Originally Posted by exucla

I bought my 06 C4s last year at a porsche dealership. The sold me the car as a clean car with no accident and it was bought as a certified car at a reputable porsche dealership. I was in the process of selling the car when I ran a carfax report on the car for a buyer and discovered the car was involved in rear end accident three months prior to my purchase. Before I bought the car, the dealership showed me a clean carfax and told me the car was not involved in any accidents. After I found out about the accident report on the carfax, the sale fell through. I reviewed the CPO report and did not find any note about paint or body damage. I called the dealership and informed the sales manager about the reported car accident on carfax. The sale manager was surprised about the car accident and told me to bring in the car. He performed a visual inspection and found a section of the car was repainted. This experience sheds a bad light on the CPO certification and Carfax. I think it is just pure fraud on what really goes on in the resale process. It is only marketing hype that gives profits to Carfax and dealerships. The sales manager is trying to contact the previous owner but has not heard anything back. He maybe trying to work out a deal with me, but the GM is only willing to give me low trade-in value+1k over. Any advice on how to proceed?

Originally Posted by exucla

It is disappointing that Porsche NA does not require the dealerships to state whether there is paint damage or repainted panels. At least, from what I remember on the CPO inspection, there was no specific section. Porsche relies on the dealer to follow all guides. Apparently, the guidelines are too vague. If you look on the Porsche website, it mentions the criteria of quality as:

More than 70 % of all Porsches ever built are still on the road today. This record value speaks for itself. To give you maximum security when buying a Porsche, all vehicles within the Porsche Approved Certified Pre-owned Car Program must pass a demanding quality inspection. An obligatory checklist with over 100 quality criteria is used for this purpose. This way you can rest assured that your pre-owned Porsche is in perfect condition, both technically and visually.

If a dealership can certify a car with repaint or a previous accident. It is deceptive practice. The term perfect is bs. My gripe is that Porsche certification is too subjective to allow the dealership with discretion on what perfect is. Perfect condition would mean original paint and no accident to me. If it is repainted, it needs to meet a defined factory specifications for paint (although I am not sure how this would be defined).

It has only been a few days from my last conversation with the dealership. I hope that they can compensate me. It is comforting to hear other people's stories on how similar situations have been resolved. I feel that the dealerships have all the power and I am at their mercy.

Originally Posted by Sharkys

FWIW, I called a local Porsche dealer to get a PPI on a car I was looking to purchase through a private party. I asked the dealer if they can use a paint meter on the car. The service manager said they couldn't because they do not have a paint meter because they do not have body shop on the premise and thus nobody qualified to use it. My question to him was, then how to they CPO their cars? He had no answer. Good luck and I hope this gets resolved to your satisfaction.

Originally Posted by Market Top

Really??? Then how do they value cars they are taking on trade? I'm not calling any dealer in this thread dishonest, but they are business people that buy/sell cars everyday. Someone at the dealership knows how to use a paint meter. I'd like to think the best of my local dealers, but more often than not I'm disappointed. I do hope this works out to your satisfaction....I'm sure this is not the last car you will buy and I hope they treat you as a potential customer rather than a former customer.

And as far as CarFax is concerned, I'm pretty sure all a dealer has to do is contact them with a reasonable request and they will change the document/report. Kind of frightening. Garbage in - Garbage out. The best a buyer can do is try to get as much info as possible and connect the dots - no one rings a bell when you find a good one.

Originally Posted by Hella-Buggin'

did you have them do a PPI or just assume the CPO was a certification that they already did one?

Originally Posted by Hella-Buggin'

did you have them do a PPI or just assume the CPO was a certification that they already did one?

Originally Posted by utkinpol

I never saw any dealer to use paint meter, they only do visual inspection.
I also do not think anybody treats CPO as a 'universal proof' - it is just a commercial item, a warranty what they sell. It got nothing to do with vehicle condition, if anybody thinks dealer sniffs car back and forth and takes it apart to sell you CPO status for extra premium - you must be delirious.

Originally Posted by Mojo31

I've had dealers take a paint meter to cars I've traded in. I've been told that they use it to look for repaired panels and hail damage. I've also seen some use a magnet looking for bondo.

OP - does your state have a deceptive trade practices law? Might drag it out if it's available to you.

Originally Posted by Sharkys

FWIW, I called a local Porsche dealer to get a PPI on a car I was looking to purchase through a private party. I asked the dealer if they can use a paint meter on the car. The service manager said they couldn't because they do not have a paint meter because they do not have body shop on the premise and thus nobody qualified to use it. My question to him was, then how to they CPO their cars? He had no answer. Good luck and I hope this gets resolved to your satisfaction.

Originally Posted by jakesdad

If you can't trust CARFAX to be accurate then what good are they.... NONE!!!!!!
Just one more layer of BS that can't be trusted... Do your own homework and don't rely on someone else that may or may not be accurate...
You get a scratch on your quarter panel and you get it touched up... CARFAX sticks their nose in and marks your car lousy... Has the potential to take thousands out of your pocket for a non-event. Where is the benefit???

Originally Posted by jhbrennan

Have you checked the CPO documents you received on purchase?

MY CPO paperwork in Section D Exterior has a question as follows:

"Does the vehicle have signs of previous collision damage/repairs (vehicle is not eligible if more than 2 body panels are painted or signs of frame damage)? If yes, this vehicle may not be eligible for certification. Consult the Porsche Approved Policy and Procedure Manual for certification."

Also, checking CarFax or using a paint meter are not on the CPO checklist items - maybe they should be.