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Buyer beware £52000 mistake....

adrianc

Well-known member
Joined
19 Jun 2003
Messages
123
£52000 mistake? Long winded story, sorry, but keep with it.


An aquaintance of mine called me today for advice. Evidently his brother had gone and bought a very low mileage 996, just a few thousand miles on it.


A beauty.


Or was it?


He bought it from a main dealer, but not a Porsche dealer, there was a small fault on the screenwash so off it went to the local Porsche dealer.


The Porsche dealer looked at the label under the bonnet (front lid), you know the white label that should be in place on Porsche since the eighties and the dealer noticed the ink was 'bleeding'.


Upon inspection of the chassis plate on the bulkhead they noticed the last four digits were not as neat as the rest.


Police were called.


It gets better.


The police checked the number, said they knew about the car, it had been stolen and recoverd three days later......but already had the chassis plate altered. So the Insurance compant took the car (well I wouldnt want it anymore) and sold it as salvage.


The original number, with the police blessing was re-stamped and the police affixes an'AFS' label to it (which supposedly makes it right).


But this new owner has a problem, with a 'story' car and a 'meddled' chassis.


The 'big' dealer wont take it back.


And its probably not worth pursuing in the courts.


So the moral of the story...........check the three chassis numbers against the Documents on any Porsche irrespective of its value. Its quick, easy and not 'impolite'.


The numbers are;


1. On the white label stuck to the underside of the front lid (these sometimes do go missing after panel replacements).


2. Check the chassis 'tag' plate on oldr models (this is the alloy plate rivveted to the inner wing, or on later cars its the plate visible through the windscreen.


3. Check the 'stamped' number, depending on model, its behind the spare wheel or up by the bulkhead.


The vehicle handbook will tell you the excact location of the numbers.


Before you go to buy, familiarise yourself with the look of the 'tags' on a friend car.


It really doesn't matter from whom your buying, the seller may not be aware of the problem. So be careful.


Adrian Crawford. Performance2and4. 911secrets revealed .


p.s. Can anyone tell me more about this 'AFS' special Police label?


Migration info. Legacy thread was 6510
 
That's a real bummer for the guy. I would feel so angry if that happened to me!

60362786.gif



Migration info. Legacy thread was 6520
 
Can he not get some sort of compensation for this? Clearly had the buyer been fully informed, he would not have bought it. Has the car been misdescribed then I guess there should be some sort of recourse. I am surprised he didn't get the car checked with HPI first before handing out such a large amount of dosh. I would go and see a lawyer about this, personally. Hate f*****g low lives who nick people's cars when they worked f$$$$$g hard for it. I wouldn't let the dealer get away with it.

His


Migration info. Legacy thread was 6632
 
At least name the dealer, reputation is important and maybe they will think twice about doing it again if they are exposed as untrustworthy.


Migration info. Legacy thread was 6634
 
The dealer should certainly be responsible for this as they should have HPI'd the car before sale and should describe it as stolen recovered if so. I've been caught out with the old HPI gag in the past and it is not at all funny.

dunc


Migration info. Legacy thread was 6653
 
I agree ,the dealer should sort it out, look after the chap. But its more tricky than that.


1. The car is not stolen (it simply had been once).


2. the car has the right chassis number (but it doesn't look right where ther number has been re-stamped).


3. HPI. It doesnt show up now on HPI...the reason, because its not stolen, or damaged, so no recourse there.


But would you want me to be flogging you a £52k 996 and saying "dont worry sir, the chassis numbers been restamped and the Police say its fine"...I think not.


The poor chaps in a pickle.


The lesson is:


1. spend five minutes before you buy and look at the numbers.


2. dont rely on HPI.


3. Take a look at the person selling...do you think they would do the right thing if there is trouble?


Fortunately it happens seldom, but certainly is worth remembering.




Adrian Crawford. performance2and4 911secrets.






Migration info. Legacy thread was 6685
 
was it a 996 cab from a dealer in Surrey?

I blew 20k on a minging 964 that finally got rid of for 13k with 6k of bills.... cost me something like £4 a mile

my approach (now) to buying a car from a dealer is...

1. if it seems cheap, walk away, dealers NEVER have bargains
2. If your'e buying nearly new buy from a MAIN dealer
3. If you are buying an older model, use a specialist with a reputation, like Adrian or the others on this site

Incidently I nearly bought my 964 off of Adrian a few years back, but came across this excellent bargain.....


Migration info. Legacy thread was 6721
 
Wasn't Cridfords was it?

Migration info. Legacy thread was 6727
 
Fortunately this time it wasn't a Porsche dealer........but you can bet, this car will turn up again. Its a reminder to be careful, especially of accidents and title. Because HPI and all the other resources are not 100%. You only have to look in the salvage section of E&M to see all the damaged but unrecorded cars there.




Adrian Crawford.




Migration info. Legacy thread was 6729
 

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