Negotiating on used car

[Goodrunaway]

Looking at a 2014 Cayman S at a dealership a couple hours away. Looking at the pictures they posted, looks like both door panels have unglued. Also the tires look pretty worn down, but waiting on some better photos of them. The car isn't at a Porsche dealership and when I was going over some issues I saw in the photos I could tell the dealership had no idea about the car. I know I can get the panels repaired in Florida at Pedro's Garage for under $1000 and 2 new panels would about cost $3-4k. I mentioned to the salesman how much the panels cost to replace, hoping I could get that money off the purchase price. Not sure how hard I should push for that. Also the tires, if they are pretty worn, would they usually take some money off the price? Haven't bought a used car in person for a long time. Don't expect them to put new tires on but don't want to purchase it and in 3-4000 miles have to spend another $2000 on new tires.

[WandaCC]

If it's a couple hours away you should be looking in person. Go take a drive, and then if you're still interested, find an indie shop and pay for a proper PPI. That's your negotiating tool. Use all the findings from the PPI to bring down the used value you can look up online. I'd go with retail value and discount labor and material for everything the PPI turns up.

[VilentoSato]

I had a similar experience when I bought my last car—a used BMW 3 Series. It wasn’t at a specialized dealership either, and I noticed the tires were almost done for. I brought it up during negotiations and managed to get $1,200 off the price to cover most of the cost of new tires. Definitely push for a discount on both the door panels and the tires. A dealership that wants to move the car will usually work with you.

Also, when I was shopping around, I checked out some options in Florida. Places like Used Cars Gainesville were upfront about condition and pricing, which made things easier. If you’re firm but fair, you should be able to get a good deal.