After market warranty advice

Hi there, I am about to do a deal on my first porsche 996. 2003 Carrera 2 with sports exhaust, PCM2, Cabriolet, Bose upgrade, Black with Black leather, Very nice!!!!!! Fingers crossed i get it. Need some advice in terms of who I should use to do the PPI- Jaz or Peter Morgan. Prices differ a lot Has anyone used them? and what would you guys suggest. I plan to buy the car private. I have read up on RMS etc but just want piece of mind. I am not a mechanic or expert. Also i plan to take out an aftermarket warranty and Warranty Direct have quoted £875!!!!!! Can anyone recommend a company? If not does anyone have any experience with Warranty Direct. Thanks

Welcome Tiku. Hope all goes well with the purchase. I'm sure you will get good and bad reports of all warranty companies. Also look at the Hartech Lifetime Maintenance Plan, which makes a lot of sense to me. http://www.hartech.org (I have no affiliation - just hear good reports)

Hi Richard, I will be joining the club fully once I have the car. Thanks for the link. Had look and it sounds great. Only problem is that I am in London and Hartech is in Bolton..... Any ideas who to use for PPI?

I presume the car is in the N. London area, as you mention Jaz. I'm sure they woul do a good job of a PPI. You get what you pay for with PPIs. Peter Morgan does a very thorough inspection, and it is all documented with photos, an HPI report, etc, etc. He checked out my C2 when I sold it, and he took several hours. There are other things you can have done, like a cylinder leakage test or borescope exam, but you would have to pay accordingly, and those tests might not show anything up. It might also pass those tests, and blow up tomorrow, as it is impossible to test everything. It's a second hand car. Buying privately, I would definitely advocate a PPI though, unless you are an experienced Porsche buyer. They will check a lot of bits you won't, and will give an impartial opinion based on the experience of seeing loads of them. It's peace of mind too, that you haven't missed anything obvious.

Personally I would get Jaz to do a PPI as they can put the car up on a ramp and througly check it out. Make sure they also put it on the computer to get all the fault codes, ignitions and mileage from the car's electronics. Jaz will also be abl to tell you what any issues will cost to fix which you can then use in your negotiation. As regards warranty, at the price Warranty Direct have quoted, I would pay the extra £200 and get a Porsche warranty. The only issue with the Porsche warranty is: - the car must not have any non-Porsche parts - you have to wait 90 days before you can take it out - all servicing must be done by Porsche

Richard, & Spy, Thanks for your advice. I spoke to Steve at Jaz after I had booked with Peter Morgan. Jaz request the car comes into them and the present owner would not release the car as its a bit difficult for him. No worries. Peter Morgan is a great guy and seems to have a very good reputation in the business. fingers crossed. Done the deal on the car pending PPI for £21,000. The owner and I have agreed that if anythig major comes out of the PPI we will need to renegotiate the deal or he will need to get the work done. Do you guys think I got a good deal? 2003 Black 996 Carrera 2 Cabriolet. 4 owners, Full PSH. 51,000 miles. Garaged and used as second car. Hardtop, Sports exhaust (Love the sound), PCM, PSM, Full black leather, Bluetooth prep, Electic heated memory seats, Mini chrome pack, Tiptronic, Bose Upgrade. One thing that concerns me is that it was last serviced in 2009 September when it had a major service and spark plugs. It has been driven 3,000 miles since. I thought that teh car needs a service every 12 months or 12,000 miles, but some people are saying that on a 2003 the gap is 24 months. Can someone clarify? In terms of the warranty, Warranty Direct rang me and have offered the cover for £700. Will need to think hard about what I do. Thanks again.

Congratulations. I am not sure as to the price of 996 Cabs these days so can't comment on the price. Yes, with independent specialists like Jaz, you do need to tak the car to them. Peter Morgan should do gpood job though. Make sure he takes the DME readings as well. With regard to servicing, it is the 2004 model year and on that need servicing every 12k miles or 2 years. You can tell if it is a 2004 model year by the VIN number (can be found on the sticker under the bonnet). If it reads WP0ZZZ99Z 4 S......., the 4 tells you it is a 2004 model year.

Hey Spy, Thanks a lot for your help. What is DME? I will email Peter to make sure he checks. Thanks

I used Peter Morgan when buying my 996 C2 and can recommend him. The document you receive after the PPI is very comprehensive. It's correct that more checks are done than you could/would think of doing at the time. I bought with confidence after receiving his report.

DME is essentially the cars ECU, or brain. It stores a lot of information that gives you a clue as to how the car has been used and if it potentially may have been clocked. It includes information on: - Ignitition timings i.e. if the car has been over-revved and how often - Fault codes - Km travelled - how many hours the car has been run for Using the last two, you can also calculate the average speed of the car over its lifetime I am pretty sure Peter morgan should b able to read all this and decipher it for you.

The PPI is booked for tomorrow. I will pop down for the last half hour. As previously written, just worried about the car not being serviced for the past two years. will let you know what happens

Ask Peter's advice as well but I guess only you can decide if you are happy with the gap in the service history. My car is a 2004 model year so comes under the 2 year servucing but it has been serviced every year which gives me the peace of mind that it has been cared for. Either way, budget for a major service and few extras as it will need it if it hasn't been done in 2 years.

PPI Done: No Oil Leaks Visable Need to change coolant Cap to a newer one. Slight Transmission noise on start up - but went away after a few mins. Sports Exhaust permanently engaged - Button on dashboard has no effect. Not serviced in two years A/C at 50% Last serviced - 2009 - No leaks on condensors. DME tests all within range. Rear Brake light on spoiler not working Front side lights not working. Everything else all okay. Can the Sports Exhaust be fixed? Is it a common problem? How much would it cost? Front side lights - bit strange that they are both not working - Any ideas? Should get the report by email tomorrow with HPI and car valuation from Peter. Will decide what to do after I find out if the items listed above can be fixed easily. I have to say a big thanks to Bob Spratley from Peter Morgan Consulting & Peter himself. They have been great and helped me a lot. Would really recommend their service to anyone.

Best thing to do is ask Peter Morgan estimated cost of the diagnosis and fixes as he has seen the car and is best placed to advise. Jaz, would definitely have been able to suggest likely causes and the range of the costs to fix.

Hope all goes well and you get the car if its the right one for you. RE the warranty i went with warranty wise when my porsche warranty ran out at a cost of £1500 for 25 months. It doesn't seem so bad when you think a porsche warranty is £1300 for a year. I went with warranty wise as my husband had his last car with them and they paid out on every claim so i'm hoping that they will do the same with mine if i need to claim. I increased the labour rate on mine which upped the premium. I also decided against the porsche warranty because of the need to use only porsche parts (such as battery) and the servicing had to be done with them. Even with 25% off the labour costs of £160 per hour thats expensive. They will only warrant cars up to 9 years old and i haven't had to claim as yet so can't speak for the service on mine, in the end i just wanted to make sure if the engine blew up it was covered! Good luck