OK, I'm exaggerating a bit in the title for effect, but here's the story.
I saw this '82 911 for sale at a small, classic car dealer on the outskirts of St. Louis. The car had 116K miles, and the title records indicated this was accurate. The seller was asking $30K which seemed like a fair starting point to me. Aside from the reasonable mileage and exterior condition, what attracted me most was the fact that the service/repair history was well documented - it had a repaint, new clutch, and a transmission rebuild at 94K, new rockers and motor mounts at 97K, and a top end with chain tensioner update at 104K. So I figured most of the big ticket stuff was taken care of. I negotiated a price of 29K with the seller.
I asked if he would take the car to the premiere Porsche shop in St. Louis for a PPI. He said that was too far, he couldn't afford to have two guys make two trips into town. But, according to him, the head mechanic from that shop recently opened his own shop nearby, and he would take it there if I arranged an appointment.
So I called this guy. He's got a website and seems legit. He said he was booked for the next two weeks. I begged a bit, and he agreed to squeeze me in on Monday (this was on Friday). He reported the following:
>Repaint was good, but not great, otherwise no exterior issues.
>Interior was missing a small plastic bezel on the Targa top, and there was some discoloration around the window switches.
>Window stops were set too high.
>He documented two oil seepage points under the car, both minor.
>Front brake pads were at 5%, and rotors would have to be replaced when fixed.
>AC didn't work.
>Some roughness running cold, probably a bad WUR, but otherwise the car ran great.
I decided I could live with these issues so I accepted the deal as negotiated and bought the car.
He was right about all these things, except the last point. The car barely ran when it arrived at my door. A lot of searching on this board and poking around, and here's what I came up with.
First, he missed the following.
>There were no visors in the car.
>Targa top can't be removed without a little nudge with a screw driver.
>Targa top seals are fair to poor.
>Targa underside vinyl is peeling away at the corner.
>Shoulder belts had been removed and a PO had installed lap belts.
>Turn signals did not work
>Back up lights did not work
>The heater blower and the fresh air blower did not work
>Windshield washers did not work
>The fuel gauge only works above half full.
>The clock does not work.
>There was a LOT of discoloration on the interior leather.
>The front carpet panes were missing (under the floor mats).
>The parcel deck was quite warped and the leather has been messed with - it's just not clean and not 100% original.
>There was extreme seepage around the oil level sender.
>There is some corrosion at the ends of the heat exchangers, and it doesn't look like a tight seal.
>There's some seepage under the transmission case, at a place that looks like a small access panel.
>The transmission arrived almost inoperable. I could only find 2 gears and the shifter was bent to the right. After a lot of poking and digging, I came to the conclusion that the shifter and coupler bushings had completely blown out, and that someone - probably the shipping truck driver - had tried to force it looking for reverse. This may just have been horrible timing of course. The dealer swears that the car drove when it left his lot.
I replaced the shifter and all the bushings, and the car drives and I can find all 6 gears. But it's clear that the clutch cable needs to be replaced, and the helper spring is weak.
>The engine was running poorly. I replaced the O2 sensor relay, and it greatly improved. But the warm idle is not right (and cold too of course). I have a new (rebuilt) WUR on the way and it seems possible/likely that this, along with timing and mixture adjustments and the car will possibly run very well. When warmed up it's strong and smooth, except for the idle.
I have not had the car all the way up on stands yet, so there may be more. But now that I've had a chance to troubleshoot and start to make repairs, it's clear that the car was a mess but that I also dodged a bullet. The things he missed, though numerous, are all pretty small-ticket things, but the parts alone will still add up to around $1,000, maybe a bit more. And I wasn't counting on HOURS of work just to get the car working. But the service records are reassuring that I (hopefully) won't have any big-ticket repairs in the near future.
I voiced my displeasure to the mechanic after discovering about half of the missed items on the first day. I'm guessing he never drove the car more than from his parking lot to his lift, and just took the word of the dealer that it drove well. He was clearly embarrassed that he missed the belts and visors, which he knows is a sign that he didn't really inspect the interior or electrical. He's offered to send me new(ish) belts. This will cover the cost to me of the inspection, but I'm still irked. Had he done his job properly, especially in reporting transmission issues, the electrical issues, and in the extent of the CIS issues, I would have renegotiated with the seller. I doubt there's much I can do at this point, I'm in Washington and he's in St Louis. But I haven't ruled out legal action entirely. At the very least I'll out this guy (and the dealer) in this thread, and see if I can't find another place on the internet to review him, as soon as my seat belts arrive.
Any thoughts?
