showed a respray on both the front and rear bumpers. He still bought the car and has no regrets.

Stay the course, and you'll find the right car!

Westside997

I'm flip flopping around on this for sure...