mkamel

What are your thoughts about purchasing a 997 from Carmax? They don't allow PPIs (so can't get much of the details, nor DME), but on the flip side, there's a 90 days warranty and they offer extended warranties at a cost. I should add this would be an out of state purchase, so can't see the vehicle in person.
Has anyone here purchased from them, and what are your thoughts? Thanks

cringely

Do they have something like a 1/3-day return policy? If they have something like that, you could take it in for a local PPI for peace of mind. If it fails the PPI, or has serious, but correctable issues, you could return it or ask for repairs under their warranty

I am the Walrus

A guy on here got a Speed Yellow 997.2 Turbo S from CarMax.

He did well on the purchase and has been very happy with it. He might chime in. I forget his username. You could probably find it by searching

Doesn't carmax have a 7 day return window?

chekraze

they do have 7 day/ X mile period and you can have PPI done that way. Their shipping costs are less than you trying to ship yourself. I've heard of people making out well with the warranty they sell. I wouldn't rule out a car from there. I ordered a 2012 Black Edition but decided against it after taking a good look at it and driving it. Cost me $200 for the trouble.

mkamel

Good advice, thanks. I’ll check on how exactly the 7 days return policy works (e,g., what happens with all taxes & fees).
That said, I’d need to transfer the vehicle coast to coast, so that’s $2,000 right there.

if getting extended warranty, is a PPI still a must in your folks point of view? What could ppi tell us (major) that would not be covered by warranty?

chekraze

PPI may uncover prob cosmetic related stuff that a warranty may not cover. It's mostly for mechanical breakdown. Carmax delivery is $2K? Pretty sure you get taxes returned to you

Sylverlee

Their inspection is **** but they will fix anything for 90 days (outside of wear and tear) but it will be at their own shop. CarMax warranty is excellent and covers almost everything. I just had a $5300 engine out service covered. I only paid $1k for the car coast to coast.

dgoldenz

Carmax might be one of the best places you can buy a 997. Where else can you get a bumper to bumper 5 year 125k mile warranty on a 997 for relative pennies? I test drove a 2010 base model with 21k miles the other day and a 5 year 75k warranty was only $2700. If you like the car, buy it, do the PPI within the 7 day window, then make a decision.

A few years ago I bought a really well spec'd 991.1S for $76k that was way underpriced, it was worth around $100k at the time. I turned around and sold it for $100k. Sometimes they don't know what they have.

Petza914

My brother bought his 09 997.2 C2S cab 6 speed from Carmax and I told him to get the Maxcare warranty which is very good. He bought it, took it to the dealer in that 7 days for a post purchase inspection and they found about $5k worth of stuff that needed repairing - both taillights leaking, tires past the wear bars, and a bunch of other stuff. Carmax paid to fix it all without any trouble.

No issue at all buying from carmax - used to be a dumping ground for cars that had issues but not any more and if you get the warranty, you're covered.

Dpmarc

The previous owner purchased my car from carmax. It still has 2.5 years left on extended warranty so that is a huge plus. Car is great otherwise.

OKB

I would go to porsche and let them look up the vin and tell you the service history, as they have all the warrantee history Look at a carfax, and try to fill in the blanks. Then decide if its a good risk. Personally I wouldnt touch a car this way.
I only buy cars where I can trace the history and get a factory warrantee. they are too expensive to take a chance

Nate2046

I bought my GT4 from Carmax about a month ago. My transaction was lower risk than yours since the transfer fee from KC to Indianapolis was only $99. The car was priced below market and ticked my boxes on specs so I was willing to gamble the 100 bucks and walk away from the deal if I didn’t like the car in person. As others have mentioned, you have seven days to return the car, no questions, no fees, full refund, minus shipping. I took the car to my indy for a post purchase during the return window. The one big ticket item they found was a bent wheel, $2k from Porsche. The service advisor at Carmax didn’t even blink when I told him I expected a new wheel and alignment on their dime. In fact, he was embarrassed that they had retailed the car that way. I bought the MaxCare warranty as well. I figured ~$2k for a 5 year warranty was a steal compared to what a Porsche dealer charges for CPO. You can take the car anywhere you like for warranty work, including your local dealer.

I never thought I’d buy a car from Carmax, but I have to say, I’ve been impressed so far. I normally enjoy the negotiation aspect of traditional dealers, but the market is so hot right now, I was totally blown off trying to get even a 5% discount off asking prices. To walk in and buy the car at what I knew was a good price was a welcome change.

HenryPcar

Negative.

Balr14

I have purchased several cars from CarMax and would not hesitate to buy a Porsche from them if they had one that I liked. Their return policy and extended warranty are excellent.

rickster997

Bought my 2011 911 GTS from Carmax. They did $3k worth of fixes post purchase and have had over $5K repairs covered with Warranty. I get the repairs done at my local dealer and pay the deductible. Could not be happier with the car. It ws below market and definitely not a show car. But my experience with transaction, repairs and warranty has been great and I would not hesitate to do it again.