PPI Etiquette: Okay to ask seller to pay half?

No....the seller has already presumably checked out the car if they are reputable. The PPI is "your" due diligence expense.

 

agree

 

You can ask however it is unlikely the seller would be willing to go 1/2 if you DON'T buy the car. However depending on the agreed upon price (and how anxious the seller is to sell) the seller is more likely to go for the deal if you DO purchase the car.

 

ditto

 

I think that would quickly sour the deal. At the end of the day hopefully the PPI checks out, and make an offer you can live with including all the expenses associated.

 

Doesn't hurt to ask but the answer more often than not is no.

 

No.

 

When I bought my last car I had a PPI done at the dealer, and the seller handled everything. I had made an offer and he understood the sale was dependent on the PPI comming back clean. I merely asked if he would mind a PPI, and he offered to schedule it, meet me there, and even paid for the cost (of course, it was a BMW PPI and was only about $150)

 

No you shouldn't ask that. It isn't their job to satisfy you with the condition of the car. They are selling a car at a price. You need to satisfy yourself with the car at that price. The PPI is for your benefit not theirs. Some sellers won't even let you have a PPI let alone pay for some of it.

 

My ditto was I didn't think it was worth asking. If I were the seller, I would be annoyed at the request as you proposed it and I might write you off. However, everything is negotiable between two parties. A more interesting proposal to me as a seller is, "split the PPI cost w/ me if I buy it". At least I've got a sale and I might still say no, but it would be a lot less annoying.

 

I'd immediately walk away from a seller refusing a PPI.

 

Sounds like a conflict of interest there. I would have passed.

 

Nope. The PPI is ALL on you. It is YOUR choice, As it is ALSO your choice to flatbed the car to a location 100 miles away.

I guess I would test-drive the car and then buy it, if it runs well.

I think PPIs are close to worthless. It is crappy "insurance" that is nothing more than a false ASSURANCE. I am sure there are those on this board who didn't buy a car when it came out with a poor PPI and are glad they had one done. Then there are others who got a "thumbs up" PPI and their car turned out to be JUNK or broke down a month after. Now they are out the PPI money AND the cost of the repair.

The biggest issues with these cars are the major ones, anyway. The fear of the timing belt snapping, etc. And that is something a PPI won't really help you with anyway. You could do a leakdown test, but is it worth it?? If the service records are up to date and the car drives well, the Carfax comes back okay, then BUY IT. You can almost always TELL if a good is good or bad by taking a good look at the records and driving it yourself.

PPIs, in my opinion are worthless. Save the money and put it in an account for when you need to fix something.

There are a few who will read this post and be chomping at the bit to reply to my post and tell me how foolish I am, how important the PPI is, and how they would NEVER buy a car like a Ferrari without it.

Although, most of those owners

1. NEVER will drive that Ferrari
2. Will only GET a red one, out of fear that anything other than "resale red" will lose value when they sell.
3. Date/marry ugly women.

;-)

Okay, maybe #3 is an exaggeration (maybe they all are!!), but I wanted a car I WANTED, which was a black Ferrari. I drive it all the time. And I didn't buy it so I could start thinking about selling it later.

 

ditto

 

The dealership he went to was my choice. The PPI showed all the cars flaws as they were (seat belt tensioner busted, non-oem battery, etc.) and after 3 years I havent had any problems not covered. In hindsight, you're probably right, but he did have to drive an hour one way to get to this dealership, and he had seemed like a straightforward guy to this point.

 

What everyone else said...

The seller should agree to let you arrange a PPI at your expense.

 

If a guy asked me to split it I'd think in the back of my mind that this guy must be a "chiseler."

 

indeed, better to go into the whole process with your eyes open and I don't agree with Bill on PPI's being "worthless", come on.

 

I just recently sold my 328GTS and i had a buyer that wanted a ppi done on the vehicle before he agreed to purchase it. I didn't have a problem with getting the ppi because i knew the car had no problems and he even agreed to pay for the ppi in advance. The problem i had was transportation cost and the time it was going to take me to get this done. I never got the chance to work out the transportation cost with him because another buyer saw it and bought it on the spot. As a seller i feel this expense should be passed onto the buyer.

 

That clarifies it some. As long as it was'nt the dealership he frequents, i would feel better.

 

I've found that people who sell Ferraris (other than dealerships) live and die by Caveat Emptor. Some will outright LIE to you to cover up problems, lapses in documentation/service, and car care. Most advertisements, be they ebay, Hemmings, DuPont, etc. are at best dramatized if not Pure Fiction. The name of their game is to sell the car as quickly as possible, and the Ferrari market is small. If you yourself have not become an expert in whatever model you're looking to purchase, then you are chum for the sharks and will be paying top-dollar for someone else's trash. A PPI by a Ferrari Dealership is pure gold.

Having said that, you should probably pay for the PPI yourself. You control who does it, who they report to, and how much truth you'll be hearing about the car in question. Ferrari sellers don't like truth about their own car or its condition - you have any idea how many would drop dead in their own garage if they knew what their car was REALLY worth? Know anyone who would sponsor their own cardiac arrest? I didn't think so. But don't be shy about showing the seller what the PPI found.....if the car is a heap, at least walk away with the satisfaction that you caught some rich boob in a LIE.

 

Scuderia NoVA....

You can ask for anything you want during any kind of business transaction......but......asking for half of "your" due diligence expenses to be paid by the vendor if you do not proceed makes you come across as a cheapskate (this comment is not intended as an offence to you personally, it's OK to be frugal.......just don't try to come across as such).......and in all likelyhood will not make the furtherance of the deal any easier for you.

My opinion on PPI's is this......mechanics are like lawyers and accountants........put ten of them in a room together and they normally can't agree on anything. A PPI is a "snapshot in time" of a car's condition based on an individual's personal assumptions and comfort levels. Just like used cars.....no two mechanic's are alike either..........and a PPI is only a tool.......I do them myself as a dealer........but.......I also take everything with a grain of salt.