Independents like Cridfords and 911Virgin

Hi - I hope this is right place to post, I am not trying to sell here just gauge opinion on indie specialist retailers. Am looking to trade in my 987 Boxster for an '03 996. I bought mine from Reading OPC but had a poor offer to take it back last week (about £20/21k with 29k miles = some £16k depreciation in 18 months !!) so this took me to these two specialists. They both seem very honest and open (though one was slightly critical of the other's pricing policy). Do you have any experience and feedback on these or other South East indies? I'd really value your thoughts as have been rather put off by OPC haughtiness. All the best!

Not had any direct experience of either I'm afraid. Reading OPC have certainly not been over generous have they! Also, you'll be paying top money for the new one, although I dare say that the car would be spot-on. 911virgin have a good reputation, but Henry's style is quite unusual...

Hi Patch, I don't have any personal experience of either two, but I've heard good things about Henry at 911Virgin. If you need more info do a search on Pistonheads as he posts there regularly. I'm sure Cridfords slated 911Virgin for their two price scheme, if I were you I'd buy it at the cheaper price (which he still has the regular legal obligations to you as a dealer to a private customer) and get a Porsche warranty on top. I know for example that RSJ motors don't like to sell any of their cars anymore without the customer buying a Porsche warranty. On a side note, I am looking to sell my car at the moment too and was wondering what kind of offers they gave you (% discount if thats ok, don't need specifics if you don't want to) from what you think the private sale price would be?

911virgin would be worth talking to Rod - have you seen what they've got in at the moment? Yummy!

Like said above, Henry at 911V has an interesting style. I had several visits there while I was hunting for my car and I grew to like the fellow. He has built up a good reputation now that I guess he does not want to lose. He puts less time into preping the cars than some people do, but I feel that is then less likely to hide some issues. In the end I did not buy from him because I found a car elsewhere that was in better condition (because of the miles) than any car I'd seen of his. I supposed I'd also learned a lot by looking at his wide selection and might not have bought from him anyway because I'd really wanted a lower miles car. But I don't have any complaints about him and he is around so much (on another forum) that it would be known if he tried to trick his customers (more than any other s/h car dealer[ ]) - you could do a lot worse than deal with him.

Nick already sold! Even worse I missed out on a private Midnight blue CS asking 10% less by a few hours. Tragic[ ]

Patch, I haven't bought from either, but from my experiences on the phone to both of these, and various postings on Pistonheads, I'd go with 911 virgin over Cridfords any day. Having said that, also check out RSJ. Both Henry from 911 Virgin and Joel from RSJ seem very genuine, honest indies.

I bought my 2002 C2 from 911 Virgin a few months ago. I enjoyed the experience, they are a nice bunch of guys and I feel that they genuinely described the car. I like their Millenium Bug pricing which lets you drive away with the car as seen for a lower price, giving you some budget to do your own maintenance. They were fair with my part exchange - we went into the office and did a bit of Autotrader surfing and agreed a price based on comparable cars. I took out their own warranty that they have just started to underwrite themselves which covers major mechanical failure. It was £400 for the year and I think there is the option to renew once the year is up. I'm hoping that will takes care of any huge engine related bills (fingers crossed I don't have to try it out!). I would definately do business with them again...

did you part-ex a Porsche? Hugely impressed that they underwrite their own warranty for £400 pa. If they have that much confidence in the marque then I needn't worry that I'm taking my chances by not buying a warranty (watch this space for finger burning...) [8|]

My part exchange was a Lexus LS400, about as different from a 911 that you can get. It was a brilliant cruiser and you can do hundreds of miles in one and get out at the other end completely fresh. My circumstances have changed though and I'm now on the London commuter run so priorities have switched to weekend fun and, as you guys know, the 911 really delivers that! [ ] Went to a local specialist before 911 Virgin and they didn't have a very good stock of cars and just plain turned down the Lexus, telling me to sell it privately and come back when I had. Probably not bad advice financially, but just doesn't give you a smooth, hassle free handover. I know that 911 Virgin are pretty picky about the Porsches that they will buy as I saw several people turn up while I was there and they were giving the cars a very thorough going over. They claimed that they only buy about 1 in 10 cars that they are offered and that mostly this was to do with condition rather than price. This probably makes them more confident about offering their own warranty...

I sold my 98 - 996 to 911virgin last June. Very proffessional, advice was good, offer was reasonable and in-line with my expectations on selling to the trade. I must admit though they sold my car within 3 days at a retail price 6K above what they paid me.

So long as you don't buy from a dishonest company like GC Motors in Leeds I'm sure you'll do fine! [:'(] Anything you agree with a dealer, get it in writing and know how to read the VIN on the car. You can't trust HPI and AA Datachecks, both got the age of my car wrong by 2 years!!!! Compensation?......yeah, read the small print...£1000 max. Joke. You could also get a letter of origin from Porsche GB, costs about £45 but well worth it if you're buying from anyone other than an OPC.

Unfortunately the bottom has fallen out of the Boxster prices in the last few years. Youve not mentioned the age of the car. Surprised you didnt pop into Northways as they are just a few miles from the OPC you should get a grand or two more than from Henry. Though he has rather a lot of them at the moment so may not be looking for to many more!

The prices on 80's 911 seems to be going up as people are now after the classic 911 shape and other newer models are going down fast e.g Boxster etc . SEE YA

And 996's aren't a classic 911 shape? However, I agree with you - 996 and Boxsters are becoming better and better value all the time!

I said 80's shape 911 not the other models . SEE YA

I'm only being cantankerous [ ] [ ]. You mean the 1960's design 911 [ ] [ ].

I have bought 2 cars from 911Virgin in the past (including my current 996) and wouldn't hesitate to go back to them in the future. Only caveat is to say that you still need to take care and consider a PPI if you want the reassurance. When I was looking for a Cayenne for my wife I looked at one that they had for sale and after looking underneath noted significant unrepaired accident damage. Just because they have bought a car and believe it to be good, doesn't guarantee it. Camtune are also excellent.

Hi, I bought a 98 996 from Cridfords last year - had no problems dealing with them at all. The car was priced competitively and they were honest about the price that they'd be selling my Boxster on at. I didn't find them amazingly friendly but that's not always a bad thing with car sales people. The car developed an annoying clutch pedal squeak a few days after I bought it and they had it sent to Guildford OPC for repairs with no arguments. As mentioned above RSJ cars in Slough are very good to deal with. My latest car came from them and I sold them my old 996 earlier this year. Joel seems to be very honest about pricing/values and looks after existing customers, something OPCs aren't fussed about. I think the main thing when buying from independents is the Porsche warranty, if you get that as part of the deal it's as good as dealing with an OPC but much better value. Cheers, Gavin

Dear All, Thanks for all your comments and advice. I bought an early 996 from 911 Virgin last week. They were hugely helpful and transparent on pricing (unlike OPC Reading) and I couldn't recommend more highly. A fair price on my Boxster which they are selling now. The depreciation on it was frankly appalling, but that's not V911's fault. Tom Harris is very straight and a pleasure to deal with. Excellent range, good coffee and nice dogs! Best wishes for Christmas and New Year.

So this is up to 32 Porsche Specialists... http://www.911uk.com/template.php?page=10 so who's missing ?