Private Seller vs CPO

Never having considered a 3-4 year old car before, I am looking at two options. The cars in question would be low milage models, say, between 5 and 15000 miles. The CPO would give the extended warrenty, but at a significant cost. or Private sale would give the balance of the factory warrenty, and save significant costs. I have questions on the following: Is the rear main seal (and all other leaks) covered under warrenty? If it is not leaking now, am I safe, or will they all leak? Is it possible to buy the car privately, and add on to the factory warranty later? If the motor "blows up", what would the out of pocket be?

I do have to ask: What do you intend on doing so that the engine will "blow up"? Sounds like you may be the best candidate for the CPO just so you can have some peace of mind. of course, CPO doesn't cover negligence and abuse so please refrain from downshifting at 7K rpms

From reading the threads here, it seems like the 996 motor likes to let go. The car will be used for normal driving, with some limited spirited driving on the weekend. No track or autocross.

Similar boat. Always just leased and turned it back in. So I bought a 02 c4s with only 13,000 miles on it from a dealership. After only having it for a month it needed to have the entire engine replaced luckily under warranty. Asked what caused the engine to need replacing and the answer i got was "these things sometimes happen?"WTF. RMS-They say the 3rd generation of seals actually work, but only time will tell. Not covered unless the car is still under warranty but if you live in europe I hear they are fixing them with no questions asked whether under warranty or not. Its funny that porsches sell for so much but they can't seem to make a little rubber seal actually work. Watch out for the after market warranty companies. Do a search. You'll see a lot of guys got screwed over when their companies went under. The only safe way to go is through porsche. chances are they'll be around in a couple of years. Nothing if its under warranty.

After only having it for a month it needed to have the entire engine replaced luckily under warranty. Asked what caused the engine to need replacing and the answer i got was "these things sometimes happen?"WTF I agree. What the hell is going on. I tried to get some info on 996 engine replacements from JD Powers, but they defered my question to PCNA. The naieve JD Powers guy e-mailed me that he's confident that the PCNA rep would give me all the info I wanted. Well, it's been three weeks and surprise, surprise, but nothing from PCNA.

Previous Owner of the car I bought had engine blow at 30,000 miles. The cost to replace was around $12,000. Then the RMS went on new engine one month later, I hope that is it for the car......

You're kidding, right? There are a few guys here with some horror stories, but everyone else talks about their cars being pretty bulletproof. Sorry to sound terse, but did you do any searches on CPO and Private party sales here? There are a ton of posts about these topics on this site. Also, an RMS repair is less than $1,500, and that's IF it happens. A bad RMS will only kill your engine if you drive it without oil. My wife just did $2k worth of damage to my Chevy Tahoe in a parking structure, so $1,500 mishaps or problems can happen with any car. This all said, CPO gives you comfort if you don't know who drove it. Private party sales can be nice if you meet the person who drove it, as you can get a feel for how they treated and maintained the car. Verify anything they tell you against records with Porsche of from their mechanic if oil changes and whatnot were done at an independent shop. And...if the car is in good shape, you can pay to get it certified later. I recommend the CPO process over third party warranties, but some people will probably disagree. Or you could read the posts here about how a couple warranty places went out of business and then extrapolate that to say that 3rd party warranty companies like to go out of business.

Here is another engine repleacement guy...Bought a CPO 99 C4 Cab that was flawless, low miles...no RMS, great service records, local car, yadda yadda yadda....within 6 months, I had an intermix problem....Engine replaced under warranty. There were a bunch of other things fixed under warranty as well. I say go CPO.....I can almost GUARANTEE it will pay for itself. The difference between a private party and a well negotiated CPO deal should be no more than a few thousand dollars. My CPO covered, rear tires, coolant tank, coolig fans, oil leak, 02 Sensor, MAF sensor, exhaust gasket, coolant hose, top rattles, top latch, window motor, and maybe a few other things.....the bottom line is in 2 years it has paid for itself...

blackcab- Did your wife have anything to do with your tahoe needing to be fixed? There is nothing you can do to prevent a RMS that needs to be replaced. Sounds a little different than what happened with your tahoe. Plus a tahoe doesn't have the same price as a porsche. wouldn't expect to get the same workmanship/quality from a chevy. For $100,000 or whatever you would think you would buy a rubber seal that actually works. Its a rubber seal. how much engineering is involved. newport996-this was posted on a different forum today. WTF! 1999s are known for being leaky due to poor engine manufacturing at the Porsche plant due to a machine that had been dropped and miscalibrated and continued to be used. No, no, no. You've got it all wrong. The m96 block, the core of the 996 series, is made by mating a left and right block. Essentiually mirror image. Well, they messed up, and actually put the machines that make the right block together, and the machines that make the left block together, rather than putting a leftand right machine together. Too expensive to undo, they just turned one side around to make do, see? The m96 block also goes on to the 997 series, just bored out to 3.8L for the S series. So, some 996/997 blocks are actually both rights, and some are both lefts. And that's why they leak Has anyone heard this before?

no have not heard of this.....I actually have 100k on the clock and this is the best car I have owned....I just said get a warranty as long as you can.....

Yes, the wife crashed the Tahoe. That said, other than this driver error, the Chevy is the most reliable and low maintenance car I have owned, and I have owned Honda, Acura, BMW, and now Chevy and Porsche. The Porsche requires the most care and is the highest risk cost wise if something happens, but I love it more than any car I have owned or considered owning. I agree the RMS is a problem that theoretically shouldn't exist. But, I can't believe the fear and paranoia surrounding it. If you can avoid a car that can cost from 50k to $100k and is a luxury item, you should be able to afford to fix an RMS problem. I'm sure everyone is aware that Ferraris cost more than Porsches, and the maintenance cost is significantly higher, but people still buy every one that is made. I make a good living, but I'm not necessarily "rich", so I curse any unforseen repair bills on cars, houses, kids, and more. But...this issue just drives me crazy, as there should be other factors that people consider when buying this car. For example, if you park in unprotected areas during day or night, you're probably at greater risk of vandalism than RMS failure, but noone can stop talking about RMS. Plus, if someone is curious about researching the topic, there are countless threads here that discuss the topic extensively. I love this site and am glad I joined, but every time I see a new thread started that includes this topic, or the topic of engines "blowing up", it drives me nuts. Would there be so many people here talking about their love for their cars if the risks of ownership outweighed the rewards? Anyway, I wish everyone well, I hope noone's engine leaks or blows up, and I hope everyone gets better treadwear, fewer speeding tickets, better cooperation from other motorists on the freeways, and continues to enjoy their cars. Bottom line - my opinion is still "buy a Porsche (and the newest one you can afford)" and if you are worried about engine problems, spend the money on a CPO car.

I think that was what he was looking for. And if there was not warnings of potential problems from us who actually know, not those who are making up **** then this board would be useless...Dont come down on him for asking about potential problems that have plagued the M96, like RMS, and sudden engine failure. Fred, some have actually had a dealer buy the car and then sell it to them with the additional cost of the warranty and inspection. The dealer makes money and gains a customer. Also there are SO many CPO'd cars, you can find the right one and make the right deal..this is key...I got my CPO'd C4 cab for LESS than private party blue book price. This one was on the lot for a while and it was end of month.....

I think that was what he was looking for. And if there was not warnings of potential problems from us who actually know, not those who are making up **** then this board would be useless...Dont come down on him for asking about potential problems that have plagued the M96, like RMS, and sudden engine failure Unfortunately we have only anecdotal info on 996 RMS and engine replacements. Therefore, we have to make a decision based on incomplete data. My opinion is that the majority of 996s will suffer from neither RMS nor engine replacements, but there's a significant minority that will. Therefore, I believe that it's prudent to spend around a couple thousand extra for a CPO car.

Thanks for the feedback on these issues. What worries me about the potential Engine Failure, is that there is no way to find it in a PPI. If the RMS is only about 1500, it is not a show stopper. For a 3-4 year old car, Is it possible to purchase additional warrenty through a Porsche dealer? Do you have to be the original owner, or can anyone get it while the car is still under warrenty?

Everyone's point is valid. Here's my point, and it concurs with the general sentiment of the thread: get CPO if you can afford it. Period.

or, you find a private deal which is 10K less than CPO.

I concur that you should always look for a CPO car first or at least one with some original warrantly left. Knock on wood, but I have owned 5 911's and 1 Boxster over the years with about 225,000 combined miles and have never had any major problems. Two of these were 996's which account for 25,000 of the those miles. Usually the most expensive thing I have had to pay for is the basic service. Still I always like to have that safety net with any car I buy. And I firmly believe if you are willing to shop you can find decent CPO cars at dealers who will be competively priced with private party. The problem is there are dealers that think being a Porsche dealer gives them the right to charge what ever they want. All four of my last 4 Porsches were bought with Porsche warranties at prices well below what the "average dealer" was charging. If you are willing to look you can find what you want at a fair price. On my last purchase there was a $5000 difference in the asking price of similarly priced cars. You really do pay for that nice showroom. Do yourself a favor and find a Porsche dealer with an older not so nice showroom and probably one where the salesmen don't wear suits.

Also there are things that MUST be replaced so it can be certified, like tires, brake pads, fluids, all servicing must be brought up to date....So if you are buying a car that will need a 60k service, tires and brake pads, that is $2500 right there which may be the price difference between a private party and CPO'd dealer car.

I asked the same question a few months ago before making up my mind to go private. Here's why: all the CPO C4S' that were within my budget range had no OEM warranty left because they all were '02 models and time had run out on the comprehensive warranty. The private cars inthe same price range were '03 models and had varying amounts of full factory warranty left. Mine happened to be a late '03 registration and it still has 15 months of full factory warranty. Remember that the CPO is only 24 months from the minute you drive off and is NOT as comprehensive as the full warranty. Whatever you do, buy the newest you can afford, get a complete PPI and get as much history on the car as possible. IMHO, cars that are not lease returns and were purchased by the original owners are generally better cared for.

Remember that the CPO is only 24 months from the minute you drive off and is NOT as comprehensive as the full warranty Tell me it ain't so. The salesman told me that the warranties are identical ,and I know that car salesmen never lie.

Amen on the lease return comment. There are comments on every board that I visit that rule out lease returns for me. I think you would be better off getting a used rental car than some of these cars on lease.

You're quite right. I saw a '03 C4S with 10K Kms on it here in town that looked like it had been driven to hell and back...you guessed it: lease return. There was also another one kicking around Montreal that sounded perfect...even had the X51 pkg. Perfect until I found out that it had been part of a high end rental fleet! I can't even begin to imagine the kind of abuse it might have been subjected to with so many wannabe sports car drivers at the wheel. Buyer beware. But on the flipside, whoever ends up with my CLK 500 after my lease is up, will get a pampered vehicle that's been treated like I bought it ...but then I love and respect fine machines.