Assessing Damage in used 987 purchase?

[Brucelee]

These are all good points.

Originally Posted by husker boxster

+1 on that.

For every quality repair shop there are at least 5 hack shops. Some of the hack shops are pretty good at hiding their corner cutting. I also agree with Brucelee, have someone who knows what their looking at check it out. Extra investigating and precautions are in order.

But if its had a quality repair done, there's no reason you shouldn't consider this car. C'mon, stuff happens (a piece of space junk is going to land on someone next month). Maybe the PO had it fixed back to factory specs but just wouldn't ever drive a car that's been in an accident. That doesn't mean the car should be sent to the crusher. But the purchase price needs to be lower than what you listed.

If you buy it and keep it for many years and drive it lots of miles, the fact that is was in an accident will be less of an issue when it comes time for you to sell or trade it. I don't mean that it's totally washed clean, I mean that it proves the car was repaired properly and didn't cause you any problems. However, if you buy it and quickly find it's junk, you'll never be able to sell it. That would be way too suspicious to any sane prospective buyer. At that point you might as well start parting it out and eat your losses.

My Dad and I rebuilt wrecked cars when I was a kid 30+ years ago. I always drove nice cars that were a couple years old and very low mileage. I made money on the first 4 cars I owned. Pretty good for high school and college kid, but it was all possible because we repaired damaged cars. However, cars have changed, the methods to fix them have changed, and the materials have changed. The one constant is 1 good shop to every 5 bad shops.

Caveat emptor.

[larryshomework]

Some updated info:

Looked at the car today - here's what I know or was told.

Title is clean
Dealer is a wholesaler - bought it from a local VW dealer that took it on trade
Dealer claims about accident - fender bender that resulted in bumper replacement/repaint and blend with fender.

Prior to purchase I would:

get PPI
get qualified body shop inspect body repair and inspect suspension/frame to verify it was was only body work.
contact original owner (local) to verify accident.

I know how this stuff impacts resale - my neighbor backed into my 325i - needed to replace the rear door and paint across 2 body panels (door and rear fender). As a result, it could not be certified by BMW which hit about 1500 on the trade value even though the repair was excellent. On the otherhand, the car was fine and no one would ever know without an honest owner.

The discount is very good on this car compared to inventory within a 250 mile radius. Ask price is 43K - sticker was 73. Most similarly equipped I've seen are upper 40s - low 50s.

I probably won't buy it due to color. But if it truly was just a bumper replacement, that wouldn't stop me.

[boxs2000]

A police report is public information. Does car fax show the date of the accident? Maybe you can go to the police department if local and buy a copy of the report.

[mikefocke]

see if you can find the repair paperwork that lists the work done and the parts replaced.

My '01 Boxster was hit in the rear by a car at perhaps 10MPH. A picture taken after the accident shows no damage you can detect. The initial repair estimate was 3k$. There was no metal body part damaged or painted, all in the bumper, bumper supports and muffler tail pipes.

Now this might show up the same way the one you are looking at does.

Or it could be like my '99 whose front hit the rear of a truck and they stopped counting the repairs at $26k and totaled it. That car may have gone somewhere to be rebuilt, the title cured and sold and might well have been a fine car for someone. Or it might have been parted out. Who knows.


So if you can find out who did the work or perhaps who owned the car. Otherwise, for $3k, why take the risk.

[larryshomework]

At this point for me, a discussion with the owner and the original dealer that took the trade is a must.

The price difference is about 6-8K comparing to comparably equipped models. That in and of itself makes me skeptical.

[saaber]

Originally Posted by larryshomework

At this point for me, a discussion with the owner and the original dealer that took the trade is a must.

The price difference is about 6-8K comparing to comparably equipped models. That in and of itself makes me skeptical.

You are on the right track! Discussing the car with the owner tells you a lot about it in addition to the damage Q. Age, driving style, is he a maintenance nut?, etc., etc. I personally think are important factors. It also gives you peace of mind to know a car's history. You may have mentioned below, but does it have documented maint. history? The owner can shed light on that as well. If the owner had an accident you can bet he can probably tell you exactly how much it cost, what was replaced, etc. as I don't think you would forget those details on a Porsche and it is a good bet he has the invoices or can send you to the body shop who may have them. Sooo nice to see the actual documents (kind of like seeing the 30k maint. invoices rather than just the little stamp in the maint. book).