My 911 - The Hunt!
 

Noticed a handful of threads about members seeking advice about purchasing a 911 and the struggle of finding "The One." Mine comes with quite the story, figured I'd share for those of you in the hunt!

I've been searching for a 911 for a little over a year (Realistically all my life). I debated between a 996 vs 997 and SLK55 (Price was tempting). The MB was the MB, the 997 was the pinnacle, 996 was affordable, but I didn't want to over-commit myself in terms of costs. So like most of you, bored online, I'd surf autotrader nationwide for potential cars, usually just killing time.

Week before Thanksgiving, I find a Steel Gray, Black Interior, Techart Skirts/Wing/Wheels, Chrono package, black interior, Bose, Nav, Heated seats, K40 Jammer/Detector, loaded 911 C2S. Man, Price was good too! Priced as a base 911, not even considering the Techart fun. Dealer was located in North Carolina, I had my Z3 on autotrader for months without a bite, worth a call.

Spoke with the NC Dealer, sent him pictures of my car, we negotiate a little, settle on a price with my trade, DEAL! Ok, he'll call me in a few days to finalize the details and I'm driving to NC! I call in two days, nothing, call again, again, again. No answer. I checked the Website, car wasn't listed anymore :mad:

Well, it wasn't meant to be! The following Saturday, I was flying out to Las Vegas for the week, bored at the airport, I'm surfing trader again. The same 911, same pictures, description, pops up in Florida :confused: Ok, what is going on here. I call the dealership inquiring about this car. It's a dealer in Tampa, great guy, tells me he just bought the car at auction in NC. Bought it yesterday actually! Ughh!

Ok, back to negotiations, unfortunately this time, he's not interested in my trade. Offered me 4K :( He only deals with Porsche's and that's understandable. Well I can't talk too long, I have a flight to catch, I told him I'll think about it and call on Monday.

Monday morning, 6AM Vegas time (Insert Massive hangover) cell rings, Porsche Dealer: "Are you still interested in that 911? Yes/No?" I'm having a hard time on that price without my trade. Dealer was very polite, said he had another client that was interested, really can't hold it for me.

I started to do the math, Techart wheels 6K, Skirts 2K, Wing 2K, K40 1.5K, I'm at 11.5 in options that I'm going to spend anyway! I already had all this stuff saved on my eBay watch list. I was flying to Florida to spend Christmas with my family anyway, I figured I'd send the deposit, make sure everything shakes out and go from there. Heck, worst case I lose $500, already paid for the plane tickets. My friend Ryan, also suffering from a Vegas Hangover, looks over "Are you buying a ****ing Porsche right now?" He still can't believe it.

Fast forward to Tampa, FL. Arrive at the dealership, get a PPI & DME, take the car for a 4 hour test drive. Returned with a huge grin and left the check. Drove the car all over Florida for a few weeks and drove it home to Michigan.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_...2013.36.04.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-j...0/Porsche4.jpg

It took me almost 2 months from Start to Finish, but I bought the 911 I always wanted, so for all those looking, good luck!

congrats! i love the contrast from the tinted windows against the gray. are those 20" wheels? they look really big!

Good story... and what a coincidence. I almost bought your car! I bought my car the week prior to thanksgiving... and I had it narrowed down to your car and a black car... wait for it... in Tampa! I bought it from the same dealer in Tampa that you got yours! In fact, he called me a week later to let me know he got another porsche, to see if I knew anybody interested in the car...
I got a one way plane ticket, went, check the car, take it for a looooong test drive, got a PPI and DME reading and drove all the way back... what a coincidence!
Robert was really nice and he spent $300 detailing my car prior to let me take it back (as you saw it, the dealership is kind of dusty!)
Congrats on your car!
joel

WOW! Small world, Yes Robert was extremely helpful! Thank god you didn't buy my car! I chased this fricken thing for two states! That is an amazing coincidence though.

Had I known, I would have posted sooner, should have stopped over for a cruise.

Yeah, we pretty much bought our cars almost the same time and at the same place! ;)
Don't get me wrong, I love my black car (that's why I decided on the other that yours, because of the color I wanted) but some days I ask myself what if... It's a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that the other car I was considering, went to another enthusiast here! :)

Seems that it worked out well for both of us. Everything came together for me almost last minute, I only wanted Steel Gray or White. I've had black cars before, so wanted a new color combo. Definitely glad to see they both ended up in good homes!

Cool story, good thing you didn't blow your car money in vegas! Any plans for mods? Btw are those 19 or 20" techart rims? They look good

Thanks guys, story worked out and I met the other guy that "was interested" - What a coincidence Joel!

20x8.5 Front
20x12 Rears

I already did the clear corners, I plan on getting the front lip, mirror inserts, LED tails/fronts. That's it, as everything has already been done. I'm going for the LOUD but Classy look. I already have my German license plate attached, we don't have front plates in MI but the K40 needed a mount. I'll snap a pic this week.

Beautiful car and very smart way to buy!! You determined what options you wanted, calculated the cost to buy and install and the modifications and then bought a used one with those mods by bidding aggressively on the price knowing what you saved on modding the car to get it to that point. If you are relatively flexible, you can get a fantastic deal that way.

Thanks DoninDEN

That's exactly what happened. I easily saved 12-15K in modding the car, I tacked that amount onto the base and was way ahead. Even without my trade, this may sound funny, but I couldn't justify not buying the car! My dad was the one who talked me into it, basically asked when the last time I saw a car with the exact options/mods I wanted.

I was set for black... but yours was too good to look the other way. my hesitation, your win! :)

My 997 search saga is still going in... been 4 months or so... here it is in short:

1st car I was serious on: agreed on price after a long back and forth, sent a deposit (seller 5 hour drive away), scheduled a PPI, went on vaca exepecting to get a PPI result via email. Nothing... got back to find my deposit in the mail with an "Sorry, sold it locally, didnt want to deal with PPI etc..."

2nd car: test drive, negotiation, deposit, PPI scheduled, dealer calls me before PPI to tell me he has a chance to exchange the car to another dealer for a car he needs for his wife. no deal... find same car at dealer in chicago a week later for 7k more.

3rd car: 1200 miles away. ask seller for history... "Its perfect" he says. PPI shows paint work all over the car...

Still looking :)

One thing I noticed from my search, is that, unless the prior owner took care of the car, the interior is going to be "some how" trashed. I found numerous scratches on the dreaded "soft touch material" around the console (hand brake area) door switches and handles... thank god we have Eric at bumper plugs. I replaced some of my parts with Eric's and some carbon fiber. The car looks better than when new.

My PPI showed the charging cable was going, Sometimes you can't always believe what they sell you. I determined my charging cable is fine, battery is fine. I had the dealer put a new Clutch in and do the Rear Main seal, while in Rome.

Paint's a little different, wouldn't want to mess with a bloched paint job.

wow that is gorgeous :) Congrats!!!!!!