CFP

I am looking at a 2010 base 997 and had the PPI done today. Everything came back clean but there was a comment that "body work" had been done to the right side of the car. The dealership that did the PPI says that there was some paint work done. Nothing structural and nothing perceptible to the eye. Does this affect resale value?

MLindgren

Would definitely affect offer price. Is this a private party sale or from a dealership? Does the bodywork show up on Carfax? If it does not but pops at some point in the future it will affect saleability/price down the road. Can you get any details on the extent of the repair?

CFP

It's being sold by a BMW dealership and nothing shows up on the Carfax. I guess the only way to get the real story is to go back to the original owner, who traded the car in. Sounds like it may have just been to clean up a scratch.

CFP

Just sent the dealer an email asking if he had any further knowledge. He calls me and goes on to tell me that a deer had "run into" the rear quarter panel and that it had to be replaced. Further tells me that it doesn't show up on the Carfax b/c it didn't involve another car. Says he thought that one of the other salesmen to whom I spoke had already disclosed it. I called the deal off, obviously. Chalk up another example of why having a PPI done is absolutely required.

Hella-Buggin'

next...

McCulla

The word "replaced" on a REAR quarter worries me a bit. Does that mean that the quarter panel was cut out/re-welded in w/ replacement flare, or what? Unfortunately, from first hand experience, I can tell you that a deer running into you (as compared to you running into the deer...)can cause a lot of damage. I agree, next.

kosmo

isnt the rear panel structural??? I think i heard that somewhere.

Carfax et al are helpful but are full of holes. I replaced the hood (cash out of pocket) on my BMW after bumping into something. Never showed up on carfax.
Always cracks me up when dealers claim "clean carfax."

Marine Blue

Carfax is a good initial filter, if nothing shows up you can't assume damage hasn't occurred. But if something does show up you can strike it off the list before wasting time looking at it.

Good luck with the search.

CFP

Agreed that Carfax is just an initial tool. What really gets me is that the dealership knew about this, they never disclosed it, allowed me to put a deposit down and I was within 30 minutes of booking a flight (car is about 500 miles from me). They only addressed after the PPI noted something.

It wasn't a Porsche dealer but still, I guess I would have expected more from a BMW dealership and a $70k+ purchase. Oh well, the search continues!

CamsPorsche

Even the best dealerships are in the business to sell cars regardless of prior damage. If they can sell it then perfect.

Marine Blue

I had a similar experience when searching for a 500E 10 years ago. I actually flew to Seattle to look at a car which was suppose to be original paint, flawless and very nice condition. When I see the car I knew immediately that it was painted and I pointed it out to the salesman. He argued with me for a minute until I showed him the overspray in the door jambs, on the trim (inside the car) and elsewhere. THe guy got nervous thinking I was going to ask for him to reimburse me for my flight. I left cordially and fortunately had had a plan B car which was the one I ended up buying. I did however disclose the dealers name and information to everyone on the Mercedes forum to let them know the car was misrepresented.

You might consider doing the same to save others the headache and PPI cost.

Macster

Woman at work had her car run into by a deer. Deer hit the right side of the car at the rear door, rear fender area. The car suffered some dents but not severe dents. She tells me the deer did not appear to be injured.

My point is a deer can run into a car though most of the time it is the other way around.

In the case of the Porsche the rear quarter panel is not an unbolt/bolt in body panel like say the front fender.

What might have happened is the dealer told you the quarter panel was replaced thinking the Porsche was like other cars that can have this panel replaced via unbolting/bolting just to smooth over the news the car had some body/paint work.

But one rule about body/paint work is if one can tell the car has had this then the car is questionable.

And if the quarter panel was replaced then you are right to walk away from the car.

Sincerely,

Macster.

pewter82

Pass on it. Too many other cars with no stories out there.