Get A Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI)

Looking for a high performance car often means selection is limited in your local area because these types of cars are sold in low volumes. Options and color choices for your performance car reduce your selection even further.  After considering Porsche 911s or Caymans, I decided to stick with BMW and started shopping for a M2 in my price range.

My budget for a daily driver/track car was $40,000. I was looking for a six speed manual car in Long Beach Blue with less than 50,000 miles. I found a great looking car with 19,000 miles at a Chrysler/Jeep dealership in Houston, Texas listed for $38,500. After speaking with the sales person at the dealership and having a few questions answered this appeared to be the car for me.

I was very nervous about buying a car site unseen, so I offered the dealership a deposit on the car and would purchase the car pending a pre-purchased inspection (PPI). I found the most highly rated independent BMW specialist in the Houston area and made arrangements for the car to get transferred there for a pre-purchased inspection.  While the pre-purchased inspection wasn’t cheap at almost $300 it turned out to be well worth it.

The car was mechanically sound, drove great, and only needed a few minor engine services like an oil change, air filter and brake fluid. However, the exterior condition of the car was in worse shape than the dealer pictures indicated. The sales person had told me about a small ding in the rear bumper which I could live with.

The PPI showed many more areas of exterior damage especially to the front bumper. The clear bra on the front splitter needed to be replaced and there was serious curb rash all along the bottom that would require repainting. In addition the PPI showed several other places on the car with minor dings and scratches.

The dealer was unwilling to adjust the price or fix the blemishes on the car. With the car headed to the track, I could live with a few scrapes and scratches for the right price. Since we couldn’t make a deal, it was time to move on to the next car.

If you are purchasing a car site unseen and especially a high-performance car I can’t recommend a pre-purchase inspection at a local specialist enough. $300 for a PPI saved me several thousand dollars in repairs to a car I was about to purchase!