Assessing Damage in used 987 purchase?

[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).