Gilbert Han

Hi, all.

I just got a PPI result from the dealership. Since the car is in different area, I did not have a chance to talk with technician. I got only a sheet of document from dealership. PPI was done from Porsche of Livermore.

Car is
2006 911/997 C4S with 67,000 miles with tiptronic S

Report says:

Tech performed pre purchase inspection, found L/F and R/F outer boots torn/leaking.
Engine oil overfull.
CD charger inop.
Tire sealant expired.
Cup holder is no operating as designed.
Battery CCA's low.
Slow to crank.
Cigarette lighter holder missing.
I.D damaged.
Had airbag light on, cleared and did not come back on. Due to low battery. Roat tested ok at this time.
Brakes are 8mm front and 8mm rear
tires are L/F 5mm, R/F 8mm and L/R 7mm R/R 4mm.
Tire pressure as follows: L/F 37psi, R/F 37psi, L/R 44 psi, and R/R 44psi
Tires need to be the same on each axle. May cause transmission issue if not changed.

I bolded the part I did not understand. Does this report says it is ok to buy, or not? Could I hear you guys opinion what does this means? Should be this report says drop the deal? or it is only minor?

Thanks in advance!

1990nein

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Gilbert Han

Because the car is in different area, I did not have a chance to talk to mechanic. I am Seattle area and car is in CA. This was done in Porsche of Livermore, which is official Porsche dealership.

theporscheguy

Either talk to the tech or a service advisor/service manager about all the notes in the PPI. That's where the clarification needs to start since the have seen the car in person. You also need to know what your exposure is if you decide to fix all the items that the dealer found.

j beede

Personally, I would not buy a c4 that had torn boots. The uneven tire wear L v R would raise a flag for me. If the audio system is stock Porsche, you could be in for a large bill to repair the CD changer or replace the system with an aftermarket unit. If the transmission is working correctly you should be mostly immune to over revs. If you ask for an over rev report the dealer will tell you that cars with automatic transmissions are not subject to over revs. It takes 3 minutes to check to see zero over revs.

Slow cranking could be weak battery, bad cable ($$$), starter or alternator. Not a very comprehensive PPI. Was this one of those $150 PPI that we hear of from time to time?

I am sure that you can find a better sample. What do you like about this car?

OKB

Youve got to figure what all the repairs would cost. Ask the dealer what everything would cost to fix. You can figure roughly, $1000 tires, repair or buy new radio(ebay) , Battery $ 150, So get his opinion for other repair work.
Figure what you want to pay for the car, on top of all the repairs

ogun228

Run!

Rikky001

All depends what you have to pay the car.
CD charger is a typical thing. You can buy a used on on Ebay if you can't life without it, a working one for 150 USD.
Brakes seem to be in good condition
Tire wear seems a bit strange, maybe the car had an accident? Allignment check will tell for sure.
Engine oil overfill? This might be to compensate for a lack of oil?

A report like that is not a good basis for a buy or not.
I would focus on the allignment first to ensure it had no serious accident. Looking at the wear figures on the tires and the front boot leakages, my assumption is that it had something in the past.
What is missing is a status report from the engine, as a minium I would ask to remove the spark plugs on the passenger side of the engine and ask for a boroscope inspection of these 3 cylinders. If bore scoring would be diagnosed, run away as there is no easy fix for this.
If you throw in a new battery some problems might be sorted. Slow cranking can be a starter/ alternator cable needed, especially when the engine spins slowly when the car is hot.
If the car offered is very cheap I would ask for a more detailed analysis and an idea how much you will have to pay to have it fixed. Most things you can fix yourself and will save you lots of dollars but when the car has had a serious accident and is not straight, or the engine has bore scoring, I would not spend further time and look further.