Misrepresented 996 - Thoughts on recourse?

[gjb81612]

Well it happened. The seller (a pca member) represented the car as flawless and it has a punchlist of things needed such as:

Carbonfiber trim on dash warped, pulled up from dash, cracked from heat;
Radio does not take code that came with car
Sunroof will not close automatically
Door ding on front left quarter panel
Condensation on right front parking light lense
Rear Bumper obviously smacked and (kind of) fixed
Scratches on rear wing
Discoloring of paint on rear hatch and rooftop

The local dealer gave it a thumbs up and the seller represented it as needing nothing.

The moral is trust no-one but your own eyes or your wingman. Any thoughts on how to proceed on getting some dough back to address these items.

Thanks,
Grant

[jackb911]

Not so sound like an arse, but didn't you look at the car before you bought it? Most of the items you mention would seem to be pretty obvious to the naked eye.

[gjb81612]

Jack,

Fair enough. It was a long distance deal with the eyes being the Pcar dealer that serviced and the seller.

Lessons learned - there is no integrity out there.

[stormmaster]

seems to me if I was going to buy a car long distance I would at LEAST get detailed photos....not to mention a PPI by an independant service provider...the items you mention are minor cosmetic flaws...the likelyhood of "getting any dough back" are pretty remote as these items should have been discussed prior to funds changing hands....if you approach the seller with an open mind and a good attitude he may be willing to help you out...but I can tell you...I would not expect any help...as far as integrity....there is plenty of it out there...but you cannot go into any business relationship with your eyes closed and blindly trust everything...your concept of flawless and the sellers idea of flawless may not be the same...granted the items listed would concern me as well...and i would not consider such items indicative of a flawless car...however....iwe are talking about a USED car....f it bothers you that much...sell the car and buy a NEW car....and if you think those have no flaws....go look in the service department sometime.....

[stormmaster]

a couple other points not mentioned.....did you pay a premium price for a perfect car or did you get a "deal".....did you pay full asking price or did you negotiate a lower price?

[jackb911]

Grant,

I didn't realize yours was a long distance deal...I should have figured that out.

Your experience is why I wouldn't have the guts to buy a Porsche or any high-dollar car without eyeballing it first.

I've bought and sold a bunch of cars during the last 35+ years of playing with them. One thing I've learned is that one man's "concours" car might be another man's "daily driver".

As far as recovering some of your dough, you'd probably have to take legal action via a small claims court in the venue where the owner of the car lives. The aggravation and travel expense may not be worth it. At least most of the things that are wrong can be corrected by a competent body shop that is fluent in Porsche.

Good luck on getting it straightened out to your satisfaction. Even the nicest previously owned Porsches usually need some cosmetic massaging here and there!

[Don Plumley]

Like Jack said, one man's "Perfect" is anothers "Beater". It's a used car. Yes, it's all about how it was represented to you, but honestly, caveat emptor. The fact that a Porsche dealer said it was fine will work to the benefit of the defendant.

To make the blanket statement, "There's no integrity out there." irks me as negative buyer's remorse. I think there are as many or more good sellers that accurately represent the cars they sell. You just didn't find one. It was your decision to send $30K or whatever in an envelope across the country and are unhappy with the results. Sorry to be so blunt.

To the point at hand, if it were me, I'd get an independent evaluation (perhaps another dealer) and estimate to repair these items to bring the car to "needs nothing" condition. Don't mention the condensation or door ding, focus on the big issues (radio, repaint, cracked dash). I would present the same to the seller and to the local Porsche dealer and politely ask them to respond.

Best of luck.

Don