Holt Motorsports

[catchacab]

I believe that I had a fully refundable deposit, pending the PPI.  If anything was found on the PPI, I had the option to cancel the purchase at no penalty to me.   If anyone you are thinking of buying from is unwilling to accept this, walk away.  You can always find another car. 

When evaluating your PPI, you just need to be reasonable.  If the car need brake pads, new tires, light bulbs or an oil change (not over due), these are regular maintenance items, and should be expected to be remedied by the new owner.  But if the clutch is slipping, the leakdown and compression are not within spec., damage to the suspension, previous unreported collision damage, rust, engine fluid leaks, etc., those can be deal breakers, or require a re-negotiation of price.

I had a PPI done on a  perfect condition private sale '92 964.  The leakdown on all cyl. was over 12%, with substantial loss in compression.  There were numerous oil leaks.  The tires were mismatched (brand and tread style). and some other unimportant items, the body was decent, and there were service records from 1991 to present. The seller wanted $26K for the car.  Based on the PPI, I offered him significantly less. His reply is that it isn't a race car just a car to drive in on the weekends, and would not negotiate price.   I gladly walked away from that pig.

When you pick a shop to do your PPI, you should evaluate their familiarity with your car.  You can have your local service station do a PPI on a 911, but do they know what are the common weaknesses and failures of the cars.   Many dealers (with notable exceptions) mostly do warranty work or work on mostly late model cars.