This is NOT the post that I thought I'd be writing today. Yesterday, I spent over $450 to not-buy a Porsche.
About every 18 months, I go into need-to-get-a-Porsche mode. I buy all of the books, read all of the online buyer's guides and generally scare myself out of ever getting involved with one. I've even gone so far as to sell the books on e-Bay, only to buy them again a year and a half later.
This summer, it started again. I did all my reading and said, "Screw it. I'm doing this". Incidentally, this began before the Budget Supercar issue came out.
The plan was to check out a bunch of cars and then try to make the purchase near Christmas, when no one else is shopping for rear wheel drive sports cars in New England.
I decided what I wanted and found a beautiful, one owner car back in August, but it was beyond my budget. The ad had only been posted once and it expired shortly after I drove the car. A few month's later, I got an e-mail from the seller stating that the car had been relisted and the price had dropped by $3000. I waited a few days, sent a "thank you, I'll think about it" reply. At the same time, I was finalizing the sale of my Miata, to free up some cash and a parking place.
I went back to drive the car again. The body and interior were near perfect. The car had never been hit and the original paint was still bright and scratch free. It sounded great, drove well and there were a stack of receipts going back to the day that the car was purchased. I also learned that the seller had gotten frustrated by scam offers on Craigslist and had stopped listing the car.
Every Porsche book tells you never to buy one of these car without having a Pre-Purchase Inspection done at a Porsche shop. The seller wasn't an enthusiast, just someone who had the cash to buy a great car back in the day. I explained about the need for a PPI and the seller didn't think it was necessary, but agreed after I persisted and offered to pay for it.
The logistics of getting the PPI, however were driving me crazy. The car wasn't registered and was about an hour away. I needed to trailer it there. I also had to coordinate around my work schedule, the seller's schedule, the shop's schedule and the winter weather. I almost decided to blow off the PPI and just make a slightly lower offer, based on the car's overall condition and the extensive number of receipts, but we were finally able to set it up for yesterday.
I towed the car to a very well respected local Porsche shop for the four and a half hour PPI. Then I went home, started nervously counting my money and tried to figure what kind of offer to make on the car.
As I mentioned, the PPI cost me over $450.
But it saved me over twenty thousand.
The inspection found a broken head stud on one cylinder (not an uncommon problem on an air cooled Porsche) and and another cylinder with a 95% leak down. It was now a five cylinder, soon to be four. They told me that I would need to budget around $8000 for a complete rebuild of the engine, plus about $2000 more for various other odds and ends around the car. I thanked them and gladly handed them my cash for the PPI.
I was heartbroken, but the seller was devastated; not angry, but shocked and saddened. I am fully convinced that the car had been very well cared for and presented honestly. I am certain that there was no intention to rip me off.
These cars can get scary expensive in a hurry. It had every indication of being a perfect car, but, like some of my former girlfriends, it was a hot, sexy train wreck.
So, bottom line, if you're thinking about a 911, keep a little extra cash in the budget for a Pre-Purchase Inspection. The experts know what they're talking about.
I'm sure that someone will reply with the tired cliche "There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche". This was not a cheap Porsche.
The experience sent enough of a shock through my system to make me reconsider (again) whether or not I want to get involved with one of these cars.
Oddly enough, the new Flyin' Miata catalog arrived in the mail today.
