Do You Need A Separate PPI If Buying From a Dealer?

Fellas - Looking to pick my 996 C4S, and am looking at a couple of cars from authorized Porsche dealers. If buying from a Private Party or an exotic broker, I'd obviously get a Pre-Purchase Inspection, but how do you get the car checked out when buying from a dealer? Even if there was another dealer close enough, I assume you'd probably risk pissing off the first dealer by suggesting something like this. It therefore ends up being a trust game - you trust that the dealer has represented the car exactly the way it is. Thoughts?

If the car CPO your covered

And if not?

Buy it from a Porsche dealer with a cert warranty, then you have nothing to worry about. I recently saw a silver C4S at Silver Star, might want to check it out, alot closer than Chicago.

What if the car's got 1,500 miles on the clock, 1-owner, known history, clean as a whistle (based on the pics). Would you still pay the extra $1.5K - $2.0K for a certification?

When I purchased my car, I would not consider one w/o certification. Look at it this way. Make the decision to spend the 2k now and sleep well OR wait till something breaks(and that's been known to happen from time to time) and pay 2K or more and be sick about it.

That, of course, pre-supposes that you're going to keep the car for a while. :-)

There are people on this forum that purchase a car and wished they had a warranty from the getgo!!!

That, of course, pre-supposes that you're going to keep the car for a while. :-) I think you answered your own question. If you plan to keep it only during the original warranty period...don't spenfd the extra $$$ for certification. If planning to keep longer...spend the cash on certification. I purchased recently (2003 with 3K miles) but purchased certification since I plan to keep it 4 years. Only you know yourself and your future plans.

What he said!

Watch out for Silver Star!!! I bought a car from them and they lied about the history. (ie) was in an accident)...I assumed that they were reputable and did not run a carfax before hand. I still ended up with a fair price, but not as good as i had originally thought. The car is certified and the repair was excellent and seems to have been cosmetic. The car does drive great. However, i did call PCNA to complain, and they did not care at all. "They are only the wholesaler". I was told to speak to the manager at Silver Star, the one who screwed me in the first place. Just becareful and don't let your guard down certified dealer or not!!! Good luck in your search

There's another option. You can ask the Dealer, or another garage, do do a PrePurchaseInspection for you. If I was buying a car from a dealer, and it wasn't CPO'd, I'd at least pay for a PPI. I'd never, ever, buy one without a PPI...

I wouldn't buy from a Porsche dealer without a PPI. Warranty or not, I was forced to pay out for new front disks, a DMF and two new silencers within months of buying a "warranted" car. The Porsche warranty turned out to be worthless (in the UK at least). Had the car been PPI'd then I would have had at least a fighting chance to have the pre-existing problems sorted before taking delivery of the car.....

There is no extra cost for certification. There IS a cost to purchase the CPO Factory Limited Warranty, and the price of this warranty is $1549.00, which provides limited warranty coverage to a max of 6yrs/100k mi. Of course, you are going to pay more for a used car from any dealer than a private party. If you DO choose to buy a CPO car (and pay the premium to purchase from a Porsche dealer), it is a no-brainer to buy the extra warranty, regardless of how long you intend to keep the car. If you intend to keep the car, the warranty is extended (limited) for 2yrs/100k mi. If you choose to sell your CPO car, the additional FACTORY warranty will be a valuable selling point that non-CPO cars can't touch. I bought a CPO '99 C2 Cab 11 months ago, precisely to obtain the 2yr warranty.

This is a good point. Although I expect I will keep the car 1 - 1.5 years (I'm a serial car enthusiast), I do believe I will have a much better chance of selling it if I've got another two+ years of warranty left to provide the potential buyer at the back end. Confused about your first point Kevin - "no cost for certification." By certification, do you mean a PPI? Let me see what I can negotiate today...

There is no "fee" for the certification process, as there is for purchasing the additional warranty. Any cost for the certification will be part of the dealers negotiated price, as are sales commissions, overhead, etc. Remember the cost of the warranty is $1549.00. Ask up front if the dealers asking price includes the cost of the warranty. I was told by both dealers in Atlanta that all of their advertised prices DID NOT include this cost, and that it is always added in after negotiation as a line item on the sales agreement (as was the case when I bought). Less ethical dealers might try to include the warranty in negotiated prices in an effort to elevate the value of the warranty and make a profit on it. Good luck, and keep us posted.

FWIW, the Certified Pre-Owned Checklist specifies that if there are "any signs of previous collision damage repair", that "this vehicle is not eligible for enrollment in the Porsche Approved Limited Warranty Program". That PCNA would deny any responsibility for a CPO issue is unfortunate. The CPO program is not a dealer level program, it is a corporate program and as such, PCNA, as Porsche AG's agent, must have some responsibility. That PCNA claimed to be "just a wholesaler", and to have no jurisdiction over their dealers is also unfortunate. Anyways, glad you got your car repaired to your satisfaction, and are enjoying it! These cars are great to drive! (And own, IMHO.)

Wow, how does one reconcile these two statements: Seems like Silver Star was acting very unscrupulously.

I think the statement in the certification check list states "may not be eligible". The PCNA rep told me that if the dealer certified the car, then they would stand behind it, and i have no worries. The history of the accident was two years prior to my purchase. The car was an 02, sold to first buyer, and then crashed 5 days later. It was repaired at the time i assume, and then next owner had it for 2 years and put about 10K miles on it. It then went to a dealer in chicago and ended up at silver star with 14K on it. I bought it in October and it now has 26K on it!!! The car was originally sold in MN. I would love to track down any previous owners if any of you are out there...

Most important point is that the car has been problem-free over the past 12K miles, right 42empress??

Actually, the statement reads "is not eligible". (I have the checklist in pdf format if anyone would like a copy. Or, I can scan it tomorrow as a pic and post it here). However, it doesn't matter in your case, as your car IS certified. 42empress, I only posted the information because I thought it might be important to those contemplating the CPO program to know that CPO cars are supposed to be collision-free.

Rasta, The car has been fantastic. It burned 1/2 quart of oil in the 11K miles that i put on it. I do drive it everyday 30-35 miles one way to work. Alignment is dead on, and i drove it through the snow and sometimes on dirt roads in VT. I did put 4 dunlop snows on 17 inch wheels for winter duty. It was great. I have no regrets!!!

I forgot to mention, after i drove the car before purchase, it felt fine. I specifically looked under the car for oil, none noted. When i picked the car up after purchase, the salesman went over the certification paper work. They put in a new clutch and replaced the RMS (or so they say) The said the seal was "weeping". BTW, i still have new car warranty until 9/06 or 50K. I don't know if the dealer gets reimbursed for "warranty work" on these issues. Overall, if they were straight with me on the bodywork, i would have no problem reccomding them. If they have a car you are interested in, just remember they are still "used car salesmen". I trusted them and probably got a little emotional over the car. Good luck!

Kevin I think there is a difference between the two types of " damage ".....as you may know, it is not uncommon for " new cars " to be damaged during transit and they are normally repaired at the Port of Entry....as a the original owner you are not likely to be advised by the selling dealer. I really don't think cosmetic damage is " always " grounds for denying Certification and yes, I have had new Porsches damaged at the Port or in transit.....it is structual and mechanical and excessive wear or abuse that should be of concern..... Rasta there is simply no way to cover all risks when buying a used high performance car, except don't buy one....go NEW

Just to note as RASTA said he would not keep the car more than 1-1.5 years that the extended warrenty has no value for trade in as it is only transferable through private owner sales. So the dealer, if traded, can certify it again if still under the original. FYI for whatever it is worth. Bill

My post didn't refer to cosmetic damage. My post referenced COLLISION damage. You are correct that cosmetic damage does not disqualify a vehicle for certification. Here is the exact verbiage from the Pre-Owned Inspection Checklist: "Does this vehicle have signs of previous COLLISION damage repairs? (circle answer) Yes No Note: Paint touch-ups for rock chips and parking lot dings are not considered collision damage. If yes, this vehicle is not eligible for enrollment in the Porsche Approved Limited Warranty Program." My posting this information was not intended to denigrate 42empress's purchase. It was simply to state that CPO vehicles are supposed to be COLLISION-DAMAGE free.