How many owners is too many for a 996?

Howdy�I am starting to get an itch for a "beater" Porsche for DD duties to complement my GR 997.2 S, which is my weekend fun car, road trip car, go to PCA events car, etc. The DD Porsche would be something I can commute in, park at Walmart or the parking lot at work and not worry about (OK, worry less!) about door dings, hail storms, etc. In an ideal world, my 996 unicorn will be a speed yellow, beige interior coupe with Tiptronic transmission. As I am starting to do research on 996's on Cars.com, AutoTrader, CarFax, etc. I am noticing 911's that are ca. dozen or so years old with half a dozen or so owners. My question, is there a red flag with "too many" owners? One half of me thinks, maybe this car is a lemon, so maybe they're selling it on to be someone else's problem. Alternatively, it could be a reasonably priced, sweet car that lots of people want. Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome�.T

I'm the fifth owner of mine... The 996 - and 911's in general - can turn over a lot. Although I use mine as a daily driver, many people are reluctant to use "exotic" cars as such. While lots of Rennlisters successfully use the back seat with kids, for others it's just not realistic to use as a people hauler - I think some of the people who convince themselves that the car is truly practical change their minds after a few airport runs and trips to Home Depot. For many, the 911 is an "I've always wanted one" car - and once they've had it for a while, it's time to sell it and get the next "I've always wanted" car. Although you should always be wary when buying a used car, it doesn't surprise me that 996's change hands more often than other cars...there are more than a few Groovezillas out there.

Run a Carfax if you haven't already. I'm the 6th owner of my 99 with 74k miles. When I did the carfax I did a search on addresses and 2 "owners" were title pawn places. Apparently a couple people probably bought and couldn't afford the maintenance so they title pawned the car. During those periods, which were a little over 2 yrs the car had 1,100 miles put on it. PPI is a good course as it should give you the maintenance and more importantly deferred maintenance that might be needed, this will give you your real purchase price.

If the PPI comes out clean I wouldn't worry about the # of owners. One of the best BMWs I owned had 5 prior owners and no receipts for prior work. One of the worst was a 2 owner car with a packet full of receipts.

Imo, these are luxury or toy cars for some and usually a 3rd, 4th car in someone's fleet. As such it can exchange hands quite a bit throughout years. And because of that, I wouldn't worry about the number of owners. OTOH, if previous owners treated these cars as disposable commodities and weren't truly enthusiasts of the marque, many things could've been neglected or abused from one owner to another.

I don't mind 4 or 5 previous owners but I am very weary of very short ownerships. If someone had the car for 3 months, you can bet your last Dollar that he beat the **** out of the car during that time and got rid of it before it exploded.

Maybe for other makes/models, but for a 996? More like: Happily oblivious guy buys 996 on a whim, is delighted , goes online to learn more about it, finds RL, panics about IMS and/or 92 other IPPMOCFoORTFOs*, sells the car to some happily oblivious guy. *Internet-Proven Potential Mode of Catastrophic Failure or Other Reason To Freak Out Caveat: I would not buy an Integra, Civic, or CRX with 5 different owners (especially if any one of them was under age 50).

Why would it matter? Good PPI, solid test drive = go for it. How many owners would keep you from buying a 904 or 906? 10? 20? Some of them changed owners from race to race. Or even a 1973 911S? 10-15?

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That's a very good point. Short ownership would scare me more than multiple owners of varying lengths.

According to carfax, my lovely 996 has had over 8 owners I forget the actual number, but looking at the records, both hard records and carfax the car spent its first 6 or so years (4 or 5 "owners") in the same city (states where title is registered) and serviced at the same dealer. Owner 5 or 6, serviced at the org delivery dealer and another one, also local. My assumption is, the original owner switched which one of his corporations had it, or kids, maybe for tax purposes. Again that is just my assumption, the car is in great condition (hold for rock chips...mostly from when I'm driving), no over revs, nicely modded, etc. I'm happy, doesn't mean a thing to me about the number of POs.

I bought mine from the second owner. First owner was a woman who had it over ten years. That is for sure the exception. I would not worry about 4-5 owners on a 12+ year old car as long as it checks out as solid. My cherry and minty E39 M5 had 3-4 owners before me. I have owned it three years and logged about half of the 86k Miles the car has now. And it has been a joy to own and drive and not caused my any grief beyond the expected maintenance of a car like that. Which is in line with a 911 btw. Anyway don't let that one thing turn you away. Accident history or lack of service records is what you have to worry about more IMO.

Everytime a new person buys the car, he/she will put lots of offert into making everything right, proper and clean. Keep that in mind. Many owners might not always be a bad thing apart from on the paper.

My take on receipts is: Yep I spent a boat load of money on the car and finally have had enough. So here is your starter kit binder to continue the journey to the bottom of your wallet.

Dear All…I thank you very much for the feed back. A lot of different takes and angles on this that I had not considered. The 996 form here on RL has been a great source of information and inspiration to me in my unicorn hunt. Again, thank you…T

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There, FIFY. And, none taken.

I agree that the Carfax reported number of owners is misleading. My car was registered at two different dealers, and both are listed as "owners" for some reason. Also, I'm surprised to think of the 996 as some sort of "beater". It's a fine automobile.

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Totally agree. When I bought mine I thought I would consider it my beater since the purchase price put the value below the other vehicles I drive. But after experiencing it for awhile I soon realized it was far too special a car to be considered a beater. That said I still don't hesitate to drive it just about anywhere and even leave it at the airport parking lot. But it's truly no beater!!

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Thank you for the fix. And, the no offense! My "hope" is that an older 996 will allow me to (a) stress less about usage, wear & tear, etc. on my current Porsche, (b) have more confidence in taking on DIY task like oil changes, and (c) avoid the possibility of having to commute in a soul-sucking econo-box! I tend to get attached to my cars - so my plan will likely go awry. But, a plan gone to hell that entails driving a Porsche, is a pretty good consolation prize in my book!...T

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As alluded to in my previous post, I meant beater not vis-a-vis other cars, but in terms of cost in relation to that of my current 2011 S, and my willingness to leave it at the airport, drive it to Costco, leave it with a valet, etc. A low initial purchase price will allow me to invest $$ in getting it up to the standards I would want for a DD, and the confidence to handle some DIY, which is something I would like to do more of. If my track record is any indication, I suspect that I would take a major shine to a 996 once I've had a chance to drive it , since all of my cars, even the total POSs have always become special to me over time. Heck, I spent about 10 years trying to convince people that my Escort GT was a mean machine and that it's many faults and failings were endearing "features"! Thanks, again, for sharing your thoughts...T

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Yep. My car showed 5 or 6 previous owners on CarFax. In reality, it had one owner most of it's life, then another guy had it a short while. The rest were all dealership transfers that showed up as ownership changes.

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exactly right...if it was owned by an enthusiast, you'll be better off! I've sold a handful of my tuner cars over the past decade and every time the buyer of the car was 100% satisfied....even years later! I'm not a dealer, just an enthusiast like most 996'ers here. Meaning we actually drive our cars like they were meant to be driven and perform the maintenance that they were meant to have.

I'm the third on mine and selling it and so far no one has even asked me. I do always find it interesting when that is the first question asked...vs tell me about the history, etc

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Indeed, first question from the potential buyer(s) always tells a lot about them imo.

At this point in age for the 996, if you're looking for a beater/daily/low cost 996, the amount of owners really doesn't really matter (unless it's stupid high). I was in the hunt for the same type of 996, something I could drive anywhere and not have much concern if something happened to it. Rack up the miles and enjoy the car. Didn't even ask about the amount of owners, I was more concerned with the overall condition of the car (there are some beat 996's out there). Now if you're looking for a pristine car or something to keep for long term and care about, I would try to keep it between 3-5.

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I'm the kind of guy who gets attached to my cars, so anything more than one or two sort of worried me. This thread has, however, given me a few different perspectives I had not considered....T