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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHPPI before selling?
Reported or suspected cause
coil 5
Reported cause
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Identified cause
0
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
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Discussions that report identifying a cause
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Reported cause
His mechanic charged him $600 to replace cylinder coil 4 and spark plug 4, but the actual issue turned out to be coil 5, so they did both.
Leading evidence: 'coil 5' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'coil 5' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Adjust price accordingly' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
Agree, far too many guys treat these used 996's for 25k like they are buying a new Lambo!
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Suggestion · Original poster
Those will either be repaired or disclosed and I'll adjust the price accordingly.
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Discussions that suspect a cause
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Suspected cause
Not every buyer is going to want a PPI, and I would imagine some will be suspect of a PPI that you had done yourself.
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Discussions that contain suggestions
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Suggestion
I did have a cylinder 1 coil failure on the car the year before, but after a bit a research, I decided to only replace the 1 coil, leaving the other 5 as-is.
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Suggestion
I did have a cylinder 1 coil failure on the car the year before, but after a bit a research, I decided to only replace the 1 coil, leaving the other 5 as-is.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
24 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T155324Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I'm considering having RAC do a PPI done on my 99 before putting it on the market. Seems like that will eliminate some of the hassle in the selling process. Have any of you done it this way?
I'm not sure that I would spend the money on it to be honest. Not every buyer is going to want a PPI, and I would imagine some will be suspect of a PPI that you had done yourself. I'm not an expert, just my humble opinion.
If it were me, I would not bother, unless your goal is to find anything wrong and fix it before the sale. If I were buying your car and you provided me a PPI, I would still request to get my own, and I think most people who would want a PPI would likely request their own.
I bought my former 996TT from a guy who did a PPI that morning at the local Porsche Dealer. It was nice to see and I made him an offer on the spot, which he took. It was also nice to have when I sold it 2.5 months later for a $6700 Profit!
But, yes some people will be "suspect" of it being done by you and think you may have paid extra to leave a few important thinks off the list. I get paid to be "suspect" of people and things, so that's how I usually am.
It serves a couple of purposes - I'd know if there was anything wrong before I sold it and it would cover me if a buyer decided not to get a PPI. I would have it done RAC here in Dallas and they won't pull any punches.
You're right about the way some see the 996! The Lamdo guy won't buy my car anyway. It is a solid low mile, great color, with all the upgrades that spent a few years as a DD with the PO. It is by no means a perfect car but it is very very good. Doing a PPI will cover me in case a buyer gets remorse after the sale closes and sets a baseline for the car. If someone wants another PPI, I'll let them arrange it and pay the tow fees both ways. Scheduled it for Thursday with RAC.
Has RAC been working on it for a while? If so,like my Dad's 996 I'm about to sell, I will just tell anyone interested to give Hans a call about the car.
Steve
Yes, doing a PPI or having a mechanic go through the car is not unwise at all and is a great idea. I often have my car�s detailed as well.
The buyer�s perceived risk is the main reason why people don�t like to buy used cars - they don�t trust the seller or know what could be lurking behind a nice looking car that has some underlying issue. That�s the whole reason the used �certified� car market exists: to give people the peace of mind saving a boatload of money buying a used car that�s nearly �as good as new,� although there is no such thing of course.
Is it worth the money? Well, a certified car comes with a heafty price tag and also some sort of guarantee or warranty. Your PPI wont have either, but anything the mechanic finds that you didn�t know about would be beneficial to the buyer and you both: any buyer would want to know if something is not in good shape, and you wouldn�t want to sell a car to someone to have it fail on the drive home. I�ve been on both sides of this, and it�s not fun in either case, even if you honestly didn�t mean any harm or try to get by with something.
I sold a 73,000-mike BMW X3 to someone and never had a problem with the car. Then on the drive home, the guy I sold it to had a breakdown. Complete coincidence, or was it? I never would have sold him the car if I thought it would break down on him. Then again, I didn�t have it inspected beforehand, and maybe an inspection would have revealed faulty ignition coils. Maybe not.
One caveat, however: no good deed goes unpunished. You spend the money for a PPI, then the mechanic finds $2,500 worth of repairs items. Then the buyer has his own PPI that finds about her $1,800 worth of repairs, and pretty soon you are asked to discount the car by $5k. Food for thought.
Steve - Rac did the IMS, AOS, water pump, and clutch when I bought the car at 49K miles. The only other maintenance have been oil changes which I have done. It's at 64K miles now and I'm having oil changed and will see what else needs tended to.
If you had it done at a dealer or reputable shop, I don't think people would be too suspicious.
If you're putting it up on BAT or something similar, the PPI would probably be beneficial. If you're putting it up on craigslist, I'm not sure it's worth it. If the latter, I'd wait to someone actually requests one. If they back out afterwards, I'd pay for half the cost so I could use later.
I totally expect she will need a few things. Those will either be repaired or disclosed and I'll adjust the price accordingly.
Bad luck on the BMW. How did that work out?
He elected to replace all coils and plugs. I did have a cylinder 1 coil failure on the car the year before, but after a bit a research, I decided to only replace the 1 coil, leaving the other 5 as-is. I�m just not the type of guy who likes to proactively repace items in case they fail, but after reading and asking around, perhaps I should have based on the fact he had another failure of a different coil. His mechanic charged him $600 to replace cylinder coil 4 and spark plug 4, but the actual issue turned out to be coil 5, so they did both. The coil is very easy to replace, actually, requiring zero tools once you take the plastic cover off. So it seems that coils on this car are huge profit items for shops. I was quoted $900 by Pep Boys to repace all 6 coils and plugs. Probably would have taken me 45 mins to 60 mins to do the work myself.
PPI came back with a few things. Ill feel very good about listing it after the repairs. Likely won't get my money back, but I won't have any concerns about it.
It was for a BMW X3, not a 996. I�ve never had anything other than diagnostics done at Pep Boys. They used to do free diagnostics but have raised prices over the years for even a simple diag.
Let me know when you list it.
I often have people ask me about 996 costs and whether I know of any good deals.
I might just be able to steer someone your way.
I'm not that far away down here in the Houston area.
