kunzjob

Has anyone come up with a solid way to get some prior history on a car? I just purchased a 2015 GTS and want to build a book from birth. Is there a number for someone at Porsche NA that can help me do this or is it cold calling prior dealers listed on the carfax and try to get them to share the information with me that way. I searched the forum for the VIN without any luck.
NOTE_ I tried that before I purchased the car and they were not helpful, I will give them another try as now I am the new owner.

LexVan

Dealerships won't tell you much. Thank all the privacy laws.

Load the free MyCarFax app on your smartphone. Enter your VIN. You should see some of the prior service history there.

I use this app to religiously track all my cars and all my maintenance records.

jorn_umpo

You could try looking at your car's paired bluetooth device list -- many people's phones default to something like "Joe Smith's iPhone". If the previous owner didn't clear the paired devices, you may be able to figure out their name, and from the Carfax report, city of residence, which would maybe give you enough info to find the previous owner via a LinkedIn search.

CSK 911 C4S

Post up a picture of your car and what dealer sold it to you and see if the previous owner is in here.

Do you know if the previous owner traded for another car or did the dealer acquire another way.

rxtrom

Also some ppl leave old insurance or reg cards in the glove compartment. Flip through the owners manual too sometimes they get caught in the pages.

_RS_

Got my car a few weeks ago - Previous owner's iPhone link is still in, and the last GPS destination (before consigning the car at 600 miles before leaving the country), was Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills. Plastic wraps still on the floor mats and the peel off covers on the badges under the engine cover were still on. Everything looks legit to me, but I got new plates all the same.

freeman

Actually I sold all my previous 6 (sorry LexVan) Porsches myself. With each, I sold them with all service records, including oil changes, from new. I have never purchased a pre-owned Porsche. However, if I had, I would have asked for the opportunity to examine all the service records up front. If they were not available, I would not purchase the Porsche,. My provision of ALL the service records and a Carfax report requested by the purchaser has always been a selling point in the favor of me and the purchaser. I have never had a purchaser call me with complaints. I also call previous purchasers to find if they have any questions and are satisfied with their purchase. In fact, the gentleman who purchased my last, a 2013 991 C2 PDK Coupe has asked me many times to contact him when I wish to sell my 2015 991 GTS with MT. I find it to be a glorious car so he will have to contact my estate upon my departure.

larrysb

Pieced my recent used Porsche purchase (from a non-Porsche car dealer) together from bits and pieces from Car Fax, the very first original buyer's tag stashed in the owner's manual (it's just a little slip of paper in California), and some stamps from an indie shop in the maintenance book. Went by the indie shop, they had some more detail on prior owner and last major services they performed, including some pics from their inspection of it. Was able to determine that it had its maintenance completed by capable people. Didn't feel any need to contact prior owners, though I sort of knew one of them. It came to me with freshly changed oil and all filters squeaky clean, new front brakes and new, proper, rubber all the way around. No evidence of misadventure anywhere I could see, even up on a lift, other than a coffee spill. Just normal wear and tear.

It's just a car. No reason to go all archeologist on it. It is as good as its last major service.

Fede-993

Interesting topic!

I did track back twice my cars.
The first was a 2015 RS5 (4.2 V8 ) with 9,000 miles 3 weeks ago and was easy, having only one previous owner and all maintenance reported -> the shops where it had been serviced have been very kind to text me or mail me previous maintenance records.

With the 993 the story is well different. Downloaded today my CARFAX report and, besides showing 6 owners before me there are maintenance reported (clutch and flywheel 10,000 miles ago yuhuuuuu!) but there's definitely some digging needed. I'll try to get records from previous shops and build my story which kinda intrigues me a bit!
In my case, according to CARFAX two of the previous owners had good discipline with yearly maintenance at same shop in CA; the others were, possibly, mainly dealers or "non drivers" since the car didn't make much miles with them.

however
my car arrived without a single receipt..nor stickers on user manual
Traveled coast to coast between owners twice
Had many owners
... let's say it doesn't have proper pedigree...

But works great, it's fun, I enjoy working on it and I love owning it!

CIAO!

core22

Check the glove compartment. Paperwork for PPF and ceramic coating was in with the Porsche owners manual, and it had the prior owner's name/address/phone entered into the details for the warranty.

ducktails

This is all a bit creepy - getting a hold of the maintenance history from CarFax to make sure everything was done timely and to look for anything abnormal before a purchase, sure.
I love talking with other P-Car owners, and I'm vaguely curious about how my old cars are doing now, but having an unsolicited phone call or someone show up at my door to ask me how many DE's I did in my car in 2012 ... no thanks.
If anything, a good warning to check your car before you sell it and clear the PCM.

I think VINWiki was invented to address this kind of thing. No affiliation...

Dennis C

The current owners of my two past 911s found me here on rennlist and reached out for information. I was happy to provide what I had. In both cases, I left a binder full of receipts in the car when I traded it, and neither owner received the binder.

Unfortunately, Porsche dealers don't have a nationwide database of service records.

isugoo

Not sure about Porsche but for my Mini, I went to dealership and asked them for service record (since my Mini was still under factory warranty). They asked me to sign some paperwork and validate that I'm the legal owner so they printed out all service history.
I'm in CA so I'm guessing, we have one of the strict privacy law here..