XFS

6 hours is not unusual if you have something someone wants. I've had people from Wales, Aberdeen, Cornwall, Newcastle.

I always seem to sell to customers more than 1 hour away. Last two cars were to customers 2 and 6 hours away.

I spent my younger life working like an idiot thinking I was doing the right thing for my family. Never at home, always working, always stressed . All it got me was a huge overdraft, a divorce and a heart problem. I decided to change my life completely in my early forties. I am now in my mid fifty's, luckily my boys were great and are grown up and successful. Their mother can take a lot of credit for that. I have no stress, I am fine financially, money in the bank, don't owe a dime to anyone. I am in good shape for my age except for the heart, which is what it is. As they say...youth is wasted on the young.

After a completely dead month, just sold two in two days, could have sold them both three times in the end. Full ticket price, both good meaty deals to.

I'm not keen on tackling anything oily or dirty or safety related, but anything challenging or interesting I will sometimes have a go at. Like this. http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/forum/topic/6938-another-my-first-bca-tale-of-woe/ Other than that I like to to a lot of the prep myself, then I know its done right and it gets me familiar with the car.

I thought I would give an update on this. When I bought the car, the problems I identified should have been a low cost repair taking minutes rather than days and hours. Although due to the water ingress subsequent to purchase it turned into a marathon. To dry out the car properly took two weeks plus removal of seats, carpets etc. In the end I did the whole thing myself and gained a pretty substantial knowledge of Boxster roof and electrical problems along the way. So if anyone ever wants any help, please feel free to message me, I can probably save you a lot of time. I learned a lot. Electrics are not as complex as some would have you believe and contrary to the advice on the internet and Porsche dealers/specialists, most parts are plug and play and don't need coded. The convertible roof is fairly simple mechanically and the motor is very robust. First up...sort out the electrics. Brake lights and reverse lights on permanently, roof motor constantly operating, PCM light on, rear spoiler not working. Replacing the rear control unit under the passenger seat fixed most of this. A used part cost £130 although a new part from Porsche dealer is £270 with discount, although the Porsche dealer insisted it would need coded to the car at a cost of £180 plus VAT. A Porsche specialist told me a used part could be coded as long as I had the chassis no of the donor car, at the cost £188 inc VAT. An ECU specialist told me the part was almost certainly plug and play. In reality it cost me £130 plug and play. This sorted out most of the issues, the remaining issue was that amplifier, sat nav and telephone didn't work. I learned these were daisy chain items and if one fails they all go down. The ECU man told me the most likely culprit was the amp, a BOSE unit which is temperamental and tends to shit itself if the other electric short. I was fearing another £200 plus, but I further learned via t'internet that the glass fuse at the back of the amp is inclined to blow. Checking involves removing trim and removing the amp, which I did...the fuse was fine, bugger! Then the penny dropped and common sense kicked in. If the rear control ECU got a prolonged bath, then so did the telephone module situated under the drivers seat. Sourced one for £50, plug and play...result! All good. Now to the roof. The pushrods and boomerang brackets were pieces of useless twisted metal, the rubber drip trays which funnel water to the drain holes were chewed to pieces. Drip trays and all the metalwork were sourced from the Porsche dealer at a very reasonable £300 odd in total. To fit the drip trays the roof needs removed completely, which is easier than it sounds. There are three bolts on a triangular flange each side securing the roof to its axle. Other than that its disconnect a few wires, the seat belt mountings and out it comes. Replacing it is a different story. Relocating the studs is frustrating to say the least, but I found if you make sure to do the bottom right drivers side and bottom left passenger side first, its a lot easier. Then to fixing the roof. Not that hard to fit all the parts really, just think methodically and take your time. Before connecting anything, make sure the car thinks the roof is in the closed position and this allows you to move the roof as necessary to make lining things up easy, although final connections must be done with the roof up. Calibrating the roof is not anything like as tricky as I imagined. One clip releases the cable for either side from the motor and basically just attach an electric drill to the cable and line everything up before trying the roof. You can tweek it as necessary by the same means. So now I at least back to square one and in a position to prep the car for sale

I was at the auction. I knew the roof didn't go down and was pretty sure I knew why, hence why I bought it, thats how you get an edge. Other than this the car was an excellent example with no other faults apparent and no swimming pool. I agree, my mistake was allowing it to stay at the auction for ten days. This is simply a forum thread. On a forum we moan about things, let of steam...its the cyber version of being in the pub. Whether or not I make a profit will not change my life. Its taken 2 weeks and a lot of effort to dry it out. Seats out carpets out etc. The rear control ECU turned out to be fucked, but I got a used one for £130 and contrary to all the information, it turned out to be plug and play. I sourced the roof components including the chewed up drip trays for a very reasonable £320 from a Porsche main dealer. I now have the challenge of putting it back together which I am going to have a bash at. The only electrical issue which remains is the PCM which I am pretty sure is related to the battery being disconnected and hopefully something I can figure out. I'm cheesed off at being put in this position, but in a way its been strangely satisfying to overcome all the hurdles and get towards the point where I have one of the best examples of the model for its year on sale.

Really? Did you read my OP? I bought a very nice low milage Porsche with impeccable history with a pretty good idea based on a lot of experience what I would spend on prep. You buy a car and expect it to be same when delivered as it was when you bought it. Is that so difficult to grasp? Things can and do go wrong...thats why an experienced buyer leaves plenty of margin in higher end stuff. How would you buy something like that?...with a 1k margin? I don't appreciate a large part of my margin being taken away by the incompetence of a third party. Causing me extra work and having the vehicle sitting around depreciating. And knowing there is not a thing I can do about it...Its quite a big deal really. Whats left in it is at least 1k less than it should be. How would you feel if that happened to you? Would you be happy to just to bin 1k and go...oh well, its no big deal, I'll still make something... I've seen plenty of posts on here moaning about been done for a couple of hundred....

Clearly you do not understand correctly at all.

I only have anecdotal evidence from the driver who subcontracts to BCA. I suppose the whole issue is that the car was left out in very heavy rain for a prolonged period, presumably with the windows not fully closed. I checked the drain channels and they are fine. Essentially BCA have cost me at least 1k due to not taking reasonable care after purchase. But its not something I will get anywhere with. Its just very frustrating. I know I will get little sympathy in some quarters as I can probably still turn a profit on the car, but thats not the point. Who here would not be extremely pissed off about dropping 1k through no fault of their own ?

There was barely 2.5k in it if I had sold it without touching it. (vat, advertising, transport etc) I'll be happy to take 1k now. And that is a risky margin on something like a Porshe, very little wiggle room to deal with any problems. The tale of woe is that a potentially decent profit was wiped out by BCA and there is not a thing I can do about it.

Yes. Mostly getting the grey priced low on AT and in the lowest priced 10% for the model/mileage. I’m thinking of increasing each in price by 1k to see what that does.

Thanks. I’m sure it will to. The landscape changes as soon as you sell a couple

Small stock, fairly high value. Usually 5 to 8 at 15k to 20k per unit. Right now 5.

I can't prove that. But what I bought was a very nice Porsche with a minor roof problem. What I received was a mobile light display with its own swimming pool.

Not so much as a text. It’s happened before, but it’s dents your confidence. It just needs one and the ball is in play again.

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The margin between the purchase price and projected selling price.... Be lucky to see a worthwhile profit now after time and money spend and giving HMRC and AT their cut.

I don't historically have a problem with time-waters, first viewer buys the car almost every time and they are often the first and only person to make an enquiry. They have to prove they are serious to get an appointment. I don't do text or email tennis. My problem at the moment is I can't find that one person...or any other person for that matter, not had an enquiry in three weeks.

I have to admit, Ive been lucky with BCA up until now. Can't really complain. Ive had my arse bitten with vengeance now though. So, in early June I bought a Porsche Boxster, older than my usual, but very low miles, FSH and low owners. It was sold with the roof inoperative. I was at the auction. I was pretty certain the problem was simply the pushrods. Anyway, I bought it well, with £3500 margin in it after tip. Plenty spare in there for any refurb. Rubs hands...nice easy refurb, nice profit. On sale just at the peak of the convertible market. The way things worked out it was delivered a week/ten days after purchase...during that monsoon period we had here. Transporter guy says battery is flat as a pancake and there is a weird electrical fault. Battery is flat ok, but the minute it starts, dash lights up like a Christmas tree, reverse lights on, brake lights on, roof motor doing its thing...with the roof closed...uh..oh! Driver says , oh yeah, guys at the auction were fiddling about with the relays trying to stop that! Uh! Long story short. Managed to take the roof fuse out and get it parked up...making sure windows up, everything watertight. The rain stops several days later. Damage inspected...roof mechanism variously twisted and pretty much fucked. Rubber waterproofing trim where the roof sits looks like its been chewed up by a giant rat. Further inspection, several inches of water behind the seats. All makes sense now, BCA had left it outside with a flat battery, windows not fully up...car fills with water. Rear control unit situated under the passengers seat, in a pool of water...hence the lightshow and self operating roof. Seats out, carpets out...about 10 litres of water out...and two weeks later its almost dry. Rear control box actually mouldy. I take it apart...nothing to loose, clean it with surgical spirit, dry it out in the oven at 50c seems fine. Thats the story so far. should be able to refit the controller soon, and see if it works....if not a used one is available for £125 or I can get a new one for £300 which is not bad. But obviously any one other than original will have to be recoded by a Porsche Specialist. The roof...fuck knows. I can source all the mechanical parts easily and cheaply, but the plastic waterproofing trim is proving a headache. That and the fact I can see the whole roof needing to be taken off refitted and recalibrated by someone who actually knows what they are doing, and wants compensated accordingly. It may be ready just in time for convertibles to start dropping in value...

Its just part of the game. I've been going to auctions for 30 years. If you can't play the game, don't get involved. If it was a level playing field for everyone there would be no advantage for the more experienced and switched on.

Honestly? I don’t care whether they let me in or not, it’s not something I am going to chase up. I gave them the specific proof they asked for. My point really is that it takes a couple of minutes to answer an email. I am every bit as busy as any of the staff here are, but if someone from admin emailed me or someone from the forum sent me a message, I would answer as a matter of courtesy.

At least a couple of years ago I tried to join the advanced forum in the way specified by sending proof of trading. Never heard a squeak. It wasn't important, so I forgot about it I guess. I remembered about it this morning, so did the same again, proof on MT insurance etc...again...not a dickie bird. Its not a big deal, but being ignored twice...pretty rude really.

I suspect not if you were the one in the back

I will look at it thanks. Basically, for it to be worth the effort I would need any repairs to cost about £200 in total rather than the £400 to replace the parts. I found a complete bumper on eBay within 1 hour of me, if the vendor will agree to sell me the parts I need, this may offer a solution. The bumper looks in very good condition and is the right colour. But for the fact it is for a model without reverse park camera I would have bought the whole thing.