NYC123

I recently purchased a 1996, 993 Turbo with 2670 miles. I have driven the car less than 100 miles since it was delivered to me within the past few weeks. The car was advertised as follows,
“This turbo has only been driven 2670 miles in the past 13 years ! It was special ordered in “paint to match “ Polar Silver with FULL black leather interior, sunroof, and “werks” center console. The first owner kept the car for three years driving it a little over 800 miles a year. He only drove it for pleasure, never in bad weather, always kept it garaged, and had all the scheduled service performed. Because of its great condition and exceptionally low miles the second owner purchased the car for his private collection with the intention of keeping the car just as it was and not adding any more miles. It has only been driven 500 miles in the past year and is in NEW condition.”
I thought I found the perfect 993 TT I had been looking for. Unfortunately I found out 6 days ago that the car was involved in a bad accident in Virginia in 1998, was given a salvaged title, declared a total loss by the insurance company, and sold off to somebody else at the appropriate price considering the condition. I am not going to mention the name of the dealer here as there will be pending legal action against him, but it is a high-end dealer that routinely deals in exotics and classics.
I have spent the past 6 days confirming the salvaged history with the Virginia DMV as well as the body shop that repaired the car over 10 years ago and speaking with multiple people that were familiar with the history of the car. I provided all this information along with 18 detailed photos showing all the signs that the car was not original to the selling dealer. My expectations and my request to the dealer was to return my funds, purchase price, shipping, and tax in return for his car back. The dealer has continued to refuse and has only pretended to tell me about “light accident history” before I bought the car. Considering I paid 2x the price of what a salvaged car would be worth and considering his ad above, I don’t think it takes Sherlock Holmes to figure out he is lying and concealed from me any damage other than a “scratch” he claimed was on the fender at the time of delivery and repaired by Porsche before the first owner would accept it.
The car changed hands 1 time before this dealer bought it and because of some DMV issues ended up with a clean title before this dealer acquired it. I don’t want to debate here or make my case if the dealer was disclosed the salvage history because I want to save some issues for court, however the fact that the carfax shows it, the car if looked at shows it (and he claims to be an expert on Porsches) and he is now pretending to tell me about some accident history all has some clear implications that he is 100% full of ****.
Only sticking to the facts above I would love to hear some feedback from some fellow enthusiasts as well as anybody with a legal background how everybody thinks this will play out in court. Thanks for your feedback in advance and everybody should take the time to use carfax in the future, I wish I had.
(And yes a “werks” center console when translated from Scumbag to English means a phone kit where the owner removed the phone over time)

Eric - Plug Guy

Just curious...is this an authorized Porsche Dealer, or a second tier dealer that happens to sell Porsches among other makes?

Did you have a PPI done before purchase?

NYC123

not an authorized dealer but somebody that paints himself as a huge car mogul and does quite a bit with porsches and other exotics

boolala

Is it LM?

eclou

only a handful of dealers carry those hi mark low mile cars - RPM, Sloan, Wilholt, etc. I hope you get full restitution

No HTwo O

You bought a +$50K used car and did not at least do a CarFax? Makes no sense to me. You share some of the responsibility too. Getting a jury to feel sorry for a Porsche owner will be a tougher sell yet.

I'd love to know who the seller dealership is/was. Will you share info if we send you a PM?

Regardless, I am very sorry for you. I hope this gets sorted out soon, without any legal action, because in the long-run, that will not be fun. Only more cost$ in the process.

Did you post this in the 993 Turbo section too?

ltc

^ + 1, especially in this economy, a jury trial won't be your best bet IMHO.
An out of court settlement is your best path.

I assume you have asked for the dealer to simply take the car back?

NYC123

It was a CA dealer it was NOT sloan rpm or wilhiot. All of them are really good guys.

ricster

I bet you thought "this a too good to be true deal". I agree with another poster....if you dont deal with a Porsche dealer...and dont do a carfax at least...you shoulder some of the blame.

Macster

Couple of points: One CA is very consumer friendly. If dealer in CA then you have that going for you.

In the city/area where the dealer is located search for an attorney -- use google which will probably find you a lawyer referral service in the area from which you can do a more focused search -- that handles consumer fraud cases. Arrange to speak with him/her just to get a feel for where you stand, how best to approach this.

While the first consultation is (usually) free offer to pay for an hour's consultation fee. Now is not the time to try to scrimp on a few dollars.

A lawsuit is a last resort for several reasons: There's no money in it. Unlikely you'll collect damages. And the grounds for it are tenuous: Generally the court's attitude to the buyer in these situations is buyer beware and it applies only too well to buying a used car.

Be sure you have copies of all sales literature/advertising that details the car's qualities and paints the car as being in excellent condition. If you have to have someone visit dealer's place of business and take pictures of any signs or posters touting the dealer's assurance of quality, satisfaction, reputation, etc. Gather up any sales literature he can put his hands on and send this to you.

Next, speak with the dealer. Follow up with a registered letter. See if you can work out a deal where dealer takes car back and you get your money back or you will be forced to file a consumer fraud complaint against the dealer.

In the meantime take *excellent* care of the car. Do not drive it. Protect it from all damage. Take pictures of the car from all angles, inside and out.

If dealer agrees to take car back be sure car fully insured for its trip back to dealer. Get this in writing along with a deadline a to when and in what form you will get your money.

If dealer does not agree to take car back get this in writing as well. You want to show the consumer fraud people you made an attemtp to settle this before filing a comlaint.

In the county where the dealer is located contact the division of consumer fraud. See what is required to file a complaint. You want to have at hand copies of all info provided by the dealer that detailed the car's exceptional (at least in the ads) condition. Also, provide a copy of the letter you sent to the dealer asking it refund your money. And the a copy of the dealer's refusal.

Communicate with dealer in writing. Registered mail. Save all copies. Be calm, do not lose temper. Do not threaten. But insist car was mis-represented to you and that you feel you were made a victim of consumer fraud and will file a complaint unless dealer accepts car back for a refund.

Now, full refund, or something less? You decide. I didn't read all your post so I don't know how much money's involve. Shipping costs. Insurance costs. Etc.

But if you can get out of the deal by taking a few hundred to name your limit hair cut you can chalk this up to experience. But you get the bulk of your money back and you can move on.

Of course if your consultation with attorney results in conflicting advice follow the attorney's advice. I'm not a lawyer.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Trader220

Not all of those guys are "really good guys" but thats a different point. This sounds like a slam dunk case, and you should get interest on your money plus your lawyers fees. Sorry to hear of your troubles, I am surprised its not a Victory Motors story.

turbolou

If it is a licensed dealer registered with the state. He's screwed & if smart should settle with you. It's illegal to sell a car like that without disclosure.They are professionals & should know better. Especially here in CA. I think you have a very good case. Secondly I wouldn't trust Carfax I had three issues with them being wrong on three different cars. One was mileage incorrectly recorded by a smog station & stated the car had 112,000 miles instead of 12,000. another was an accident recorded in error by a CHP employee with a one wrong digit on my plate num.& still another recorded accident & miles that didn't match my car. Carfax is a joke.

ed997tt

talk to a lawyer. my understanding is that it is the law that this must be disclosed.

SKM

http://www.canepa.com/inventory/coll...rbo/index.html