What to do???

[hcoles]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

I'm no 964 expert and I'm not trying to be mean but does this seem odd to anyone else?

Yes, it seems the buyer has not had much experience with teenage boys and has forgotten what he was probably like during those years. We almost killed ourselves in low powered VWs. If I was a judge and this came before me I'd say you got what you deserved. Quit crying and trying to use lawyers to recover from your bad judgement. I got my sons a Volvo 240 brick to share. They finally wore it out but they survived and didn't get in an accident. Also IMHO PPI's are a big money maker at many shops, just point out a few things and call it done. E.g. I got a PPI on a E46 BMW - they listed FCABs and RTABs - probably didn't even put it up on the rack or drive it.

[1990C4S]

More car analysis. Less parenting analysis.

The OP asked for help with the seller and the PPI....maybe we need to pretend the car was for him.

He's in a crap spot right now, I suggest we cut him some slack on the parenting side.

[stomachmonkey]

Interesting post.

New to me 964...with issues

[verticalflight]

Sounds like a summary would be:
- Most think the seller was clearly fraudulent
- Most think the shop was grossly incompetent
- Some think I was foolish for not getting it better checked out or having different expectations
- Some think I am foolish for my parenting style

Brad has been ignoring me and clearly isn't interested in settling the matter. Even if he disagreed with my points, why not take the car back vs saying "sold as is, its yours now!"

I don't want to put good money into fixing this car, and have found a few buyers that will take it at a loss, with full disclosure of all the issues.

The real issue here, besides Brad being a real piece of work, is I need to find a car for my son. I'd like to spend $25k-$30k so the $35k I paid was already a real stretch (not counting the loss I will eat on this Brad car). Something reliable, simple, and safe.

Perhaps an earlier year 911 is the best way to go. I realize that others will suggest a 996 or a Boxster but if a reliable 911 could be sourced that would be ideal. Reliability to me means no major $$ needed upfront or on the horizon and regular maintenance over the next few years.

[hcoles]

Parenting aside. I could have a been a bit harsh on that. I don't claim to have done a perfect job of parenting myself.
Why a Porsche? Maybe you explained that earlier and I missed it.
There are plenty of as fast or faster cars at the money you want to spend with updated safety features. I understand if you think your son needs to have a car up to snuff compared to the other kids at his school, but I don't think a Porsche is necessary to accomplish that. If you want reliability and reasonable repair costs if there is an issue, I would look at Honda or Toyota. My son will soon be selling his 99 328i, manual, it only has 220k miles. Of course I've spoiled him by closely tending to it along the way. For what you might pay for that you could fix a lot with the remaining budget. BMW's are not known for low maintenance costs, but I've keep the costs down by fixing everything myself. In any case there are many choices better than a older well used Porsche.

[verticalflight]

The kid just loves Porsche. What can I say, I’ve owned 8 or 9 myself.

[berettafan]

no question the seller is a piece of crap. I do truly feel for you on the issue. this is why we have community where reputations are important. you did your due diligence unfortunately you didn't have the 'street smarts' to smell a rat and were taken advantage of.

you didn't ask for opinions on the wisdom of putting a 16 yr old in a 911 so i'll withhold my opinion on that but I will hint that it isn't kind and does not involve an even faster car with no roof.

[911 Rod]

I wish you were my dad.

[Evans, Marv]

I'm sorry & this isn't anything against you as a person, but if it were me I'd spend the money & more to return the car on taking this guy to court. However it's your choice and you must have reasons for avoiding it. If you prevail, you could recoup your expenses and maybe prevent this dick of a guy from doing the same to others as his normal course of conduct. I also know making him follow through might be an effort, but I'd let him know I was going to pile on whatever it took for him to make things right. Everybody's different, but that's just the way I see it. I do wish you the best of luck on the deal.

[island911]

Trust but verify. -RR

Sad that the PPI was so sloppy. They've admitted it was sloppy. Seems that their slop cost you much more than the cost of the PPI.

FWIW, I stopped trusting PPI's when a seller said they would pay for the PPI if it didn't come back clean (else I would pay). Considering I saw multiple items wrong with that used Porsche I knew that the PPI would catch it. I was wrong. Not only did the PPI come back clean, the PPI shop (also dealer -a Porsche dealer) wrote a letter saying how magnificently perfect the vehicle was. (cough collusion cough)

Of course other PPI's have picked at every nit. --money well spent.

Moral of the story, PPI's of used cars... the cleaner they are, the more suspect you should be.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Interesting post.

New to me 964...with issues

Holy smokes. The seller in this thread said the following in the quoted thread above:

Yeah I would be getting a partial refund for this poor representation... perhaps my attorney involved (been there twice and it sucks). However, it is a pretty car and can all be fixed. The lights on are more than likely the weird bugs these cars have. Mine had a ton on when I bought it and it turned out to be minor things.


The airbags can be fixed a couple ways. It depends on if you want the old gen. airbags active. Some say they can do more harm than good, others can not get over not having an airbag. An option is for 45-60 bucks (or whatever) you can get the Genuine RS bypass bridge from Porsche and deactivate them all together. This opens up for an aftermarket wheel if you so desire, or take out the bridge at any time and reactivate them. I say fix the problem and then bypass it. Choice is yours.



Back to the airbag thing. He has several posts, including one about the car he sold OP, about deleting airbag. However, he said in the advert that the airbags worked. Hmmm

[verticalflight]

Oh his last ad he said: The airbags did blow, and replacement bags were mounted; RS bridged.
I asked him on the phone if the RS bridge could be removed so that the bags would be active on both sides.
There is no passenger bag currently.

BTW the battery was down to 4V this morning.

[verticalflight]

My final offer to him is for him to pay $5,000 to recoup some of the loss. No reply yet.

[quattrorunner]

Ya I'd hold on to that car and contact an attorney friend foe letter of intent to sue.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

I wish you were my dad.

LOL! Yep, my first car was an 11 year old Ford, and I earned the money for it. But life was tough back when dirt was rocks.

(edit) That said, I'd probably sell the car honestly...and move on. A lesson learned. You can gain some satisfaction in having outed a dishonest seller.

[stomachmonkey]

Seems the seller got tired of his money pit and decided to move it along while trying to minimize his own loss.

His disclosure of condition seems carefully crafted to make the known issues sound like they were addressed in manner consistent with what one might reasonably expect.

Sort of like when a prospective employer calls for a reference on a past employee of yours and you respond with "I can't begin to tell you how great he was", because he sucked but you can't say that.

[Tremelune]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Sort of like when a prospective employer calls for a reference on a past employee of yours and you respond with "I can't begin to tell you how great he was", because he sucked but you can't say that.

Surely not from Ball State sales and marketing major BS Barker...

[matthewb0051]

Also from the sales advert: " but I have tons of receipts to show what has been done. Thanks for looking. "


So OP, did you get a 'ton of receipts' with the car? If so, what did they indicate?

[hcoles]

You might consider a 2000-2005 or 2006 911 that has the engine design where the LN Engineering "easily installed" kit can be used. I don't know what the installation price is but at least you don't need to disassemble the engine (just remove transmission). If there is no bore scuffing you might have a fairly reliable car. I still would not give a teenager a 350HP sports car.

I remember trying to talk my dad into a Porsche 912 for my first car. Nothin doing. I ended up with a VW Fastback. That was a very good car (back in those days). I drove the crap out of it and changed the oil very 3000 miles. Only ran it off the road 2 times.

[verticalflight]

Thanks guys for all the input. I have sold the car to a mechanic at a loss, fully disclosed.