What can a dealership tell you about your Porsche's history?

I recently had a 60K service on my 996 and fortunately had no major issues surface unexpectedly. I should have inquired as to just exactly what a dealer's service departmant can tell you about a Porsche's history detail. When I asked, I did get a rev report indicating that the engine hit redline once but not much more beyond that. Does any know kind of historical data service dept is capable of uncovering about a car in for service? (like Porsche dealer service visits, mileage, service performed, etc)

the dealer will tell you all the history that THEY have...ie, Leith only has Leith's service records...not Hennessy in Atlanta...so if you got an oil change or whatever at hennessy, it wouldn't show up on the records at Leith....Ford is the opposite...all dealers (i guess) can see the WHOLE service record that has been performed at every ford dealer.....to get the records from porsche you have to call the dealer at which it was serviced....(i was told this by the porsche dealer in fayetteville)

unfortunately identity theft has effected how much info delears are willing to discuss - a lot of dealers will give you limited info over the phone but if you want details like actual service records they can be tight lipped unless the previous owner gives consent. mercedes dealer in SF area recently gave me all records because i was overly nice on the phone - he even mailed them to me.

When I got my car, I was able to get some information from Porsche's USA headquarters. They told me there were no open recalls and what the in-service date was. That was all they would divulge over the phone. I then tried calling the original selling dealer located in Arizona (I'm in Ohio). They asked me to fax a copy of my title, which I did, but they never did respond. I guess there's a limit to how much the service department of a luxury car dealer is going to do for the buyer of an 8-year-old car halfway across the country.

Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) that are performed at dealers are recorded in a nationwide database. The records for all other service provided by a dealer are kept by that dealer. If you can demonstrate that you are the new legal owner of the car, then some dealers will provide the records for you with the previous owner's personal information deleted or blacked-out. Some dealers will not.

Bought my "04 C2 Cab in a private sale from the original owner. Called the dealership where purchased and serviced and they asked for proof of ownership and a copy of my drivers license. They faxed me the entire service history, from when purchased to the last annual service done in January. Service manager was a little tight lipped when I first called but, once I faxed the info requested, no problem getting all the service records with previous owners name deleted. Really nice to have entire service history of vehicle, so I could decide what needed to be done. Since it had 64K and RMS had IMS had been replaced at 50k but not the IMS bearing, I had my Indy replace the bearing and RMS while putting in a new cluthch, which was down to 30%. All in all very pleased with dealerships response.

Porsche is slowly moving into the 19th century with their dealership technology. Getting service records should not be any invasion of privacy and any dealers should be linked up to a central database. One more thing Porsche owners put up with to own these cars.

I was able to get the complete service records for my car from the dealer, even though I did not purchase through them.

Carfax provided a very complete history on my C4 - all from the selling dealer that serviced the car for 10 years. I called the dealer and they verified the infomation and added a few comments over the phone. They could not confirm when the car was modified with TechArt items which I assume had been on the car quite some time. I assume this was done by an Indy Shop or TechArt LA.

I got lucky on this one, I went in for a minor service call at the dealer and asked if they knew the car. Fortunately they had done MOST of the work through the years. They printed out the entire history (25 or so pages) and whited out the previous owners names and gave me the info. It's the exact service info up until I purchased the car.

Carfax can be horse poop, here's why. You can take a smashed car to a body shop, pay cash and viola, clean history on a non clean car, no insurance company is involved. Same with the PPI, it's only as good as the tech performing it, Porsche can make any standards they want it's up to the individual as to how well they are carried out. IMO, with body work, look for yourself. Take a high power light go all the way around the car, look for tiny scratches not completely sanded out of a repair. Look for any over spray on surrounding rubber and plastic. Look down every panel at odd angles, make sure the panel gaps are uniform and true.

My Carfax was surprisingly detailed with the first 6 years of dealer service records. The was great information when buying the car. I assume it all comes down to whether the dealer subscribes to some level of Carfax. I recently ran another Carfax and none of the work that my Indy has done since is reflected.

When I purchased mine from Brumos, they provided me with a complete history. They removed the previous owners information from the printout, but I know everything that was done to the car (except oil changes, he did those either at an indie or himself, like me). It's nice to have the complete history like this as I know what was replaced, and what I need to keep an eye on.

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When I had bought a pre-owned NSX the original dealer wouldn't release any info - against Honda/Acura policy. When I bought my GTR pre-owned Nissan wouldn't release any info either as it was against their policy. A couple of my BMW's have been pre-owned also... same deal. This is hardly a Porsche issue. They're all hypersensitive about privacy because they're afraid of lawsuits since it is almost certain that if a new owner somehow got a former owners info some jackass would find a way to sue them for something at which point the original owner would sue the dealer. Blame the lawsuit happy nature of society for it

Found the same to be true when when I bought my XKR. Called Jag of N.A. and they told me the inservice and no reported open recalls. Also, they gave me the name of the dealerships that serviced it. I called each of them and they went over basics and finally with lots of nice words had them send me copies of service records with the PO name and info blacked out. I had the info and no private info changed hands. Carmax is only helpful if the dealerships report it to carmax. Some do, some don't. I prefer buying from the owner than the dealer. Unless bought, serviced and traded to the same dealership, I've found them to not be nearly as helpful as the owner. Also, i'm not a big fan of a car that was owned by numerous people. When I bought my RSA, every previous owner kept the receipts in a notebook(an auto-biography...). That was really put me over the edge to buy it. Of course had PPI, compression/leakdown, etc... done. I've always kept every record for all vehicles I own. It's a no brainer to do and really brings a lot to the table when you go to sell it. Especially with these types of vehicles. Dealers usually buy from an auction and have no clue about their vehicles. All they know is that it looks good and they got a good price on it. Mechanically it can be a crap shoot....

Alright, so I contacted CARFAX to ask if they offered different levels of information on a vehicle and this was their response: With exception to State DMVs, not every data source in North America reports information to us, so the reporting of events is based on a source's willingness to participate with us. If a Report has a lot of service history then that is because the owner has the vehicle serviced at locations that report data to us but if there is no service history then the vehicle is not serviced by a company that reports to us. Every State DMV reports data to CARFAX, so whenever a vehicle is titled and/ or registered, that information will be on the CARFAX Report within 60 days. We continuously contract with new sources to obtain new and archived data and we update our database as often as possible, so the CARFAX Reports change on a day to day basis. Reports can be purchased from www.carfax.com and every Report online and at the dealership contains all of the information that has been reported to us, if information is not on the Report then it is because it has not been reported to us. We always recommend a comprehensive inspection and test drive before purchasing a used vehicle to avoid hidden problems.

A lot like Dstutler, I bought mine on a private sale, called up the closest (Canadian) dealer to where he lived and they emailed the service history (that they had) to me. No identity or ownership challenges. It looks like the policy and practice varies considerably.