Sean: I agree with doing a pr
Sean: I agree with doing a proper PPI, with compression and leak-down tests.... visual inspection for any leaks, seepage......checking the frame for damage........checking every electrical, FI, clutch, suspension, brake, trans issue.......etc, etc, etc,....... And then deducting accordingly. Only by doing all of this will one be insured of a "proper" car.
HOWEVER, reality is different!!!!!!!
This is an excellent example of what someone called "Paralysis by Analysis".....I really like that phrase.
I think that there are a WHOLE LOT more uneducated people (suckers, as you call them) out there looking to buy a Ferrari, than there are educated ones, like yourself. I would rather call them impulse buyers, than suckers. THAT is the problem!!!!!!!....and dealers KNOW this. It appears that the disparity between the knowledge they have, compared to yours, is growing as you acquire even more. Hence, the number in your group will even get smaller, and buying the "proper" car will become much more difficult. I would guess that the seller, in WI (close to me) sold his car to the "impulse" buyer......no PPI!!!!!!!
When trying to sell my TR recently, no one asked for a PPI......they just wanted the car at the lowest price. I have sold 7 Ferraris over the years of ownership......and not ONCE did I have to get a PPI.
To be honest, if I where to sell a Ferrari, even now, and someone came to me requesting ALL the inspections, etc, I would probably refuse. While I agree this is WRONG, I can't help to think of the hassles involved.....even if I wasn't trying to hide anything. I would rather get the impulse buyer, any day...and what he would pay would probably be more anyway. I would refuse to be nit-picked into a lower price.
As more buyers become educated, and start outnumbering the impulse buyers, only then can we demand PPIs, inspections, etc. However, I don't believe that we are there yet......and probably never will be.
My nephew is going through this very same thing with trying to buy a house in the Chicago suburbs....he analyzes price paid for the house several years ago, allows for appreciation, etc, etc, and comes up with a "fair" market value for it. He then finds that an offer was made $20k-40K OVER this price, by some "uneducated" buyer. Very frustrating, especially since my nephew is in real-estate sales himself (industrial buildings). He agrees that he is getting TOO educated to compete in the housing market.
Just my thoughts!!!!