Porsche dealer or CarMax?
 

Good day everyone. I am new to this site and I am looking for 2012 carrera S cab. CarMax so far offers the lowest price and they have the options that I want (sports chrono, keyless entry, vented seats). What I want to know, would it be better off buying from Porsche dealer even if it costs almost $15k more(low mileage and comes with warranty)? If ever, this will be my first Porsche and spending $75,000 (inc. tax, lic., warranty) on a used 2012 carrera S is a lot of money for me but I have been wanting to have one for years. Please let me know what your opinion. Thank you.

The only advantage of the Porsche dealer is ability to purchase CPO warranty. If the cars are comparable, there is no way I would pay $15K more. That being said, make sure you have a PPI done by a Porsche dealer to see that the car checks out mechanically and no surprises.

Agree...PPI and warranty...Carmax is Legit!

It's a Porsche!

And it you buy one used make sure you check out it doesn't have the 2500 RPM hesitation issue.

ChuckJ

I bought my first 991S from CARMAX (a 2012.5, two years old with 7,200 miles on it, with two years left on the factory warranty) and my second (and current 991S) CPO with three years left on the warranty and 13k miles, through a dealer.

For the CARMAX 911, you can get the VIN and have a Porsche dealer run it and identify what warranty work has been done. CARMAX offers a five day return period - get your PPI done as soon as possible after you buy the car (CARMAX doesn't allow pre-purchase PPIs) within this period.

I had the 991S that I bought from CARMAX for more than two years and it was a great car. If the condition, mileage, options, and price are right, I wouldn't hesitate on a CARMAX car.

As far as the warranty that a CPO gets you (two additional years from factory), most of the problems with a 991S (particularly a first year 991S like a 2012.5) will occur early while it is under warranty and are probably already fixed. I wouldn't spend $15k just to get a CPO one. Lower mileage might tempt me but the difference would have to be rather drastic (really, really low miles on the CPO one and really, really high miles on the CARMAX one).

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice Hurricane. Carmax offers MAXCARE warranty and they said Porsche dealer accepts it. It is way cheaper than the dealer offered me. Do you think Porsche dealer will run the VIN for me to check what has been done to the car? The Porsche dealer I called told me they can perform a PPI for $500. I called an independent shop and asking for $2500. Where should I go? If there's major problems, does CARMAX return all my money including the WARRANTY that I will pay for?

Thanks for the advice ChuckJ.

If the $500 PPI includes a compression check, that's what I would do. What's the mileage?

ChuckJ

Mileage is almost 48k.

Is there any maintenance documentation or do you know the Porsche dealer that serviced it?

ChuckJ

I'm not sure if carmax has documentation of the services. Not sure which porsche dealer the owner had his services.

If the dealer doesn't have the documentation, a Carfax report sometimes includes maintenance performed and locations. That might lead you to the correct maintenance facility. Knowing what's been done to a vehicle has always been important to me. My son just bought a 2004 Boxster S SE that had no documentation with the car and we were able to obtain all of the maintenance performed for all 13 years as well as the original owner from that documentation. It's quite useful and insightful.

ChuckJ

Just call the shop on the Carfax

I don't know if CARMAX returns the warranty $ or not - you would have to check with them. I do know that any transfer fee is non-refundable - you would eat that, if you chose not to keep the car (or not to buy the car).

I had a Porsche dealer run the VIN for me - they said that they could provide warranty information but not any service information (they told me that the original servicing dealer would have that - that might be hard to get). That was still informative to me, however. I was mainly curious about repeat warranty items (an electrical problem they could never quite diagnose, etc.).

You definitely want to get a PPI done. I paid less than that for a PPI from a Porsche dealer but in hindsight perhaps an independent would be better - you are looking for accident damage that wasn't disclosed, etc.