Hello,

I am looking at a 993, but when I ran the carfax of the car, it shows "Warning!!!" and states that there was a Mechanical Limits Title.

When I go through the mileage report, it is consistent throughout without any sign of odometer rollback. The title was given when the car was registered in 36k miles. The last registration mileage shows 24K. The car is currently at 110K miles.

This is how Carfax defines:

Exceeds Mechanical Limits - A vehicle with a 5-digit odometer cannot accurately track mileage after 99,999 miles because the odometer rolls over. This title is the result of a seller certifying under the Federal Odometer Act, that the odometer reading EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS of the odometer.

I am really confused... 993s do not have a 5-digt odemeter... So what gives?? Should I be careful? Apparently, the owner is unaware of this and states that the car is clean.

 

When was the "mechanical limits" label applied to the car title?

This may have been an excuse to declare a lesser value for the vehicle for the puprposes of taxation. In other words, someone might have felt obligated to check a box off declaring mechanical limits so that they could "rightly" declare a lesser value for the vehicle so that hey would pay less tax.

Just a guess. Good luck.

 

It sounds like the Car Fax can't get its head round the fact that quality cars have an extra digit on their milometers! Why does it think that a 911 has a five digit milometer when it has six? If all it is is some simple auto message then you could probably ignore it. I would change the title to your post to ask "Did your car fax report refer to "Mechanical Loss"?".

Cheers,

David

 

If the car "EXCEDS MECHANICAL LINMITS" the title will state that as well. what does the title say?

Mike

 

Do you really need / want this question hanging over the car when you own it?

Keep looking

 

I really doubt many buyers would believe the car has over 1 Million miles on it...

 

Carfax is only an aggregator of data and they do it electronically. My Carfax report showed 43,524 miles in 6/04, the 4,602 miles in 7/04, then 48,659 miles in 8/04. Obvisously, the 4,602 was a typo - probably when reported - but triggered the flag. I'd suggest using Carfax to highlight potential issues, not as gospel. Garbage in, garbage out

 

It doesn't sound like it's anything to worry about. You might use it as a bargaining tool, though.

 

Amen...

My black 993 showed 'not actual miles' on Carfiction (carfax), as did the title when I bought it. But after looking through the receipts for service with their mileages, it was clear this is a typo. I even charted it later...

Bought the car, registered it and received a clean title a few weeks later, thankfully!

 

Thanks for the help!!

 

When selling a car in Florida the seller has to check a box on the Title that claims if this a true reading and also another box to
show if it has a 5 or 6 digit odo. Mistake was made in checking the box in a previous sale.
Chris

 

I wouldnt trust a Carfax report..........my 951 had been in an accident (which the dealer disclosed) but there was nothing on the Carfax. If the accident isnt reported and fixed by the PO on his own, Carfax will never know.

 

The seller is not aware of this and does not know what to do about this as the DMV has no clue what happened so many years ago (almost ten years ago when it was reported Exceed Mechanical Limit).

I am just worried that this will become a problem if I sell the car later in the future.

 

I am with Eric on this one. Carfax is one piece of the puzzle but the proper PPI should tell all.

 

A lot of wholesale auctions check the "in excess of mechanical limits" box on the titles as a matter of course - or pure laziness. Makes no sense to us but probably relieves them of some kind of liability.