Christien

Picking her up in NJ on Sunday:

Ronan

Nice..this is for yourself??

Christien

Probably not, unless I love it more than my car

porsche0nut

Gorgeous... was this the one advertised on Pelican?

Christien, keep it and enjoy it for yourself for a year, then sell it to me next summer

Bahama

Hi Christien,
Where in NJ ? This car looks like the same one my friend in Mount Holly (across the river from Philly) was working on for the last year or so.

Christien

Yes, it was advertised on Pelican - that's where I found it. Generally much nicer cars there than on eBay or auto trader. This one has 69k miles, clean carproof, excellent PPI including leakdown and compression. I need to address a small oil leak, and nothing else. Not the cheapest car out there, but very well priced for its condition. It's coming from just outside Paterson.

AM993

You probably will

Turbodan

congrats looks like a nice car!
you probably know this but you do not fax a copy of the title to US customs anymore, just email them the vin code. I brought my new car back on Monday and it was a breeze, also great to not have to pay duty or RIV or inspection! Are you driving her back?

Christien

Yeah, the email thing is really convenient, though they require a copy of the title to be attached, as well, not just the VIN. This is the first non-RIV car I've brought in in years, and with RIV-applicable cars we use a brokerage service (saves a TON of time at the border - commercial wait times are much longer).

I'm flying down Sunday afternoon and driving it back Sunday/Monday. I can't cross until 3pm Monday, and they close at 4, so I have to be on schedule!

redcarman

It looks really clean. 87 or 88? It looks like a twin of mine that brought up from RI in 2008. Have fun with it?

Mike_UCR

Danny & Christien:

Did both of you buy without seeing the car?

The long distance purchase without physically seeing the car and relying only on a PPI seems a bit daunting and requires a leap of faith. Looks like I may be doing the same over the next 48 hours and may need advise on the import requirements. 99 996 in Kansas.

Christien

redcarman, it's an 86. Preferable than an 87-89 because it's e-test exempt. Mike, I buy a fair amount of cars long distance, and there's not really any risk, as long as the PPI shop is reputable and you get lots of pics from the seller. Pics tell the cosmetic story and a PPI tells the mechanical story. I'm not really qualified to rate anything mechanical, and pics are as good as seeing it in person, if they're well shot and of high enough resolution. I posted a thread on Pelican looking for recommendations for a shop for the PPI, and the shop I went with was mentioned by several people as being excellent. I spoke to the mechanic on the phone to get a feel for him, and went ahead. Full look-over, leakdown and compression (not optional for an older car), accident/flood check, test drive, etc. Because I trust the folks on Pelican so much, I'm comfortable doing it this way. For your 996, I'd suggest doing the same thing - post on the 996 forum here for a shop recommendation.

I guess what it comes down to is, what am I really going to solve by going to look at it in person, aside from some unfounded psychological need?

MiataR

I believe 87 was the cut-off year for being e-test exempt (at least I never had to do it for my old car).

You missed the G50 by a year.

Christien

I know, but the trade-off G50 vs never having to e-test is worth it, IMO.

Turbodan

Chris, I only emailed them the vin number no scan of the title.
Mike: You also could make it conditional on your final inspection before taking possession. For import it is pretty easy, for RIV you need a manufacturers recall letter (usually from a dealer or pcna) you pay a fee of about 250 to riv, 100 ac tax, 6.1% duty then gst at the border, then you must get DRL go to Canadian tire, for inspection then you register the car and pay pst.
I ran a carfax on my car before I bought it as well.