Paintwork on C4S cab - should I walk away?

[Nthusiast]

I've been searching for a 997s (or 4s) cab to replace my Cayman S for some time now. I found a black/sand '06 C4S w/17000 miles at an import re-seller within an hour drive from my house. His asking price is $63,900. It's a beautiful car (although I haven't seen it in person yet) and loaded with options (full leather, sport chrono package, bose, nav, crests, htd seats, changer, etc etc). I e-mailed him to see how the tires were, to see if I could get a DME scan, and to see if it had any paintwork. My heart sank when he said that they re-sprayed the front right panel and left rear panel because of scratches. My head questions why they would paint if they were only scratches - why not try to buff out or solve in another way? Anyway, I wanted to get your opinion - do I just walk away or should I see if he'd drop the price dramatically? From an earlier conversation with him, I didn't get the impression he was going to move much on price. I'd appreciate your thoughts.

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[justatoy]

I see this question pop up alot...a long time ago I worked at a car port where the cars from overseas were dropped here in Canada!
Sometimes the smallest of marks were painted.Marine damage they called it!
Could be as small as a pen head or sometimes bigger.If it DID not require any welding/pulling by a frame machine......it was NEVER documented and didn't have to be!
And yes the manufacture knows abut the repairs(Porsche,Toyota,Lexus,etc).


And believe me there are more cars put through the paint booth than you could imagine,especially high end ones.So if you think your car is perfect and never had paint work......maybe it has you just don't know and wouldn't be able to find out.

So my point IS if the car is what you are looking for and the work done is as good as factory(no overspray etc)....WHO CARES....just my $.02!


Stacy

[slant83]

I'd walk..there are many clean examples to be found in todays economy for the price you want. Why second guess? (which you already are if you are asking our opinion)

[NorthVan]

You could ask to have the vehicle inspected by a body shop of your choice. A good body shop could tell if the damage was limited to just the panel or due to a collision.

[movingup]

jeez, what's a little paint work? if the job is done right, who cares?

[JoeShark]

Not commenting on paint (and hopefully not getting off subject but this might be of interest to the OP), but I think your price might be a little high on this car. I was looking at a 2006 C2S Cab (yes, I know that the OP car is a C4S) that had only 2,800 miles, full leather, Bose, GT3 front bumper, Champion GP7 wheels, perfect condition that was available for $62k. Just wanted the OP to have a price reference.

Here's a pic of the car.

[Nthusiast]

Originally Posted by JoeShark

Not commenting on paint (and hopefully not getting off subject but this might be of interest to the OP), but I think your price might be a little high on this car. I was looking at a 2006 C2S Cab (yes, I know that the OP car is a C4S) that had only 2,800 miles, full leather, Bose, GT3 front bumper, Champion GP7 wheels, perfect condition that was available for $62k. Just wanted the OP to have a price reference.

Here's a pic of the car.

Joe, that is a good price. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the $50s and thought that I could probably get this C4S for $60k. I've been researching and most cars in the high $50s are not S's. Since I have a trade, I would prefer not to have to work with a dealership that is more than a few hours away. Where did you find this C2S?

Thanks for the input.

[JoeShark]

Originally Posted by Nthusiast

Joe, that is a good price. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the $50s and thought that I could probably get this C4S for $60k. I've been researching and most cars in the high $50s are not S's. Since I have a trade, I would prefer not to have to work with a dealership that is more than a few hours away. Where did you find this C2S?

Thanks for the input.

It was located in Tacoma, Washington.

$60k sounds good and the car sounds like it's loaded, set-up the way you like, and is close to your location (all important points). I think the miles is a little worrisome to me as most say that car's take their first big drop in $$$ when they hit 10k. Agree that the paint work might not be that big of an issues. As NorthVan says, I'd for sure take it to a trust worthy paint shop and have them look over the car for you. That would give a lot of peace of mind.

One other point. I know you are looking at a C2S originally which is what I was doing, but I have to tell you, the wide end of a C4S (which is what I ended up getting) is pretty darn sexy.

[p0rsch3]

if it was not due to collision damage and it was done properly, not that big of a deal at all. Nose / bumper resprays are pretty common due to rock chips, other folks "parking by braille" etc. Side resprays are not that common but neccessary if there were decent size door dings or large rock chips.
Of course there are plenty of low mileage pristine garage queens out there- in those cases I get concerned that the car has not been driven enough.

[JenK]

my 02 Boxster had a respray on the left rear quarter panel. The mailbox door fell down and i drove right past it causing a 2 ft scratch. Fixed without a problem. Sold without a problem.

[Nthusiast]

thanks to everyone for your feedback...it's amazing to see such a divergence of opinion. I think I'm going to at least take a drive to see the car and get it checked out by the local dealership. If I'm still interested, I hope to use the paint issue to drive down the price.

Thanks.

[NYCPCAR]

-Any "paint" issues..I would walk.
-I just sold mine 06 C4S cab...that price is good...it will might hold given that once mid August hits..C4S cars become more in demand.
- Are they the Original tires at 17,000 miles, you'll need to replace them right after the test drive.
-Brake flush also required at this mark, with oil chainge your looking at $800.00

06 C4S Cab's are hard to find,so if it works for you great, but make sure you can live with the History, especially if you ever want to sell it.

[NYCPCAR]

Originally Posted by Nthusiast

I've been searching for a 997s (or 4s) cab to replace my Cayman S for some time now. I found a black/sand '06 C4S w/17000 miles at an import re-seller within an hour drive from my house. His asking price is $63,900. It's a beautiful car (although I haven't seen it in person yet) and loaded with options (full leather, sport chrono package, bose, nav, crests, htd seats, changer, etc etc).

I e-mailed him to see how the tires were, to see if I could get a DME scan, and to see if it had any paintwork. My heart sank when he said that they re-sprayed the front right panel and left rear panel because of scratches. My head questions why they would paint if they were only scratches - why not try to buff out or solve in another way?

Anyway, I wanted to get your opinion - do I just walk away or should I see if he'd drop the price dramatically? From an earlier conversation with him, I didn't get the impression he was going to move much on price.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Is this the car?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...fCarsQ5fTrucks

[jjc4scab]

Originally Posted by NYCPCAR

Is this the car?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...fCarsQ5fTrucks

That is it

[Nthusiast]

Originally Posted by jjc4scab

That is it

Yep, that is it. Thanks again for the feedback. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get to the dealership until next week due to my schedule. We'll see if it's still around by then. If not, it wasn't meant to be anyway.