Cosmetic issues aside, the service history is sketchy at best. Even with a clean PPI there is no telling what latent defects there may be. I would pass on this one.

Just my $0.02.

 

The seller called me yesterday, he told me he wasn't going to take it to Porsche for a PPI rather he wanted to take it to a shop he knows that specializes in Porsche and other euro cars. He stated that the Porsche dealer would bring up things that didn't really need to be looked at or worried with. Which I find the contrary because just because they say "the cigarette lighter is missing" doesn't mean you have to purchase a new one, it just lets the buyer know "hey there is no cig lighter". That's just an example. Apart from this, I believe the car was babied by the owner, however he stated how his son use to drive it and was the one who painted the calipers... so I'm betting the son could have dogged it out as well, banged the gear box and burn the clutch because anyone stupid enough to paint Porsche calipers are stupid enough to do all of what I'm assuming!

 

... and at this point I would ask why you might still be considering this car. Way too many other ones out there with reliable records, good service history and an owner willing to let a Porsche trained mechanic inspect.

Good luck

 

I'm not considering this one at the moment, I am however finding it hard to find a good example of a well taken care of 997 in my area. My max budget that I want to spend is $35K, am I wrong for wanting that to be my budget for one of these cars?

 

FWIW, my budget was around 30k and I was looking at boxsters and caymans. After reading the forums and doing my own research I ended up spending 80k (yikes!) on a 2011 carrera S.

I think there are 2 things that ring true :
1. Always buy the newest Porsche you can afford (especially if it's your DD)
2. You get what you pay for. (It's not worth saving 5k on the price if you need 10k in repairs a few months later)

 

It is not wrong but you have to modify your expectations on year and mileage.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...87111305&Log=0

 

Sorry to the OP for the way the seller flaked out with the PPI. Not to defend him, but he has a point about inspections that are too thorough. It's not much different than buying a house. Ask a broker whom you should hire, and they'll likely ask you if its for a buyer or a seller. The resulting reports from a buyer's inspector --any buyer's inspector, will almost always be different from that of a seller. Factual information should be the same, but there are a lot of opinions in these reports, which are more subjective.

From the seller's perspective, they just need to grit their teeth when they're facing one of these, and hope it isn't just about getting beaten up on the sales price. Not allowing it to happen, though, is a stupid move. Only a fool would go forward under his terms. A possible solution in the future would be for each side to pick someone, and the ones the pick then choose a neutral. I'm a lawyer, though, and hate to recommend making the process any more difficult than it needs to be.

Cudos to the OP for walking away, and proving that the buyer ultimately has more power here. As rare as our little gems are, there are plenty more out there. Good luck finding it. Study all the websites and meta sites. My fav is cargurus.com. They will give you better current value info than any of us could. Start with a nationwide search, then start filtering by year and major options. Then start changing options, one by one, and see how each affects the price. Add 20,000 miles, go a year newer, or whatever. Cargurus will give you detailed market value info for each selection.

Even if you don't find your car there, you'll get better market intel on these sites than anywhere else (including here). If you find one across the country, don't be too hesitant to hop on a plane. A well-maintained 10 year-old Porsche with 50,000 miles can be an excellent car with a lot of life left in it, and will still have good value when you're done with it. A bad one can be an expensive nightmare. A good PPI is your best safeguard.

Again, good luck.

 

Update, the seller had told me he would take it to have Porsche PPI and he would get back to me Monday (Yesterday). I said that's fine, but told him I'm still looking, well yesterday he said he took it to be inspected and someone bought it there on the spot. Good for him and good luck for the buyer. Still looking for my 997!!!!!

 

Also, I've seen this ad for a month or so... I'm not worried about the mileage as much as in the images it shows wear to the weather stripping as well as carpet and floor mats.


http://www.rpmcarsatl.com/2005_Porsc..._231276651.veh

 

excellence mag? pelican? he did you a favor selling it to someone else... NEXT!

 

The car looks good, but I'd be careful about buying an '05. That was ground zero for IMS failures. You might even want to check the vin to see if it was included in Porsche's class action settlement. In the 997.1, from '05 to '08, the issue progressively improved. Repairing catastrophic engine failure will cost you close to the purchase price. On the other hand, it only occurred in a small percentage of cars, particularly garage queens. How lucky are you?

 

I would pass on the 05' you're likely going to run into IMS issues and the miles seem to be on the higher side.

Try to look for a 06+ and bump up your budget a few grand, you'll be able to find a clean car, lower miles, less headaches/issues.

 

As someone else said, you probably need to temper your expectations a bit. Here's what looks like a pretty clean -05 base for 29,900 and you worry about floor mats and weather stripping? You won't find a 997 that's 100% for what you're ready to pay. Suncoast had floor mats on sale for $30 recently as I recall it.

 

You could do much better on the price. While the car isn't in the greatest shape exterior and interior wise, the mechanical condition might be good. You'd be surprised what a good detail will do to that car. The scratch above the spoiler and others can be touched up pretty easily via Dr. ColorChip or Langka especially being silver. You can get PDR done on the dents. A good leather guy can make the interior look good. I would factor all of this into the price however. While finding a better car is probably easier, this car would look pretty good with a little work done. Just keep in mind that almost any 997 you find for around that price will have blemishes. I bought my 2010 997.2 and was initially bothered by all the paint imperfections. With a Dr. ColorChip kit and some elbow grease, I was able to hide a lot of the imperfections.

P.S. Rotors don't look the greateat, but that smearing look seems like brake dust.

 

Oops, just saw the car was sold. You'll find something else.