Maybe I dont understand. I started a PPI thread a couple of days ago, with little response. Someone , someone tell me what I have to do 2 get a PPI on a car I am interested in. Would I use the same PPI for a 20k car as a 50k car? Where do I go ? Who do I call? Totally frustrated. 170 views on that thread with one response..... A little help guys would be appreciated

 

I'd say start with the area you're in and go from there. First stop would be the local dealer or sponsors on the right in the area?

Hopefully this car isn't in California as there are a bunch of legal issues that cause most dealers to stay away from that service.

 

alex,

The car is a CPO car. I am wondering where I can have someone inspect it for paint work before I commit. The place is a certified dealer....I just want to confirm. I have googled PPI in Ohio , searched forums here with no luck. I see all these guys on this board get PPI on cars they are looking at. Where do they find the inspectors. I dont know maybe this is like the obvious question and answer. Talk 2 me like I am two. Maybe I will understand.....confused and mentally f_cked up

 

Hi Jj - I think the main reason why no one answered on the Ohio thread is because none of us live there . In fact I only know one person from Toledo Ohio and the one time I even mentioned Porsche she said that most of her town worked for Jeep (factory town) and foreign cars in general are less common.

Most Porsche dealerrships will inspect a car for a fee . I know you were looking at a BMW and I am not sure if BMW offers the same . My guess is that at best there is one dealership covering a large radius . That makes it tough to get an outside referral .

I know both Porsche and BMW folks in Florida . Dealership as well as private technicians . Just don't know anyone out there .

 

No need to be whiney about it. Did you call your local Porsche dealers and ask if they would do a pre purchase inspection? If the car is sold by a Porsche dealer and CPO'd, obviously that allows for a fair amount of protection. If it is a Porsche dealer, I can tell you that they have a paint meter. Tell them to take the meter on all the panels of the car. You can tell if the paint is thicker on any panel, indicating it has paint work. They should be able to tell you if the car has had body work. If they are a dealer they can hook up the car and tell you the DME readout that will indicate the over rev history (search for the thread here for details if you don't know.) The CPO will ensure the car has brakes and good tires, but those are easy to check for. If you are not that comfortable with that dealer, ask to take the car to another dealer. Common price is $225. I got mine done in PA for only $90. Prices do vary. I got the DME scan for the price as well. Good luck.

 

JJ,

what are you buying?

I had a company inspect my car before I bought it, I have the name and number at work. I will post/PM it to you tomorrow.

 

Larry,
Thanks 4 response. The more I research, the more I find that Ohio just doesnt have a high amount of highline cars, dealers, and people When I bought my P car it was some what easy because it came from CA. You see the car....it looks clean. I just want to be sure on the paint before I go I ll keep working on it and keep you posted

 

This is where its confusing.....If it were a p-car I wouldnt of even submitted this thread. Its a DD 4 wife BMW

 

Ed,

My adventure is a DD for the wife(BMW), and the economy in the states is crap, so I am selling my car for a Yugo, and Stacy said he would give me his car for free because he has no appreciation for a fine auto. My god I just hope he doesnt treat his better half like his car

 

I used a company called SCA appraisal's, to do an inspection. www.sca-appraisal.com

The service that they did for me was called a lease return inspection, and they charged me $125 for the the inspection.

 

BMW shopping is different than porsche . Since maintenance is "free" it opens the door to a different tier of customer service . BMW makes great efforts to evaluate a warranty claim and when a CPO car is bought in one region and serviced in another it gives the new dealership a nice loophole to deny a claim . (Here's an example that someone posted on another forum . http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/bmw...8640889-1.html
His warranty claim was rejected as two dealerships 1000+ miles away were not on the same page and he was facing a $14K bill ) .

For peace of mind you must shop BMW in your area . It may even be worth getting a new 528 over a used 550 or a new 328 over a used 335 . BMW's are great cars for daily driving.

If you jump to Porsche (Ie Cayenne - ideal car as a DD 50K new , 40K used CPO) things get better . The Porsche CPO program is very good .

That's not to say that the BMW you see in Ohio may not be a great car but it just seems like alot of work to travel out of state to buy a used BMW when there are so many of them closer to home where you can get it inspected .

Good luck.

 

I got the feeling from reading all that, that his car was not CPO. Don't know what would happen if it were, but, yes, I think buy locally and build a dealer relationship is a good idea if possible. And buy CPO - discuss the potential warranty issues - a BMW out of warranty is potentially a very expensive time bomb.

 

Steve,
I agree with u and Larry 100% about buying local.......if you had a local dealer that wasnt a total *****. 1 dealer in town 100miles to the next. So any dealer I deal with will be out of my town for service and purchase. This same dealer carries P car. I bought mine from Hoehn in CA for 4k more then a similiar car that was at my local dealer. I contacted BMW direct and they said with a CPO car its no issue(thank god) and ordered the PPI today to see if this car is clean. Will keep fingers crossed and let you guys know. Thanks for all the input guys.(The ones with positive Rep) Much appreciated!

 

Steve --I think alot of deaerships have placed a "CPO" status on acar when a much closer inspection might fail it. I re read the old posts from Rodfly . His car was not a CPO but it did have a factory warranty and that ought to be even better . His problem -- and this could happen to anyone - is that one buys a used car with some unknown history and if a problem arises that unknown could deny a warranty claim . If a person is 1500 miles away from the original dealership that makes things even tougher.

I think a lot of folks place a lot of faith in warranty . Some folks are evben fearful of modding a car to face warranty problems . That example shows a stock BMW and an owner very upset about his 14 thousand doillar bill .

Sadly --it's usually the guy who tries to save a few bucks and makes the strerch to have his dream car who could face an even bigger expense tahn had he bought new .

Tha'ts why i always say .. inspect everything before buying used.