aminewyork

The day finally came and it was bitter sweet. You may remember this car being advertised (and my post about it) up at a dealer in OH.

Mechanically, the car is tip top and since it is CPO, clean car fax, and I looked through all the records, I wasn't too worried.

It's exterior & interior appearance are, unfort, A LOT worse than the dealer described to me (after about 2 hours of calls with him and a ton of additional photos). I've purchased a few cars sight unseen but this will surely be the last time I do that.

It's a 2008 with 37k on the clock so I was ready to accept a few warts but a pitted windshield, a bunch nicks and dents all in the interior that dealer never documented for me, and a few extra exterior chips and dents the dealer did not share, all the window rubber being faded and looking old + a ton of rattles inside the cabin...had me almost put the car back in the trailer and send it back to them.

The real bonus being the drivers side window, when completely up, lets air into the cabin and sounds like its open above 60MPH so it needs a total adjustment. Oye

At least it looks great if you stand about 15 feet away from the car .

Dealer that sold me the car is compensating me after I called them from my own dealer so, in a way, I'm getting an even better price (or so I'm telling myself).

All that said, it drives extremely well and the power and experience are intoxicating. I'm going to clean it up this weekend, drive it hard for a few months and weigh my options (read trade in on a 991 turbo as soon as they arrive).

DJ23

Congratulations on the purchase. I know how you must feel about the imperfections that the dealer didn't come forth with. Those things can happen, but can easily be taken care of with a some body work and an excellent detail. You may want to check with John at "Black Horse Garage" in Bridgeport, CT. I'm sure he could make you car look like new. Their work is impeccable. I know the cost of refurbishment can at times be prohibitive, but weigh your options and if not worth it, then trade her in when the new 991 becomes available.
One hint I'll give you is to replace the amber side markers with the clear ones. It's easy and will look better with the silver Turbo. Again good luck and I hope she truly grows on you.

Jay

rijowysock

at least the good news is it came very promptly...

i'm sorry to hear about the bad news and the condition, especially since I almost bought the very same car... hopefully the dealer can fix all the issues... kinda lame since the original dealer should have noticed that stuff in CPO check... makes me think they do nothing when CPO'ing a car besides check the tires and brakes.

regarding the TTT, thats funny because it's CPO (seems like everyone insists on CPO for "the long run" and then sells the car soon after, haha. ) TTT will be nice but i'm not sold on it.. surely 200k stickers will be ordered and i still feel it's a 125-140k car... 200k sticker puts it in 458 territory,


as far as window, thats an easy fix.. the heigh adjustment can be done in 5 seconds..

aminewyork

@DJ23 - thx for the reco. I've heard good things about them.

@rijowysock - yes, if you get hung up on aesthetics like I do, you dodged a bullet. I don't know if anything was done in CPO process to be honest, the service manager of my dealership and I have had some calls with them.

Random question - I thought the LED running lights (2 small horizontal strips of lights under head lights) run during the day but i can't get them to turn on, even after activating daylight running lights via the PCM. Anyone know how I can turn them on?

rijowysock

only 997.2 has LED running lights, you can retrofit the 997.2 ones but they are like 1500$ ... you would think their is an easier route, but nobody has found one yet.

TT-911

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-turb...ay-lights.html

sorry to hear about your troubles ! have it detailed by a pro !

rotesAuto

wow, well what do you expect from a dealer????
the hell with the little things! drive the hell out of it and enjoy it eh???

I'd be angry at the dealer too, but they 'knew' what they were doing

btw: congrats on the car!!!!!!!!

atcbi5

This is a Porsche dealer right? You would expect some Sincerity! At the end of the day, they are all the same unfortunately. In my search for my car I never cared or put that much emphasis on CPO vehicle. I did my own preliminary detective work, check vin, call place where work was performed and asked for pictures. All the dents and dings you have are external and exposed. Easy fix with an experienced dent removal professional. Rattles on a 997? That's strange. Your window issue is most likely the door module and its sensors.

C2 Turbo

Though I don't have any personal experience with Porsche certification (CPO) but from my Mercedes/BMW certification experience, I can tell you they are all bloody thiefs

I usually don't take certification more then a 2 yr warranty thing and that's it. Believe me or not, dealers are lot worse then the Indy mechanics.

Igooz

Congrats on the car, but sorry about the your dissastisfaction.

Is this same car that had "yellowed" headlamp lenses? This is typically a sign of sun exposure and UV layer failure? So the exterior paint maybe suffering from the same, and needs a good buff/wax to remove any oxidization and bring back the shine?

My recommendation: Take the car to the BEST super high-end detailed shop, the guys that prep show cars and have them spend 1-2 full days on the car for you and buff, wax, touch-up, repair, and detail everything...wheels off, trunk, engine compartment, ..., interior... I have seen this done before and and it will cost you a lot but these guys can do an incredible job and the car will be like new. (And send the bill to the dealer.)

nota_troll

Congrats on the car. Sorry to hear about the let down but hopefully the dealership will rectify your issues. Was it a Porsche dealership? I've been burned by one and I'll never go back. Also when I bought a 993 sight unseen it was a letdown even after a full PPI. I learned if I want it I have to see it.

Enjoy the torque!

aminewyork

Thx, that makes sense. So the other lights don't light up at all, are they just decoration? I'll need to read up on everything this weekend.

Indeed, I'm going to give the car a 6 hour session myself this weekend, which should bring it back up to 80% and then have a professional finish off the 20% properly.

Yes, this dealer clearly checked the min they needed to CPO, washed, and put on floor. Even my dealer (also a Penske Porsche dealer) was surprised they didn't bother to fix a few things. Lesson learned

Yes, rant over, just needed to get off chest. Thx to all for your replies.

Drove the car to my indy this AM to get new windshield wipers. Old ones scratched my windshield yesterday... they left an almost haze/streaks of hairline scratches - Fun. Going to see if I can polish the glass this weekend.

Anyway, asked indy to give me a post purchase inspection. Car is super clean with no issues so I've calmed down.

I'll get $ from selling dealer to fix issues and I'll correct the other aesthetic stuff, get a new windshield, and then I'm going to drive it well and enjoy it.

C2 Turbo

Make sure you involve your current Porsche dealer and have them pursue the other dealer as that way it would all be official.

A Porsche dealer won't want to look stupid in the eyes of the other Porsche dealer so you will get your stuff done a lot quicker and easier that way, been there and done that.

Later

aminewyork

This is great advice. As soon as the car came off the trailer yesterday and I went through it, I drove it straight to my dealer for their POV. Spent 1 hour with my sales guy and 1 hour with Service manager picking the car apart. Since then the service manager of selling dealer and my SM have been in touch, which certainly helped to get a lot of this resolved.

TT Surgeon

Crawl under the car, look at everything
make an itemized list
take it to the best detailer in town
send them the bill and ask for 5-10k back, or they can have the car, and tell them you will put this on line. Complain to PCNA
they are counting on you to pull back and forget about it for a 100$ detail job, f that
You'll be surprised at the response...