Fess Up: Did you get a PPI before buying?

[SuperOldSchool]

I mean the decision to have the PPI is a bit subjective.....not the data/output...

[dhagood]

i got 3 ppis, all on different cars. the first car flunked completely, and the mechanic said 'not worth your time or trouble'. second car was kind of a tossup, and the mechanic said 'well, maybe' (plus it had a blue interior, which i really didn't like very much). third car passed with flying colors, and the mechanic said "this one is a keeper'.

i've kept it for 18 years so far.

[crossle05]

PO couldn't get the car to start... sat 3 years in his driveway... wife said had to go..... made an offer of $3800, they took it..... dollyed it home.... went to jump it to try to move it on the starter motor and there was nothing.... cleaned the ground and have been driving it for four years... 1981 row SC.....

[Bill Jennings]

Didn't have a PPI on either of my 911's but did have one on a Irish C3 I didn't buy.
My first I bought the first I had seen and got lucky only had very small issues the 6 years I owned it. The second and current I bought unseen except for pictures that were online but I had been to see the dealer a couple of times to look at other cars the year before he had and thought him honest and he had a good reputation. The car was in the UK (I was in OZ) but my wife was able to go see it before deciding to buy. I must admit to being more than a little stressed waiting for it to arrive in OZ. I was very happy with it once I got it home. The only drama I've had was the shipper managed to get it stuck in two gears when they drove it from the container to the front of their yard. The gearbox freed itself while on the trailer on the way home and not had a problem since. I know I took a chance but it felt right at the time and has worked out ok for me. I feel totally privileged to own a C3 at last.

[kevin-ct]

Yep, That's how I found my Porsche. Im a owner of a shop in CT and I do a lot of PPI's for my customers.

When this 86 white coupe came in for a PPI i just fell in love with it it's a one owner car with some mod's. When I was on a test drive I knew that I had to buy this car and that's what I did.

I now have a 76 912 that's now a 911 in the shop that I was going to make an offer on to make it into a DE car.

[neighbour]

Bought my first Porsche in 1980.

Had lots of experience with other makes.Was lucky and got a great car which I still have with 221,000 miles and now have lots of experience with the Marque.

If this is your first Porsche I'd recommend a PPI.

Lots to know about a porsche (-plusses and minuses).A PPI is a good investment.

[wasserkuhl]

I did.

And I ended up buying the guy who did the inspection's car instead!!! :-)

[911_Dude]

Ive never had a PPI. But then, Ive only paid for shop time twice in the last 25 or so years.

With the newer cars, I love showing up with a OBD scanner. Sometimes the owners get real nervous.

[TWOZTER]

Nope, but had 15 years of records from PO, was local car, and had been serviced by John Walker most of its life....not a ton of risk. I've put about $3k in it since then, but nothing that was an "emergency". Bought it as a hobby, didn't want a perfect one anyway...and it was my first, do admittedly there was some emotion involved...

I do enough research on cars that I can normally spot a disaster anyway.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Mikey83835

Had a PPI done, and the "highly thought of" mechanic in Oakland did not tell me about the 3 broken head studs, (74 Targa with SC motor)

My pals low-low mileage 930 was inspected by a Porsche dealer in Charlotte and they missed that the passenger side motor mount cross bar was sheared at the neck.

[SoCalSK8r]

I did not. My car is an 84 with 50k miles and was essentially a garage queen and owned by a total gear head.

In retrospect I'm sure I could have been burned, but I do know that a PPI was done on the car 10k miles before I bought it by a very reputable Porsche mechanic (albeit a time frame of 6 years ago) when the PO purchased the car.

Anyway, I think I was not worried because it had pristine everything including leak down measurements from 10k miles before I bought it. I was still a bit weary about not getting a PPI a $300 isn't much in the grand scheme of things.

I can clearly say the excitement of my first 911 purchase made me overly eager...but it seems luck was on my side.

[SoCalSK8r]

I should add that I really should have had the PPI. $300 is a drop in the bucket long term. No reason to be stingy but there is a timing aspect that sometimes pushes you in one direction.

[drodg]

I didn't and do not regret it but another interesting pole would be who didn't get a ppi and did you end up regretting it!

[BlueWing]

It was a good deal, I knew some of the issues that needed attention, but admit I was not as knowledgeable about 911s as I am today and could have wound up with a real problem. Lucky I was able to drive it for the past 8 years and just this spring/summer did the engine drop to address the issues, oil leaks, clutch, heat exchangers, CIS vacuum leaks........

I was trading a MB 300CD towards it that needed more.


I was a body man years ago and knew the bones were good on this one and not afraid of mechanical work so it worked.

If I were someone with limited resources, ability and time knowing what I know now a PPI is money well spent, kind of like insurance. You don't want to spend the money but can be cheaper than if things go bad.

Terry

[PorscheGAL]

2005 bought the Targa with a PPI. They missed the transmission was in need of work. Drove car 2 weeks before needing a full transmission rebuild. Car has been pretty trouble free ever since.

2009 bought the 930 sight unseen from a guy in Miami off Ebay. Only inspection was for JJ Best Loan. They sent someone out that just made sure the car was as advertised and that it would crank. Drove that a year before needing an engine rebuild.

[FinallyGotOne]

Yes, in Las Vegas. And the guy said car was in fantastic shape, just needed wheel bearings. I told him go ahead. charged me $100 for that. Got the car and the transmission needed to have dog eared gears replaced within 3 months. Cost me $5500 for all the work I had done. The PPI was worthless. The previous owner had apparently just had the mechanic flip the removable gears around I was told...

[Jagshund]

No, but considering it was loaded onto the trailer using a giant forklift I think both parties were aware of the car's condition . . .

[ruwoodbury]

Technically, no. But I spoke a couple times with the mechanic who had worked on the car for 13 years. Iknew the a/c was bad and that it needed a service soon. My son and I picked the car up in NY and drove it 2,400 miles home to UT and it didn't skip a beat the whole time.
It's been a year now and all the stuff I've done this spring are upgrades and updates. The clutch would have gone another one or two years but I went for a new one while doing everything else.

[Tippy]

No, but considering it was loaded onto the trailer using a giant forklift I think both parties were aware of the car's condition . . .

Hilarious!

[Redcoat]

Yep, PPI on my 964, wanted my first Porsche to be a dream fulfilled not a nightmare unfolding.

On initial inspection I felt the car was right in terms of condition, comprehensive records and bills, all tools present and the owner was the kind of guy I wanted to do business with. Having bought too many pup's as a teenager I wasn't forking over my hard earned without an expert eye being cast.

Fortunately the car was local enough for my shop to spend 3 hours going over the car resulting in 'If you don't buy it I will'.
The only fault found was with the alternator, and this allowed adjustment on the price.


On a subsequent purchase I stumbled on a low miles 968 at a MINI dealership and had to content myself with the car in their workshop for an hour - the post purchase inspection confirmed my gut feeling that it was good but it I won't do that again on a 15+ year old car.