bmcallister

I just ran a carfax report on a '86 Carrera and it came up true mileage unknown. I contacted the seller as he had made no mention of this. He maintains that he is the third owner (consistent with carfax report) and that the 118K miles are original. He stated that it is somewhat common for cars over 100K miles when the title is reissued. He is a dealer who sells a fair number of 911s. The car is currently titled in Michigan, and the unknown miles issues supposedly was put on the title when it was retitled in Utah (2nd owner purchase).

Has anyone heard of this? Should I believe him? What kind of a discount in price should I negotiate for (if we believe he is honest)?

stormmaster

Carfax is not the know all end all when it comes to this kind of thing....if you think it has 200k or more that is usually pretty easy to tell from pictures....especially if the car is being sold at a dealer...cars sold at car lots are usually not concours queens and thus tend to show their age some areas more hidden than others...and what the guy is telling you is accurate....many cars dont have the extra digit to show over 100k....and thus they show true mileage unknown...Have a PPI done before you make an offer....as far as a discount?....i don't quite understand your question...because of what the title reads?....or because it has over 100k?...do the math....less than 6k miles a year is not high mileage....as far as the title its no big deal i dont think a discount is in order for either of those.....after the PPI is done by an independant shop.....that may be an entirely different story....

ventoGT

I would think the owner should have some records, and you can verify mileage by going by them--it is possible to rollback odos and whatnot, but at over 100K it doesn't seem to make much sense. As stated above, CARFAX is seriously lacking in lots of information and should only be used as a "first round elimination tool" in my opinion--only to get rid of the salvage titled cars, etc. After that it is pretty much a crap shoot.

Take a look at the car's condition and records, and once these cars get older, condition is much more important than mileage...I have seen 20K mile 993s that look like dogs and 100+K mile cars that are in terrific shape.

My $.02

jet911

I believe what the seller is telling you is true. I live in Utah and have an '86 coupe. I bought the car in 2000. I ran a Car Fax and it came back the same (mine has 94K miles now and at the time of purchase it had 74K). The car has stayed in Utah and I am the third owner - all documented. I contacted the Utah State Dept of Motor Vehicles about the response from Car Fax and was told that in the state of Utah, after the car reaches a certain age (can't recall what it was, 12 years old I believe, however it may have been 10 years), that when they re-issue the title, the mileage comes back as unknown. As long as it is all documented, and the PPI checks out, you should have no worries...