Considering a car in St Louis, need PPI recommendation

[boudy]

Hi,

I'm in MA but have found a 911 Targa in St. Louis that I'm very interested in! I'd appreciate recommendations for a service center to perform a PPI for me.

Thanks

[billwagnon]

My car goes to Reid Vann.

Reid Vann Luxury Import Service
9327 Manchester Rd
Saint Louis, MO 63119
(314) 968-4100

There's also

German Automotive Specialties
9531 Watson Industrial Park
Saint Louis, MO 63126
(314) 963-9911

but I haven't had my car there.

[FranksPlace2]

I bought my car from Autoexotica in St. Louis and had Reid do the PPI. He was recommended by a couple of people.

He missed a few things.

There was some silicone stopping an oild leak I'm not sure where but by the time I got to New Orleans, it was leaking oil pretty bad.

The valve guides were worn (typical for a mid year) but the reactors evidently eliminated smoke out the tail pipe. My New Orleans guy showed me smoke coming out of the oil filler pipe when he revved it.

Reid did not do a leak down test but it turns out the cylinders were scored pretty badly and had bits of metal in them.

He has a good reputation but I suggest you get a thorough inspection.

[thebondman]

Lindbergh Motorsports. Klaus Selbert in St. Ann. He's a real German Porsche Mechanic. He works alone and does all his own work. Trust me, he misses NOTHING. Give him a call @ 314-739-4818.
-BILL

[nostatic]

the car isn't at Schmidt's, is it?

[dmcummins]

I have also heard that Klaus is the one to go to. I see his place is up for sale though. But he was there today.

[Jack Olsen]

Schmitt's has a shaky reputation. Do a search here, and at Rennlist, if that's the dealer you're considering.

[boudy]

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep looking.

Also thanks to all for their recommendations.

[Wavey]

I use Reid Vann for stuff I don't do myself, and I think they're great - they've been around for about 25 years and have an excellent reputation. Ask for Jon if you call them. Another equally good shop is Autobahn (John), 8100 Watson Road, 314-843-1003, 314-843-7202 Fax. The previous owner of my car had it serviced there and they're also very good, long-time Porsche guys. I just don't use them because they're quite a bit farther for me.

BTW, I bought my '88 Carrera from Schmitt, didn't have any problems at all other than I paid too much! I missed getting it from the original owner by about 2 hours. That cost me $2K but the car was still worth it. I don't know Dan personally, but we have a mutual friend who I trust, and he told me that Dan doesn't buy anything but top-notch cars any more - he doesn't want the hassles associated with problem cars. Take that with a grain of salt, but an interesting comment anyway. He does tend to price things pretty high, but that's always negotiable. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again, but I would definitely get a thorough PPI, which you should do no matter who you buy it from.

Interesting side note: Dan's dad (Charles) was a Rolls dealer for years, and also bought/sold other exotics. He was caught rolling odometers back and spent a bit of time at the Graybar Hotel.

If I wasn't so damn busy I'd take a look at the Targa for you. If you're still considering it in a week or so, give me a call.

[Carrera3.5L]

I bought my car from Scmitt and had Reid Vann do the PPI. They caught pretty much everything and I had Schmitt fix it (about $550 worth) before I bought the car. Probably paid a tad more than market value at the time(because I paid 1K to ship the car to SoCal), but it was the color combination that I wanted and I had already been looking for almost 6 months and was chomping at the bit.

I know some people have had some issues with them, but I fortunately did not. Just make sure that you get a good PPI and look at Carfax. It's not 100% guaranteed, but mine was clean and there is ZERO evidence that it was ever in any type of accident.

Remember there are two sides to every story, with the truth usually being somewhere in the middle.

Good Luck,

Ralph