I'm planning on getting an aftermarket warranty from Fidelity. One of the cars I'm looking at had a PPI done from the dealer (private), who gave me a rundown on wear/tear and also fixed a bunch of little (cosmetic) things. I know to be thorough I should have the car sent to the local Porsche dealer (btw car is hundreds of miles from me), but I feel like if I"m getting a good warranty that my local Porche dealer honors...plus the dealers selling me the car will offer a dealer (non Porsche warranty on top of the Fodelity)...do I really need to be so extreme? I obvisously want to be safe and do things the right way...but when is it just overkill? 02 996 tt w/ 25k miles 1 owner all service records...but...bought at auction.

 

Wait, you got a PPI from the selling dealer who isn't a porsche dealer (and may just be a used car lot)? And you think this is adequate if there is a warranty?

You really need to understand what these warranties cover! If there is abuse, over revs, repairs, paint, etc, etc, all are not covered under the warranty.

However if you want to talk yourself out of PPIs and you are looking for people to say this, I'm sure you can find them.

Here is a school of thought:

EVERYONE that has bought a car after a PPI has, in fact, wasted their money! The only people who have wisely spent money on a PPI are those that have found fatal flaws.

Do a better job at negotiating prices for PPIs and understand what to ask for. Porsche dealers are not actually the best shops- best shop is an indy who is willing to put the effort into the inspection.

A

 

I bought my car after having a PPI done by an independent shop. My car was a CPO, a one owner car with the original owner having purchased it at the same dealer that was selling it to me. The owner had it only serviced there and the service department printed out the work history for me so I could inspect it. They also took the time to go over it with me and explained items about which I had questions. That being the case, I still believed it necessary to have a PPI done by an independent shop, so I arranged for the dealer to deliver it to the indy shop and they did the inspection - the results of which confirmed what the dealer's service records and CPO checklist indicated, that the car was in great shape even though it had lots of miles (67k).

And I also purchased an aftermarket warranty when I bought the car, which has saved me almost $3K in repairs in the eight months I've had it. I declined the CPO warranty (saving myself some money) since it overlapped with the longer aftermarket warranty (four years instead of the two for CPO).

You might ask why it needed the almost $3k in repairs given the positive results of the PPI and given that it was CPO'd. There were two fixes that were needed. The first was a TSB fix dealing with vibration of the Power Steering Reservoir Control Valve. That would have cost me around $1400 out of pocket without warranty. The other fix was for both of my radiator fans failing and needing replacement - around $1300 or so.

Hence I believe warranty is essential. Your decision to get a warranty is the correct one, IMO. However, as ard said, you want to be clear on what is covered by it.

And to ard's other point, I agree with him that you want someone other than the dealer you're buying from to do the PPI. Get an independent shop to inspect the car. It cost me around $300 and though it was wasted (given, as ard says, that there were no fatal flaws found), I felt it was necessary for due diligence on my part.

Good luck!

 

OK thanks guys....I just wanted to check that I wasn't doing anything too stupid...and glad I got my answer. I will find a local shop to do a PPI. I will do standard PPI + Comp scan....do you think compression test is nessasary?

Thanks!

 

I just got a 02 TT 6sp with 23k miles CPO'd. I didnt get an independent PPI, the car was a 1 owner bought at the same dealer and serviced at the same dealer I got it from so I didnt feel it was necessary. About the compression test I wouldnt spend the money for a car with such a low mileage (25k) unless there is evidence of mods (larger turbos, or something similar)

 

Funny...called the local Porsche dealer near the car I'm looking at...they knew the owner of the dealer I'm buying the car from and said " ....is a great guy and usually has great cars. We do PPI's for his customers every once and a while, and every time it's the same as what ....said in there PPI and we usually just tell the customer they need to get a service in x amount of miles"

 

there is no such thing as a "standard PPI".

Compression and leakdown is optional and probably not necessary for a pristine car with known history.

Did the dealer pull the data from the DME and show you the print outs? If there are no significant overrevs (ie zero type 2s) I would feel comfortable the car was babied.