Is it worth the money - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Is a car bought from a top reputable specialist worth the money? The reason I ask is that on looking at the market, these cars seem to be up to and sometimes over £2000 more expensive. My fear is that come resale time I will not recoup the extra paid. This I believe is that the buyer may not appreciate or even have heard of these specialists. While I have no doubt that the cars sold by these specialists are well sourced, exceptionally well prepared and usually come with a good warranty, but come resale are they worth the premium. Regards Eddie

For me the best saying on this - is that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it... Plenty of people stump up the extra to ensure they don't get a dud - they are not concerned with the possible extra 2k drop in resale value but rather are happy to spend the extra 2k to try and ensure they don't end up spending 10x that in costs or even worse end up with a car that's been a write off etc etc... It's your money so it's up to you to decide how to spend it!

"good warranty" Think you have answered your own question.

Agree, best buy from OPC. Pay more but 2 year warranty on some models make it a must IMO.

For the most part these dealers add value to the direct purchaser. I don't think you can realistically expect that value to be retained upon resale. Personally I'd rather line my pockets than somebody else's and I'm happy to buy privately, but of course I have to bear the risk. I'm used to classics and older cars and am slightly bemused by the infatuation in Porsche land with warranties. I just hope I don't find out why that is!

I have to assume that if the difference between a private car, and a dealers car, you must be looking at the lower end of the market!? The difference between a private sale and a dealers is quite a bit more than that in my experience. I always try to by privately if I can, as I have done. My TVR was about 5k cheaper buying it privately, that would be enough to repair most things that may go wrong.

I think it's only really a question you can answer. Buying from an OPC (or reputable dealer) means the car will be prepared to a specific standard, shouldn't need servicing for a certain period, will have gone through the relevant pre-sales checks and will come with twelve months MOT and a warranty. If you buy a good car privately it's possible to get a car in fantastic condition, which might not be due a service for two years and come with twelve months MOT. You won't know though what possible bills are just around the corner and you won't get a warranty. If these are risks you're willing to run, then buy privately and you'll probably save some money up-front. There's also the opportunity to meet the owner and if they're clearly an enthusiast this can count for a lot. OPC prices tend to reflect the 'extra's you get over a private sale (plus the costs of their expensive coffee and attractive receptionists) while well-known specialists are often not far away from OPC prices. For me, the warranty was the key thing so I bought from an OPC as the warranty has such a good reputation. Used cars which were expensive to buy new tend to be expensive to fix when they go wrong and I wanted to try and remove this risk from the ownership proposition. Ultimately it's down to individuals to decide what's most important to them. Lower initial purchase price or the degree of certainty that comes with buying from a dealer.

Well said!

steady eddie said: While I have no doubt that the cars sold by these specialists are well sourced, exceptionally well prepared and usually come with a good warranty That's exactly why you pay a premium and I think in general it is worth it, particularly if you are new to these cars. You can of course buy cheaper privately and sometimes still with an OPC warranty remaining. Another alternative is to buy privately, but pay for a specialist inspection before committing - usually around £300 from the likes of Peter Morgan. Otherwise, it's a bit of a lottery and there are lots of expensive pitfalls that could make your £2K initial saving look like peanuts.

I bought a Boxster S second hand from an OPC many years ago. the preparation was poor (they did little more than wash it) but the after-sales follow up was faultless. I later bought a new Boxster S, followed by a privately bought 997S (under warranty) - again, response from Porsche was always excellent. I'd be happy to buy a car privately if it was covered by the new car warranty. Older than that I'd look to buy from an OPC or a very well respected specialist, such as 911 Virgin.

Nothing wrong with buying private, ask the owner to submit the car to a local OPC for a 111 point check and if it passes then buy it and pay for a two year Porsche warranty. I did this with my Cayman.

If you take a long view and scan the classifieds on here and other sites you may strike lucky like I did. I eventually bought an immaculate RS60 complete with PCCB's privately for about £2-3K less than an OPC priced car (after a lot of hard negotiating with the seller) but the car still had 15 months of the OPC's full warranty left to run. Goes to show the power of cash buying from a private seller, if you can act quickly and don't mind having to travel from one end of the UK to the other that is.

And, you're not always safe with a dealer!

Broadly, my expectation on price goes like this; OPC: Dearest, then, Sports car traders, inlcuding Porsche specialists, then Backstreet garage Private: Cheapest. I wouldn't put a value on one specialist against another used car dealer, unless its from someone like Hartech who can obviously bullet proof an engine. Other than that I wouldn't pay more from a specialist I've never dealt with any more than I would any other non-Porsche garage. PPI is they key. If the price is right, get a PPI done, and go from there. If PPI brings up loads of problems, negotiate that as part of the deal to get the right car for the right price. Back street garage might not know what they've bought so negotiation post-ppi might be problematic so I'd expect they were a bit cheaper from the off.

Klippie said: Nothing wrong with buying private, ask the owner to submit the car to a local OPC for a 111 point check and if it passes then buy it and pay for a two year Porsche warranty. I did this with my Cayman. Sounds sensible advice to me.

I buy privately every time, but only if it has over 3 months OPC warranty on it. Then put it in for a 111 point check and your home free for the next 2 years.