Yeah this is a good clarification of what the salesman was trying to explain to me. I suppose it makes sense that they don't want to turn into a place selling anything but exceptional cars in order to maintain their reputation but it's just disappointing there's not a way to ****** it up before another dealer gets it and does god knows what to it. Only reason I care is because it is a rare and desirable (to me) color combo at a good price.

 

I’m just gonna post the pics for you guys to look at for fun; maybe it will provide more context. Exterior color is olive metallic green I believe

 

awesome exterior color, but man, you have to work hard to wreck struts and rims like that.

 

Based on that damage repair estimate, I'd say this car was driven up over a curb at speed.. That's how the struts got bent and why the wheelwell liners need to be replaced - they're probably cracked and broken. If that's the case, you could also have figure steering rack issues, could be other damaged suspension components at the front or rear like lower control arms, toe links, etc that they didn't identify as damaged. Look under the rest of the motor and see if the sump plate is scratched or dented.

I also don't see anything particularly special about this car. Looks like Basalt Black exterior with tan interior, but it doesn't have full leather or sport Chrono or PSE and has basic comfort seats.

Getting into a 987, I'd recommend buyi g the best one you can afford not the one you know already has problems that you may not know the full extent of yet.

Pass!

 

Good point about the possibility of the curb damage. The car isn't basalt black though, it's olive green metallic and does have sport chrono

 

I see the wart in a couple of the pictures now. Thanks. Olive green is pretty unique, but still not worth the risk IMO, and not having full leather is also a deal breaker for me personally.

 

Just to add: at least in NY a dealer cannot sell you a car "as is", ie there are statutory warranty rights for the consumer that cannot be waived. In my case (for a low mileage 2005 car) that was 90 days and 3000 miles of warranty, I think. This differs from state to state, but it is one reason why wholesaling is attractive for the dealer when dealing with a high value fixer upper car like this one.

As for the cost estimate, my surprise is the wheel alignment for more than $1K; must be counting replacing some bent bits there.

 

Go figure, I was preparing to go visit a used car lot (specializing in high-end imports) today to see another 997 that looked really nice only to call ahead and find out they had just wholesaled the damn thing. What is the incentive for these people to wholesale over just steeply dropping the sticker price and selling it to a consumer? Do these dealers get high prices for cars at wholesale or do they go for pennies on the dollar? If the latter is the case, I don't understand why they are so quick to go wholesale.

 

Dealers can write off a loss at an auction, the dealerships I worked at were not allowed to show a loss on a retail sale, but they could at auction.

 

So, in your experience working at a dealer, if a used car were put up for sale for let's say... $40,000, approximately what do you think the dealer would have acquired it for whether it be in a trade or at a wholesale auction? I've never worked in that world but I know what dealers offer for trades so I'd think they may have gotten a car like that for maybe $29k at which point they'd have about 10k of wiggle room accounting for cost of storage and detailing. That would mean they could sell the car at $33k for example and still make a profit. Are my numbers way off here?

 

Stay away, period ! That car has problems and as someone says, dumping it for wholesale is out of sight and out of mind.

 

Walk the F away. Porsche dealerships are in it to make money. The writing is on the wall that there are some serious concerns about this car. They are sending to auction because they are realizing they cannot make any money off it and it could get worse once they get in there. This has nothing to do with their so called standards.

This is just me, but the first thing I look for in a used 997 is whether the car went through auction recently. Okay for a 997 to have gone through an auction back when the economy sagged and market was slow, but not now. These cars are too easy to sell. Only 997s with serious concerns and/or problems go through auctions now. This car is an auction car and perhaps needs way more than they know or are letting on. Walk away.

The most expensive Porsches (or any high end sports car for that matter) are the cheap ones.

 

See my above post, but 997s only go through auctions if they have serious problems. If car went to auction, thank your lucky stars you didn't purchase. The market is too strong for 997s and trade ins are where dealers make their money because auction prices right now are dang near close to retail. Dealers relying on auction cars for inventory are generally making back end money, but very little on the front end.

One qualifier here though, is that GT3s, some later model turbos and very expensive low production number cars will be on Manhiem pretty frequently because the market there is a bit softer and smaller dealers get stuck with their money in these higher priced cars when the market gets softer. Cars in the $80k or below range, not applicable. The market is still solid here for high quality vehicles.

 

What is the VIN on this one? For the sake of future discussions...

 

Glad to know that you are moving on. But sincerely, if you are looking to buy a cheap 997, the only cheap part will be the purchase price. Everything after that will kill your budget.

You are way better off finding what costs what maintenance and repair wise to at least appreciate the ratio of asking prices and needed or done maintenance.

That way, you won't mind paying more for the car, knowing what was done to it.

Example. I got it pretty good with my car and paid $50G for the car and by the time I'm done, it will have cost close to $55G. So if I would have known that, I wouldn't have minded paying $55 for a car that needs nothing at all ( like the futur owner of my car) and avoid having to do all the work.