sorry for the noob question, i havent bought a pre-owned car in a long time

i've found a great c4s and am probably going to pull the trigger, should i negotiate price then get a ppi and re-negotiate if it reveals problems or should i get a ppi first and then negotiate ? the car is being sold by a dealer (not a porsche dealership) if that matters

i suck at haggling as well so any tips would be appreciated

i love the car i am prepared to walk away if i cant get it for what i want to pay

 

Negotiate the price first then get a PPI. If anything is found use that as additional bargaining leverage or walk if there's a bunch of stuff found.

 

how does the ppi work ? does the seller take the car to a dealer or am i responsible for having it taken ?

 

Everyone is different -- just ask them how they want to handle it. If they want to drive it, you can just meet them at the shop doing the PPI.

If possible, it's good to be there (ideally, even be at the car rather than a waiting room) while it's done. Then you can see things as the mechanic does.

 

Having just gone through this with my purchase I made an offer subject to a PPI and carfax. Like you, it's been awhile since I purchased a pre-owned car from a private party or a dealer that didn't sell the make of car being purchased.

Suggested to the seller that he drive the car to the shop but the seller offered to let me take it to the shop. In my case, some issues were discovered that needed to be addressed and these were worked into the final price and the seller addressed other PPI issues at the dealership prior to my purchase.

All depends on how cooperative the seller is and what your willing to accept responsibilty for if the car has some shortcomings or maintenance issues.

Good luck with your search!!

Cheers!

 

ppi is a bit of a joke as it does not necessarily give you a full picture of the car. Seems obvious, but if looking to buy the car at a dealership and having them do a ppi, seems only expected that everything would come back fine. ppi is not going to tell you everything, you are going to need to perhaps do a paint depth read and DME scan as well, typically not part of a ppi. Good luck with your search.

 

You don't have the people who are selling you the car do the PPI. It must be independent. Nobody can catch everything, but they can catch a lot.

 

I had the ppi done before I bought my car, it really doesn't give you the full picture. Just the general how much brake pads are left, if your RMS is leaking and other kind of obvious things that that I already knew. They didn't even catch that my battery was dying, I was the one that noticed it. I had the seller pay for the ppi before we negotiated the price, just as long as we are in the same ball park price.

 

+1.

This way you know whether you can get the price you want to pay without spending money on a PPI. Once you spend hard money on a PPI you're going to be more biased to do a deal (ie, human nature to to rationalize away issues once there is a sunk cost involved).

Also agree that it makes sense to have someone run a paint meter. This may require a separate trip to a body shop (what I've done in the past is pay a paint guy to come by the shop where the PPI is being done).

Amazing how many "pristine original paint" cars have had paint work.

 

+1, a buddy of mine just used this technique to purchase a 99 C2. He negotiated the price and then had PPI done they told him there were concerns about some driveline vibration so he had the dealer throw in an aftermarket warranty for 2 years or he was walking...