jm_vica23

I’m looking at a 997.2 with ~60k kms. While the car has low mileage for a 13yr old car, it has had 6+ owners and the current owner doesn’t have any maintenance records. The car looks pristine in pictures. Looking for advice on should I just walk away given no record. Thx

ATX_Native

My car had limited records outside of what the current owner had and what was on the CarFax, it’s been reliable for the past 3 years I’ve had it.

Any CarFax service records? Owner allowing you to do a full PPI?

If it’s a manual I wouldn’t hesitate if everything checks out on the PPI, on the PDK it would cause me pause if the fluid wasn’t changed.

These aren’t mid-80s Ferrari’s, the 997.2 is pretty reliable.

jm_vica23

Thx for sharing your experience. The car has PDK and the current owner has only had it for 1yr. He’s open to PPI.

Frank 993 C4S

PPI is a must in this case.

JamesBaxter

Be okay with the price + getting maintenance up to snuff. Which you should do after purchasing.

docdrs

With a Pdk, you don’t have to worry about over revs. The pdk is a robust tranny. PDK failure is haphazard. No one has a crystal ball to tell if and when or if at all. Pull the codes to see any present via a PPI . But to be honest , you need to drive it just before the ppi to make sure everything may have been wiped clean and that the car is functioning properly imo. Why are there so many owners on a lot of these cars? Is it a want thing and then they realize how impractical they really are and don’t want to pay the porsche tax on an oil change?

PV997

As ATX_Native mentioned, check the Carfax. My 997.2 Turbo only had maintenance records for the last owner of a couple of years but the Carfax showed it had regular maintenance at dealerships for the first six years of it's life. There was a small gap in there between the Carfax and the previous owner but nothing that gave me concern. I was later flipping through the owner's manual and found stamps in the record section that supported what the Carfax said. Apparently the previous owner didn't know they were there.

It's pretty rare in my experience for people to outright neglect these things. They may defer some of the major service items but it's not too often you see someone run 20k miles without changing the oil.

voiceprint1

current owner doesn’t have any maintenance records, first red flag. Nobody who owns a car like this does not keep any records, doesn't matter the number of previous owners, they did not change the oil or have any work done, I don't believe that, not even a wiper blade replacement? c'mon

sandwedge

Point well taken. I'm the second owner of my car and I'm to the point of having to change from a large envelope to a small box to keep my maint. records since I save everything including receipts for as you say, wiper blades. The car in question here being a PDK, with no records of anything, I don't know that even the most stringent PPI could tell if the PDK was serviced as required.

Doug H

Get a PPI and make sure the PPI is by someone who knows this model.

if it ran great, looked great and passed a PPI, get it although discount the price a little.

The car could have issues even it was perfect try serviced by the country’s top Porsche dealer. Records really doesn’t mean that much, but for sure get the pdk serviced and change the oil.

Overtime, the nagging little issues may not even be service related issues. I was never that worried about records as long as cars were solid at the time of purchaser.

herbg

Just purchased a 997.2 C4S with 60K-ish kilometers too. Manual transmission. The records that came with the car were sketchy but I was able to ask the dealer
to contact Pfaff Porsche in Oakville for the service history printout. I was lucky that the car was a Toronto-area purchase and presumed correctly that it was serviced
at the dealer frequently.

Ob917

Speak for yourself, I don’t have the time or care to save receipts for things like oil changes etc. something big sure, but the 997.2 is very reliable there probably isn’t anything besides general maintenance to keep track of.

PV997

Yeah, I keep all my receipts but recognize it's generally not normal behavior and hardly a red flag. There are many 911 owners that just like the car and aren't obsessed with it.

Ob917

I’m not arguing with you at all. But check my posts if you need proof I’m obsessed with mine for sure. Just not obsessed with keeping folders full of oil and filter receipts.

NevilleNobody

Finding receipts and service history is much, much harder than people seem to understand. I bought mine last year, also 2009 and also 60k km. Carfax showed service ls done on time but no record of where or what was done.

I looked at the car myself and also did a PPI including a bore scope. Car seemed fantastic, especially underneath. PPi was clean except needed two O2 sensors. Bore scope pristine. Also showed 5 owners but carfax can make itnlook like more than there are, when i looked closely, it was 3 owners.

I negotiated the price with an understanding i would need to spend good money on servicing. In one year i have done or added;

• PDK service (full)
• New tyres
• O2 sensors
• Engine mounts
• Cabin and engine filters
• Oil changes
• Spark plugs

I feel the only items remaining are the coils.

I also added spacers but that's not a service item

Long story short, 60km is very, very tempting but put a solid $5k to $8k away to catch up.