About to take the plunge...

[Brucelee]

Great list for you.

If you have the PPI done at a Porsche dealer (I recommend this) many of the issues Pete raises can be handled during the PPI.

Good luck'

[Wintermute]

Yes, this is some great stuff I've been getting from Pete! And it's actually not a Porsche dealer that is doing the inspection, but rather CarFax's Inspection and Road Test service. This isn't exactly ideal, but I live 2 hours away from the car so getting over there to do an inspection myself is difficult. With the CarFax deal, they send someone to the car and give it a full cosmetic and mechanical inspection, and then do a road test to ensure there are no problems with the driveability.

It may not be as good as a Porsche dealer/mechanic, but it should turn up anything serious that might need to be looked into further or tell me to simply walk away. Plus it saves me making a 2 hour drive to find out that something is wrong.

Anyway, now I have a really great list of things to check off and look at when/if I return to give the car a final look. The upside is there is another car I found that is second on my list (due to the color mostly) if this deal falls through. I am hellbent on getting a Boxster if you couldn't tell

[denverpete]

I have to tell you - Carfax isn't going to give you the information you really need. There's a reason you only take P-cars to P-car mechanics and you don't get the oil changed at Jiffy-Lube. The "other guys" might be fine with "other" cars - but not these.

There's a reason why people on this forum always recommend a PPI from a Porsche dealer - because it's the only way to truly get peace of mind. Granted, it's not fool proof and it's not necessarily cheap either. A Porsche dealer is going to know what to look for. I actually doubt that the Carfax guys will even know how to get in to look at the engine (hint: if they go to open the front or rear trunk - you're in trouble).

I'm not trying to scare you - but as constantly mentioned - these are not cheap cars to maintain. Why start off in the hole (See Also: RandallNeighbor).

Oh yeah, check out Randall's website. It's got some great info!

Don't be afraid to ask questions and get answers. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Brucelee]

Car fax will not do the trick.

The car needs to go up in the air and a Porsche mechanic needs to go UNDER neath the car, where all the trouble lies.

Moreover, the PPI needs to include a paint inspection with a paint meter.


Repaired damage is a BIG DEAL!

Good luck!

[Wintermute]

Well should I cancel the CarFax inspection and just take it to a Porsche dealer? Am I wasting my time and $$ with a CarFax inspection?

Here's another problem: The only time I can get up there to take it to the dealer is on Sundays, and they are closed. (I live in Tucson and the car is in Phoenix) Any suggestions?

[Wintermute]

Ok, here's an alternative situation. I just stumbled on a 2002 Boxster S that looks really good (in pics anyway :P) that I'm going to take a look at today (33k miles, dark blue w/ tan interior, $30k asking price ). Now this car still has 4 months of the original warranty remaining. Since the car is still under warranty, how stringint of a PPI should I have done? The beauty of this one is: It's local, so I can take it to get inspected much easier than the other one. So should I still take it to the Porsche dealer?

This one is more expensive but with the remaining factory warranty I think it might be worth it since this will essentially be my primary car. I've already asked about most of the questions that were mentioned here, but haven't got a reply yet (sent an e-mail).

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by Wintermute

Ok, here's an alternative situation. I just stumbled on a 2002 Boxster S that looks really good (in pics anyway :P) that I'm going to take a look at today (33k miles, dark blue w/ tan interior, $30k asking price ). Now this car still has 4 months of the original warranty remaining. Since the car is still under warranty, how stringint of a PPI should I have done? The beauty of this one is: It's local, so I can take it to get inspected much easier than the other one. So should I still take it to the Porsche dealer?

This one is more expensive but with the remaining factory warranty I think it might be worth it since this will essentially be my primary car. I've already asked about most of the questions that were mentioned here, but haven't got a reply yet (sent an e-mail).

Yes, I would still recommend a PPI at a Porsche dealer.