Guys/Gals,

I am currently looking at a 2007 997TT that I am having trouble deciding whether or not to purchase. I am not 100% sure on the options of the vehicle because it is being sold by an independent dealer who bought the car at auction. Here's what I do know:

-GT Silver/ Terracotta special leather
-Sports Chrono package
-Rear wiper delete
.... The car could have more or less on it but that's all I know so far. Obviously no sport seats or CCB's or I'd know.

Here's where I get clouded on my decision- the car shows five owners. While it seems that it has been owned for the most part by one person who serviced the car meticulously at Beverly Hills Porsche, I wonder what resale will be like knowing I'd potentially be "technically" the sixth owner. Also, the car had the entire transmission replaced at around 15k miles. Not just the clutch. Not sure if this is a big deal or not. Some of you probably know which car I am talking about by now. Anyways, this car has sat over the winter in this dealers indoor lot and needs a new owner. It is floor plan owned and therefore, the remaining Porsche CPO warranty cannot be transferred. (Good til July)

It is a 40k (almost exactly) mile car and I have watched the dealer drop the price from 78 to 74 to 69,995. After a few days I've got him down to a final sale price of $68,000 even. I personally think this is an "okay" price. I say "okay" because of the multiple owners, miles, and the the fact that I would have to pay ~4k in taxes plus 1,500 to ship (enclosed) brining my total after registration to around about 74k.

The car seems to be immaculate and is seemingly unmolested. Any tips or advice you guys can offer me regarding the potential purchase would be greatly appreciated. I dream that the car were privately owned and I could get a couple months of warranty to ease my mind, not to mention a hefty tax break.

I look forward to hearing your responses! Thanks


John

 

I would definitely have a PPI done with a DME readout to see the condition of the car. Maybe somebody can chime in but I think there is a sticker somewhere on the car stating what options the car has.

 

Suncoast parts used to provide a Vin Decoder service at no charge. you email them the VIN and they reply with a full option list on the Porsche, pretty cool.

Also, I can relate to buying a Porsche from an independent Dealership as my 911 had about 1 month of Factory warranty remaining Plus a full 2 years of CPO that was void because it was sold by this dealer and not privately.

As mentioned above, you should definitely get a PPI & DME readout done by somebody competent. and if you are local I would most definitely test drive it, because 5 previous owners may suggest it doesn't drive as nicely/comfortably as the previous owners expected. or not, who knows..

This probably happens quite a bit nowadays as a lot of people buy cars online, or out of state or whatever and don't end up with what they expected.

glwp

 

Suncoast charge $10 for the VIN decoder service now. You can purchase it through their website.

 

that's a significant price drop, and not common at all, i wouldn't think. something else may be going on but depending upon a PPI, it may or may not be a good deal. new trans? but get that dme dumped and that should tell you something. my guess is it was a beverly hills lease return/transfer and possibly the car never saw over 80mph lol. they like to park them in front of the ivy. sorry.. never mind

it as ( as you know ) on the very low end of pricing for that MY. then there's the no more cpo left. not good. i dunno man, if you were near the car, sure.. but long distance purchase and ppi without being there? i couldn't pull the trigger like that. newer car? sure. 5 owner storied car? not so much. good luck.

 

Your last couple of sentences are like words out of my mouth. And you're correct, the car was a Beverly Hills Porsche lease return. If this car were local, not only would I save on shipping, but I could test drive it. There are other cars out there so I'm not desperate but as you agree, the price is good!

Hmm what to do... Thanks for the other posts too, guys! At least I can get the options down. At this point I may further investigate and call Bev Hills to see what sort of info I can get out of them

As far as the price goes, the car has sat in this dealers inventory for almost six months and he is paying out the *** to keep it around at this point. As I mentioned, it's a floor plan car and is owned by Chase Bank. He claims the reason the car hasn't sold is because of the season (says people don't shop in the north west for Turbo's during the winter. Also claims the terracotta interior hasn't helped. As much as I personally LOVE terracotta, I have seen people turn their heads to it before. At this point I feel he just needs to move the car and free up some space which can work one of two ways for me. Do I want to buy a car that's been sitting in a warehouse for ~6mo?

 

Offer 65k.
But, really too many variables. I bought mine w a cpo, sub 4k miles at 82k. For low/ mid 70s you should be able to find a car w 20x miles, cpo and all the right options.
BTW, the factory used three different versions terrcotta in '07-08, the earlier ones, like mine, had more black mixed in, true two tone.

 

as i suspected. good. i would ( probably ) walk. 5 guys.. lease..(s) hollywood CA. though zero rust?..i'd pass. lol. you're just too far away from it and yeah.. the possible stories...and ppl ( can ) mistreat leased cars.

no, not if you can help it. they don't like to *sit*. ( though six months is no big deal, overall. )

on the flip side. he's right about the season..it's buying season NOW.. and if the terracotta is that subtle red i'm thinking it is, it's one of the best interior combo's on an arctic ( wasn't it?? ) silver tt. it's drop dead gorgeous inside. agreed. you have good taste and you don't seem to hurried. you'll find a mint car for 75k... soon enough ( he says with his own hope and desire lol )

GL!!

 

When spending this kind of money you should consider flying out to check it out before the purchase. That would let you take it for a test drive and get the PPI done where the shop can show you the car up on the lift.

That would also let you negotiate in person. Good luck.

 

I think flying out and getting a thorough ppi is essential for a car like this. You could easily spend thousands maybe even tens of thousands on repairs if the car is not running properly.

 

90+days of remaining cpo coverage should not be discounted/overlooked as an important thing to have. the final 90 days of my last porsche warranty i had every single thing i could think of fixed. of course by then i had *$100 handshaken* the svc mgr so many times..uncovered warranty things, *glove box handles etc etc*...suddenly were repaired gratis. 90 days can uncover a lot of stuff that can/should be *fixed* is my point. then it's covered bumper to bumper, although not counting wear/tear stuff. ( ordinarily ha )

 

Just bought my Macadamia Brown 997TT sight unseen, no PPI from Arizona on eBay through a dealer. Not the wisest move but the car looked great, 1 owner clean carfax, and I was prepared to deal with any issues that would come up. So far the car has no major issues. If the car I was looking at had 5 owners on the carfax, I would probably be a little more cautious.

FWIW, I bought a 2008 w 57k miles for $63500 + shipping.

Here are some auction data for 2007's, perhaps you could find which one they are selling.

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="559"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#BDFEBE"><td class="text" width="55px">03/14/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">PA</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$79,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">1,486</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Above</td> <td class="text" width="55px">SILVER</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">A</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="text" width="55px">03/13/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">FT MYERS</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$70,600</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">9,100</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Avg</td> <td class="text" width="55px">YELLOW</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">A</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="text" width="55px">03/05/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">ORLANDO</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$66,200</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">21,101</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Avg</td> <td class="text" width="55px">SILVER</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">A</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="text" width="55px">02/19/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">ORLANDO</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$63,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">24,348</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Avg</td> <td class="text" width="55px">GRAY</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">M</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="text" width="55px">02/19/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">ORLANDO</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$62,500</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">40,088</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Avg</td> <td class="text" width="55px">BLACK</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">6</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="text" width="55px">03/14/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">NEVADA</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$63,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">48,105</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Avg</td> <td class="text" width="55px">GRAY</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">6</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FDFCA0"> <td class="text" width="55px">04/04/13</td> <td class="text" width="75px">RIVRSIDE</td> <td class="textCenter" width="60px">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="47px">$58,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="55px">49,965</td> <td class="textCenter" width="41px">Below</td> <td class="text" width="55px">BLACK</td> <td class="textCenter" width="29px">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="30px">6</td> <td class="textCenter" width="59px">Yes</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

I love that car. I would've bought it if it had less miles. You got it for a good price IMO. Post a thread with pics please!

 

agree w/ TT Surgeon, offer the 65k all pending a PPI

 

Perk you talking about the car in Portland? If so Iam local and can lay eyes on it and give it a quick spin around the block if you like? At least let you know if the pics are really representive of the cars actual condition. Im notice every little imperfection on cars almost to the point it drives me nuts trying to find one for myself! LOL