996 PPI Help Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton area

Hello, New to the forum here.... I am looking into a 996 from the private party in the Boca Raton area. I have been recommended Champion Porsche as the place to have it PPId. They described a 1.5 hour job for @ $165, a "visual inspection only" where they take nothing apart, but will put the car on lifts and inspect underneath. What is your thought on that? I have a couple of areas that Id like to run by you: 1. Does that seem like a thorough enough job to you? They say that's the only kind of inspection they do, and that they do @ 3-4 a week. 2. Any problem you have with the place where the car has been maintained for routine stuff doing the PPI on the same car? Are they more prone to just go cursory since they might think it's in good shape before the inspection already? 3. Any other place you might recommend? Independent shop is OK, as long as it's a place you trust to do a thorough job. 4. And this is the BIG IF: would anyone who happen to be in the Boca Raton area be able to take a glance for me, just to tell me "Yep it looks as good as the owner says" or "NO it's a DOG you wanna stay away??" If it happens to be just down the block or two from anyone.... Thanks! Jim

My 2 cents is: the visual can be done by yourself (look for wear on the brake/gas pedals above what should be normal for a vehicle with that mileage, look for seat wear, look for the color of the oil, etc...basically the same thing you would for any used car). If you want a shop to do the job right, then a "visual" inspection is worthless unless you have aboslutely no idea what to look for.

Yeah, I agree, thus the email inquiry. Forgot to say I AM IN WEST COAST....CAR in Florida. So it would be a decent purpose, but I am wondering if I should look for more thorough inspection. What should I ask for? There must be more thorough shops in that Porsche-infested area of FLA.... Thanks!

Go see Bob Varela at Foreign Affairs in Deerfield Beach for the PPI. His shop specializes in Porsches. No affiliation other than as a past longtime customer. [phone removed]

Thanks! I will call tomorrow and check it out. Jim

Seeing Bob is a Very Good idea - no PPI, no deal. And for a fellow rennlister in Boca, chase down CaptB

Update after talking with Bob Varela, at Foreign Affairs: Bos says that a 2003 996 should not require leakdown test, unless it's been tracked extensively (and he says he'd know if it has been since he is involved locally in the track programs). He also says if it's a real junk car coming in he can glance at it and give the big "NO" without needing to look further and he would not charge me. He says he will go through a 255-item checklist, it will take about an hour and change, and he will drive it, put it up to look at the underside, and check the fault codes. All for @ $100-120. Real bargain, sounds to me. Thanks again for your recommendations.

I just had a ppi done at Champion and would not recommend it - I do however highly recommend a PPI. It was minimally informative from Champion and not very thourough. They told me the vanity visor lights were burned out, but failed to tell me that the visor covers were broken off as well. I am in the midwest, the car was obiously in Florida, and I was relying on them for more details (I had only seen pics of the car). They were also very busy, and I do not know how much time was truely spent on my car.

I think I'm a little late here, but I'm chiming in to tell you that I had my PPI done at Champion also, and they didn't do a great job. For the kind of car it is, and the investment it represents, I was hoping for more. I haven't had any serious issues with the car, mind you, but I still would be looking for another shop next time. If you're serious about the car, spend the money to get it done right. It's far cheaper than making a mistake. Good luck.