finding car/service history..

All, Do you guys have any ideas on how to find the history/service on my car? I can't find any information about the previous owner when searching just the VIN with Google. Any other ideas or avenues I should pursue? (I'm all ears regardless if I have access to specific databases or not!) Thx

You mean beyond CarFax? CarFax often gives a location of service. Use that to narrow down your search. You may have to us a phone instead of the Google machine.

Oh, didn't think of that. I'm actually hoping to track down the last owner. That would be ideal. Thx

Also, if you can determine if his Porsche was serviced at a Porsche dealer, they may share info.,and they might not.

Unfortunately there's no nationwide database of service records between Porsche dealers. If the car was serviced at a dealer, you'll have to find that dealer and then convince them to release the records to you. I believe that they will release them if you can show them proof that you own the car now.

Call PCNA customer service 800 number and with the car's VIN someone can tell you the dealer the car was initially shipped/sold to. Call the dealer and see if you can learn anything about the car's service history. If you ask about the previous owner you will probably get silence. With CarFax you will have an idea of where the car spent some time. Call dealers in these areas with the car's VIN to see if you can learn anything about the car's history. Again if you ask about the previous owner you'll likely get met with silence. Remember, you have bought the car not the previous owner. If someone calls me up asking about a car I no longer own because some place I had the car serviced gives out my phone number, name, address, I'd be rightly upset. I would call that place and tell them to knock it off and likely pledge to never do business with them again. I'm sure I'm not the only ex-car owner who feels this way.

I recently went that route with my car. I called a nearby dealer with that same question. Using my VIN, they were able to tell me where the car was initially purchased and serviced, but didn't have access to information beyond that. I placed a call to the selling dealer and explained the situation - I had recently purchased the car and was interested in the service history only. I was told that there was no way they would release any of that information to me as it violated the original owner's privacy. That may differ from dealer to dealer, but I wasn't able to get the information. If you find a more effective avenue, I'm sure there are plenty of us that would be interested in hearing about it.

When I bought my C4S, I spoke with the service manager at Walter's Porsche in California where the car had been serviced. He printed off all the service records for me and removed any information relating to the previous owner.

Quotes source post: 9993557

I purchased mine used from Danbury Porsche. I asked the svc manager for the svc records and he printed out every maintenance and svc visit and blacked out the previous owner's name and faxed it to me. YMMV

As you can tell, the answer to your question will be directly related to the customer service level at your local dealer or the original selling dealer. At the same time, I'm just not convinced that 10 year old oil change records are vital. The past 4-5 years is nice to have, the rest is gravy. Of course I have every record from my car

Quotes source post: 9993932

That's a point worth repeating. What servicing the car received early on after a while means little. (But I too have every service record/repair invoice from the time owned both of my cars. They show I loved my cars.) One buys the car on its condition (and price). If the car checks out then the service history is needed to try to get up to date on the services. But you must be sure the car is in good condition. This requires a good test ride/test drive to give the car and engine plenty of time to show its colors.

When I purchased my 2000 C4 the Carfax showed service at Newport Porsche. I called the Service Manager and he went down the list of service dates since new and confirmed the Carfax info and added some notes from the history he had on his records. He was willing to offer some comments on the general care of the car as well. But even this complete nearly 9 years since new history did not give the full picture. I also had direct contact with the Indy who recently serviced the car and had installed the new LN IMS Bearing and did other extensive work on the engine. All this looking great, I purchased the car and months later discovered the middle of three owners did some not so professional work at home - hidden from the PPI and servicing shops. I fixed these things and love the car and I know all the service history I need to care for the car going forward. My point here is a 10 year old Porsche can have lots of untold stories, so stop worrying about history and get to driving it.

I have the dealer printout of all services done to my car since it was new until the second owner. It was purchased and traded in at the same dealer. The second owner owned it for 6 months (before his wife wanted a beach house instead of a 996) and he saved the few receipts from those 6 months. No stories with my car. I would find the orginal selling/servicing dealer and ask the "right" people on how to obtain the information without violating the privacy of the previous owner.