Porsche Certified Pre Owned:

I have seen this time and time again with Porsche CPO used cars. A poor inspection by the dealer, a CPO stamp, and put it on the lot as a perfect vehicle. The person getting hurt? The buyer, and Porsche themselves.

This Cayenne Turbo was bought from a dealer down in Alabama where it was traded in, and the dealer CPO’d the car for resale. The CPO is the extended factory warranty that Porsche offers on approved used vehicles. It is a pretty strict checklist, and if the car does not pass the inspection, it can not be given a CPO warranty, and then likely is sold without warranty, or sent to auction. One of the items that must be stated on the CPO is whether or not there has been any previous damage to the vehicle. Dealers also too often rely on just running a carfax report, if it looks clean then they assume there is no damage. The problem is that many accidents are NEVER reported to carfax, so you can’t rely on that alone. That is what happened here. Out of state buyer, flies in, picks up the freshly CPO’d car and drives back. When he gets back, he fills with gas, only to notice some paint over spray on the rubber inside the fuel lid door. Odd right? Vehicle has never been in an accident or had paint work according to the CPO. Again, this is where having a qualified Pre Purchase Inspection by an experienced tech is critical.

Out comes the paint meter 🙂 It seems most techs and salesmen don’t know what a paint meter is. This should be a required part of any inspection, especially if you are certifying a car for warranty repair through your company. Of course, taking the stance that ignorance is bliss is likely easier in their case.

Here is a reading off the driver side of the vehicle showing the paint at 5 mils thick. Typical new Porsche vehicles run 4.5-6 mils thick across the board, with the average being 5-5.5 mils. This is the thickness as it comes off the assembly line and out the door.

On the passenger rear quarter, we get readings from 7.5-12.5 thick, indicating another layer of paint has been shot on this side of the car, from the passenger front door all the way to the rear of the vehicle. Possible side swipe accident, possible vandalism, etc.

The point I am trying to make here, is just because the car is CPO’d, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a pre purchase inspection done on the vehicle at another shop. I have seen CPO’d cars hit so hard the entire suspension crossmember had to be replaced (with no accident history). Had this been a car someone was buying for their collection, this can definitely ruin a person’s day. Paint work isn’t a deal killer by any means, but why the paint work was done (or the fact that it has been done) should always be disclosed to the buyer.

CayenneCertified Pre OwnedCPOPorscheTurbo