Need advice:CPO car vs private seller

I'm still trying to narrow down my choices here: I can get a 2003 C4S from a dealer with 14 months of OEM warranty left and 2 additional years of CPO or I can get a a very similar car from a private seller with about 14 months of OEM warranty left but no CPO. The private vehicle would be substantially less than the dealer's and would save me on the taxes as well. With all the RMS posts, should I bite the bullet, pay more and get the CPO car? Or is one year of warranty enough to shake out any problems with the car. BTW both cars have about 30,000kms. About CPO: is it valid anywhere in N.A.? i.e: if I purchase from a US dealer, can I expect it to be honoured in Canada? The local dealers are muttering about no longer honouring warranties on US imported cars...truth or scare tactics? Any input is, as always greatly appreciated.

For only one year of difference on the warranty, you need to decide on the price difference. For $500, I would go with the dealer car. Anything more, get a PPI and if it checks out go with the private party.

pongo, I recently picked up(less than 1 mos) a new to me 2002 C4 Cab, that has already need work. Based on my experience and other threads/Rennlist, CPO as much as possible!

how much lower? give us a hard number.

about 10 grand less up here (figuring taxes savings into the private sale). Can save more than 15K if I get a US car, import it in and pay exchange, duty, taxes, etc... just have to find the right one south of the border though.

given both cars are the same, option/milege/condition, etc. private is better, cpo along doesn't worth 10K. 4~5K maybe.

Yea 10 k is allot of $$$, buy the private car.To me the warranty is not a deal breaker

private seller. even if your car needed a new motor it'd be a better deal than the CPO car.

Why would it need a new motor?

Pongo, I concur with Paul if the difference is $10K. I'll talk to the master mechanic there at your local porsche service center and see if he'll go with you to check the car for you thoroughly to include him test driving it to test the PSM and ABS and just pay him on the side.

If the dealer was able to compete with a private party deal, then the CPO warranty would be worth about $1500 US. The dealer however must pay for advertising, commissions, and many times bank flooring. He obviously also needs to make a profit to stay in business. I would consider a good dealer negotiated price to be close to Kelly Blue Book private party "excellent "with an additional $1500 for the CPO warranty. Your going to have to really beat the dealer up on preferably the last day of the month in order to get him well off his full pop retail pricing, but it certainly can be done. A private party deal should be no higher then Kelly Blue Book private party "good condition". This is the maximum you should pay for a private party deal. If the person your buying from has had the vehicle on the market for too long, or is highly motivated to sell, then you should be able to get a few thousand more off that price. Only add for blue book adds, never for other mods or items that are not in book. Use those additional mods and toys, or lack of, as items of bargaining. Good Luck, Tom L 2002 C2

Another vote for Private. I have a 996 cab purchased w a year of warranty which was sufficient to work out the kinks including RMS etc. Most RMS happens 15-20k mi. Whatever you decide, look up RMS history in warranty record. If more than one RMS fix, stay away (1 is OK). Also, make sure the original 4 yr warranty is honored in CAN. Call up PCNA a couple of times to verify. The money is substantial so pocket that cash and spend it on tires / mods etc.

Agree, go with the private party unless you can really shrink down the difference. I would always take the extra warranty if it were close. If you already haven't , tell the dealer what the difference is and that unless he closes the gap to a reasonable level you are walking. And if you end up with the private party you have a year to sort it out and find any problems. Worse case you trade in a year and find something else. With the price difference you aren't going to be losing much.

Something to consider.. Is this a one owner car? If it is then you can judge the owner and get a better feel on how he really treated the car.... Saving 10K is not worth it if the car was not taken care of properly or abused.

Buy the car from private party. Put away the 10K you would've spent. Treat that money as your "warranty"

I'm not saying it would, I'm saying rather in the "worst case scenario" you're still ahead.

I found my 2003 C2 from a private party, and then went to my local Porsche dealer and told them to buy, mark it up about $1,500 and sell it to me as a CPO. I also had to replace the 2 rear tires with was about another $1,000. So, I basically got the CPO for about $2,500. Know that I also had bought 2 Audis from the dealership, an A4 and an S4. I traded the S4 for the Porsche. Let me know what you found out. Chirag