Buyer Beware (996 Turbo)
Discussion
Came close to buying a 996 Turbo advertised as a private sale on this website over past few days. test drove it, HPI'd it and arranged for a specialist inspection. then I happened on some info that this car wasn't privately owned in reality but part of a supercar hire group and car fleet club which shares the cars among 12 "enthusiasts" and rents them out to joe bloggs.
so this car gets passed around effectively and regardless of price I don't want a 911 Turbo that has been the village bike.
Just a reminder to everyone to be as careful as possible you never know what a cars been up to in its past! if advertised honestly I'm sure the car would sell anyway once it was in good condition and any repairs were done right etc but having found out this info i couldn't trust anything I'd heard about the car at that point.
was mighty p'd off yesterday when i learned this having wasted lots of time and an overnight trip and costs involved to go see this car at the weekend. mighty glad today though that i learned this info before and not after the car was in my garage!
so this car gets passed around effectively and regardless of price I don't want a 911 Turbo that has been the village bike.
Just a reminder to everyone to be as careful as possible you never know what a cars been up to in its past! if advertised honestly I'm sure the car would sell anyway once it was in good condition and any repairs were done right etc but having found out this info i couldn't trust anything I'd heard about the car at that point.
was mighty p'd off yesterday when i learned this having wasted lots of time and an overnight trip and costs involved to go see this car at the weekend. mighty glad today though that i learned this info before and not after the car was in my garage!
not sure of rules and regs on here i've reported the ad
Nobbles said:
Not sure if that would put me off. If the supercar club was reputable and the car passes all inspections why not. If you are going to drive it, my thought is that is would be better than a garage queen that does 2000 miles per year..
if that had been made clear from the start; or on the ad and it was priced accordingly a little cheaper then I'm sure plenty of people would still buy it. but the fact i was told a much different story and no mention of how the car was really owned/shared was enough to make me go cold on the deal.hygt2 said:
V8KSN said:
... ended up being re-shelled and sold through an Official Porsche Dealer for top money! 
What's the problem with re-shelling a car? I thought it would be better to re-shell than to re-jig a bent chassis?The issue was who did the work?
Where did they get the shell from?
Were the right torque settings used when putting it back together?
etc etc
I know of a Giallo 355 Spider that was in P1 club & since served its new owner very well indeed. As said, if serviced correctly a 996 T should not present any nasty shocks for a £100k supercar. My low mileage X50 had new turbos just over a year ago & I had the oil lines all replaced at the same time. Not cheap, but something to keep it in perfect condition.
StuB said:
My low mileage X50 had new turbos just over a year ago & I had the oil lines all replaced at the same time.
What were the symptoms which led to your replacement turbos? How many operating hours and mileage has your car done? How much play were there? Replacing the auxiliaries makes sense as the turbos have to be balanced again anyway. StuB said:
I know of a Giallo 355 Spider that was in P1 club & since served its new owner very well indeed. As said, if serviced correctly a 996 T should not present any nasty shocks for a £100k supercar. My low mileage X50 had new turbos just over a year ago & I had the oil lines all replaced at the same time. Not cheap, but something to keep it in perfect condition.
Lots of those cars are over-serviced and very well cared for. More so (in many cases) than the low mileage garage queens that have suffered years of defered maintenance.At that sort of price you aren't in the market for a one-owner/driver car (not that I've ever seen a one owner/driver 996 turbo). If the car had mechanical issues, fair enough. Just because it was a group of enthusiasts who owned it and may have driven it a manner that it's more than capable of handling, who cares. They are not delicate cars. Look at GT3's, same engine type, lots of them only get driven at 9/10th plus on track and off, yet they sell sight unseen regardless.
I think you're worrying too much, just saying
And not sure about name & shame protocols, but the seller has paid for an ad on this site, and unless the seller outright lied about factual stuff on the car I don't think his car should be put down due to how many people have slept with it, I mean driven it!
I think you're worrying too much, just saying
And not sure about name & shame protocols, but the seller has paid for an ad on this site, and unless the seller outright lied about factual stuff on the car I don't think his car should be put down due to how many people have slept with it, I mean driven it!
Is there not a Murcielago in EVO that has done a quarter of a million miles on these sorts of things (before having a rebuild then being stuffed into a tree), the owner/runner of that particular venture lavishes plenty of attention on his cars.
I would always go for a car which had been driven rather than garaged - and if I'm looking at a 996 Turbo for £20k, I would not be expecting perfection (although I agree they should be a little more honest about the history)
I would always go for a car which had been driven rather than garaged - and if I'm looking at a 996 Turbo for £20k, I would not be expecting perfection (although I agree they should be a little more honest about the history)
Again
if all the facts were known in advance it would have been a different story. the guy selling it told me he is selling in on behalf of an elderly friend who doesn't like selling cars. i asked him about the owner and the situation told him i wasn't 100% happy buying from someone who doesn't own the car and was told i could talk to him if needs be and he was looking to sell off a couple of his car collection to buy an R8.
He was upfront about the engine rebuild but again no mention of the group ownership or supercar for hire. it was by phoning around specialists one of them told me about the ownership and suprcar hire thing and the fact the engine rebuild wasn't done to a good standard etc and he didn't think it was a good car to buy. bit of googling soon found the car advertised for hire. it was only then when i told the seller i knew the situation that he told me the "real" situation and at that point I couldn't really trust a word now could I?
at 20k it was a decent car, I am realistic at my budget i need to buy private and it won't be the best one, lowest mileage etc. I think though 6 owners, an undocumented and poor rebuild and owned by a group 12 guy and whoever wants to hire it is pushing it a step too far. if i'd known in advance I may have considered it but the shadyness and attempts to make me believe it was privately owned by an elderly collector was enough to turn me off. I'm thinking mainly of when i come to sell it on i'll struggle. If i wanted it to keep it a few years and just drive it i wouldn't be that worried but depending on my next work assignment i could be parting company with it in as little as 6 months and don't want to be left holding this baby with a big story attached to it.
20k is still 20k in any mans language it's not to be thrown around lightly now is it. sure 20k won't get you a gleaming example but not gonna settle for a dog either
if all the facts were known in advance it would have been a different story. the guy selling it told me he is selling in on behalf of an elderly friend who doesn't like selling cars. i asked him about the owner and the situation told him i wasn't 100% happy buying from someone who doesn't own the car and was told i could talk to him if needs be and he was looking to sell off a couple of his car collection to buy an R8.
He was upfront about the engine rebuild but again no mention of the group ownership or supercar for hire. it was by phoning around specialists one of them told me about the ownership and suprcar hire thing and the fact the engine rebuild wasn't done to a good standard etc and he didn't think it was a good car to buy. bit of googling soon found the car advertised for hire. it was only then when i told the seller i knew the situation that he told me the "real" situation and at that point I couldn't really trust a word now could I?
at 20k it was a decent car, I am realistic at my budget i need to buy private and it won't be the best one, lowest mileage etc. I think though 6 owners, an undocumented and poor rebuild and owned by a group 12 guy and whoever wants to hire it is pushing it a step too far. if i'd known in advance I may have considered it but the shadyness and attempts to make me believe it was privately owned by an elderly collector was enough to turn me off. I'm thinking mainly of when i come to sell it on i'll struggle. If i wanted it to keep it a few years and just drive it i wouldn't be that worried but depending on my next work assignment i could be parting company with it in as little as 6 months and don't want to be left holding this baby with a big story attached to it.
20k is still 20k in any mans language it's not to be thrown around lightly now is it. sure 20k won't get you a gleaming example but not gonna settle for a dog either
Edited by eskillington on Wednesday 14th January 09:45
At end of day if your budget only will get you into the bottom end of the ownership then you can't be that picky.
Personally providing the service history was good and the engine sounded/drove well I wouldn't be that worried.
Then again in 6 months you may not have an issue... you've kind of screwed it now anyway by making a thread, you can't buy it and pass it off as OK at sale time.
Personally providing the service history was good and the engine sounded/drove well I wouldn't be that worried.
Then again in 6 months you may not have an issue... you've kind of screwed it now anyway by making a thread, you can't buy it and pass it off as OK at sale time.
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