I am really interested in a 97 C4S. CarFax is clean but it shows 5 owners. Each of the last 4 owners owning it for 18 months or less.

Is this bad? Does it have an adverse impact on resale?

Would it bother you if everything else checked out?

Thanks in advance.

Paul

 

Miles? Records complete?

Could simply be buying a lot of car and then getting it out of your system ... not a small financial commitment ...

 

It would concern me. Owners who buy cars, especially sports cars, to drive for a short time frequently abuse them and/or neglect or shortchange proper maintenance. That type of history may not be revealed w/a PPI or review of records.

 

It would not be bad -- if all of the last 4 owners were Rennlisters.

 

Paul,

Where are you located? Perhaps a local Rennlister could look at the car with you if you want an opinion before you get a PPI, which is a necessity with any of our cars. As a general rule a couple of owners is not too bad, but five ups the odds that at least one abused the car. If it is a super deal and you can do your own work, or at least some of it, it might be worth it. That is how I got into my car, but had to do a lot of work which I figured into the price I paid. Many listers have looked for six months to a year to find the right car for them so have patience and really check it out.

Al

 

Im the 4th owner of my 993. I bought it from a dealer and there were no records. With 100k miles, it was a risk in purchasing mine. From a price perspective, I could not afford a low mileage, full record car. I found that these were 8-10k higher in price.

I took a gamble with my car. But I lowered my risk by educating myself as much as possible. My suggestion is to drive as many of these cars as you can. You will notice each car is different and how a car should drive. Familiarize yourself with 993 controls - you will know what each button is supposed to do. Check obvious things - braking, steering, leaks, non - functioning controls, faded or broken interior and exterior parts, AC. Make a list of things that need attention and price out the cost of repair. These are ~10 yr old cars, 95% of them need some type of repair...

Make sure you pull a carfax. This is very telling.

At the risk of pi$$ing off some rennlisters - I think PPIs are overblown. Once you immerse yourself into the mechanics of these cars and read as much as you can (printed as well as web sites), you begin having an intuitive feel for the car. Get dirty and if possible look under the car. A PPI cannot predict when something catastropic blows. It can tell you that your clutch is ready to go - but then again, if youve done your homework, you will feel it as well.

I have had a great time with my car over the last 12 months. I took it to a POC track event - learned how capable these cars really are. Maybe I was lucky with mine, but due to the circumstances, I jumped in and never looked back.

One advantage to having a high mileage, non-existent record (before me) car is that I dont need to keep the tradition of getting dealer stamps for oil changes and brake jobs. I can complete DIY projects without tainting the cars history. I have invested several hundered dollars in mine doing mechanical and cosmetic improvments but I anticipated this when I got started.

With all this said, buying the "wrong" porsche could be a big time mistake! I suppose that a car with a tired engine, could cost you big time! All of a sudden, the pristine garage queen that is 10k more was cheaper in the long run...

The cars lack of history may hurt me in resale. But Im trying to keep all my receipts and excellent records to help offset this. On second thought, resale is not important - Ive grown attached to this car. A big salary adjustment or great deal on an upgrade is the only thing that will separate me from my porsche!

 

FYI, I did a carfax on a car that I KNEW the history of and the # of owners was not correct. It was higher than it should have been and I don't know if that was an isolated example OR if it was due to something like paying off a loan on the car (might count as multiple owners on carfax) or some other similar situation.

 

A PPI is cheap insurance if the car is local, but, IMHO, a necessity if you're executing a long distance transaction. Although I've owned my car for over three years and have been a Rennlister since 2002, I am by no means an expert on the innards of this car. And when I bought my car, I had been on the 993 board for all of two months. Heaven help me if I did my own PPI. When making a $35,000 purchase, $300 or so for a PPI is cost effective peace of mind.

 

No . . . not necessarily. I'd be more concerned with a quality PPI than the number of owners. Sometimes people just have money to burn . . and end up turning the car over quick because they really had no clue what they wanted/needed in the first place.

Scott

 

Not necessarily but I'd be very careful if I'm about to marry a woman who had 4 husbands in 8 years!

 

The # of owners on carfax are not always correct. If an owner changes his address, it will register on carfax as a new owner.