Tcomegna

Hey guys need some advice.

I am located in Ontario Canada and have a lead on a private sale 2007 manual turbo, the colour is a Blue/Grey metallic colour, steel brakes, Clean carproof history and also only a few stage 1 over revs (nothing in rev range 2), body is in great condition with only a few minor scuffs (can be buffed out, one scuff on the wing and the front Lip has scuffs)
Interior is in good condition, the seats have some wear and the plastic pieces have major scuffs (door plastic sills)
Front and rear tires are not the same brand (p zeros up front and pilot sports out back), brakes have some minor wear.

Car is registered in Ontario, originally a U.S. Car from California. He does not have any service records on the car at all. I suspect I will need a major service done soon, plugs and oil change perhaps ?? Only other issue might be the smoke upon start up for a few seconds.

I cannot get a PPi done from a dealer as I am located in northern Ontario far away from any porsche dealer network.

Car has 23500 miles, it's a private sale, and has been a garage queen. Maybe too much of one.

What would you realistically pay for this car with these circumstances? Pfaff porsche and Paul motor company have two 2008 examples, also low likes, for the mid 90's CDN. These would be perfect examples, with service records and full reconditioning and recent services done with out any issues.

Please help guys !!

Steven954

In my opinion, with the low miles, car is pretty beat up, not a good sign. A well cared for Turbo with 23k miles should show like a new car. Not a garage queen if it looks the way you describe.

Pay more upfront and get something cleaner.

mhollack

Agree with Steven. Too many red flags to have been a "garage queen". Mismatched tires could be a sign from an owner who wasnt really very particular about his car. Id keep looking.

Goldstar

A seller of this type of vehicle should likely not mind if it gets trailered to a nearby dealer or Porsche specialist for some sort of a check.
Whatever the purchase price you are investing a lot of money into
a performance car that seems to have some (maybe minor) questionable items. You should offer to pay to have it shipped down if you are serious or just buy one with a clean history that you feel more comfortable about.
How are the seat side bolsters for wear?
Is the car a much better value than comparable ones on the market in Canada? How much is the asking price?

Tcomegna

Thank you for that response. Really appreciate it. What would be a price for that car, or is it even worth considering at a lower price? Would 80000$ Canadian be worth it since I can fix the plastic pieces and get a service done on it and just give it some love it deserves.

Tcomegna

Asking price is quite high, he is way out of the market pricing in Canada. He is asking 75000 USD which is over 100000 CDN. Mint turbos in Canada should be in the 90-95 asking price in CDN$ for that mileage.

Tcomegna

The seat wear is actually minimal, there are some signs of wear beginning to happen on the seats. But the door sill plastic scuffs and not nice, quite intense actually. I would replace them. The tires are odd as well. The smoke on start up isn't good either or is that a common thing ? I know my 997 GT3 occasionally does that if I don't drive it much.

Bloose993TT

Sounds like you need at least a new set of tires, spark plugs/30k service. A little smoke at start up is common on Porsche. If the car is blowing a noticeable blue cloud every time you start it up I would run.

That being said test drive the car hard and use your best judgement. If you can pick it up in the upper to mid $60's USD you will doing good most likely and can afford to put the $3k-$4k or so needed to get it up to par. Don't worry about the scuffed interior pieces. The plastic coated crap in first gen 997's is the worst and you can easily replace the necessary parts.

Tcomegna

Thanks for the help guys. Great stuff. Essentially it's all about the price paid on this car. Mid 60's USD seems to be the consensus. Would it be more of a low 60's car due to the the service requirement and also all the other minor repairs needed? I'm assuming that the car drives ok as well, only based on visual inspection. Also his key fob battery is faulty. Lots of small things it seem so.

Macster

For price I suggest you visit used car web sites and plug in the car's numbers and see what trade-in/wholesale numbers come up.

Oh the sites? www.nada.com and www.kbb.com. There may be others but these are the two I can remember off the top of my head.

My negotation would start at near trade-in/wholesale. How much you end up paying is of coure dependent upon how dear the seller holds the vehicle and how dear you hold your money.

Use the need for services like engine oil/filter, brake fluid flush/bleed (due every 2 years), plugs (due on time if not miles), and possible new tires if they are worn or 6 years old, and if unevenly worn an alignment, brakes, etc, to adjust your offer down.

You want to avoid paying excellent money for a car that is in just good condition that needs some expense to bring up to if not excellent a suitable level of condition you can drive it without any anxiety about old oil, worn tires, shabby brakes, etc.

Price is important to be sure, but you want to make sure the car is worth owning at any price.

Given the car's condition I don't think you can or should assume the car drives ok. You need to visit the car and get a test ride then a test drive and spend some time with the car in its natural state, with the engine running and on the road being driven as you intend to drive the car.

Visit the car cold. Turn off the A/C. You check this later. Be sure all the warning lights including the CEL come on when you turn on the key and go off when the engine starts/runs. Let the engine and warm up while you walk around the car looking at body panel condition, fits, tires, brakes, etc.

After the engine has idled a while then have the seller take you out on a 15 mile test ride. The route should give the driver a chance to demo the car in a variety of ways. Pay attention to how the engine sounds, behaves, how the transmission shifts up and down.

After the test ride then you switch seats and take the car out and drive the same route and drive the car the same way.

Back at the starting point then you give the car a thorough used car check out. Assume nothing works until you confirm it does.

The smoking at start up is probably because the engine only gets started and run for a short period of time. It is common for even new Porsches to manifest this smoking at start up. The techs tell me they see this but if the smoking is very brief, over with almost as soon as it starts, if the engine is not manifesting any untoward behavior, they pay it no more mind.

You can after you have given the car a check out then restart the engine and see if it smokes. It shouldn't.

If after all of the above if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for a reasonable sum of money then you really need to arrange for a PPI. This gets the car in the air so a careful check can be made for any leaks.

This is part of the reason for the 15 mile test ride/drive as this has the engine running nearly an hour and this gives any leaks a chance to show themselves.

Every hose, hose fitting, seal, gasket, o-ring, line, line fitting, needs to be checked for a leak. From the radiators in the front of the car to the hydraulic spoiler cylinders in the rear of the car. The RMS, water pump, diff axle seals, transmission seals, including the shifter rod seals (which may require the underbody panels be removed to get a good view of these), the power steering rack (more panels may need to be removed and this then probably exposes the front diff).

KyRoGo

Is it by chance this car:

https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-...-upgrades.html

Car looks awesome - love the wheels. Good luck!

Tcomegna

Wow awesome reply and great info! Thank you so so much for that, much appreciated in every way!

Essentially that's all the advice I think I need. Really elaborate response and everything I need to know.

Thank you

nzskater

Also worth paying attention to the owner when he's taking you out for a test drive. Watch how he is treating the car, as this indicates how it has been treated in his ownership.

PorscheStrong

Great point. I like seeing the owner drive for a bit and watch their shifting, braking, rev'ing, and other habits. Not perfect - they may change their behavior to show well, and they may not be the long-term owner, but it's interesting info to consider.

CodeRed

Just so you know...those plastic door sills scruff up super easy, I am really careful and they still look worn, very soft material for that purpose, so don't let that be a red flag