Should you trust previous owner's mechanic for PPI?

I am considering buying a 1999 C2 Cab that has been apparently taken care of very well. Owned for the last 10 years by the current owner and maintained by the same local indy who has done IMS, RMS, clutch, etc... 72K miles overall, only 30K in the last 10yrs. Should I take the word and opinion (and documented service history of course) of the local indy or pay for a non-biased PPI by a different shop? Since the IMS has been done, and the car is in outstanding condition overall, I am not too worried about an invasive inspection. Thoughts?

Hard to say, skid. Have you heard the mechanic's opinion, already? If he gives you what sounds like a thorough breakdown, I'm sure he can be trusted. If he's giving you the "yeee-up, she spins like a top," then you may want a second opinion. These cars are pretty old so a PPI without a blemish is basically not going to happen. A thorough inspection on a 20 year-old car is going to uncover at least one item that needs replacing, even if it's something as innocent as a switch or light bulb. That said, I'd be gobsmacked if the list is that short.

When was the IMSB done?

�Trust but verify�

Not a chance

I would deff see this as a good start for a solid car. My thinking is that the seller obviously took care of the car for all these years and Indy must have provided quality service. I could also see the seller getting annoyed if you keep pressing another 3rd party ppi. That being said, I wouldn�t agree to purchase unless I got another ppi at a shop of my choosing.

In a word...NO! The whole idea of a PPI is to have a unencumbered third party give you an objective opinion of the condition of the vehicle. By definition this can't be done by the "same local indy" who has been servicing/maintaining the vehicle for the last 10 years - he's commenting on his own work... I repeat - NOoooooooooooooo...

All "third Party" PPIs ultimately rest on trusting the quality and thoroughness of the inspection. That said, if the previous mntce. work, especially the IMSB replacement, are supported with complete "paperwork", I think you'd be "good to go". relinuca

“Non-biased” is the correct reasoning. The shop you want to trust is probably correct that everything is fine, but, if a tech has missed something once, odds are high he’ll miss it a second time. Fresh eyes are a good thing and sound expense.

Get an independent PPI. I made the mistake of talking to the owner's mechanic when I bought mine and trusting him. There was stuff wrong he didn't tell me about I could see when I picked up the car! I'm not saying that owner's mechanic will be dishonest, but when you have a customer car you are only going to fix what is asked and trust the owner on the rest. Paying someone to go through the car with a fine tooth comb is a totally different thing than changing the oil, the brakes, or the clutch. It's worth a few hundred dollars to be sure the car is good. These cars can need $5000 to $10000 of repairs easily if something is wrong.

Thanks for all the advice. I am planning to take it to another local indy. There is one recommended by many here in the forums just a couple of miles away. That said, I just got a scan of the last seven years of maintenance from the shop. There are appox $20K worth of invoices done to the car since mid-2011. Seems that all the usual suspects- LN Eng IMS, RMS, clutch, flywheel, plugs, coils, coolant res, AOS, climate control computer, starter, a/c recharge, battery, seatbelt wiring harness, etc - have been addressed. All oil changes are Mobil 1. 1500 miles on Mich Pilot Super Sports (2nd set by owner). If I have time, I will redact the owners info and post here for your comments. If there was a car that you could skip the PPI, this looks like it. But I won't.

I would certainly talk to them about their care of the vehicle - they do have firsthand experience. but, as others have said, get a PPI from someone else. It's potentially a simple conflict of interest.

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"LN Retro IMS Kit Dual $619" was installed May 2012, 19K miles ago along with Teflon RMS, "Flywheel Dual Mass 996 - $1289", "Clutch Kit 996 (POR OEM) - $796" along with various chain tensioners and seal kits. My man dropped $5138 that day.

1500 mi. oil changes? That's either over the top OCD (which could be a good thing) or BS(which could be a red flag)...I would be more interested in the time lapse between changes - if it's like 6 months between changes regardless of the mileage that would be a good thing...Once a year? Eh...less good, but probably not a deal breaker...Longer intervals than a year regardless of milage is bad. Check the dates of the oil changes. Remember the IMSB is a "service item" - not a "fix it once and you're done" (unless it's got "The Solution"). If it was done at 50k miles, you're due. If it was done prior to that, it should be done immediately! Do your homework on this stuff, and make sure your purchase price reflects reality. $20k over 10 years is not a lot to spend on these cars - certainly not "comprehensive" by any means - especially when you're talking about work done by a shop. In any case, good luck - I hope it turns out to be a positive experience for you

^^^ Ha ! You must have been reading my mind

Do your due diligence, but it sound like a well maintained car. If it checks all your boxes, I'd jump on this car. 20k of service history, plus new tires... it appears this guy drives his car and keeps it in tip top shape. I see so many cars with aged out/ bald rubber for sale. Good luck!

from dporto... In a word...NO! The whole idea of a PPI is to have a unencumbered third party give you an objective opinion of the condition of the vehicle. By definition this can't be done by the "same local indy" who has been servicing/maintaining the vehicle for the last 10 years - he's commenting on his own work... I repeat - NOoooooooooooooo... I completely agree with those who said NO! I trusted the previous owner's mechanic and it cost me about $6000 for IMS, RMS, Valve Cover, Clutch, etc.

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Haha, no, the 1500 miles were on the tires, not the oil changes. Bought car 7/24/09 - 37,829 Still need records prior to 2011 The oil has been documented: 4/21/11 48,230 9/15/11 52,603 5/19/12 56,164 8/08/13 60,915 assumed missing - will verify 9/29/16 69,994 Thanks for pointing out the IMS. The recommended service interval for the dual row retro kit is 75K miles or 6 years. That means it is nowhere near the mileage but due for age. I'll use that for a bit of a price adjustment tonight.

FYI, my dual row retro was checked after 25,000 miles (within 4 years of service). There was a small amount of play/grinding that was easily felt. I don't want to start a war here...but I replaced it with the IMS solution to try to avoid this in the future.

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Awesome. Just what I needed to hear. There will be some serious renegotiation tonight. However I think I am getting a fair deal anyway. $17,500 in New England. People are asking more for ****boxes.

Sounds like a very fair deal, don't stress about things you can't see. Just get the independent PPI and enjoy the experience. My IMS bearing might have made it the full 75K miles, there is no way to know.

If you are going to purchase the vehicle, get an independent PPI done by a Porsche expert, not "a guy who works on cars." Expert. In addition, have a signed sales agreement in place contingent upon a satisfactory PPI. This shows the seller you are serious and protects you against having the car sold out from under you after you paid for a PPI. Dot the "i"s cross the "t"s, you will be glad you did.

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If you're asking the question, you already have doubts, so I'd say find someone other than owner's local shop.

@skidpalace: Agree with the opinions posted here - look at service records to verify that the recent work was done by a reputable shop, and then order an independent PPI to check for other issues. PPI is especially important if the seller can't produce extensive service documentation.