Hello All, Buying 1st Porsche in Okinawa.

Hello Everyone, I'm about to attempt to buy my first Porsche. I'm interested in this one. Sorry for the link, I hope it works. http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/sprea...120219004.html With the yen so strong vs. the dollar, the cost of a 2002 Targa will run about $44,000. Being that Okinawa doesn't have any Porsche dealers, I have a concern, being able to fix it if it breaks as the Porsche dealers are located in Mainland Japan. I've been able to find some owners on island but they drive the air cooled engines. I've told the wife that I have always wanted a Porsche but wasn't able to afford one, well now I feel that I can so she supports the purchase. I hope to gain a lot of knowlege from all of you that have experienced a Porsche 911. Thanks.

Looks good... What is it with Japan and just one key??? Try and get them to find the second (and third if possible). Most of the Faults that occur and servicing items can be completed without a specialist garage. You would do well to buy the Duratec cable and setup a laptop for a local garage to use, you would probably be able to get a recommendation from other owners on the island or look to an independent who specializes in Euro cars. Parts can be sourced from the US and Europe, and many people here service their own car as they are fairly easy to work on. Have you thought about the auction houses for a car? They are significantly cheaper there.

Thanks David, for the advice. Yes, we visited a dealer who had 2 Porsche Boxsters. He owned one of the Boxsters and had a 911. He mentioned that I could save some money by letting him go through the auction houses. He would charge me 200,000 yen on top of the auction price. That could be an option. Again many thanks.

It looks nice. Good luck.

looks good... I would look at the option sticker, maintenance history and a ppi... as for doing your own maintenance and fixes... this site and renntec is all you need.. well, and tools of course.

There's very little you need a Porsche dealer for. There are some specialty things like programming keys and radios that only the dealer can do, but 95% can be done DIY with basic tools, and the other 4.5% can be done by any good indie shop. You can get all the parts you need shipped to you online. If the owner can't find the 2nd key, you're pretty much SOL there. You can get a key cut next time you're in mainland Japan (or US, Europe, etc), but about all you can do is unlock the door with it without having the car programmed to accept the transponder and remote. Are there any affordable ferries to the mainland if you do find yourself in a situation where you can only take it to a dealer?

Your steering wheel is on the left side?

Check http://www.japaneseusedcars.com/auction/auctions2.htm under "other", "Porsche" and about page 10 you will see the auction price from a 2003/2 is about 2,500,000 yen so including your dealers fees, transport and delivery about $35k USD. Japan is a RHD market, however buyers of prestige Euro cars prefer them in LHD for the exotic look, both LHD and RHD are offered and the market is moving more and more to RHD being the more common option. In the age under discussion here RHD will be very few and far between and often on their way to us here in NZ On the main site above you will see what is for sale today. You buy on grade with grade 4.5 being very, very good condition and grade 5 being showroom new but having traveled some limited miles, and 6 being 0 miles and new (and subsequently very rare in an aged car). Service is usually very regular, but a bit hit and miss.

Looking at a used Porsche here on Okinawa but would like to locate a skilled mechanic who knows Porsches well -- preferably with a Porsche System Tester for use during a pre-purchase inspection and some planned preventative maintenance. Any leads on a name and location of an excellent Porsche mechanic here on Okinawa would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I was pretty decent, when I was at Futenma back in 1994! All joking aside, I knew a place off 58 just outside of Naha that was good. Not sure if its still there, or not, though.

There is a member here with 996 also in Japan. His name is Tokyopav, I would check with him to see how he services and manages his car. https://rennlist.com/forums/members/...-tokyopav.html

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Posted my Porsche Buying, Owning and Servicing on Okinawa experience here : https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-...n-okinawa.html