I had a great one and renegotiated the price to what I bought her for. Didn’t expect the world, paid a few hundred bucks, missed a few minor things. But have me an idea what I was buying. Missed a couple issues… but I didn’t care. For the price I paid the only question was “does it run” when the answer is yes and drives… that’s all that I need.
A lot of prospective buyers think a PPI is a catch all that doesn’t require any buyer involvement. Couldn’t be further from the truth. The ultimate responsibility for vetting a car is on the buyer.
I got a ppi before I bought my 360 and it was garbage. I also knew basically nothing (relative to what I know now) about the car. Knowledge and experience is painful. I agree with you in principle that the electrical stuff should have been caught with a basic scanner but a lot of shops miss that. It wasn’t until the third shop that my electric gremlins were worked out (spoiler alert: they were super simple to fix). Nothing beats a gemba walk imho
I was toying with the idea of moving into a 458 or F12 before the house needed some pretty expensive repairs. Ill be back in an F car soon. -Matt
As a previous auto tech and current A&P tech, I understand an inspection cannot find 100% of things. The PPI should (my opinion) give you a projected outlook on certain parts of the car, typically the expensive ones. Engine health (compression/leakdown), current brake wear, and current clutch wear are three of the most common obvious checks, yet OP and I both has to ask for the brake/clutch readings. Missing things like leaking valve cover gaskets, missing/stripped bolts, and failed motor mounts is definitely not a good PPI. In any case, lesson learned for me. Again it comes down to making sure the person/shop doing the PPI knows what you expect, AND has knowledge of said vehicle. -Matt
For a buyer is out of state, the person doing the PPI knows they are the buyers eyes. They KNOW this. Also, for $1,500, they didn’t check the brakes, the clutch, or do an engine leak down. The also didn’t even check my fluid levels or make sure my lights worked. So tell me, with all those items not checked, what am I supposed to expect for $1,500? Oh, I forgot to mention, the precats they said had broken apart and then they gave me a quote of $20,000 to replace them…. Yea I installed Tubi headers and guess what? My pre cats have no damage. I kept them to have the cars original parts but also for evidence. This isn’t my first used car, and I understand you have problems when you buy a used car, but I’ve had over 10 easy to find issues, and 2 of them being no oil in the transmission, and reverse lights that don’t work because of some hidden possibly major electrical problem that makes it to where my car won’t pass inspection or be street legal as delivered to me. That’s no acceptable.
I had a good PPI experience. I was out of state, though realistically wouldn’t have known what to look for anyway. Anyway, my main goal was to give myself conviction that I wouldn’t be unexpectedly saddled with a 20k repair bill. Two years and 4K miles later, no issues at all, so a success. The worst I’ve found as I’ve been repairing/refurbishing some things myself is a missing upholstery fastener or bit of cracked plastic. As a cherry on top, I was also able to use the findings to talk the price down a chunk of what the PPI cost. My guy put together a pretty decent little dossier that added some professionalism to it. Pictures of every little thing he looked at in a PDF. Paint thickness measurements. Blemishes on the upholstery. Pictures of the suspension, engine compartment etc with notes. Was very happy with it all, though I also acknowledge he might not have found everything one would’ve theoretically wanted him to. I don’t know enough myself to know what he might’ve missed.
So awesome. That’s kind of what I was expecting. Nope. After not actually checking anything, Ferrari of San Antonio emails you a piece of paper with a couple handwritten notes on it. That’s it. It’s ridiculous.
Sounds like a good experience and very similar to my PPI from J. Scuderia (Fonz) here in NJ. Paint meter, clutch, and brakes readout, basically everything. I will keep the PDF and pics for my car's records. Was the car perfect, no, but close... My only downside was that the seller was firm on his price, so I couldn't recoup the cost of the PPI, but I wouldn't spend this kind of money on a car without the blessing of someone like Fonz. Since the car wasn't perfect as nearly all used cars are, did I make the car perfect later... I think, yes. As for issues... Sure it was a used car. I had a fuse go and had no rear tail lights, but that was months later. I had a charcoal canister and emissions pump a year later, but that was my fault for overfilling the fuel tank every time I filled up the car and sure I had my throwout bearing explode 2 years and 3000+ miles later. So for a 10+year old Italian car, I think that I'm doing well.
I agree when we have a good experience we should share why we feel that way. Too much of the internet is about expressing the bad not the good.
Mark at Sphere, in Houston. And I found him based on others’ recs here on FChat https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/147687536/
I found my mechanic here when I bought mine. We both had a 928 and reminisced about the the experience. Now that I look back I clearly communicated my expectations for the exam. Which were reasonable as I didn't see the car with my own eyes. Sorry guys.. but if I did a PPI on a car for the expectations that most Ferrari owners have.. I wouldn't. I see why most shops won't do them.
