I Bought My 996 Back Today!
 

Sold it two weeks ago: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/56021-Good-Bye-996-a.html

I bought it back today.

Well, actually the new owner called today and asked me to buy it back from him.

Here is the story:

Two weeks ago, we agree on a very low price (under the $10K that I was originally asking). I gave him that price because he's a friend and I know that the car needs a few things fixed. This way, he can fix them and not immediately be underwater financially.

We meet for him to see the car. He drives it and loves it. I showed him the CEL for a SAI system fault. He was ok with that. I told him that other things would eventually need replacement like the shocks and maybe water pump/t-stat, wheel bearings, etc. I told him not to buy the car if he can't afford $3,000 per year to keep it running. He says ok, no problem, he can afford it.

He pays and I give him the title. A few days later he calls and says that the driver's side window isn't dropping correctly and that the airbag light has come on. He wants to know what I plan to do about it.

I tell him, no worry. I make arrangements for him to take the car to my local indy and I agree to pay for the repairs ($1,000). He's a friend and I want him to be happy with the car so I take care of him.

When he calls the shop to check on the repair status, the shop tells him about a few other things that they found during the standard inspection. Those items add up to $4,800 and he freaks out. :eek:

So, what is on the $4,800 list? The big hitters were;

• Tie rod end replacement
• Sway bar end links
• Alignment
• Clutch
• Water pump

Of course, the quote is at list price so everything adds up fast.

I explain to him that none of those repairs has to be done immediately! The clutch is fine - the shop put it on the list solely because of the high mileage. Similar situation with the tie rod ends, sway bar end links, and alignment; they are fine for now but should be replaced whenever the shocks and suspension is refreshed. The water pump is seeping a little and will need to be done within 90 days but I tell him that its a $200 DIY and I'll help him do it.

Further, I explain that he got the car so cheap that even if he put the full $4K into it, he'd still be ahead financially.

And I tell him that if I buy it back, I'm going to DIY the water pump, skip everything else, and immediately sell the car for 50% more than he paid. I ask him if he wants to sell the car himself "as is" and make that profit himself.

He says no, he'd really like to get his money back.

Ok. No problem.

And that is how I bought my 996 back today!

He bought a 996 for less than 10k and was upset it needed $4000 in work???

Someday. Not today. Not tomorrow. But someday it would need that.

I wish I was in the position to buy your porsche, Unfortunately I am not. :mad:

Hopefully he did not do the title transfer and you only have to apply for a lost title to get a new title.

Good grief. You could have him do the AOS, the IMS/RMS, plugs, coils, brakes, clutch, tires and all the stuff the mechanic listed and still be in good shape at that price.

Why you don't sell to a friend.

Your friend sounds ungrateful or really didnt know what he was getting into.

Friendship ends over women, money and cars really quick! I think you did right, there were no secrets to begin with, hell, I would buy the car and fix the things....

Your local indy would lose my business over that debacle. What was wrong on the air bag and window that required $1,000 to fix?

Man...if you weren't so far away, I'd buy it in a heartbeat! :eek:

That guy doesn't know what he lost. All of those things are trivial.

Class act as usual.

Well you have to look at it from the perspective of someone who is no doubt a combination of a very financially conservative person and someone that doesn't have the ownership wisdom of these cars that we have.
Also, if you tell that person that routine and non-immediate repairs will cost half the car's cash purchase price, even at a cheaper-than-the-dealer shop, well that will give 99% of the public goose bumps. They will no doubt question the tail that such a commitment can involve and will want to make a run for the exits. I'm honestly not the least bit surprised by his decision. It's like selling a fairly routine stock investment to someone who has no appetite for risk and a mortal fear of the known unknowns. These people should buy Miatas. Lots of fun, sleep easy at night. To a person with a tool box and good deal of Porsche knowledge a $10K 996.1 may seem like a good deal. To Joe Public it can be a terrifying liability which could leave them with a fancy roller/patio furniture. Hence why the market for water-cooled Porsches is one of excess supply relative to the small number of buyers with nerve and cash.

Yes, exactly the situation!

Well what did he expect?

If you buy a used sports car that was new 100.000 USD + you'll get expensive repair bills - allways.

Your friend sounds like a little cry baby B i at ch - and thats another reason to never sell a car or anything that can break down to friends- specially little whiny ones like that sorry sack

I Bought My 996 Back Today!
 

Hey, be easier on the guy. Sounds like he just needed a reality check real quick. Rather than hating on him, let's commemorate Stone for being a really good friend and handling it all well. Id be very grateful for the cooperation if I was the friend.

People that can not do a good deal of their own maintenance should not be buying high milage Porsches. The dealers and even many indies are so ridiculous with their repair prices and finding new prices and blowing their importance all out of perspective that they scare them to death. I doubt that any one of us has a car with 50,000 miles on it that a dealer couldn't find 4 to 5 thousand dollars worth of repairs that they deem needed. Most of which can be prioritized over time. I certainly could not own 3 Porsches and put 40,000 miles a year on them if I had to pay a dealer to maintain them.
I also agree that selling to a friend is not a great idea. I sold an 04 boxster S with 18 thousand miles on it to my neighbor over 4 years ago after I let him drive it and he fell in love with it and he still comes back to me for all his maintenance and oil changes after he has put over 40 thousand miles on it. I really do not mind doing it at all as we travel and socialize with them regularly. In 4 years he has only had to go to an indie once for a fuel system valve problem (something over $500) when I was out of town. I can see very soon that there is going to be a good bit more that he will need and he has no mechanical skills. Not sure where it will go then.

I agree. It's not like any money was lost in the deal by either side. Stone, I think you did the right thing.

I do not agree. "Friendo" has some cahones asking him to buy it back. Maybe sell it, but buy it back?? Bail me out?? Save my arse?? Hell no. MAYBE if there was some profit in it for me like this situation, but this 'friend' has some nerve and no word to stand by. I would burn it and take the loss before I asked the seller (my friend) to buy it back.

Ummmm, I changed my mind. Thanks for all the hassle of selling it to me and buying it back, bud. Here's a $2 beer.

As Chuck said it was a classy move to buy it back.

If your friend was the editor of Petrolicious.com he certainly did not pay much attention to the content lol. 20 years back I sold a car to a neighbor, apparently I missed the part of the deal where I warranted it. I ended up fixing things on it in my driveway for him over the next two years before I moved, maybe I was a schmuck or too nice of a guy but I didn't want bad blood between us. Good luck on selling it again Tom...........:cheers: