tomc_mets

+997

Not much to add to what others have said, but my unicorn hunt went on for more than a year. Closer to two. I was ready to settle for good enough, but my wife talked me out of that nonsense. Then, one Saturday, while working, she saw a car online that was dead on in terms of age, color, trim, price, options, etc. that I wanted. Texted me, and told me that if I didn't buy it, she'd strangle me. Contacted dealer within 5 mins via their internet chat function. Offered to put down $1,000 or so with a credit card to keep a hold on it, while I arranged my schedule so we could drive the 250 or so miles to Houston. Wife talked to our banker and insurance agent on Monday to arrange those things just in case. Since it was CPO we skipped PPI. Drove down on Thursday. Test drove the car. It was great! We bought it on the spot, no negotiating. Drove it home. Now 2.5 years & 24K miles later, I still have my unicorn. I love it every time I drive it. I still turn around to check it out, when I park it (out in the boonies, of course). When I sit in the driver's seat, and soak in the sights, smells and sounds, it's kismet. I still plan my schedule every Sunday to figure out how I'm going to maximize seat time. I still take it on the most unnecessarily long errands just because I enjoy driving it. I'm glad I waited for the one. Long story short, if this is a weekend fun car, your dream car - don't compromise! Be true to your vision. Your unicorn is out there!! Just make sure you post pictures when you do find it.
T

North Shore 911

Hang in there and the right car will find you. The extra time to find the right equipment, color and options will ensure that you enjoy this awesome car for a LONG time, just don't make "an awesome price" part of your must-have list....Heck, if it were easy, EVERYONE would have a 911!

djaemac

Keep your head up. Took me a good year to finally find my beauty. Yours is out there

DC911S

You have to be ready to buy, same day you see it. Good ones move fast and there is a demand for them. Cash, equity line, personal line of credit for private seller or have car loan ready to go.

mreloc

Same old story. Took me about six months before I found the one. And, it so happens, I found two I liked at almost exactly the same time. I had scheduled the PPI on the first one and had just agreed to a purchase price when the second popped up on Autotrader the next morning at 7:30 AM. No pictures even posted, but better color, lower miles, better price and options with CPO. I messaged the dealer before my coffee, and he called me within 5 minutes. He took pics with his mobile as the car had just been traded in- I had my credit card out and made my deposit by 8:00. Canceled PPI on the first one I found... and it was smooth sailing from that point on.
Rest easy, it will happen all at once.

socalpcarfan

Give up! Just quit! Because in this life you can't win. Yeah, you can try, but in the end your just gonna loose, BIG TIME! Because the world is run by the man! The man. Oh, you don't know the man? The man's everywhere: in the White House, down the hall, Miss Mullins; she's the man! And the man ruined the ozone, and he's burning down the Amazon and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! Okay! And there used to be a way to stick it to the man, it was called rock 'n roll. But guess what? Oh no! The man had to ruin that too with a little thing called MTV! So don't waste your time trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome 'cause the man's just gonna call you a fat washed up loser and crush your soul. So do yourself a favor and just give up!__ Dewey Finn

rbennett

I looked for like 10 months and finally a 997 popped up on car gurus in Westlake Village at a Porsche dealer one Saturday at 9:30am with everything I wanted.
A quick call confirmed it was golden and had a CPO on it... long story short... I was driving it off the lot at 11am Sunday morning.

When your car comes available, jump on it quickly and forget about that voice in your head telling you you are making an irrational quick decision.

911Finally

I kinda went through the same thing. Probably only put about 3 months of serious looking, got depressed when 3 of my cars were bought out from under me. Seemed tough to pull the trigger on a car halfway across the country, spend 30-50k and hope you did the right thing. One even got bought out from under me cause the guy who I was dealing with at the dealership was 2 hours late sending me a phone video of a walk around on a car in North Carolina. I'm in NJ. That was a 2006 C2S Cab with 46k miles on it, Tiptronic for $36k Arctic Silver. Another salesman ended up taking a deposit on it....and that car was listed on ebay for 2 1/2 months!!! Figures it's been online forever and I loose out on it by a couple hours! I was crushed. Determined not to let the next deal go by, I jumped on one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/162111640530?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT2008 C2S Cab Meteor Grey Metallic, ONLY 4235 MILES!!!! I negotiated at $52k. Build sheet was $113,800 and it's loaded. Carbon Fiber everything, full leather, Bose system, Tiptronic, etc. My wife kept telling me with all the lost deals that they weren't meant to be and that I'll find my car. I basically found a brand new car. Couldn't be happier. Put in your time, don't settle and she'll come to you.

Berosucci

+911

This is just how it works. If you talk to people who have gone through the buying process to find the "one" - this is what happens. We all have the stories, but in the end the right one finds us. The longer the search the more in tune you get with what you want and what is important to you. Then, when the right one shows up, you will be the one to frustrate someone else . Don't give up, I am glad I did not.

syzygy333

I spent about a month looking at cars, almost got an'06 c2s from dealer, but they wouldn't negotiate enough to my liking (haha). found an 09 c2 pdk from private seller. 5 min. test drive was my PPI. that was dec 7 2015. 8k miles later, and still so happy with this car!

keep your sights set, pull when you see your unicorn. if you miss, wait for another......

Mcjimmy33

I feel like alot of time people need to manage their expectations. Too many buyers looking for unicorns. They want complete service history, single owner, low mileage, every option they want and below market prices...

Rikky001

I have met a few angry people when I sold my previous Porsches. The guy coming to have a look at least 3 times, test drive, negotiating about the price (offer me much less than my asking price, in cash) and than they get angry when they are willing to have a look a 4th time, that I sold the car already. I am not interested in unicorns, I only buy the car what I like. I am passionate about Porsches and keep the rationals out.
My first Porsche was for me the unicorn, now 20 Porsches later it is still a Porsche. If I want a unicorn, I buy a new one.

sandwedge

This ^^^ On my third 997 now and never spent more than 3 months looking. Life's short and I can compromise here and there to drive the car I want rather than spending years looking for it.

Macster

If you get to the PPI point and the PPI comes back with a negative report you need to hone your used car check out skills to avoid PPI'ing a car that won't pass the PPI.

If you get to the PPI point and the PPI comes back with a positive report and you fail to buy the car you need to hone your negotiating skills. Before you arrange for the PPI you need to know that should the PPI come back with no deal killing issues -- and it should as I touched upon if you did your job -- you can buy the car for a price that is agreeable to you (and the seller).

If you really want a Porsche and don't have any silly option requirements, or require service history documentation that would put a manned moon missions's documentation to shame, or think you are going to get a nice Porsche for a Festiva price, keep looking. The right car will come along and you'll end up it.

An important thing to keep in mind when shopping used Porsches -- any used car -- is there is always another car. So if one gets away from you you'll get another chance. But like I covered above you want to improve your odds and cut your costs by doing a thorough used car check out and know the market and be sure of the deal *before* the PPI.

Petza914

Also, aside from exterior color, interior color, body style (coupe or cab), and model type (2, 2S, 4, 4S,etc), almost anything else can be changed to your liking. Find a solid car, at a reasonable price, that's got most of the right boxes ticked, then change anything that wasn't ideal. Want adaptive seats and the car has comfort seats 8 bolts and 4 connectors and you have adaptive seats. Want PSM, buy an aftermarket exhaust with a remote for the valves. Want more CF trim, buy it and swap out the parts. Wanted different wheels - buy what you want and sell the ones on the car.

DIYing on these cars with the detailed info available on this forum is not very difficult, unless you really don't work on things and just drive them. Some projects can be bigger than others, but you can sell essentially anything you pull off in the Marketplace here if it's priced reasonably, and almost anything you're looking for is also being sold there, where you don't have to pay new prices - seats, wheels, door panels, seat belts, bodywork, exhausts, you name it...

Don't give up - the reward at the end is too great.