Recommended mechanic/inspector for PPI near Southampton, NY?

[Fab64]

Hi all,

I need a PPI on a car I'm interested in, near Southampton New York. Does anyone know of a reputable mechanic or inspector in that area? I am unable to take the car off the lot, so the inspection would have to be done at the dealer. Please PM me with recommendations, thanks.

Roger

[blucille]

is this Aventura Motors?

I was out there years ago, mostly because I had some interest in w113 Mercedes, late '60's SL roadsters.....nice guys, they seemed to do good work back then, interiors and paint were done to a pretty high standard. The conversation didn't go on long enough for me to determine if it was "lipstick on a pig" or reasonably high levels of restoration, as it seemed there was some variability to what they were turning out, obviously with a. price-point to match, and they had a variety of cars and car types, land rovers, MB's, 911's, MGB. My impression was more good than bad. In other words, I wouldn't pay "all the money" for one of their cars, but if it was "high-level - driver condition priced" I'd be willing to have a PPI done to check mechanicals and the true condition of the sheet metal that is under the shiny paint.

It does concern me that he won't allow the car to be transported to the shop of your choosing.

[Matt Monson]

Unless it’s the exact car you’ve wanted for freaking forever, I wouldn’t buy a car from a lot that doesn’t allow off site ppi. That’s a red flag with horns, bells, and fireworks, to me. Ymmv.

[Fab64]

No, not Aventura Motors.

And I agree with both of you regarding not allowing me to take the car off the lot - I thought the same thing. Yes, it is almost exactly what I've been looking for. I will press him tomorrow to see if he will allow the car to be taken to a local mechanic/dealer. Thanks for your viewpoints.

[Matt Monson]

Are you there with the car?

Rennlist members are very helpful. If you post in the subforum that applies to it, you may be able to find and individual who can at least be your eyes if you aren’t in the ground.

[Fab64]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Are you there with the car?

Rennlist members are very helpful. If you post in the subforum that applies to it, you may be able to find and individual who can at least be your eyes if you aren’t in the ground.

Oh, thanks, I forgot about Rennlist - what subforum is it? I will be there by then, I'm flying out on Saturday. However, another set of eyes would certainly be appreciated - I've been doing lots of research over the past several months, but I'm certainly not an expert. I owned a '72 911T from 1978-1994, but no Porsches since then.

[Matt Monson]

You haven’t said what the car is. So if it’s an air cooled 912, air cooled forum. 993, that forum. Cayman Boxster, etc just post your help wanted thread where the people who know that model of car hang out.

[Fab64]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

You haven’t said what the car is. So if it’s an air cooled 912, air cooled forum. 993, that forum. Cayman Boxster, etc just post your help wanted thread where the people who know that model of car hang out.

Thanks, it's an air-cooled 911.

[dreichman]

For me it’s pretty simple. The seller needs to respect my wishes to have the car inspected by the shop/mechanic of my choice or I will not purchase the car. It’s a two way street. Mutual consideration from both seller and purchaser.

[NYNick]

Southhampton is literally the home of the rich and famous. HUGE money out there. I'd give Henry Hoeh a call. He's president of Metro NY PCA and lives on Long Island. also Bill Rudtner. Bill is the DE guy from Metro, has a shop and races all the time. I bet he even knows the car. (maybe I have their jobs mixed up?)

Look them up on the Metro NY PC website.
https://metronypca.org/about/leadership

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by NYNick

Southhampton is literally the home of the rich and famous. HUGE money out there. I'd give Henry Hoeh a call. He's president of Metro NY PCA and lives on Long Island. also Bill Rudtner. Bill is the DE guy from Metro, has a shop and races all the time. I bet he even knows the car. (maybe I have their jobs mixed up?)

Look them up on the Metro NY PC website.
https://metronypca.org/about/leadership

I had totally forgotten about Bill. South Shore Performance. He’s really good people. Definitely the guy to call and see if he could meet you on the lot.

[Fab64]

Originally Posted by NYNick

Southhampton is literally the home of the rich and famous. HUGE money out there. I'd give Henry Hoeh a call. He's president of Metro NY PCA and lives on Long Island. also Bill Rudtner. Bill is the DE guy from Metro, has a shop and races all the time. I bet he even knows the car. (maybe I have their jobs mixed up?)

Look them up on the Metro NY PC website.
https://metronypca.org/about/leadership

Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, Bill is out racing for the weekend. He recommended Porsche of Southampton, but they're booked up until October. So, I'm still looking.

[NYNick]

Originally Posted by Fab64

Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, Bill is out racing for the weekend. He recommended Porsche of Southampton, but they're booked up until October. So, I'm still looking.

Call Henry. Then Dan Fishkind. Just go down that Metro list. You're bound to find somebody.

[NYNick]

What happened with the car?

[Fab64]

Originally Posted by NYNick

What happened with the car?

Funny you should ask, as I just agreed to buy the car today. Let me back up a few days, in case anyone is interested - it has been quite the adventure. I initially was not going to name names, but I may as well.

I flew from California into JFK, arriving shortly after midnight this past Saturday night. I checked into a flea-bag motel near Jamaica station, as I had to catch the 7:10 train to Southampton later that morning. After about 3.5 hours sleep, I showered and walked the few blocks to the station. During the 2-hour train ride, I had lots of time to sit and ruminate on what I was about to do, questioning my sanity, wondering what in the H#LL I was doing, etc. (I'm not a wealthy guy, and this is 3 times more than I've ever spent on a car. And I paid significantly less than the asking price). I was very impressed with Long Island RR because I arrived in Southampton right on schedule at 9:10. The lot salesman. a very likeable Brazilian fellow named Marcello, picked me up at the station and, after a quick stop at McD's, we drove straight to the lot - Grand Prix Cafe ("GPC"), a boutique dealer, repair & restoration facility. One thing I didn't mention in my initial post is that the car, a 1984 Carrera coupe, has just a shade over 50k miles on it. I spent about 90 minutes going over it, from bottom to top, with a fine-toothed comb. I'm not an expert, but after reading Peter Zimmermann's excellent book, I knew a lot of things to look for. I was amazed at how clean the underside of this car was. I'm pretty sure it has never (or hardly ever?) seen Winter roads or salt, as it is nearly immaculate, in spite of spending 25 of its 38 years in New York. I'm guessing it was owned by several wealthy gentlemen, who kept it garaged during Winter months. Most of the issues I found were related to "deferred" maintenance: 17-year-old tires, 38-year-old front brake lines (and - I'm guessing - fuel lines, too). I initially thought the paint meter readings indicated a repaint but, after a bit of research, I think they're normal, and that it's original paint (see pic below, generally 4 to 7 mil). Finally, we took it for a drive. The car was very tight, and looked and felt almost like a new car - amazing. No popping on hard acceleration, I did the trick with holding 4,000 rpm for awhile then letting off the accelerator - no smoke at all. I drove it around for probably 30 minutes, both city and highway, and didn't notice anything at all that would give me concern. We then returned to the lot. I told Marcello that I would continue trying to find someone on Monday morning to come do a PPI & leak down. I made my way, via train and Uber, up to Riverhead (17 miles away) to find a much less expensive hotel.

Marcello picked me up on Monday morning, and we drove to GPC. The rule about the car not leaving the lot was put in place by GPC's owner, for reasons unknown to me. During the day, Marcello and I developed a pretty good rapport, and I was able to persuade him to see things my way. and he eventually agreed to try to change the owner's mind. A few of the guys at GPC felt it was pointless to have someone do a full PPI on this car, since everything else was in such great shape. However, I stuck to my guns; every book I've read says I'd be a fool not to. As I still wasn't having any luck finding someone externally, Marcello and Peter (GPC's manager) hatched a scheme to take the car to a very reputable vintage car specialist, Northumberland Engineering, right there in town. Peter, who was good friends with Northumberland's owner, Tony, called and convinced him to let us bring the car over on Tuesday, even though Northumberland was extremely busy. I know this sounds like a conflict of interest, but over the past few days, I've developed the very strong impression that GPC is the "mythical" honest car dealer. The owner of GPC is a very wealthy guy who got tired of being ripped off by another shop in town (which shall remain nameless), so he basically opened this place to take care of his own cars. In any case, they arranged an appointment at Northumberland for Tuesday afternoon. I then got a lift back to my hotel, feeling much better about things.

Marcello picked me up this morning, and I spent the morning at GPC looking at transport options, and making sure I had everything in place for a wire transfer - in the event the PPI and other tests were successful (as I expected them to be). We finally took the car over to Northumberland around 1:30 pm. After the car cooled down, a technician began working on a compression test. The readings were:

1 195
2 190
3 190
4 190
5 160 <--- more than 16% different than others
6 195

Cylinder #5 looked to be a problem. As much as I have tried to remain objective during all of this, and keep my emotions in check, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I saw this. After a bit of discussion, the tech squirted some oil in that cylinder, re-ran the test, and got a reading of 180, now only about 8% difference. While he and a few of the other techs discussed this, I walked away and called a very experienced, air-cooled Porsche mechanic (Preston) whom I had befriended a few months ago (via a forum recommendation for Vision Motorsports in Lake Forest, CA, where I live). I told Preston what was going on with the compression, and everything else I knew about the car. I thought the compression numbers were high, but he said they looked good, and that the difference in #5 was likely due to the car not being driven enough. After digesting all the other info, and given that it had only 50k miles, he didn't really think a leak down was necessary. I went back to the car, where the PPI was now in progress. After finishing, the tech went over everything with me - most of which I already knew, but he did add a few minor things that I had missed. He promised he would send a full report over to GPC in the morning. So, after that gut-wrenching experience, Marcello and I drove back to GPC, he filled out the paperwork, and I signed it. Tomorrow morning, I'll do the wire transfer, and try to set up a transporter pick-up. Then it's back to California to wait for my new toy to arrive. Sorry for the "book", just wanted to share this incredible experience. I am completely and utterly exhausted, both physically and emotionally - LOL!!


Original online ad for car:










In parking lot at GPC:


At Northumberland for PPI & compression test:


Paint meter readings I took. Found overspray on left rubber bellows of front bumper, nothing anywhere else.

[NYNick]

Congratulations! Seems you were very thorough considering you came from another coast. The car looks sweet. I wish you many years of 911 happiness!
Nick

[Matt Monson]

Well done. Congratulations.

[Rick Brooklyn]

That's a great story but it's sorely missing some pictures from the fleabag motel in Jamaica. Although we're fairly jaded here in NY Metro, unless it's at the level of the Lincoln Motor Inn we're unlikely to be impressed.

[Fab64]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

That's a great story but it's sorely missing some pictures from the fleabag motel in Jamaica. Although we're fairly jaded here in NY Metro, unless it's at the level of the Lincoln Motor Inn we're unlikely to be impressed.

Maybe I overstated by using the term "fleabag" - ha! I'm not familiar with the Lincoln Motor Inn, but this one was in a pretty seedy area. It looked even worse at 1:30 am, with quite a few people on the street:







And. . . . ladies and gentlemen, the magnificent Hotel Ninety-Five. I should have taken some pics of the inside, but I was in a hurry to leave the next morning.

[fisher22]

Glad you made it out!