You didn't get a PPI? So what "surprises" did you find after the fact?

[Rich76_911s]

Hmmm lets see so far I've found, About 20 lbs worth of bondo, patching the inner fender walls around the bumper shock mounts, a tumbler that notoriously locks up, rust through the body behind the a/c dryer bottle, rust around the jack reciever tube, a window regulator with a missing wheel, a malfunctioning temperature gauge, and best of all evidence of rear end body damage. I'm sure if I wanted to think longer of my mistakes I could come up with a lot more. Ahhh the joys of being young and dumb.

And I have had the same experience as Shaun with:

The owner...no emails or calls returned.

Seriously folks, no matter how much you trust a seller and how great they seem online go out of your way to get a PPI. The feeling of missing a great 911 becuase you had to get a PPI is better than skipping the PPI and having the gut wrenching feeling of being ripped off when you find the problems listed above.

Cheers
Rich

[jdm61]

Originally posted by Super_Dave_D
That was the best hunch you ever had!!!!

Also had a hunch about an '82 Euro Turbo that another "dealer" from my own home state was selling. It didn't meet reserve or BIN twice. I subsequently heard on here that this "dealer" may have rolled back the odometer on a car that one of the Pelicans just missed buying on Ebay. By the way.......BOTH of these dealers had 99-100% positive feedback. Ironic consiudering that I have 2 negative feedbacks that were given in retaliation for complaining about being ripped off...lol. Somebody must be looking out for me on this deal........unless, of course there is more wrong with the car I bought than the bubbly dashboard.....LMAO.....No PPI......impulse buy that I couldn't pass up......Carfax/State of New York comfirmed 28,000 miles!!!!!!!

[rooked 930]

No PPI here either... having some reasonable mech background (mostly Ford, a little bit of VW exp.) and reading posts on various sites (this one included of course) and being a little bull-headed, I felt comfortable carrying through with it myself. It wasn't too fun to fly from one coast to the other with a whole whack of tools, coveralls, etc to end up disappointed and flying back. But, the car actually ended up being better than the seller thought it was.

Things wrong that I should have used to drop the price further:

1. Seller saying "I've never used the heater, but it probably works. Who wants heat anyway when driving 140 on the turnpike?". Ended up heater control was crap (repaired) and leak in exchangers providing some great fumes. At least the A/C works perfectly!

2. Whoever is going around the country doing cheap a$$ stereo wiring methods on these cars, please stop. The seller commented when I was trying to figure out why the radio wasn't working: "Who needs the radio when you can listen to that great engine sound?". On this point, I actually agree with the seller (but the wiring had to go).

3. "It leaks maybe one or two drips a week, but all these cars leak". I only thought about it later how the cardboard under the car looked freshly laid down. Try two drips a day, puddle each week. The PO obviously never heard of the wonderful silicone gaskets sold at Pelican.

I did get leakdown / compression test results from a reputable P-car specialist prior to arriving to the seller's location along with a check of the turbo fuel mixture/enrichment system (beyond my knowledge), and all results were very good. Also, full service paperwork going back to '82 - it was well pampered through life.

It's been an awesome experience so far, but I'm sure that rainy day will come along (hopefully after summer!).

Lastly, 84porsche, that has to be one of the funniest things I've read on here... you definitely are a risk taker! I'd have a breakdown if you were my stock broker. Is there a how-to guide on heal&toe as well?

rob
'79 930

[wholberg]

Mine was an EBay buy also. Several conversations with the seller and a carfax looked good, so I went with a hunch. The results of the Post-PI were, in the words of the mechanic, "You got a really nice car".

What the car has needed in the last 18 months: Washer motor, wheel alignment, turbo tie rod upgrade, chasing down electrical gremlins from a botched alarm install, new speakers. One valve guide might be going bad, but it was not apparent when I purchased the car.

[azasadny]

No PPI and only surprise was an old Hofco III alarm that was causing intermittent starting problems that gradually evolved into a complete no-start scenario. I replace the engine (pulled head studs) and many other fuel/ignition parts trying to "fix" the starting problem, than I got smart and took it to an excellent Porsche mechanic (Tab Tanner in Findlay, OH) and he found the root cause (old alarm) and removed it and got the car sorted out.

[goldgunner]

I'm wondering which and what of the issues described would be discovered by a PPI - even by pretty darn good PPIer - during the course of a 'standard' $ 200.00 PPI?

Bent Tub - I'm thinking not, unless a full shop alignment and corner balancing was performed (or unless it was really badly warped)

Rusted Torsion Bars - Not likely, without a pretty significant suspension disassembly

I think better questions would be:
What did a PPI discover on your potential purchase?
What effect did those discoveries have on your purchase? Or Price paid?
What did a PPI not discover on purchase that you later found?
Would it really have made a difference to your purchase decision?

And maybe even: would you be willing to pay $ 1,000 or significantly more for a complete in-shop PPI that would include a top end engine break down, and at least a partial suspension disassembly? For a 20-25-30 year old car that costs $ 10K - $ 20K?

THoughts? Thanks,
Jim

[yelcab1]

No PPI, no problems. Just tune up, upgrades, and ... faith.

[real550A]

No PPI needed on barn finds. Everything is built into the purchase price.

[lonewolf]

hi all
as some know on here i just had a ppi done
results were poor but now i,m told by owner that i,m being fooled (to put it nicely) and person who did ppi now wants to buy car now
what do you guys think of that.
anyone had this happen to them?

perhaps i should get a board member there to have a look to be sure
anyone in the jersey shore area?

[JBO]

No PPI, broken head studs. But to look on the bright side, now I have a new top end with 964 cams, new clutch, and what the %$#, might as well rebuild the trans while we are at it! If I have to sell anytime soon (hopefully not), the buyer will get one heck of a deal (and won't need a PPI!!). The A/C even works (prior owner had updated)!

[Jdub]

Sometimes the price is too good to pass up.

My '78SC Targa was abandoned for half a year in the parking garage at work. Facilities was trying to evict it, sent registered letters to owner who had left the company, etc. I kept an eye on it weekly, wondering - my first Porsche? Being a huge BritCar fan, I'd park my TR6 next to the Pcar since I knew the door wasn't going to get opened on my car!

But I digress - the car was towed, I hastily contacted the owner, we meet at the towing yard and settle on $5,250.00.

He thought the #1 cylinder was dead - just needed an Italian tune up (Techron + a very long run freed up the 'rings in the piston lands). Otherwise it's all been up from here. Have put a lot into the car but then again I LOVE working on cars!

John

[cperedina]

Barn Find. No PPI. Knew what I was getting into. A "long term" relationship.

[joetiii]

[QUOTE]
I think better questions would be:
What did a PPI discover on your potential purchase?
What effect did those discoveries have on your purchase? Or Price paid?
What did a PPI not discover on purchase that you later found?
Would it really have made a difference to your purchase decision?

/[QUOTE]

I agree with this line of questioning.

I had three PPI's done before my ultimate purchase.

The first one uncovered several mechanical problems w/ shift linkage, throttle linkage, suspension defect. The asking price was on the high side and the seller would not budge on his price so I walked.

The second PPI uncovered a supposed minor valve cover leak to be a case seam leak. On a 2.7 this was a deal breaker so I walked.

The third PPI is a different story. It was done by a high profile classic sports car dealer. (first mistake ....not a PCar only repair shop)

It was not their car, but rather a service customers car that was recently in for repair to reseal the valve cover and timing chain cover. Also it needed gas tank replacement due to rust in tank.

To highlight the PPI, " the engine was dry as a bone. The transmission shifted real good for a 901 and that most of my money spent would be on redoing the suspension." the sale price refected the suspension update so I got the car.

When I got the car home, I noticed three things after the first weekend. There was spotting in my garage, I have difficulty shifting into first gear, and the car bogs down under load. I put the car on a lift and discovered that the timing case and valve covers were leaking. Hmmm new gaskets in May and its only July. No biggy, I tightened them down a bit and everythings now dry.

The surprise underneath was that the axle shafts were spitting out grease from the cups. Definitely something that should have been caught by someone paying attention.

Lower the car and check the fuel filters on the bogging issue. Each filter weighs twice as much as a new one and you can't even blow air through them. It would seem to me that if a mechanic just replaced a fuel tank he would either blow out the fuel lines or at the very least recommend that filters be replaced.

But wait, there's more!

I bring the car down to the race shop thats going to do the suspension update. We get in the car to testdrive and the mechanic looks at me and says "Wow, I've never heard valves this loud before. " Then he moves the shifter back and forth and says " This whole thing needs to be rebushed. What did you get yourself into." I shook my head and said to myself "How could've this PPI tech been so far off? Was he on drugs?"

I guess the moral of the story is "Make sure you inspect the inspector"

[Porsche virgin]

I ppi'd before I bought.

I was shocked to find out the A/C didn't work!!!

[Bill in OKC]

No PPI - I've kept a diary of the things I've done & it has grown to several pages now. A few things have been normal maintenance but the more I learn about what *could* have been wrong, the luckier I think I was. Everything has been mostly remove and replace either covered by 101 projects or here on this forum (Thanks to all!)

[caliber60]

The guy who bought my 996 took the 996 to the famous independent Porche shop in Hollywood for a PPI before giving me the money. I was there with him. The shop jacked up the car. Took a few look under the car. That was done. It only took 20 minutes. He was charged $70. The PPI was pretty much like that they do at the Shell gas station. I was happy as a seller. I know he was not going to find anything serious with the PPI. I personally asked the shop owner, " is this what you call PPI? He said "we are just too busy."

[Spede]

"Rust free" NEVER means rust free.

[anthony]

I don't understand how a shop is too busy to make their hourly wage?

And maybe even: would you be willing to pay $ 1,000 or significantly more for a complete in-shop PPI that would include a top end engine break down, and at least a partial suspension disassembly? For a 20-25-30 year old car that costs $ 10K - $ 20K?

There's no reason for a $1000 PPI. 2 hours of shop time should cover it. That's about $250 in my area.

[Hugh R]

Bought before I knew of Pelican, impulse buy, found out it was an ROW gray market (passed CA smog though before I bought it, and that it had an aftermarket A/C which didn't work. . windshild wipers didn't park and antenna didn't work. Also a few other odds and ends, like no fuses in the engine fuse block, fortunately everything connected to those fuses worked upon putting in new fuses.

[Wayne 962]

Ahh, the Prepurchase Inspection discussion (PPI). There are many facets of this discussion that I can weigh in on:

- Firstly, the rule of thumb is to always get a PPI. For older cars, get one at a place other than the dealer - they just don't know anything about the older cars anymore. For the newer cars, the best place is still the dealer (newer is less than 5 years old).

- If you get a PPI, it's going to cost you $100-$200. This hurts your bargaining position with the seller, as you are dollar-invested in the purchase after the inspection is done. Also, if you perform a bunch of these, then you will empty your pocketbook really quick. It's a catch-22.

- A PPI should cover everything, and you should have a set of questions or areas that the mechanic will check specifically for you. Also make sure that the owner of the car is okay with this - I would not want my car torn into by a hack mechanic. Tearing down the top end of the engine is *not* acceptable as a PPI, from an owner's standpoint.

- If you don't get the PPI, then make sure you bring along a friend with you to inspect the car. If you are buying the car remotely, make sure that the price is cheap enough to cover unexpected problems. I bought one car off of eBay, and it turned out to have been in an accident and repainted (small fender bender, nothing super major). The seller had 100% feedback with 300 cars sold. He refunded some $$$ for the deal, and the car was cheaper to begin with (BMW wagon).

-Wayne