Porsche certified vs. non-certified

I am looking for a 2000-2001 996. I have noticed a big diff in price between the certified and non-certified cars. How big a risk do I run while buying a non-certified car. I am a first time Porsche buyer.

it should cost about $1500 to certify a car - so the difference should not be mmore than that the risk? its all about the warranty...if you get a non cpo car then atleast have an inspection done

Certification cost only about 1,800. Alot of little stuff isn't covered by the cpo with no rhyme or reason as to why. But major components are covered engine, tranny etc.

The CPO costs the dealer roughly $1500 and anything above that is their profit. Negotiate from that. If they refuse to certify it, then either (a) it can't be certified becasue it was in an accident, or (b) they do NOT want to do the necessary "reconditioning" to the car to bring it up to CPO specs. If a dealer can't or won't certify a car for an additional $1500 AFTER we have settled on price I would pass. Too many red flags and not worth the risk.

I had a CPO and every repair was covered....nothing wasnt...there is a list on the Porsche site..... The Porsche Approved Limited Warrany offers full peace of mind. Porsche Cars N.A. will repair or replace with a new part distributed by Porsche Cars N.A. any factory-installed part that is faulty in material or workmanship under normal use. Warranty coverage is Limited to the following components: Engine (engine block and all engine internal parts but excluding exhaust system) Cooling System Fuel System Electrical System Transmission Drive Train Suspension and Steering ABS Brake System Brake System Heater/ Air Conditioner The warranty does not cover: Wear and tear Emission Control Systems and Corrosion Abuse, accident, acts of nature, competition, racing, or track use or events beyond the manufactures control. Vehicles that have not been serviced in line with the manufacturer�s recommendations. So it covers basically what the original warranty covers.....If you have gotten the run around with a CPO warranty, go to a different dealer. I say GET THE CPO car....it will only cost you a few thousand more at the most and if you are a good negotiator and find the right car (ie the one that has been on the lot 60-90 days) then you can get it at a good price...I got mine below blue book retail with a CPO warranty included....In the 2 years you own the car, I can almost guarantee you will use the warranty, at the very least you can have all minor issues checked out...I had a motor replaced as well as TONS of other things....it would have cost me about 30k in repair bills.....

Good advice....A CPO cars cannot have been in an accident and all the service must be done and up to date, brakes, tires, clutch all that must be over 50% so you know all those things are ok...I just replaced my pads...2 years after I bought it, same clutch....it had brand new tires on it....Those kinds of things could cost you 3-5k right off the bat....add in a service if it needs it and you could be in for 7k in bills within 3-6 months.

How big a risk do I run while buying a non-certified car. It's a lot like asking how big a risk do I run by not having medical insurance. IMO it's important to have some time of warranty coverage for any car that represents a significant purchase for you. I do have friends who have 993s that aren't under warranty but they are able to do almost all of the maintenace work themselves, and the 993s are their weekend cars. So if there's a major problem and it takes them a few weeks to make a repair, it's not a big deal.

In order for the dealer to certify it, they have to do some work in replacing brake pads and tires to bring it up to the requirements for Porsche certifiation. Thus the higher cost. Some cars aren't worth it so the dealers won't attempt to get them certified as the cost won't be recouped.

Just so the original poster isnt misled, this statement above is entirely untrue. The CPO warranty doesnt cover a lot of stuff. The specific parts list IS available and you will notice a lot of stuff missing. If something isnt covered, its not that the dealership is giving you the run around at all. Its the fact that Porsche will bounce back a warranty claim in a heartbeat if a dealer tries to push a part through warranty thats not covered. Its completely black and white. Its not like a goodwill warranty where if you're a good customer they'll take care of a repair for you. No matter who you are, if the part id of the part that needs to be repaired isnt on the list of covered parts, you are out of luck, period. However, the CPO warranty does cover a lot of expensive things that would cost you an arm and a leg if you didnt have it.... such as the engine, transmission, rear main repairs etc. I do think it is worthwhile to have but don't make the mistake in assuming that its the same as the original factory warranty because you'll be rudely surprised when your window regulator (not covered by CPO) takes a dump and you get a 500 dollar estimate for the repair.

Ummmm according to the Porsche website, the window regulator would be covered...how about a coolant tank? Conv. top latch? door locks? MAF and 02 sensors? exhaust gaskets? all covered under cpo for me....its not misleading according to the Porsche website the only things not covered are wear items...thats thingslike brake pads and rotors, clutch, interior wear, etc...a window regulator isnt a wear item....it says it covers the entire electrical system...Now I was told on a few occasions that it would not be covered, when I quoted the CPO packet I got in the mail from Porsche, they then said, you are right its covered....I have heard of dealers charging a $100 deductable per CPO repair, but there is no deductable...dealers do what they can get away with...not misleading the guy, just informing him....I have a pretty good knowledge of this stuff with 30k in CPO repairs in 2 years....

...Now I was told on a few occasions that it would not be covered, when I quoted the CPO packet I got in the mail from Porsche, they then said, you are right its covered....I have heard of dealers charging a $100 deductable per CPO repair, but there is no deductable...dealers do what they can get away with. How true. It's up to us as buyers to do our own due dilligence. I had one Porsche Dealer who wanted to charge me $3000 for a CPO, but he was willing to reduce it to $2500 if I bought today. When I asked another Dealer, the salesman told me that they charged $2K but admitted that there was some profit in that price, and he gave me some CPO warranty literature that specified the coverage was the same as the original Porsche warranty for an extended two years, up to a max of 100K miles. There was no mention of any deductables. Even at $2K, CPO is a great deal IMO.

First there is a misnoner here, It does not necessarily cost $1500 or $2000 to CPO. CPO starts with an inspection that costs around $200. From here the car has to be brought up to the proper standard before it is certified. I made the deal to have my car CPO for $2K before they did the inspection. I signed the deal and put a deposit down before the CPO. After the inspection, they had to replace one of the front radiator scoops, the tires, the front brakes, the clutch and so a full 30K service because they could not find the service record for it. It cost them $3800 (I have all the service paperwork) to CPO a car they charged $2K to do it for. At $2K they are doing all right as long as they don't have to put any money in it. Pretty much anyone with over 25K miles is going to need something to go through CPO. Tires, brakes and clutches are most common.

Actually, there IS a cost to the dealer to CPO the car and that fee is charged by PCNA. It is roughly $1500 dealer cost. There is NO $200 inspection. they inspect at their OWN dealer with their own labor. The cost to bring a car up to CPO standard is where the higher costs come into play. Which is why I say if a dealer is NOT willing to CPO the car then I wouldn't buy it since they show NO care whatsoever in bringing the car to tip shop shape for you and rather just pass it along in the "unknown" condition it was before.

Tomorrow (Sunday, July 16) will be my "two-week anniversary of owning my '03 996. It is a CPO car, and so far, the dealer (Champion) has been great about fixing the little stuff like a broken visor, mysterious screens on the AC and replacing the stereo amp. Granted, they SHOULD have had all that fixed before I rolled off the lot, but the point is tthey have an attitude of "don't sweat it, you're covered, and we'll fix it as long as you don't try a U-Boat Commander stunt ala Risky Business." yes, CPO cost a bit more, but I know the car is covered for the next 3 years, which is a huge amount of peace of mind. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

CPO really helped me,after a month of ownership, they replaced the engine because of a defect. Was worth the extra I paid for the car.

Just my $0.02: I wouldn't get all hung about about CPO vs. non-CPO. You can get a good car through both channels. CPO You pay a little more because it's only available through a Porsche dealer and it only covers major components (ask for the list). What you get is less hassle because it's 1 stop shopping and it's backed up by PCNA. non-CPO The option to buy the car from anybody=better price. More work/risk to you to get a PPI and 3rd party warranty, but you have the option to buy bumper to bumper warranty. Neither covers wear and tear, crash damage or quality issues. Although in theory PCNA won't CPO a car with repaired major crash damage or existing mechanical issues. As others have pointed out, a Porsche dealer who refuses to CPO a car they are selling is a big red flag. Which 3rd party warranty company is another topic, but ask your local Porsche dealer or whomever you plan to service your car for a recommendation. FWIW I chose Warranty Direct on the recommendation of a Porsche service writer (they don't sell it) and I just had my RMS done and paid for without issue.

If you're talking about the brochure for CPO Porsche has on its website, I've read it and its very generic. CPO warranty will cover the power window motor but not the window regulator. They are seperate part ids and the window regulator is not covered. Look, I never said it didnt cover a lot of stuff.... because it does. What I am saying is its not the same as the orignal factory warranty. Ill try and get a hold of the part id list and post it here so you can see exactly what is covered and what isnt.

My favorite is they cover the cooling "system" but NOT the damn plastic coolant reservoir tank! Last time I checked wasn't that "part" of the cooling "system"????? When mine was replaced I under CPO I had to get the tank CPO's and I paid the labor. Came about to the same price as if I bought the damn tank and did it myself.

Really Dell...mine was replaced under CPO....maybe my dealer just did alot of extra work....

Seriously, then tank is NOT covered. I was able to get the tank but not the labor goodwill'd. I was shocked. You dealer must have goodwill'd the whole shabang!

Yeah....and funny my tank is leaking and I gave them HELL about it just getting out warranty and it happening again...and by their response to my rants, it lookes like they will cave in and replace it for free if I yell a little more...they said its a new design that is reinforced and they checked my part number and it is indeed the old part....maybe they felt bad that it should have been the new part....

If they installed the replacement tank it is warrantied for two years from installation regardless of the cpo. Cpo does not cover coolant tank, and window regulators and probably a whole bunch more. It seems its there for the truly big ticket items, i.e. trany, engine, but its hit or miss with no rhyme or reason for anything else.

Yes, the tank would be covered for 2 years ONLY if it was replaced OUTSIDE of the warranty period. If ANYTHING is repaired during the warranty period it EXPIRES at the conclusion of the warranty period every if the warranty period expires the following day. Sad, but true.

no thats not the way the warranty works with Porsche....If you have a warraty item replaced, no matter when under the warranty, the day the warranty ends, is the day the warranty ends on all parts replaced. So is you have a repair the day before the warranty replaced, and the day after the warranty expires it fails, you are responsible...there is no gray area, and its cut and dry, black and white. There is a 2 year warranty on parts replaced OUT of warranty, but the warranty on all parts replaced under warranty ends when the warranty on the car ends.

and the day after the warranty expires it fails, you are responsible...there is no gray area, and its cut and dry, black and white Although your statement is generally true, Porsche will sometimes replace defective parts for free after the warranty expiration.

Looks like we both were typing up the rebuttal to jb26jb's post at the same time

in otherwords......GOODWILL.

My dealer also refused to replace my coolant tank under CPO. So, I DIY'd it.

Yep.

Yes, I agree. I just became a Porsche owner a few days ago. If seemed to me CPO cars where priced 5k to 10k more than what you could get w/o CPO. A month ago I looked at a 2000 Cab and the Porsche dealer wanted $40k for it as is, or $46k for CPO which would include the 60k service. I passed.

u just void your CPO

???

Ok I have a PDF that has a lot of good information about the CPO warranty including the Part ids for covered parts. If you notice, its says CPO warranty does not cover any parts not expressedly named in this list. Unfortunately I dont have hosting and its too big to attach. Can anyone help me get this out?

Thanks all for some great advice. I will be moving to NY in the autumn and my (potential) 996 would be used as a daily driver. I would therefore like to hear about opinions on winter tyres and winter driving in NY. I am moving from Scandinavia and therefore driving in snow/ice with "normal" cars is not really an issue.