Hi all,

On the look out for a 997 Carrera S and a few of the cars I have looked at have had 3 owners for a 08/09 model.

Would this concern anyone on here if the rest of the car had the spec that you were looking for and condition was good ?

Cheers,

Kev

Wouldn't worry me at all. It's just a number. Maintenance history and condition is far more important. IMO prestige cars, especially sports cars, are likely to change hands more frequently than duller A-B cars for a number of reasons.

Some people buy for a bit of short-term fun with the plan to sell on before they depreciate too much - you see the threads about them popping up on here quite often; I plan to buy this for 6/12/18 months fun then sell.

Other people buy a car and soon get a craving for the next step up the power ladder.

Could be an impulse purchase after which the owner has found it uncomfortable to drive - again you see threads about that on here (too firm suspension, too heavy clutch triggering an old injury, like mrdemon with his recent GT3 purchase).

Plus, I think that when a car changes hands, the new owner will often spend a load of money on it to make it perfect for them, whereas a car that has had, say, one non-enthusiast owner in its lifetime may not have had any money spent on it in that time.

Buy on condition and history not number of owners.

+1
I change my cars very often, and they're always better when I sell than when I bought, stupid I know.

+2 my cars are always better after I have owned it, always makes me want to keep them.

unless it's had 3 owners every year for the last 4 years 3 or 4 owners over 3 to 4 years is fine.

If you follow these 3 rules carefully, you will be fine.

MTR

Thanks for all the replies, I had expected that these cars would change hands more often but was just after some re-assurance.

So buying on condition it is.

Kev

I'm fussy, it bothers me and I have always avoided high owner cars. History is usually easier to verify on low owner cars. You sometimes see adverts that say things like "car always garaged and only used in dry weather" and then you find out the present owner bought the car 6 months ago and doesn't have a clue about the previous 6 owners driving regimes. But condition is of course paramount regardless of number of owners.

If anything the ownership change tends to ensure the car is brought back up to speed. An inspection, sort out of any outstanding works and so on. The "continuity of maintenance" argument on a 997 with 2 year service intervals is quite a funny concept, do you really think a technician will remember the car 2 years and a thousand services later?

Compare that with a car slowly deteriorating in the hands of a long term owner who doesnt spot the miniscule changes as they take place until time compounds all the small changes into quite large issues.

As for knowing if a car has ever been out in the rain. Can I suggest the first 5 or 10 years of a Porsches life when they are used as daily transport they take whatever is thrown at them. There comes a point when they become playthings laguishing in garages but don't kid yourself about the early years.

As has been said buy on condition, what's in front of you on the day. What a great suggestion, who ever thought of that concept



Henry

Before they buy the car they have it inspected and have the jobs done before taking delivery.

Henry

No we don't, but I'm not sure what relevance that has. Because you have decided to change your suspension for no reason long term owners are better.

Random.

There will always be exceptions to every rule but in the main a change of owner results in additional checks, inspections and work being carried out. You are never as enthusiastic as when you have just picked up your new (to you) car.

Ultimately I see number of owners as an arbitrary figure. I've seen Joe Blogs at one address in the V5, previous owner Joe Blogs at another address. Sometimes it's Mrs Blogs as the previous owner, sometimes it's Joe's company, sometimes it's a dealer who registered it for technical reasons (number plates, paperwork etc).

Given the age of many Porsches on the market people keeping their car for several years can still result in 4 or 5 owners on the V5. We aren't talking 6 months and then they out the car.

Births, marriages and sadly deaths all add to the owners tally without detracting from the car. Finally consider this: if you will only buy a 1 owner car it means you wouldn't buy your car off yourself or advocate someone else do the same. Or are you different, your ownership doesn't count? We hear it so many times, "it's a 1 owner car", then when it turns up there are 2 owners, the person and the previous owner. "Yeah but when I bought it it was a 1 owner car". Indeed it was but not any more

Buy the car in front of you, don't worry what the last owner did for a living, what colour shoes they wore, how many previous Porsches they have owned, how long they have been in the Porsche club or how many times they drove in the rain (how do those cars get washed?). If you don't know what you're looking at and have to use obscure pointers to try and ascertain condition then employ the services of someone who does know or purchase from a known source who will provide support in the event of problems arising in the future.

Henry - 1 wife from new

(But 14 ladyboys, 3 fat birds when very drunk, the Brighton "incident" which we don't talk about because it was an easy mistake - he had very long hair, Sheila from the Fox & Hounds but to be fair everyone's been there so it doesn't count, Vicky Davies but you couldn't not so that doesn't count either, Sarah Davies her sister but that was in a tent so doesn't count, the Stephens twins - but they only count as 1, the Birmingham, Dudley, Portsmouth, Cardif, Newcastle, Watford and Grimsby lasses but they were all business transactions and Sam with the squinty eye. Oh and technically the Welsh thing with the sheep but it had its head stuck, I was freeing it and a combination of it suddenly jolting backwards, my trousers and pants falling down and someone accidentally pressed the button on their camera so that hardly counts.

Keep smiling