Been looking at used Porsches at various dealers and came across one that looked 'interesting'.

Clicking on the "Get Vehicle History Report' link on the Porsche dealer page brought up an Auto Check page. On that page there is an accident listed 12/10/2010 "Rear Impact with another vehicle- case ID# xxxxx"

Car was sold at auction in April 2011 as a Dealer vehicle and then offered for sale from 'Independent Source' and then Certified as Porsche CPO in June 2011 from PCNA.

I had no trouble with the CPO on my turbo but am very surprised to learn that a car with an accident history can qualify for CPO.

BTW - accident occurred in one state and car is for sale and CPO approved in another state not nearby. I 'might' be able to understand the CPO if the same dealer had all the records, repair, etc. but this scenario is bizarre.

 

it could have been something as simple as a bumper replacement due to scratches or it could have been major. If you can get the original paperwork that'd help. Maybe an independent mechanic could check it out on a PPI.
It's be a red flag for sure.

 

1) It can't . If a car has an accident it can not be CPO'd .
2) Only a Porsche dealership can CPO a car one time . If sold to an individual he can transfer it but if sold to another dealership or traded in the CPO expires .

Conclusion -- This isn't the only porsche in the universe .

Good luck.

 

Thanks Larry.

I was hoping to not have to look at every 'Vehicle History Report" of cars that are on the Porsche dealers sites that are CPO'd. Sure, I will look at the reports of the ones I'm serious about but at this point I'm scanning for price points, options and such to fine tune what want. I must have looked at over a hundred cars today at dealers sites in 12 states to get some ideas.

Hopefully my research is accurate and not skewed by cars with questionable histories.

BTW- it seems there are very few 2009 C2S's at reasonable prices. Most dealers are asking high 70's at the minimum. It seems some of these cars probably sold close to that in the crazy 20% off days. That's got to make you feel good Larry ;-)

 

I see the pricing is high everywhere . My general feeling is that if one has to over pay for a car he may as well buy a new car. If it's too much to spend .. just save the money.

It's better to have no car .. than the wrong car .. or the right car but at the wrong price .

I love these cars .. but there';s nothing wrong with holding onto savings .

 

Whether or not an "accident" car can be CPO's depends on number of panels replaced - it's on the CPO checklist.

I was looking at a GT2 on eBay - narrative said no accidents, Carfax said no accidents but clicking on the eBay tab "Vehicle History" there was a recent accident listed - date, location and case #. I asked seller (dealer) about it and he said eBay info was wrong but never received any more follow-up - I passed.

 

If I recall correctly, a Porsche dealer (which certainly can be the wrong information) indicated that no more than 2 panels painted the car can still be CPO. I didn't confirm as I was looking for a "no stories" car.

 

Really? I didn't know this, what is the thinking behind having the CPO expire if one trades in the car? Doesn't that reduce the resale of a CPO trade-in and encourage a CPO owner to only sell to private owner thus robbing the dealer of another CPO sale?

It would make more sense that once a car is CPO'ed that the CPO warranty remains with the car, like a new car warranty... Why wouldn't Porsche do this?

 

Don't know if Porsche can only CPO a car one time but it is correct that only Porsche dealers can CPO the car...but a private seller with a CPO warranty can transfer the CPO to a private buyer. Dealers make money on CPO so maybe that's the rationale.

 

I think the rational is that if you buy a CPO car from a private person if he messed with the car therefore potentially voiding the warranty you can turn against him for it. If a car kept it's CPO status when sold to a dealership then the dealership would be responsible for the CPO status of the car without having performed the necessary tests. So that's why I think that dealership will not sell a CPOed car unless it has been tested by them and noone had a chance to mess with it after it passed.

 

You are partially correct . For instance a "CPO" car which has the CPO and then faces an accident does not lose the CPO coverage . In fact it can even be transferred via that priavte party to another private party.

With the number of panels to qualify .. it's somewhat of a gray area (overspray gets immediately questioned ) and generally is frowned upon (despite the checklist ok) . After all a non damaged car is not hard for a dealership to find .

As for the carfax .. This is something i learned recently .. if a person backs up at a supermarket and dings another car and an accident report is completed .. it WILL show up on carfax . Thse simple accidents often get questioned in terms of dimished value on resale . That's why i stress the importance of retaining all records to show exatly what was damaged as well as repaired . A simple repair is very different than damage where the structural integrity has been compromised.

 

This is correct, however I believe there is a dollar threshold to be reported. 250 or 500 per the police report.