997hunter

Greetings fellow Porschephiles!

I am about to pull the trigger on a 997.2 Carrera (non S) with PDK and some minor options. The dealer has it listed for $52k with around 32k miles, great price right? There is a caveat... it is "hail damaged" as it was sitting out on the lot when it hailed. The dealer had it fixed via paintless dent removal and in pictures, it is not noticeable. The Carfax also comes up clean meaning it was not big enough to report using insurance..

Knowing this.. how much should I offer them on the car? Another issue is I am out of state meaning this will be purchased sight unseen with a PPI done at another dealer. Please advise!!

Thanks

Mumbles

Your off your rocker if you buy a car with hail damage sight unseen.

Ynot

Never do that, if you are going to spend $50K on a car, spend a few hundred more and go check it out yourself, run your fingers through it, test drive it, some people even take it to the car wash and wash and dry it so they can feel and see every rock chip, dents, and scratch, the latter is a bit extreme for me. You can used the hail damage as a negotiation advantage. I see hail damage sales all the time and they are not that impressive, for a couple of grand more. I rather buy one w/o the damage.

997hunter

I see that I may have been out of my mind while typing that.. thanks for the heads up. If I were to go there (opposite side of the nation from me) and see that the car is up to par, how much wiggle room can I make on the listed price?

One911

$52 on a on 09 base is not a great price seems fairly standard to me.

chris.hanle

50 if it looks good and CPO. There is always the option to ask someone on this forum to lay eyes on it. And get a PPI. Most here are very particular and will most likely notice imperfections and such.

PasPar2

there is a 09 cpo for sale on this board for 49. 52+damage = walk away

997hunter

How much should I offer them? The 09 CPO for $49k is a steal but the miles is 15k higher and I am looking for a PDK equipped car.. If I get serious with this car I may look for a member that can check it out for me and I will compensate.

Ezkill

Yea I wouldn't say that's a great price to be honest. Certainly not worth buying a car sight unseen.

I purchased a 2009 S a couple months ago at the height of the market and in the most expensive place to buy these cars - California. The car I bought had 6k original miles and was so pristine there was not a single leather crease and it had never even been out in the rain. I paid mid 60's. Given just the mileage on your car it's worth about 7,500 less then the car I purchased. Then add to the fact that it's a base versus an S that's another 7-10k. These values are based on valuations from local dealers(2,500-3,000 less value per 10k miles) and what a base versus an S was going for at the time. Conservatively, the value of this car should be at least 15k less then the car I purchased. I did not get a great deal and this car is probably worth 15-20k less then the car I purchased. The hail damage should of course lower the value as well.

Literally the only thing wrong with my car was a small scratch behind the rear drivers wheel caused by an oil pan. It was fully disclosed and I'll probably fix it this weekend for about 40 dollars. If it doesn't look good enough I'll pay about 300 dollars to have it fixed. The car came with OEM never used tires and rims(the owner sold the rims and tires he purchased after market). It came with full over the top maintenance records from a dealership. One owner, no story car(I guess the dealership oil pan could be considered a story) with extremely low mileage.

I'm not disparaging your possible purchase at all or the condition of the car you are looking at. I've typed the above to illustrate that I don't believe this car is a fantastic enough deal to take the plunge sight unseen. While the hunt can sometimes be long and a little frustrating I held out and managed to find an essentially new car at a price I was willing to pay. I moved on from many cars that had stories or simply things I didn't want to deal with.

Dadio

No shortage of cars available on cars.com from a nationwide perspective. Price is on low side of the range for '09 's with PDK at that mileage so not necessarily over priced dependent on options. If the color scheme is what you're looking for it might be worth taking time to see it in person if the everything checks out on the PPI. As for hail damage, I have seen cars before and after extensive hail damage of both steel and aluminum surfaces and if it is done by talented guys you can not see any evidence of the repairs. If it was done by a hack, it will be very noticeable. PPI results should cover that aspect of the cars condition.

997hunter

Thank you for the invaluable insight. I am located in California too and noticed that most 997.2s here are priced a couple thousand higher than other locations. I see that I must look with my own eye or a trained eye to determine the true extent of the damage and purchasing a damaged car is always going to devalue it.

What do you think I should do in my situation?
-Looking for a car within the next month or so
-Maximum willing to spend is ~$50k
-Must be PDK
-Considering a 997.2 Carrera base or a 987.2 Cayman S

wardrive

Definitely look at the car if you're going to buy. Any car is worth a PPI and a look in person before pulling a trigger. Too many stories of dealers/sellers saying its good but when you get it in person....


50k budget is going to be tough to find a good 997.2 with PDK. You're looking at a high mileage or story car. I say go for a 07-08 997.1 or 987.2 Cayman S.

Ezkill

The time limit you've imposed will probably be your limiting factor. I just did a search based on your constraints and found quite a few cars on auto trader that meet all your criteria. Most are not local. I have a car from Plano TX on my screen right now, Carrara White, Full Leather, PDK, 28k miles, full service history..49k asking. If the car is as good as it looks I'd offer 45k or so on it and arrange to have it shipped .

Your criteria are reasonable and I'm confident you could find the car you want even locally, but it may take some time.

Cayman S....I'm going to tip toe here because this is a personal decision. You will get much more for your money going the Cayman route. You will also experience steeper depreciation on average. So it really depends on how long you intend to keep the car. I looked at them, I drove them and unfortunately they fell into the same bucket as my wife's Z4. Great cars, fun to drive...and I probably wouldn't want to drive it long term. Fantastic cars but not for me. If you are happy with a Cayman and wouldn't feel like you've settled then they are certainly a great bang for the buck. That is a personal decision only you can make for yourself.

997hunter

^
I just saw that ad on AutoTrader and it sold already! I called the seller and he seemed pretty agitated, probably from the constant calls from other buyers.. That was THE one for me too. Back to square one, now that hail damaged 911 doesn't seem like a great deal anymore.

Robocop305

Yup, that white one was a steal! Deals like this usually don't last longer than a day.