Look at 02 C4 Cab in Denver?

Hi. I'm on the hunt for an 02/03 Cab and found an 02 in Denver. It's posted on ebay, item #230042234966. Seems fairly priced if it is clean. I spoke with the sales guy (Kevin) at the dealership, and he stated that it is a one owner trade-in. Said the previous owner traded it in for a Gallardo Spyder!! Claims the car is super clean and has been regularly serviced at Stevinson. I plan to call Stevinson to see if I can extract any service records from them. Some questions for you all: 1) I'm in northern California, so before I fly in to check it out/buy the car, I wanted to get some thoughts on how hard Denver weather, roads, etc. are on cars. Do they viciously salt the roads like they do in the midwest/northeast? Having lurked around on this site, I know there is a enthusiastic contingent of folks in the Denver area who might have some opinions on Denver/CO used vehicles? 2) Any recommendations for a trustworthy, knowledgeable independent mechanic in Denver for a PPI? 3) Would any Denver locals be kind enough to go check it out an give it a once over? Might be fun to visit a Lamborghini dealer...you might end up with a new toy... Also, although I'm a newbie, I'm proud to say that I am now a newbie member!!! It's probably not yet reflected in my info, though. Anyway, been freeloading on the information on this site long enough, figured it was time to splurg the $18 and join. Hopefully, I'll even have a P-car someday soon. Thanks for reading and any advice you have.

Good questions. Since I'm hopefully picking up my C4 coupe today, I'll take a crack at answering. 1- Colorado isn't a big salt state... gets too cold in the mountains. Instead our DOT uses sand and this mag-chloride liquid goop. Nasty crust on windshields but I think that's about it. 2- I started a thread on this last week. Search on "PPI in Denver". Due to scheduling stuff I ended up using Bob @ Euroservice. Very thorough and reasonable rates too. PM me for his #. 3- I'm a n00b too so you'll want someone with a bit more experience to look. Maybe one of the cab owners can fit it in. Good luck. She certainly is pretty.

Ride67 - Welcome to the Rennlist Family! I hope this car works out for you. You might want to PM Tim Wasmer. He lives in Denver and has been very helpful here on Rennlist.

I would worry more about stone chips on the front end.

I will be driving right by there this AM.. I will stop and look at it for you PM porschespeeddemon as he is a Mechanic here in Denver AND works for Stevinson.

The roads are not salted..a couple of years go they started using some chemical, but most P-car drivers avoid driving with that stuff down. The biggest problem is gravel (sand) which will sand blast the front end. Orrin at Eurosport Ltd. in Englewood [phone removed]. Stevinson guys ar OK too. Looks like you got a volunteer. Good luck!

Thanks Tim; I appreciate it a lot. I called Bob at Euroservice based on Teutonic's recommendation and am set to have the sales guy take the car there on Monday morning for a PPI assuming the car doesn't sell this weekend. Bob seemed like a decent/knowledgeable guy on the phone. I also called Stevinson and they told me the car had the 30k service done last month, and had the RMS done in Sept. 2005, and appeared to have otherwise been regularly serviced. Assuming the car looks decently clean (e.g., front end not "sandblasted", no major dents/dings, etc.) and the PPI doesn't uncover anything unusual, I think I'll be buying it on Monday, flying in next weekend to pick up and drive back (no major snowstorms, hopefullly...). My only other concerns are minor (do they have the windscreen (it is on the option list although I didn't see it in the usual place in the trunk in the pictures), all manuals, all keys, floormats, etc.), and can hopefully be resolved via a quick call with the sales guy. Thanks for all your help, and I'll keep you posted.

Ok. I looked it over and it is in perfect condition. New tires, no nicks or dings. Windshield is good, no wear on the interior. Smells good (i.e. no smoke or attempt to cover it). The ONLY thing is that the engine compartment is DIRTY, not just dusty but FILTHY. Like the previous owner lived on a dirt road. But it is clean in all other areas. If it were me I would put a deposit on it and let the PPI roll. Did not talk to any sales guys. The car was open so I gave it a real look over. Hope that helps some

Thanks Tim, that's good to hear. Bizarre about the engine compartment; you may be on to something with your dirt road theory. I'll schedule the PPI for Monday and let you all know what it turns up. Enjoy the weekend.

Tim,that was very nice of you. This is why a stay on rennlist !

Yup. Others have helped me out before. Besides it is nice looking at cars...........and I tell my wife it is for someone else I get no hassle

SOOOOOO What happened?

Short answer: Flying in on Saturday morning to pick it up and drive it back to NorCal. Longer answer: Based in part on Tim's visual inspection (Thanks again, Tim!!), I had a PPI done at EuroService. PPI basically confirmed Tim's assessment and turned up nothing unusual. No signs of paint or bodywork. New tires, brakes at 50% or better. Clutch felt strong. No codes in the computer. Interior in excellent shape. Exterior in great shape, a couple of chips on front end, one minor scratch (about 1" long) at the bottom at one of the rear bumperettes. It's sort of surreal buying a car that I haven't seen, but thanks to knowledge gained on Rennlist, Tim's willingness to give the car a once over, and the PPI, I feel surprisingly confident in the purchase. Next question for any who have driven from Denver to San Francisco: I basically have 2 days to do the drive so I have to stick to interstates. I would like to take the I-70 route through Grand Junction/Southern Utah and Vegas since I have never driven that before. The alternate is heading up the I-25 to catch I-80 through Salt Lake City/Reno, etc. I've driven the 80 route several times, so I'm not real crazy about doing it again. I think the 80 route may be marginally (about 1 hour?) faster assuming no weather issues. Do you think that is an accurate assessment? Should I have any concerns about taking I-70 through the Rockies this time of year?

Just did the I-80 trek myself...not the most scenic but definitely the fastest. I-70 may be an issue since we've gotten some good snow the last couple of weeks or so. I've taken the southern route I-5S to I-40E to I-25N...much more scenic...you'll notice New Mexico is one giant Indian Reservation (i.e. casinos and what not)...no offense to our Native Americans . If you've got spare time, bring a lady friend or just a friend to keep you company and do an overnite in Vegas ;-). Good Luck!! p.s. Ditto on Tim's contribution. I'm still in love with that red 996 C4S he once had..its on my desktop ;-).

Once had.................sob Well the weatehr should be nice so my vote would be for I-70. Will give you some curves and hills to play on and learn your car. If the weather changes then hit 80 but as of now it looks like we will have a great weekend. One thing I might suggest is getting a clear bra on it. You may pick up road rash on the way back. PM me if you want help with this as my guy could do it before you get here (and he is not expensive). Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS

If you do take I-70 and hop on I-15 south at Beaver you've got a straight shot to Vegas before heading to Bakersfield.....Road Trip!!!!!

Take a look at the CDOT site, has some webcams which can give you an idea of road conditions and snow at various points along I-70: http://www.cotrip.org/atis/web.Zoomb...CTV&Zoombox=13 By the way, magnesium chloride is salt too, just not table salt. It's less corrosive but still corrosive. I'm sure your car is fine, just FYI. Have a fun, safe drive home!

ride67, how did everything go??

I may have to take you up on that. I was looking at the bra on mine today and it has deflected enough rocks that it is starting to have pits.

Let me know