I'm in Florida. The 2007 997 I want is in NYC. The car is being sold as a CPO by a Porsche dealer. Should that be enough for me to purchase without the hassle of flying up there to check it out and just have it shipped to my house? The photos are very nice and the car has clean Carfax and Autocheck reports. The dealer has no complaints with the Better Business Bureau.

Thanks.

 

Last year I bought an '09 C2S from a dealer in SoCal without seeing it, similar to what you describe. It had only about 9k miles on it so I knew it couldn't be too trashed.

Overall I was very happy with the purchase, with only a couple of minor issues.

I assumed it would have the OEM tires on it, but no. For some reason the PO had put all-season tires on it. WTF is up with that? All season tires on a P-car in SoCal? So I ended up replacing the tires shortly after I bought it.

Second - there are a number of very fine scratches in the paint, like somebody wiped it down with a dirty towel. Can be buffed out and I would have bought the car anyway, but if I had seen them I might have negotiated a full detail or another $500 off the price.

So anyway - it can be done but in retrospect I wish I had flown down and looked at the car myself.

 

I value the condition of a Porsche far too much to trust a dealer whose primary purpose is to sell a car to me for income.

Even though the car is CPO'd, there could be issues that you will not know until you see it in the flesh.

In my opinion, it's worth the price of a flight and a day's worth of time when making an acquisition in which the condition is very very important.

 

the last 4 Porsches that I bought have all been unseen except for photos.
have never been disappointed!
i live in Montreal, all the cars came from far away in U.S.
Just ask all the right questions. is all the paint original? example

 

Would you mind spending for airticket when you are buying a Porsche ... I don't think so. Go check it out. I would hate to second guess down the road if something were to not meet your expectations.

 

Thanks, folks. It's the cost of doing business, I suppose.

 

I bought mine site unseen, a 2006 C2 cab. Being dark blue there were a few minor visable (very small, 1/16-1/32") stone chips in the hood, about what you'd expect with a 17,000 mile car. As the previous post said; ask the right questions regarding paint, chip repair, front bumber/lip scratches. Generally speaking P-car owners take good care of their cars, so its a good chance the car is as advertised. Obviously, if you have it shipped to you, make sure its in covered carrier.

 

I just came back from such a trip. The car was immaculate-12k miles-but its warranty expired and I didn't want go through with it.

I hate that I have to "crank up" another trip.

 

Thanks. The car I'm looking at has 31,000 miles, CPO and is a lease return-so I doubt if the "owner" cared very much-but the photos look nice.

 

The 06 CPO car I checked this week was much rougher than I was told. Front bumper was chipped, windshield cracked, airbag light on, didn't rev smooth..but it passed CPO a moth ago. they would fix the windshield and airbag light, but I was surprised it was even on the lot in that shape.

 

I guess the CPO guy left his glasses at home that day.

 

Another option is to ask someone on the forum to look at it for you, I believe we have some NYC members.

 

I just wouldn't feel comfortable buying a 997 without seeing it first.

There are 30k miles Porsches that look like they just came off the showroom, and then there are those that look like they're ready for the boneyard.

Something as simple as the smell in the interior could make or break a deal for me. You saw what happened to Seinfeld's 5 Series when he left it with a valet for a couple of hours.

 

So would it be worth getting a PPI even when considering a CPO? Especially if time constraints and distance are a factor, having a proxy might be the way to go....

 

Thanks.