Need some advice

[fastf355]

I am going to test drive this 996 Turbo this weekend:

http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/porsche-996-t...

I have never bought a Porsche before, in fact, I have never bought a second hand car before. So my experience and knowledge is somewhat limited!

Could you give me your initial thoughts plus let me know what kinds of questions to ask and what I should be looking out for.

The guy says he is an official Porsche dealer (even says that in the advert) but he sells different makes of cars. Is this normal?

Also, he sent me a pic of the service history, and it has 5 years missing. From the end of 2002 and begining of 2008. When I asked about this, he told me that it is common in Italy that after services the books dont get stamped or that people leave the service books at home. He then assured me that the milage is genuine that he could run a diagnostic with his porsche equipment to confirm it. He then sent me pics of the diagnostics, but it means nothing to me!

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated

[V8KSN]

fastf355 said:

...
Also, he sent me a pic of the service history, and it has 5 years missing. From the end of 2002 and begining of 2008. When I asked about this, he told me that it is common in Italy that after services the books dont get stamped or that people leave the service books at home. ...

This would flag alarm bells for me, there are plenty of cars out there to chose from, I would walk away!

[majordad]

A friend of mine here in Irelandis selling his 996 Turbo, one previous owner , full history C16 Irish Car for less than this.Both owners looked after it very well. Same colour as well. PM me for his details.

[fastf355]

majordad said:

A friend of mine here in Irelandis selling his 996 Turbo, one previous owner , full history C16 Irish Car for less than this.Both owners looked after it very well. Same colour as well. PM me for his details.

Thanks, but I live in the Canary Islands and I need a LHD.

Unfortuantly less choice than the UK and higher prices

[davek_964]

You seem to be paying quite a premium to stay LHD. £29k for a 2001 turbo, with 6 years history missing? No thanks.

[Trev450]

Whilst your options may be more limited due to living in the Canaries, with 5 years history missing I would run a mile.

[Cheburator mk2]

fastf355 - what the dealer say sometimes is true... However, while it mattered little in the case of my Mk III 16v Golf GTI (EUR8k at the time), the absence of verifiable service history on a 911 Turbo, will matter A LOT come resale time. You see similar cars in Germany - service history can be a lot more arbitrary in Europe. However, notice that all the cars that have Scheckheftgepflegt in their description usually command a decent premium....

While I am generalising a bit, the Italian drivers are infamous for clocking and generally driving their cars into the ground. This 911 could turn out to be an absolute gem, but it also could hide something. Moreover, if the dealer was an italian equivalent of OPC, he should stand-by his word and offer you 2yrs warranty. Just like Porsche UK, Porsche Germany or even Porsche Bulgaria does on all the used cars they sell these days...

[Actus Reus]

Bought my mother-in-law a 7 year old Honda Jazz the other day. Found one I really liked, but the history had been 'lost' - so I walked away and bought one with full history. It had missed a service as it was being used seldom, but that didn't worry me too much - as I knew it had been serviced and could get a feel for what the previous owner had been doing.

On a car as expensive as a 911, I'd run a mile from that kind of uncertainty I'm afraid. If your budget can run to an OPC serviced, German car, I'd go down that route all day long.

[MadMark911]

No service history on that value of car is just nuts, not least because if something goes wrong, it'll be expensive, but as others have said on here, think of the depreciation!

[cayman-black]

Just looked on the German OPC site not many and two where Tip. This one has just come on.
http://ucl.porsche.de/ucl/plsql/de/clients.show_ca...

[bobsan]

' it is common in Italy that after services the books dont get stamped or that people leave the service books at home'

what rubbish, walk away.

[thegoose]

If it's been covering a decent mileage and can be proven to have been properly looked after for the last 4/5 years (i.e. since 2008) then it wouldn't put me off the actual car itself, providing it checks out OK, including DME mileage check etc.

Due to the fact that many people (as evidenced by the responses on here already) wouldn't go near it (and I can see why if they're unfamiliar with them) I'd see it as an opportunity to get it at a much better price than one with the book. When you're driving and enjoying the car, together with all the extra cash, you won't be thinking about a few missed stamps in a book you never look at.

[911 (997)]

Given that it has unusually low miles for an 11 year old car (33,000 odd) the fact it was missing 5 years of history would make me suspicious. It's not too difficult to wind these cars back. Walk away, there will be another better example along in just a moment.