Question on buying used 996

If I have the vin # on a car, is that all thats needed for me to check the maintenance records at a local Porsche dealer? I am looking to buy a car from a non-Porsche dealer with no records. I would feel much better if I knew the cars history even though it still is under factory warranty for a year. I just want to make certain the car was properly serviced at its intervals and that nothing major was done(engine replacement,etc.). Thanks...

you can get most details from 800 porsche. then get the selling dealer and call them for hopefully all of its service records. if it went to different dealers, follow them. sometimes you cant track service or repairs if it was done out of pocket. or find which dealer did it. also check it thru car-chek to find wreck history and title problems.

No records. That would be a big red flag for me. These cars cost $60-$100K depending on how liberal you are with your money. It comes with a whle bunch of trinkets such as an aluminum pyramid with the VIN. The purchasing experience gives an atmosphere befitting the expense involved. The subsequent ownership entails a lot of pride in ownership, and everything is documented. Most owners know that service records are a big factor in resale value, and behave accordingly. Most first car owners still have the window sticker. While having all the service records will not guarrantee a good second hand car, the absence of the records makes the car suspect. It speaks of either an owner who did not care for the car, or the car may have such an extensive repair history that it is better to keep it secret. There are so many Porsche cars coming off lease that I would walk away from this one. Before I would buy a Porsche, I would have a PPI, a Carfax, and a complete service history. That's the minimum. Absence of any single one and I would walk. Too much at stake otherwise.

True, you might do the carfax, instead of the car-chek. I dont even know what a car-chek is. The absence of records could be innocent. If a car goes thru an auction, as a leaser or dealer trade, its a pretty good bet that all that stuff is going to the wind. Not many of those car dealers are going to keep up with any paper work. Even if it was in the glove compartment, it probibly would find its way to the garbage. And secondly, although its not me, to some people a $100,000 car is dirt. Just a whem. Some people that own these cars dont really care anything about them. They could give them away, or sell them, and it means nothing to them. So any records are meaningless to them. I would take the car at face value. Look it over top to bottom. Trace what you can. Pay a dealer to do a buyers inspection. And its still got warrantee, so its not that much of a risk.

Do some leg work. Try to get the records on how and when the car was serviced. PCNA does not have centralized records( as far as I know) so region where the car was registered would narrow down to several dealers.. And definitely arrange for PPI @ Porsche dealership

I looked at two used Porsches from private owners within the last couple of weeks and apparently these guys agree with you because they both had the original window sticker and one of the first things that each owner did was to review the car's service records. Both of these guys love Porsches and have orders in for 997s.