I almost purchased a white GT3 from Porsche of the Village in Cincinatti, OH. The VIN is WP0AC29947S792189

This car has been through significant warranty claims including the rear main seals being replaced, twice, this April and June!!!

On Sept. 30 of this year there was a warranty claim for "engine loose". There's more.

This does not show up on carfax reports in such detail. It's information that you can get from a Porsche dealer looking into service history.

When I first looked at the car the service manager told me he highly recommended the car and personally could speak great things about it, since he was the one who did all of the service on this 1-owner car. Interesting how he failed to mention all of these rather significant warranty claims. Salesman said the same thing of course.

Beware and safe searching if you're in the market for a GT3.

 

Was this the White, Red, or Gray one that you were looking at?

If it has low milage then it could be just a matter of using the car. I installed a LSD and LWFW last winter and a new RMS was installed, it leaked, installed another one and it still leaked. I drove it anyway and the leak went away. I guess these cars need to be driven (and hard).

 

Just saw the other thread, the white one is the one in question. It also had the lowest milage. Perhaps driving it is the solution....I guess neither one of us will know with this car.

 

It was the white one.

And perhaps someone would be willing to buy the car. My point is for everyone to beware of this car. If I had known all of those mechanical issues going into it I would not have wasted my time. Plus, the car was represented as being mechanically pristine -- I think it's far from that.

 

RMS leaks are not uncommon and not a huge issue.

If the car is not driven well the RMS is more prone to leak. If this car was more of a grage queen then that could be the culprit.

Loose engine sounds like a engine mount issue. Again, not a huge concern and maybe a complaint from a fussy owner. You could point these issues out and probably get a discount on the price. But based on what you have said there is nothing here to be that worried about in my opinion.

Jason

 

There was also a report of a field Porsche rep working with this car and trying to trouble shoot it. The RMS leaks were in April and June of this year (2 months apart).

There were other warranty claims that I did not list.

Just a buyer beware note. It may be a great car for someone looking for a low mile and very low cost car. It's just not worth the $88K IMHO with all of the warranty claims that again, were not disclosed to me.

Reminder to those reading this post that I was told the car had a superb service history and was a stunning example of a low mile GT3. To me, that's gross misrepresentation.

 

They should have been upfront with you. There's no such thing as a lemon GT3 though, and it still has a warranty.

 

how did you find out the history info? did the same dealer spill the beans or did you take the vin to another dealer to get a report?

 

One of the first things you can do with a Porsche is check the warranty history at the local dealer. They run the vin#, you get the options, build information, and warranty service date and history. They won't give you the owners name. My GT3 only warranty issue was Cup Holders, the I paid for an inspection (twice). I did have it certified and if buying a private party is a nice way to buy since the Dealer buys the car and sells it to you. BTW the Dealers I've talked to says Porsche won't cover the RMS either citing lack of driving/low mileage or mods (especially exhaust).

 

^^exactly.

Always....always have a Porsche dealer (near or far -- that's not selling you the car) run the VIN and check that warranty history. It's information that is usually not found on Carfax reports.

You could always ask the selling dealer for the service records, but, it's possible they won't share *all* of the service records. The above method is a great screening tool to help minimize the risk of getting a "difficult" car.

 

Oh, and the other thing that is suspicious -- to me at least -- is that the DME report show 0's for all levels of overrevs (e.g. 1,2,3...). Not even a single level 1, which is really surprising to me.

I'm told the only way for those to be cleared is for the car to be chipped, and then having the stock DME put back in.

So it's certainly possible there was not even a single level 1, but given the terrible service history, I'm second guessing that now as well.

Anyhow...not my problem !! I hope it does not become anyone else's problem either.

Still in the market for a GT3. It's amazing...selling my turbo was 10x easier than trying to but a good GT3.

 

is getting the report from another dealer just a phone call or do you have to go there in person and pay them to do it?

im also in the market for a gt3 and whats chapping my hide so far is the many previous owners on even very low mile cars.

trying to find the right color and options with low miles and single owner is becoming a big hasstle.

im sometimes tempted to buy a 2010 with minimal options. ie white, full leather, padm, thats it.

 

^^just call a Porsche dealer you trust--ask them to run the VIN and to check the warranty activity. If you don't have a dealer you trust, or know well enough, I'm sure a friend of a friend can help.

Agreed...I'm close to going 2010 myself, but not that close. I'm still going to be patient with my GT3 search and am still mystified as to how hard it is to find a good one.

 

i am not convinced that those are enough reasons to walk away from this car but as always, do your own due diligence when buying.

 

I live very close to Porsche of the Village and know the dealer well and the specific car you are talking about. In fact, I drove it a couple of weeks ago.

The real story is as follows. The car was owned by a guy who did NOT drive it hard, at all. No track, only light street driving. Wasn't his cup of tea and he turned it in for a C4S cab I think. It was definitely not chipped or modded, other than he had them add the screen for the nav, and it is hardwired for a passport.

The car did have a RMS leak, which was worked on by the dealership. PCNA engineers had the mechanics tear it apart during the summer to learn more about the RMS leak and the fix.

I know the service manager well and the salesmen. They're very much on the up and up, and I service my car there. I have no affiliation with them, other than being a customer.

I seriously considered the car, but it has almost no options and when I looked they were asking 97k. For the right price, it's a great buy. The interior and exterior are immaculate and I'm very picky.