If the seller pre purchases a PPI?

Jims5543 · 11-12-2007, 05:22 PM

Is it worth it?

I mean, I am in a situation where a buyer wants a PPI only after he has had a Pelican look over the the car.

I miss understood him, contacted the shop where he wants to PPI done and scheduled it.

Now, instead of canceling the PPI I am thinking of going through with it and footing the bill myself. sort of a "added value" and time saver for a potential buyer.

Is this worth it? Or will any buyer consider it faulty because the seller paid for it and it could be biased? OR do you consider the fact that a shop is going to be ethical and guard its reputation and give an honest PPI?

kilodawg · kilodawg's Garage

A lot depends on the buyer.

I have been told several times by different shops that the shop performing the PPI represents the person paying for it. Now usually that is the buyer. I'm not sure if the dynamic changes somewhat if the PPI is paid for by the seller.

Reputable shops should not knowingly hide problems from a prospective buyer regardless of who is footing the bill but the situation becomes just a little foggier for me.

If I was a potential buyer in this scenario a lot would depend if I was local to the car for sale or if it was going to be a sight unseen purchase. If I could meet the seller, the shop owner and see and drive the car that would probably confirm things one way or the other but if I was not able to have that opportunity I'd still opt to get a second opinion. My dime of course.

Something else to consider though is a PPI would hopefully verify your confidence in the condition of the vehicle and also lessen the chance for any unexpected surprises if he decides to pay for one of his own at another shop. Just be sure wherever you go has an excellent reputation.

Good luck!

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

If I were the buyer, I'd prefer to pay for my own PPI unless the shop the seller used had a pretty impressive reputation.

An out-of-town PPI always puts the buyer at a disadvantage, even if he pays for it, because the shop has potential future business with the seller, but never with the buyer.

Having said that, I personally have seen nothing but ethical service from shops several states away.

Macroni · Macroni's Garage

Cancel the appointment. It will add minimal value for substantial cost. Let the buyer PPI.

Jims5543 · 11-13-2007, 04:13 AM

I agree with all of you. Deep down I thought the same but then thought about a shop putting its reputation on line.

When purchasing I used Imagine Auto in Kansas, as it would turn out the seller used them too and live up the block from them. I was a little uneasy once I found this out but figured a shop as big and reputable as them would be honest with me.

They were and I was very happy as the car turned out to be flawless, I have had zero issues with it and the shop told me they would be surprised if I did.

I will cancel the PPI. Thanks for the input.

Christien · Christien's Garage

I had a potential (and eventual) buyer do a PPI on a boxster I was selling at the shop I always take my cars to. Not only did I expect them to be ethical for the buyer's sake, I expected them to ethical for my sake. If they're willing to slide a bit to make a current customer happy, what dishonesty are they willing to pull to get this current customer to spend more there in the future? If I had even the slightest whiff of that I'd never go back. They actually tried to talk the buyer out of spending money on anything more than a basic PPI because they knew the car was clean (very low mileage, extremely well-cared-for car) from having serviced it a bit.