Would you buy an ex-press GT car?

No way. I bought an ex press 997 and it was a dog. ‘Maintained’ or not, I’m not sure how you could ever inspect the mechanical innards having been ragged from cold by numerous low rent journos.

Years ago my Dad bought a 997 Carrera, RX11 HZM. That was an ex press car and it was in great condition, never skipped a beat but I doubt a base car would have been as thrashed as GT cars.

Press cars are handed to all kinds of media from when they are brand new, sometimes with delivery+ mileage. Media have been known to pick up cars from the factory and drive them back to the UK. For better or worse, these days that includes YouTubers and other social media. Whether they are more sympathetic to mechanicals than a local newspaper journalist of yore, who knows. It's quite hard to thrash a modern supercar on the road without getting banned or killed, but also quite possible. There are also considerations like launch starts, speed bumps, etc.

So the equation is this on one side, vs being maintained and repaired weekly by the importer, on the other.

On balance I wouldn't buy a press car of a high performance marque. I reckon the average owner of a GT3, for example, is going to be more sympathetic, and have fewer reasons to thrash it, than a different and unknown media driver twice a week.

Drove an RF Lava RS with around 3k miles on at PEC and around Buckingham back roads for an afternoon in 2016 could well have been that car.

Off brand but Im looking at an ex press RS6 today. 11000miles 1 yr Had all the jouros in it for sure, lots of vids etc. Its about 8k cheaper. My thoughts are along the lines of consumables ie brakes/tyres more then anything else. Ie if it doesnt have brake warp when I drive it and has new tyres and new pads then Im more relaxed about it I think. Any views?

https://youtu.be/lDaghfes-0c?si=oMRaPNy7imEDwU-h

https://youtu.be/KHx6Ra_ftJk?si=w9qI-g71DdDcVWLr

etc lots of vids

It has 2 yes left but yes good point

Wouldn't stop me, in fact my Evora S was an ex-marketing car that I'd ragged round the track myself when I worked there

Pros:
- Cars are generally serviced and maintained within an inch of their life
- A Porsche no doubt will have a clean bill of health with regard to overrevs
- They'll typically come with a fresh set of boots, rotors, pads etc
- Often cheaper because people are scared of them
- Press cars being modified for increased power might be a myth (excluding maybe cowboy firms like TVR) but they are certainly often 'blueprinted' in terms of suspension (perhaps engine and gearbox too) to make sure they are representative of the exact design intent rather than just being within specified tolerance of it. Might not make as much of a difference with a Porsche but on something like a Ferrari or a Lambo I bet most ex-press cars will be noticeably 'good ones'

Cons:
- A youtuber has likely incompetently ragged it around Goodwood with a terrified racing driver in the passenger seat at some point
- I'd be making sure that the paint is in good condition as no guarantee it will have been fully tidied up to fix inevitable things caused by it being a working vehicle, e.g. extra stone chips, unsympathetic washing by journos for photos, that sort of stuff.

If it's priced right and you go in with your eyes open as above then it can be a good buy for some

See the GT4RS thread which recently referred to that car still overpriced at £140k.

I read statements on this thread that press cars are "meticulously maintained" etc, which would imply that they are subject to more frequent oil & filter changes etc. Is there any evidence (such as service records of a purchased press car) that this is really the case? If not, I doubt very much that they are serviced beyond the scheduled maintenance requirements and likely just checked for error codes, fluid levels, tyre condition etc, and valeting each time a car is returned back from press.