Here is one of the handy paint meters that can be had for $375. IIRC, OEM thickness are in the range of 0.0035"-0.0055" thick.

http://www.testcoat-usa.com/Category/QNix%20Handy.aspx

 

I bought my 2010 Carrera S from Porsche of King's Auto Mall in Cincinnati Ohio the ending of August 2010.

I live in Honolulu, Hawaii. I found my car by googling what I wanted and found this car in Ohio.

My best advise is to deal only with the General Manager as he can make all the decisions on what the car can be sold as.

I just went by the pictures they had on their website. If you want more details about the transaction you can PM me......

 

Read articles on edmunds and other car sites about buying from a distance. I have bought all of my cars from several hundred miles away and have always gotten what I considered to be a good deal. The key is to initially contact the internet sales manager and then to escalate to the general manager if they are not the same person if need be. By contacting this individual it usually cuts out a lot of the typical bs that you would find if you just wandered onto the lot because they 1. know you are a fairly savvy buyer since you have contacted them via the internet and 2. know that you have a wide search radius. therefore they either need to put up or shut up since it is just as easy for you to call one state over and buy a car there instead.

 

To OP:

A couple of days ago I saw an ad ( the Houston Porsche dealer ) for a low mileage 2010 Turbo. Think his price was about $135 but not sure.

There's no such thing as a CPO report; the cpo checklist is about 100 items that they 'certify' or fix to bring up to the parameters acceptable to Porsche. On a car this new a CPO is far les important since you have the balance of the original warranty. Perhaps you meant a Carfax and/or DME? The dealer should be able to email those to you. At the price they are asking you know 2 things: the car should be perfect with everything but the odometer saying "new". Second, as Scott wrote, this thing has a lot of gingerbread items ( which you may be interested in and willing to pay for ) which have nothing to do with being a Porsche and at best are worth 50% of the original option list price. ( The dealer has a copy of the original window sticker and can email that to you also.)

One of your earlier questions was who should you talk to at the dealer. Ask for the General Manager and don't settle for less than the sales manager. If you convey that you are ready to buy and have the $$$ he'll be happy to talk with you rather than just pass you off to a salesman.

 

I bought two 911s sight unseen from out of state. The first one from a dealership in CT new NYC when I lived in Boston. I did the whole transaction over the phone and via express mail. They shipped the car for free on the back of a tow truck to my house in Boston. Not a single problem and I'd buy from them again any time. That was a new '01 C4.

I bought my latest 911 Turbo from a Mercedes dealer in Tampa. I did all the negotiation and gave them a deposit, then flew down to pick it up. They met me at the airport in a new S-class and took me to the dealership where I was on my way in an hour. Car was perfect, and the drive back was amazing. I did 26 hours straight from Tampa to my house averaging 93 mph including stops. That was fun.....

 

If you are looking at the ones near LA, since the three 2010 turbos are at dealers very close together and pretty close to Burbank airport, you may just want to hop an SW flight to Burbank, get a rental and drive over with a check, see if you can cut a deal based on whether it is better than your local new one. Then a) deposit the rental and drive home or b) fly back. OAK-BUR is a snap (I do it about 40x a year, often for a couple of hour meeting).

 

Yes, most likely I will discuss pricing with the Internet Sales Manager or GM and fly down to the dealer to close the deal.

The car in question is a 2010 Turbo Coupe and not convertible. So I guess a good price will be < $130k. It does have a lot of fluff which we do not really care for but the PCCB is nice.

 

simoncpj is correct. Give yourself some ammunition by seeing what the other SoCal dealers have available. There are ten dealers within an hour of Burbank airport, don't hesitate to use this information to your advantage. If your counterparty thinks his is the only car you're interested in you're not going to get the best deal. On the other hand, if he thinks you've traveled to see three different cars and are truly prepared to buy, you should do quite well.

Good luck, let us know how you do!

 

Get a paint meter and go inspect the car. The only way to do it. Unless you can send it back if you don't like it.. Don't think so..

 

I've bought and sold many cars from long distances over the years. Recently, I bought a pre-owned BMW M3 from a P-car dealer in NJ sight unseen. I had a buddy of mine (P-car fanatic) go over and test drive the M3 and take it to his mechanic for a PPI. It worked out great. I negotiated the price with the dealer, wired the money (with the condition that the car was exactly as described) and my wife and I flew out and drove it back to Chicago. Same P-dealer mentioned earlier in this thread, it was a great experience.

On October 29th I actually bought my 08 997 from a Lexus Dealer in Minnesota. Same deal, but this time I traded my M3. Not only did we negotiate a firm price on the 997, but on my trade too, before I ever left home. I sent them detailed service records, photos, etc, and they did the same. I also had a buddy test drive it and take it for a PPI for me. Drove the M3 to MN and drove back to Chicago in my 997, piece of cake.

I think the key is to have a "car" person check it out for you and have the PPI done if you're pretty sure it's the one, before you go, you can be pretty sure you'll get what you're looking for.

 

I recently purchased a car from Napleton Porsche. Negotiated the value of my trade and their CS via email and phone with only seeing photos of their car. Their car was as stated and I was very happy with the transaction. The one thing I did request was a report on the rev ranges in the DME which they were happy to supply.

I wouldn't hesitate to puchase a car again from Paul at Napleton.
I dove up and back the same day from Cincinnati to Chicago.

 

so wait, your saying that the new 2010 is cheaper than the one with 3k miles? since you don't care about the extra options, why would you even consider the used one?

the used one at 154k will not come down to 125k. you can try but that's a long shot. why the dealer priced at 154k is beyond me. must be a big msrp when it was new.

bottom line, there is nothing like a brand new car. i would negotiate on that if your 125k offer doesn't go through. once price is set, then have the car delivered to your door in enclosed trailer ($600) if you don't want to fly and drive it back.

 

I just checked on the dealer's website, this car is now lowered to 144k from 154k when I first saw it. The dealer has it since July of this year.

I may be able to negotiate a 2011 new one with less options from 150k to 140k (doable??). Do you think that a new one may be a much better choice?

Thanks.

 

Thanks for all of your help. We have decided to go with an order for a new one at the local dealer to save us the guesswork out of buying used. It seems like in the end we may not be saving much going this route.

 

tsammann, I am also in SoCal looking for a 2007 997. Seeing that there is high competition here between porsche dealers, i would think that they would be willing to negotiate more...however it's always nice in SoCal therefore these cars are totally drivable year-round. It's a catch 22. I am researching and looking to buy in the next month. do you think dealers in this area are more flexible/willing to negotiate compared to other areas?
I waited until winter hoping to find a better deal...but (first year in cali) seeing how it's beach weather year round, i hope that my wait was not worthless.