Verifying milage/odometer using engine hours - also falsifiable???

A car I'm quite interesting it buying has a history that makes me suspect someone rest the mileage. I can have a Porsche dealer do a pre-purchase inspection, and they can check the engine hours. But if the odometer can be reset, can't the engine hours be reset too??? (YIMEX started a similar thread in 2012, but maybe not many people saw it, as it was in the GT2/3 forum, and no one answered this question.) If I'm sure the hours can't be reset, and the hours are OK, I'll happily buy this car. So any insight would really be appreciated!

I do not believe the engine hours can be reset in the same way that the odometer (by replacing the instrument cluster) can be defeated. I believe that the DME would need to be replaced or wiped/reflashed to reset the hour count. I have read that you can provide Porsche with the VIN and some quantity of money, and in exchange receive a report that includes all of the car's vital statistics, including the DME serial number. Here's an example .

If the operating hours and miles jive, it may just be that the car really didn't see much use. If the hour count is ridiculously high compared to the mileage, you have some idea that something is up. This is also one of those rare instances where a Carfax report can actually be useful - since each entry in the car's detailed history will include an odometer reading, you'll be able to see if the mileage has consistently increased or if there was a miraculous reduction somewhere along the way. Since the Carfax report probably already exists, I'd start there before doing any more sleuthing with Porsche that might require you to spend money...

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Thanks. I have to confess that I don't know what a DME is. Don't suppose you know how hard/expensive it is to replace/wipe/reflash, and whether that itself would be detectable?

The DME is the Bosch-sourced box that controls the motor. I do not think a normal reflash would reset the engine run time. The cost for a new DME is upwards of $6K. All of this stuff aside, if you're this leery that the seller is a crook, maybe you ought to rethink doing business with him...

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Agree - probably not best starting off suspecting that something is wrong with the picture. What exactly makes you suspect that the odo has been reset? Mileage simply too low? Condition of the car belies the stated mileage? Other?

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The miles increased by a very small amount during a gap in the service records, despite being owned for most of the period by the same guy who put on more normal miles in the first two years. If the history was altered, I don't think the seller had anything to do with it. It would have been done 5 years ago, at the end of this strange, low-mile period. So I don't distrust the seller. And I haven't found similar cars at any price, otherwise I'd just go elsewhere.

Get the dealer to verify if the DME serial number is original. If so, and if the hour count is consistent with the mileage...

I think DME stands for - Digital Motor Electronics Just FYI.

Yeah, you'd want to know more, but personally speaking, I can go weeks without driving my car. I have a company car, too, but if that changed tomorrow, I'd drive my 996 as a daily driver, giving the opposite effect; low mileage for a while, then a spike. People's lives change all the time, so driving it frequently, then not, can be a result of other factors unrelated to the cars health. Unless there are other reasons you are suspicious, I'd ask a few questions and let my gut drive this one. You're still doing a PPI, etc etc.

On one hand the gap in the service records correlating to low accumulated mileage could mean nothing more than the car wasn't driven as often and thus not serviced as frequently. On the other hand, could be a great question you are asking. Personal experience; years ago my Father purchased a used luxury car at a great price - so great of a price that when he asked why the car had only been driven 147 miles between state inspections that he accepted the dealers answer that the car was locally owned by an elderly woman who stopped driving it for health reasons. Sounded good. I was away on business when he made the deal but when I returned he couldn't wait to show me the "great deal" he got on the car. I took it for a spin and could feel that something wasn't right and on closer inspection I found a few things that indicated a different story. Turned out that the car was in a front end collision and sat for nearly a year while someone made budget repairs. My Father did get his money back. All I am saying is that it is a good question to ask. Hopefully there is a rational explanation and it all works out for you.

There are many times when your mileage is noted. Plate renewals, ownership change, smog tests and any time you bring it in for service, or even tires. I doubt there is any reason to falsify the mileage when it can be so easily detected.

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He got a new toy and drove that around for a while. I know it's happened to me. I drove one convertible for 'normal' miles, then I got a new vehicle and barely used it for 8+ months. Then I started driving it like a 2nd car. I think it's not unusual for 'fun' cars.

Here is a good example of Porsche owner trying to sell car with rolled back od reading, carfax clearly finds it, not sure how it was done , maybe he jacked it up and drove for days in reverse. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rc...002996888.html

The airbag module also logs hours. I would compare it to the hours in the DME. The latest version of Durametric lets you read hours in both modules.