Buying on Ebay

[Perfectlap]

Ebay would not be my first choice unless you find that the seller (not a dealer) lives in a town where Porsches are not common. Your first goal in shopping for a Porsche is to find one that is selling below the market rate because:

the owner doesn't need the cash and wants to get rid of it.
the owner needs to sell it quickly to buy something more expensive.
the owner doesn't want the hassle of people kicking tires and wants a quick sale

There are *ALWAYS* sellers like these. The best place to find all of the above are on the Porsche forums first or to check with an independent Porsche specialist in your area for any leads. The whole point is to first look in the community before you go witht the mainstream stuff.

When you go on Ebay, you're doing just the opposite. You're looking at cars that the whole world is looking at, it's wide open for highest bidder. It's good to check but a car that's priced to go sells quickly, a matter of days. The bulk of the cars sold on Ebay sit there. Usually becaue they're high mileage, have deffered maintenance ($$$$) that will be costly and the seller (usually a used car dealer) needs you to pay for his profit on the flip. Why is all this important? Because there are a crap ton of Boxsters, Caymans and Carreras for sale online. In fact in all of Porsche's history there have never been more used Porsches for sale (that are running). And why do you want to go after the good deal Porsche's first? Because repairs for these used cars are very, very expensive unless you're doing all your own work and even that's not as cheap as it sounds because the big expense is the parts and not really the labor. A full suspension overhaul and wheel bearings at an independent Porsche shop can easily cost $6,000. A dealer would charge more than the car cost you to buy in the first place. Getting the car below market gives you some cushion on these 'major maintenance' items that seem to come up sooner on cars driven where there is extreme heat or extreme cold weather and rough city roads. But the best is to find a car with low miles even if you have to pay a bit more for it up front. But be careful with cars that have the kind of the mileage that indicate the car just sat for months at a time. With these engines, the car owner needs to keep the habit of frequently runing the car on the road for at least 30 minutes to an hour to burn off all the build up.

[Jinx]

Bill purchased ours on eBay. It was from
A Porsche dealer. Easy transaction.
It required some minor repairs.
Battery, top drains stuffed. Turn signal socket.
Rear end clunk, torn CV joint boot.
Missing keys. Dealer wouldn't get us
A second key

To do list
Winter tires, winter floor mats,
umbrella (I have no idea way I need this
I just do). second key.
Have wheels reprinted in the
Spring. Car detailed in the spring.

Daily driver. And sooo much fun to drive.



58,513 mile. 3rd owner

[JayG]

Originally Posted by Jinx

Bill purchased ours on eBay. It was from
A Porsche dealer. Easy transaction.
It required some minor repairs.
Battery, top drains stuffed. Turn signal socket.
Rear end clunk, torn CV joint boot.
Missing keys. Dealer wouldn't get us
A second key

To do list
Winter tires, winter floor mats,
umbrella (I have no idea way I need this
I just do). second key.
Have wheels reprinted in the
Spring. Car detailed in the spring.

Daily driver. And sooo much fun to drive.



58,513 mile. 3rd owner

Did you know that little storage slot on the passenger side door sill is for an umbrella?

[TeamOxford]

Originally Posted by JayG

Did you know that little storage slot on the passenger side door sill is for an umbrella?

A very expensive umbrella.

Porsche Travel Umbrella

TO

[JayG]

Originally Posted by TeamOxford

A very expensive umbrella.

Porsche Travel Umbrella

TO

others fit as well

[Perfectlap]

And a proper umbrella (full sized) will fit in between the door and passenger seat.
Golf umbrella $20 Costco.

[pony13ca]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

And a proper umbrella (full sized) will fit in between the door and passenger seat.
Golf umbrella $20 Costco.

You guys are a wealth of information!!!!

[mikeman]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

Ebay would not be my first choice unless you find that the seller (not a dealer) lives in a town where Porsches are not common. Your first goal in shopping for a Porsche is to find one that is selling below the market rate because:

the owner doesn't need the cash and wants to get rid of it.
the owner needs to sell it quickly to buy something more expensive.
the owner doesn't want the hassle of people kicking tires and wants a quick sale

There are *ALWAYS* sellers like these. The best place to find all of the above are on the Porsche forums first or to check with an independent Porsche specialist in your area for any leads. The whole point is to first look in the community before you go witht the mainstream stuff.

When you go on Ebay, you're doing just the opposite. You're looking at cars that the whole world is looking at, it's wide open for highest bidder. It's good to check but a car that's priced to go sells quickly, a matter of days. The bulk of the cars sold on Ebay sit there. Usually becaue they're high mileage, have deffered maintenance ($$$$) that will be costly and the seller (usually a used car dealer) needs you to pay for his profit on the flip. Why is all this important? Because there are a crap ton of Boxsters, Caymans and Carreras for sale online. In fact in all of Porsche's history there have never been more used Porsches for sale (that are running). And why do you want to go after the good deal Porsche's first? Because repairs for these used cars are very, very expensive unless you're doing all your own work and even that's not as cheap as it sounds because the big expense is the parts and not really the labor. A full suspension overhaul and wheel bearings at an independent Porsche shop can easily cost $6,000. A dealer would charge more than the car cost you to buy in the first place. Getting the car below market gives you some cushion on these 'major maintenance' items that seem to come up sooner on cars driven where there is extreme heat or extreme cold weather and rough city roads. But the best is to find a car with low miles even if you have to pay a bit more for it up front. But be careful with cars that have the kind of the mileage that indicate the car just sat for months at a time. With these engines, the car owner needs to keep the habit of frequently runing the car on the road for at least 30 minutes to an hour to burn off all the build up.

Solid advice in there .


I've bought 2 Toyotas on eBay, and sold an F350 and Honda motorcycle on there as well. The Toyotas were weird enough that they didn't get a lot of bids, so it was worth it... but when I sold the truck and bike they both went for more than market value in my area.. So, again worth it but from the other point of view

[husker boxster]

I've bought 4 cars off of ebay - 3 from dealers, 1 private. All have been good. 3 of them were purchased with the intention of reselling, which I was able to do. The 4th was for my sister.

But don't trust AutoCheck. Their report said the car was clean. Didn't bother with CarFax. Later after purchasing the car, did a CarFax and it said there was some paint work on the rear bumper. That wasn't good.