31 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHFinding a vehicle's owner history
Leading reported evidence
Run into him in malibu
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
when I did a thorough cleaning, I found a Doctors name badge under the seat, from Mercy Hospital, in Baltimore, I am assuming this may be the guy who put the first miles on what is now my car.
Leading evidence: 'Run into him in malibu' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Clean i found a doctors name badge' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I just used the contact form on the main PCA page.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I was able to track down the owner of a 996 and think I got lucky with one of the service shops recorded or DMV (I can't remember), then used Facebook to track the guy down and talk to him.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
when I did a thorough cleaning, I found a Doctors name badge under the seat, from Mercy Hospital, in Baltimore, I am assuming this may be the guy who put the first miles on what is now my car.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.
Clean i found a doctors name badge
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
when I did a thorough cleaning, I found a Doctors name badge under the seat, from Mercy Hospital, in Baltimore, I am assuming this may be the guy who put the first miles on what is now my car.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I was able to track down the owner of a 996 and think I got lucky with one of the service shops recorded or DMV (I can't remember), then used Facebook to track the guy down and talk to him.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
31 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T135432Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I'd love to identify the person who ordered my 996 and kept it for 20 years. Mostly because I need his permission to access service records. The dealer won't redact it and send to me without his permission. Any tips on how to track him/her down? We're in California, if that helps (or hurts!).
Update: I am DEFINITELY willing to throw money at the problem if that is the solution.
"The dealer won't redact it and send to me without his permission"
Ask the dealer if he would be nice and contact the previous owner and ask permission. Worth a shot, worst he can say is NO.
They would only take me through each service appointment over the phone and not show me the paperwork.
In California service records are considered legal documents so you can't share them without the owner's permission, I am told.
edit: typo
I've had owners put their name in/on the owners manual before.
Check through there, and the service book if you received it too.
I found a stack of business card in my BMW's center console, the BMW dealership missed finding them, and I contacted the owner that way.
The dealership that serviced my car pugers their computer data records after a certain amount of years pass without the car being serviced there.
Luckily the PO kept pretty good records, so I was able to see what had been done to mine.
EDIT: If you are willing to throw money at it like ya said, you could hire a private investigator.
I fortunately had many of the service records. I called the cell phone number and the original owner answered. I got more history on the car than I wanted to hear. Just when I thought my car was perfect. Oh well.
Do you have a lawyer friend? Just suggesting because at my wife's law firm they utilize software that can look up just about anything and match license plates and VIN numbers. Worth a shot....
Depends how far you want to go and time you want to put in. For instance, I typically start by looking through digital online PCA magazines through the time the owner had that car. Not everyone will be a PCA member, but someone that owned their 911 for 20 years probably was. Or reach out to people on the clubs Facebook page and see if they have info on that particular car or if anyone knows the owner.
Backing up just a little bit: do you know if the vehicle is from Los Angeles? If you have the original service manual, there should be a delivery stamp on the first page. I'm imagining you've already seen a CARFAX, AutoCheck, or something that gives you a vague idea if you don't have this book.
I agree that if someone owned this car for 20 years before selling it the chances of them being a PCA member for at least some period of time is very likely. If the car is from Los Angeles, join the PCA and reach out to your chapter president or appointed representative and let them know you're looking for the original owner. If you have the time attend a meeting or two and poll the members. If the car is NOT from Los Angeles, still join the PCA and look up the regional president for the area the car is from.
I was given an EXPERIAN Auto report when I purchased mine from the restoration shop that took it in as a trade in.
I was able to determine where it was originally purchased (leased actually) in Baltimore, no names though.
HOWEVER! when I did a thorough cleaning, I found a Doctors name badge under the seat, from Mercy Hospital, in Baltimore, I am assuming this may be the guy who put the first miles on what is now my car.
Moral of the story is a carfax, or experian report will most likely tell you where on the planet the car started from.Good luck, Greg
I played detective looking for records on the 1999 996 I purchased this year. While I didn't get any paper copies due to dealerships retention policies and purge timelines, I did speak to some who had serviced the car over the years, and that was very helpful, if not more so, than paper documents.
I won't have the documents should I choose to sell, but I got peace of mind and then followed up with a documented PPI at a Porsche dealership.
Have you run a carfax report?
I was able to track down the owner of a 996 and think I got lucky with one of the service shops recorded or DMV (I can't remember), then used Facebook to track the guy down and talk to him.
I just used the contact form on the main PCA page.
If they *did* have a hit, I don't know that they would have released that persons's name...but they were at least happy to tell me that they had no hits.
My car was purchased new at Porsche Newport Beach, where I purchased as the second owner, but they have absolutely blocked me from learning the identity of the original purchaser. Hence the problem.
That probably happens when someone has more than 1 Porsche and only uses one VIN for membership.
Or they don�t update their records when they upgrade to a 996 and then sell the 996.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
