Any gotchas I should be aware of in buying a 997.1 MT coupe?
06-21-2017, 12:54 PM
#16
Race Director
Hi all,
I'm in the market for my first Porsche and so a total beginner in the brand. I started out thinking I'd get a decent 993 coupe but a test drive of a good model taught me to move along. Another test drive in a 981 Cayman S told me the bigger cabin of the 911 is for me. I daily drive a 2000 M5 and have been spoiled by its torque, so after the test drives I understood I should focus on the 911 turbo.
After driving a 996TT MT (seems like a great car), my wife and I agreed that I should pursue the 997. Since I hope to buy near the flat part of the depreciation curve I'm currently focusing on the 997.1.
Are there secret gotchas I should be aware of during this search? Before buying I plan to get a PPI - I'm talking about expensive repairs I should be aware of before pulling out the checkbook to buy. Or maybe there's some basic defect I don't know of that makes the 997.1 impractical.
Thanks in advance for your help. I really appreciate this site!
I'm in the market for my first Porsche and so a total beginner in the brand. I started out thinking I'd get a decent 993 coupe but a test drive of a good model taught me to move along. Another test drive in a 981 Cayman S told me the bigger cabin of the 911 is for me. I daily drive a 2000 M5 and have been spoiled by its torque, so after the test drives I understood I should focus on the 911 turbo.
After driving a 996TT MT (seems like a great car), my wife and I agreed that I should pursue the 997. Since I hope to buy near the flat part of the depreciation curve I'm currently focusing on the 997.1.
Are there secret gotchas I should be aware of during this search? Before buying I plan to get a PPI - I'm talking about expensive repairs I should be aware of before pulling out the checkbook to buy. Or maybe there's some basic defect I don't know of that makes the 997.1 impractical.
Thanks in advance for your help. I really appreciate this site!
A cold engine start with some idling listening for any scary noises whiley you walk around the car checking body panel fits and and finishes. Check the brake rotors for the size of the lip. 1mm means the rotors are worn and should be replaced soon along with pads and other brake hardware. A brake fluid flush/bleed is done at this time (and should be done every 2 years).
Check tire condition and tire age.
Check the radiator ducts for the amount of trash accumulation.
After you are through have the seller take you on a 15 mile test ride. The route wants to provide the driver the ability to demo the car as you intend to use it. A mix of city, boulevard and highway/freeway driving.
After the test ride back at the starting point switch seats and you drive the car over the same route and the same way.
After your test drive then give the car a thorough used car check. A good starting place is the CPO check list the techs use. You can't do all the tests/checks but the ones you can do are worthwhile.
If you still like the car at this point and believe you can buy it for a reasonable price arrange for a PPI. Among other things this gets the car in the air so a check can be made for any leak sign. Every gasket, o-ring, seal, hydraulic line, line fitting/connection, hose, hose fitting, dust boot, etc., is checked.
06-21-2017, 02:43 PM
#17
Drifting
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FYI you can't get a fidelity warranty if it's 10 years old. I just got mine and have 2 years left. Not sure I can extend it any longer since it will hit the 10 year mark. Beware
06-21-2017, 03:44 PM
#18
Rennlist Member
I'm echoing what everyone else said here, along with my experience.
I bought my second 911 in Jan from a Porsche dealer. I did not get a PPI and did not buy a warranty at that time. It was a clean car with miles (72k) but had good records and was recently gone over by the dealer with receipts.
1600 miles later I had the dreaded coolant pipe incident. Didn't want to pay the dealer to perform the factory fix for only one fitting , so I took it to a expensive indy and vaporized $10k welding all pipes and some other stuff while the motor was on the bench.
Just sharing my story and what can happen . If I had to do it again, I'd get the warranty straight away.
Incredible car to drive . I can't think of a better looking or performing car for the $ . Enjoy searching for yours.
I bought my second 911 in Jan from a Porsche dealer. I did not get a PPI and did not buy a warranty at that time. It was a clean car with miles (72k) but had good records and was recently gone over by the dealer with receipts.
1600 miles later I had the dreaded coolant pipe incident. Didn't want to pay the dealer to perform the factory fix for only one fitting , so I took it to a expensive indy and vaporized $10k welding all pipes and some other stuff while the motor was on the bench.
Just sharing my story and what can happen . If I had to do it again, I'd get the warranty straight away.
Incredible car to drive . I can't think of a better looking or performing car for the $ . Enjoy searching for yours.
06-21-2017, 04:06 PM
#19
Rennlist Member
Yes, be aware that these cars are stupidly fast and your insurance rates will skyrocket if you get a ticket! A less common side effect is that they have a tendency of making women's tops come off.
06-21-2017, 04:15 PM
#20
Rennlist Member
While I think it's situation-specific, I'm going to cast a vote against the warranty option. Considerations:
1. These are high margin products. We've looked at buying these types of companies at work - they run at 30-45% EBITDA margins. If the warranty companies are making money, who do you think is losing money...? Vegas didn't build all those casinos on losses, folks. Someone will inevitably respond with how they made out on their policy, but you should focus on expected outcomes, not individual cases.
2. Building on that, if you've got savings, it's more economical to self-insure. If you lack savings and can't handle a $5-10K catastrophic bill (admittedly unlikely), perhaps you shouldn't buy a Porsche; instead, maybe you should buy and Miata and invest the rest?
3. If you only drive a few thousand miles per year, the warranties all over-insure you. The minimums are ~7-8K miles per year. In my case, I might put 2k miles per year on my fun cars, so that's a lot of premium dollars insuring something that isn't getting used and thus, I've insured a lot of risk that doesn't exist.
4. Warranties seldom available for cars 8-10+ years of age.
5. Would rather pay out of pocket and have full control / discretion over type of repairs, parts, venue, etc.
1. These are high margin products. We've looked at buying these types of companies at work - they run at 30-45% EBITDA margins. If the warranty companies are making money, who do you think is losing money...? Vegas didn't build all those casinos on losses, folks. Someone will inevitably respond with how they made out on their policy, but you should focus on expected outcomes, not individual cases.
2. Building on that, if you've got savings, it's more economical to self-insure. If you lack savings and can't handle a $5-10K catastrophic bill (admittedly unlikely), perhaps you shouldn't buy a Porsche; instead, maybe you should buy and Miata and invest the rest?
3. If you only drive a few thousand miles per year, the warranties all over-insure you. The minimums are ~7-8K miles per year. In my case, I might put 2k miles per year on my fun cars, so that's a lot of premium dollars insuring something that isn't getting used and thus, I've insured a lot of risk that doesn't exist.
4. Warranties seldom available for cars 8-10+ years of age.
5. Would rather pay out of pocket and have full control / discretion over type of repairs, parts, venue, etc.
06-21-2017, 06:34 PM
#21
I've been pondering this warranty issue for a while and still dont know what to do. $6500 for 6/72000 mile platinum plan. My car is an 07 and has been trouble free with 30,000 miles. Just not sure if I should self insure or not. $6500 is a lot of coin if nothing happens but no so much if something does.
06-21-2017, 10:09 PM
#22
I agree with a lot of your points above regarding warranties, but number 4 above, I bought an 07 this February and was able to get a 7yr warranty from Fidelity. It did only have 16k miles - I think they look at miles on the car more than age to determine if they will cover it and for how long/how many miles.
Also in terms of facilities and parts used, I had no issue using an Indy shop, and fidelity covered the cost of OEM parts, and then I could use the money however I wanted, which ended up being cheaper, better aftermarket parts the shop recommend.
The shop you use and how they deal with the warranty company may come into play here though. For me it was totally seamless and required zero effort on my part other than giving my shop the contract # and phone number to the warranty company.
Also in terms of facilities and parts used, I had no issue using an Indy shop, and fidelity covered the cost of OEM parts, and then I could use the money however I wanted, which ended up being cheaper, better aftermarket parts the shop recommend.
The shop you use and how they deal with the warranty company may come into play here though. For me it was totally seamless and required zero effort on my part other than giving my shop the contract # and phone number to the warranty company.
06-21-2017, 10:11 PM
#23
Rennlist Member
[QUOTE=Ibanezgod;14270503]FYI you can't get a fidelity warranty if it's 10 years old. I just got mine and have 2 years left. Not sure I can extend it a
i just got fidelity 6/72k mi on my 2008 997 from P car dealership. 8k mi car may have had something to do with it.
i just got fidelity 6/72k mi on my 2008 997 from P car dealership. 8k mi car may have had something to do with it.
06-22-2017, 12:25 AM
#24
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I've got a 2010 TT at 39K with one year left on a CPO warranty.
It seems the multi-year (up to 7 years?) Fidelity Platinum Warranty is a good way to go. Since I'm coming up on 10 years, what should my strategy be?
Do I wait until just before my CPO warranty runs out and negotiate a Fidelity warranty?
Do I negotiate for a Fidelity warranty now? How much was yours, theplings?
What other options are there?
I'd like to know what the forum recommends I should do...thanks in advance!
It seems the multi-year (up to 7 years?) Fidelity Platinum Warranty is a good way to go. Since I'm coming up on 10 years, what should my strategy be?
Do I wait until just before my CPO warranty runs out and negotiate a Fidelity warranty?
Do I negotiate for a Fidelity warranty now? How much was yours, theplings?
What other options are there?
I'd like to know what the forum recommends I should do...thanks in advance!
06-22-2017, 01:25 AM
#26
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I've got a 2010 TT at 39K with one year left on a CPO warranty.
It seems the multi-year (up to 7 years?) Fidelity Platinum Warranty is a good way to go. Since I'm coming up on 10 years, what should my strategy be?
Do I wait until just before my CPO warranty runs out and negotiate a Fidelity warranty?
Do I negotiate for a Fidelity warranty now? How much was yours, theplings?
What other options are there?
I'd like to know what the forum recommends I should do...thanks in advance!
It seems the multi-year (up to 7 years?) Fidelity Platinum Warranty is a good way to go. Since I'm coming up on 10 years, what should my strategy be?
Do I wait until just before my CPO warranty runs out and negotiate a Fidelity warranty?
Do I negotiate for a Fidelity warranty now? How much was yours, theplings?
What other options are there?
I'd like to know what the forum recommends I should do...thanks in advance!
Then you just text him a VIN and mileage and he will send you screenshots of his cost and suggested retail for the warranty. When I bought mine he was selling them for $100 over cost. The gulf between cost and suggested retail is gigantic, dealers charge a huge markup for these things.
I priced them at other dealers and the same warranty would have been $7k+. Other dealers seem to price them somewhere in the middle of cost and suggested retail.
At least with Fidelity I don't think being under an existing warranty matters, it's all about the year and even more so the mileage on the car. This is based on my experience getting quotes from Mike on different cars I was looking at as I was searching for a car.
06-22-2017, 09:52 AM
#27
Drifting
Join Date: Jul 2013
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[QUOTE=996AE;14271522]that's probably why. Also it's still 2017, so your car isn't 10 years old. When I bought mine from a dealer out in CA (i'm in NJ) they said the Fidelity warranty could be purchased provided the car was under 10 years old.
06-22-2017, 09:59 AM
#28
While I think it's situation-specific, I'm going to cast a vote against the warranty option. Considerations:
1. These are high margin products. We've looked at buying these types of companies at work - they run at 30-45% EBITDA margins. If the warranty companies are making money, who do you think is losing money...? Vegas didn't build all those casinos on losses, folks. Someone will inevitably respond with how they made out on their policy, but you should focus on expected outcomes, not individual cases.
2. Building on that, if you've got savings, it's more economical to self-insure. If you lack savings and can't handle a $5-10K catastrophic bill (admittedly unlikely), perhaps you shouldn't buy a Porsche; instead, maybe you should buy and Miata and invest the rest?
3. If you only drive a few thousand miles per year, the warranties all over-insure you. The minimums are ~7-8K miles per year. In my case, I might put 2k miles per year on my fun cars, so that's a lot of premium dollars insuring something that isn't getting used and thus, I've insured a lot of risk that doesn't exist.
4. Warranties seldom available for cars 8-10+ years of age.
5. Would rather pay out of pocket and have full control / discretion over type of repairs, parts, venue, etc.
1. These are high margin products. We've looked at buying these types of companies at work - they run at 30-45% EBITDA margins. If the warranty companies are making money, who do you think is losing money...? Vegas didn't build all those casinos on losses, folks. Someone will inevitably respond with how they made out on their policy, but you should focus on expected outcomes, not individual cases.
2. Building on that, if you've got savings, it's more economical to self-insure. If you lack savings and can't handle a $5-10K catastrophic bill (admittedly unlikely), perhaps you shouldn't buy a Porsche; instead, maybe you should buy and Miata and invest the rest?
3. If you only drive a few thousand miles per year, the warranties all over-insure you. The minimums are ~7-8K miles per year. In my case, I might put 2k miles per year on my fun cars, so that's a lot of premium dollars insuring something that isn't getting used and thus, I've insured a lot of risk that doesn't exist.
4. Warranties seldom available for cars 8-10+ years of age.
5. Would rather pay out of pocket and have full control / discretion over type of repairs, parts, venue, etc.
06-22-2017, 12:32 PM
#29
Rennlist Member
For what its worth (maybe nothing) , Fidelity was willing to give me coverage on an 07 with 74k on it recently. Maybe just before the delivery date was 10 years ago.
They wanted $4425 for 4yrs of powertrain only
$12900 for Platinum
I opted to buy a lift and start doing some stuff myself and keep some $ aside since my car already had the 2 main problems that plague some cars corrected .
They wanted $4425 for 4yrs of powertrain only
$12900 for Platinum
I opted to buy a lift and start doing some stuff myself and keep some $ aside since my car already had the 2 main problems that plague some cars corrected .
06-22-2017, 01:37 PM
#30
Rennlist Member
I had to replace all 3 radiators...all leaked...likely more from the car sitting than anything else...but was done under warranty at the time so all good.
Slave cylinder went when I let the car sit for 6 mos.
Other than that...car has been absolutely perfect.
Slave cylinder went when I let the car sit for 6 mos.
Other than that...car has been absolutely perfect.