Hello RL 997 community, I've been a long-time lurker but the time has come to acquire my first Porsche so here I am! I've been shopping, to one degree or another, for at least a decade. My life and my budget have finally combined to make one of these incredible cars a reality. Right now my search has focused on a 2005 997.1 Carrera S 6MT that ticks all the right option boxes but has zero documented service history outside of a spotty carfax report. I've been in touch with what I've been told is the best local indy, Aker's Porsche in Seattle, for a PPI and I'm confident they'll flesh out the car sufficiently. That has me worried is that when I asked about a PPI the dealership said they did not object provided they would receive a printed and emailed copy of the inspection report. Being new to the Porsche world I wanted to ask the RL hive mind if this is a normal condition of releasing the car for inspection? Thanks to all for your thoughts.

 

I think that seems fair, I would want the same if I were the seller.

 

Are they hoping to undercut any leverage I might gain or are they simply taking advantage of the fact that I'm paying for it? If I don't buy the car they can tell the next guy "we don't have service history but we had this PPI carried out by this reputable indy!"

 

my 2 cents:

You pay for it, it's yours. If you want to share it with them, that's up to you. You can decide that when you have it in hand.

 

Not to be contrarian but I would definitely stipulate that the PPI is shared but I also DGAF if people buy or don't buy anything I am selling ever. Cooperation and communication is key to me. I am not emotionally involved but I am also never trying to profit from selling hobby stuff like bikes, cars, or whatever...
If someone gets even slightly weird about buying or selling from me, I walk.

 

That's kind of where I am. I'm not signing anything and a PPI commits me to nothing but a PPI. If I'm shelling out several hundred dollars for it I own it.

 

I see exactly where you're coming from. This dealer, on the other hand, is trying to profit from the sale of this car.

 

I would agree with Torch's judgement on this.

If the PPI comes out favorable, you buy the car. The dealer should not care one bit about the PPI at that point. If the PPI comes out bad and you decide to pass on the car, then you walk and that's the end of it.

 

I appreciate the reinforcement, this is my inclination as well.

 

My assumption is that they just want verification for anything that comes up, so you can't say it needs X without some proof. If it were me, I'd agree to it. If you do the PPI and pass, hopefully it helps out the next buyer, or at least creates notice to the seller if there are any issues.

BTW, Akers is an incredible shop. I used to live by them before I had my own 997, but they were always gracious and let me wander around and take a look at some of the awesome stuff they had in there.

 

Hell no, don't give them a copy. You're paying for it so it's yours to review. They just want a copy in case you walk and then they'll have copy to show to the next customer... at your expense.

 

So far I've only just dealt with Akers by phone but they've impressed me a great deal with the time they've taken to offer advice and guidance before I ever set an appointment.

 

What I would do.

go ahead with PPI and have a agreement with seller if you decide to walk away on purchase for any reason, the seller can take ownership of the PPI at half cost. I think it’s a fair value for both parties involved. If all pans out and you keep the 911, cost of PPI is all yours.

 

ah, I was confused. I thought is was private. My bad.
I dealt with CNC who are vendors on here I think. They are amazing. They DGAF about my PPI BTW. They also made it super easy to get the car towed wherever I wanted it to go. They never even asked about the PPI other than "we good?" I think it was because the original dealer did a PPI, then CNC did their own PPI, and then I did a separate PPI. All of them matched but I was just being careful.
Sorry, I misread the situation.

 

Of course, they (the dealership) have possession and ownership of the car, and if you want to have a ppi done on it, then it seems you would have to agree to their terms. They probably do not care if you walk away, because they know they'll sell it to someone else soon enough. I would agree to share it with them if I wanted the car, but I'd try to see if they'd split the price of it.