MadIrish

Honestly, if you are talking about parking it on the street, maintaining value is the last thing that should be on your mind. Cars stored outdoors usually wind up showing that they've been stored outdoors (fading, aging, yellowing lenses, dings, scratches, etc) and most people looking to pay for a used Porsche car won't pay top dollar for a car that has obviously spent its life outdoors...and even fewer in the Northeast would be excited to come buy a car they knew lived in Manhattan. At least, I wasn't, anyway...in my search for a 996 I wouldn't look twice at any car offered for sale in the 5 Boroughs. Honestly, knowing what having a car in the city is like, as others have said, you should expect this car to get pretty thoroughly trashed.

PV997

Yep, same here. I won't even stay in a valet-only hotel if I can avoid it, too much of a control freak I guess. The question is not if a parking garage or street parking is better, but does it makes sense to have a high-end 997 TT in this environment at all. I have a low risk tolerance (and a poor opinion of human nature) and would be so worried I would not be able to enjoy the car. If you don't then it shouldn't make a difference.

Ironman88

Right out of college while waiting for my gaming license to be approved, I worked as a valet for a casino hotel in AC. I saw firsthand how some of my coworkers were with cars they "parked"...

I'll never let a valet park my car.

MadIrish

The very first time I valet parked any car at Foxwoods Casino, I watched the attendants ring of keys bounce off my car's fender as she spun around after giving me my ticket....left a gouge, but it was not worth a hassle over (wasn't my P-car, lol).

groovzilla

I have purchased several cars with accident damage. I have tendency to buy a car and hold onto it for a year or 2 then sell. I like buying different models especially the later watercooled cars since they aren't very special and many always available.

In the past 8 years I've owned 3 996's and 3 997's. 2 of the 996's had some sort of accident damage on carfax(always minor) and 2 of my 997's the same. Got great deals on them when I purchased them and had no issues selling but did have some buyers walk away not wanting a previously damaged car. My asking price was in the sweet spot for a car with previous minor damage so I always had a seller no problem. Sellers who get frustrated are those who price their accident damaged cars on the high side and then have to deal with buyers who aren't going to pay premium. Always easier/less frustrating to price it to sell. Your gonna take a hit so make sure you buy it right so there is less sting.
I've always made a few extra bucks when selling my Porsche's because I buy during the winter and have years of experience doing it.

My latest 2007 997S is a beautiful low mileage non-accident/clean Carfax example. I purposely looked for a no-stories clean Carfax example.
My reason was that when your car has had previous damage it is always something you have to explain and cuts off part of the buyers market. And they are harder to find with no damage so selling becomes very easy.

Bleath

My 997.2 TT got tapped by a tractor trailer three days after I bought it. The damage was relatively minor - rear quarter panel ding and rear bumper cover scuffed. It still was soul crushing! The repair shop did an incredible job and I can't tell the difference - that said, I made a diminished value claim against the carrier's insurance. We asked for $23k in diminished value (my DV guy was very aggressive). The insurer hired a firm that did a quantitative estimate of the DV based on their data and I collected $14.5k which was around 17% of what I had paid for the car. So yes, even a very minor accident can give you a huge value ding.

When I bought the car, it had 9,800 miles and I was struggling with whether to baby it to "preserve value" or enjoy it the way it was intended to be enjoyed and driven lots! The accident solved that issue!! While I would rather have not had to go through that, I now have a car I can drive the hell out of and the ding in its value is behind me.

DJ Chongo

AGREE!!!
To all above, yes it is the struggle: to live in New York and either pay through the teeth to baby it, perhaps one day to maybe make a buck off of it, or I could own/drive this thing how it was built.
I would hate to be the one to 'destroy' a future classic, but at least there is already a ding listed.

I debated a lot, then decided our time on this planet is short (I was part of the covid surge team, then tried to help fix covid brains as the surge died down lots of people just weren't right after). I had seen a lot before this, but this really put life into perspective.

I'm planning on getting a place with a deeded dedicated, non-valeted space, but that will take a few months or so. I just have to hope it all goes well. And if not, oh well, I should at least have some fun for a while!

Liste-Renn

Hey! Pull over! :

The thread title should read "how accidents affect value", not "effect value".

The accident had a negative affect on the car's value. ("Affect" is a verb.)
That lower valuation is an effect of having an accident on the car's history. ("Effect" is a noun.)

Grammer Poleece

DJ Chongo

Ha ha, yes I was debating it before I posted, but was too tired at that point!
As a doc, Affect is used as a noun, referring to emotional state. A 'flat affect' sort of means no or blah emotion.
And we 'effect change' is a verb phrase though relies on the full phrase.

But you're right (double checked the contraction, fyi!)

sandwedge

Oh I'm sure there are plenty of CPO cars out there with far worse body damage history than bumper covers. My comment was in reference to what my service advisor told me and to which his dealership adheres. According to him, PCNA's official policy is not to CPO cars with any body damage beyond bumper covers. So my point was....why won't the dealership CPO the car the OP is looking at?

You have to wonder how many dealerships would have taken the car linked to here in trade and simply replaced the bumper cover and then CPO'd it: https://rennlist.com/forums/991/7603...r-job-huh.html Frame damage and all else would never have been known unless that car was rear ended again. Which leads to another question. How many PPI inspections involve removing the bumper covers to check for hard hits extending far beyond the bumper cover itself?

As for PPI and a body shop looking into it, needless to say. That's why I suggested that the OP needs more info regarding what was involved in the accident history.

Doug H

The primary reasons cars do not get certified is costs to bring them up to CPO standards for services, wear items and enrollment fee as CPO is MOSTLY mechanical and warranty assurances.

What an inane statement to imply a Porsche dealership would conceal frame damage with a bumper cover and sell certified.

I also cannot imagine anyone in Porsche industry saying only bumper cover damage car can be certified as the below is very common knowledge across all brands and even used dealership guys know this.

The below comes from a page I have posted here before and has a lot of information about certification process:

The two major exceptions prohibiting Porsche vehicles from ever entering the Porsche Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Program are:

• Porsches that do not have a full and complete authorized-dealer service history

• Porsches that have crash damage, i.e., with four or more repainted panels and/or with evidence of frame repair

https://stuttgartdna.com/porsche-cer...d-cpo-program/

Doug H

The essence of the basic CPO concept boils down to the following two (2) assurances implied by any certified pre-owned (CPO) program:

1. The prospective CPO vehicle has led a relatively charmed life up to now, with the proper scheduled maintenance and servicing, as well as its lack of any major accidents or other evils.

2. A handsome extended warranty will come with the vehicle, thus reassuring the prospective buyer that the dealership will gladly exorcise any and all unforeseen mechanical gremlins from the vehicle in the future.

https://stuttgartdna.com/porsche-cer...d-cpo-program/

Then you add the 111 Point Inspection which mandates wears items such as brake pads at least 50% tires 50% and perform services if due or last service was more than 6 months ago. Any and all mechanical issues MUST also be addressed and repaired with Genuine Porsche Parts prior to being sold CPO and I believe they cannot sell CPO if there is evidence of non-Genuine Porsche parts including items such as brake pads or rotors.

PV997

Regarding the PPI removing the bumper I'd say the answer is zero unless there is some obvious evidence of damage. Even then the PPI shop doesn't have a free license to start taking the car apart looking for things without the owner's approval. How many sellers would allow this? Not many I suspect.

That linked thread is an eye opener regarding how extensive (and expensive) minor-looking damage can be. However, if the shop had simply replaced the impact bar would anyone ever had noticed any difference? I doubt it. That dent in the aluminum frame and the other findings aren't obvious and probably had a minimal effect on overall handling or rigidity of the car. When someone else smacked you and insurance is paying we'd all want it fixed perfectly. If the owner did that through his own stupidity and had to pay out of pocket it's unlikely that all would have been done. No one would have ever known the difference unless the car was pulled apart down the road. Buying a used car is always a gamble to some extent.

Mpoweroo1

What are thoughts on a car that has "Minor Damage" reported on the car fax. Zero structural damage, no airbag deployed, etc. Owner says he was unaware of any damage and thinks maybe it had some hail damage during previous owners time.

Is there a way to get clarification/details from Carfax on any damage reported?