Sopko

Hey everyone,

I'd like to get another set of eyes to comment on a Carfax I ran on a local car I'm considering. Do you see any Red Flags? Obviously the Failed Emissions is a concern and the number of Auctions is curious. What does "dealer vehicle" or "fleet vehicle" mean? I know a PPI is necessary, but just wanted to get a feel if it is even worth it. Thanks in advance for your help/advice.

1996 993 Targa - current mileage is 69k.


Date: Mileage: Source: Comments:

12/23/1998 13,008 Service Facility Vehicle serviced

10/22/1999 North Carolina
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Clayton, NC
Title #774161982881027 Registration issued or renewed

11/22/1999 27,238 Service Facility Vehicle serviced

09/29/2000 39,349 Service Facility Vehicle serviced

10/10/2000 North Carolina
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Clayton, NC
Title #774161982881027 Registration issued or renewed

11/17/2000 39,735 Service Facility Vehicle serviced

12/07/2000 North Carolina
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Clayton, NC
Title #777222003423115 Registration issued or renewed

01/05/2001 40,812 Maryland
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Gaithersburg, MD
Title #30240722 Title or registration issued

12/09/2002 48,829 New Hampshire
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Londonderry, NH
Title #09245381 Vehicle purchase reported

01/28/2003 New Hampshire
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Londonderry, NH
Title #09245381 Title issued or updated
New owner reported
Vehicle color noted as Black

03/14/2003 50,694 Service Facility Vehicle serviced

04/08/2004 58,559 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Pennsylvania
Listed as a dealer vehicle

11/10/2005 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in New England Region
Listed as a fleet vehicle

12/08/2005 58,916 Dealer Inventory
Bridgewater, MA Vehicle offered for sale

12/15/2005 58,931 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Pennsylvania
Listed as a dealer vehicle

12/28/2005 58,939 Dealer Inventory Vehicle offered for sale

12/28/2005 Dealer Inventory Vehicle sold

01/16/2006 59,055 California
Inspection Station Failed emissions inspection

01/18/2006 Dealer Inventory Vehicle sold

01/25/2006 59,193 California
Inspection Station
Northridge, CA Failed emissions inspection

01/25/2006 California
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Studio City, CA Title issued or updated
New owner reported

04/05/2006 60,500 Online Listing Vehicle offered for sale

05/27/2006 60,770 California
Motor Vehicle Dept.
San Francisco, CA Title issued or updated
New owner reported

06/13/2006 61,442 California
Inspection Station Passed emissions inspection

07/01/2006 California
Motor Vehicle Dept.
San Francisco, CA Title issued or updated
Registration updated when owner moved
the vehicle to a new location

11/19/2007 66,615 California
Inspection Station Passed emissions inspection

06/18/2009 New Mexico
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Santa Fe, NM Vehicle purchase reported

06/18/2009 69,033 New Mexico
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Santa Fe, NM
Title #09169701A302283 Title issued or updated
New owner reported
Vehicle color noted as Black

07/10/2009 Porsche Cars North America No recalls open for repair

tropheus

Failed emission wouldn't concern me too much. If you just disconnect the battery then you lose all data in memory and you will fail emission due to no data recorded. Happened several times to me.

Jack

mlk118s

I look at these on a daily basis and see nothing alarming at all. Carfax can be very confusing at times but this one looks just fine. Your areas of concern about "fleet" vehicle are nothing to worry about, as it can mean a number of things, ie: Lease return, a particular dealer or group of dealers or finance companies or whatever were selling a number of vehicles at the auction that day, etc. The way they word things can at times be alarming, but all you really need be concerned with is the car passing whatever inspection you deem necassary. If the car passes that, I think your in good shape.

mlk118s

"Dealer vehicle" just means a dealer had the car on offer or in their inventory, usually the only way Carfax gets that info is if the dealer who purchased the car at the auction uses Autotrader.com or Cars.com the VIN is picked up and info recorded. Again, nothing to worry about.

Sopko

Thanks for the quick replies - I feel a bit better now. Since I'm new to the 993 and especially the Targa version - any specific things I need to have the shop look at during the PPI? Car has just under 70k on the odometer. Thanks again everyone!

kjr914

Just make sure you pick a shop that already KNOWS what to look for. You can make requests and will find a ton of info here in searching the archives, but a good independent who knows and ONLY services Porsche is what you want.

Sopko

Sounds good. There are a couple of Independent Porsche shops here in Albuquerque I've used in the past. I'll give each a call to see who has more experience on the 993 Targa or 993 in general. Thanks, Derek

richardew

No substitute for the PPI. Besides the owenership history, a clean carfax doesn't mean much. My car will show up as a clean one owner car but has had a major collision repair in 2001.

Bola964

Sopko,
Ask the shop to pay CAREFUL ATTENTION to the Targa top, and the way it operates.
Also, ask them to pour water on top with the roof closed for leaks. They can be hard and expensive to fix.....
But they are awesome cars to drive!
GL with the purchase.

mlk118s

+1 about the actual real value to a CarFax. Just for example, last year we sold a 1-fanitical owner 2001 Cadillac Eldorado with 28,000 miles on it. It was from a longtime family friend that is more **** then ANY Porsche guy I have met. That should speak volumes to many of us on here as we know just how picky we tend to be. Anyhow, the car was Black on Black just FLAWLESS which is a word I will never use when advertising or showing any vehicle, but the car was better then showroom fresh. In '02 during a windy nasty Midwestern storm a nice size tree branch just dented it on the rear quarter panel, minimal damage; many people wouldn’t have even noticed it. I have seen the picas of it. The PDR guy (paint less dent removal) fixed it as new. When the damage happened the owner figured he never had an Insurance claim ever so why not make them pay for it. Never thinks of it again. Once the car is in our possession, its now 2008 a full 6 years after this event and we didn't pre CarFax it as it was a family friend. When we stocked the car in, guess what? Lovely CarFax considered it "Moderate to Severe" body or collision damage. I don’t remember which but something that would make me run like hell. The computer screen is now flashing with all kinds of warnings etc... USE CAUTION WITH THIS VEHICLE! ! ! When the prior owner learned about it he actually cried as he felt he had deceived us, as friends then gave us the pics he took, using a ruler and everything with all the documentation. We ended up selling it to a man about 400 miles away who saw it on the internet with a full understanding that we had damage pics and all, the guy was cool about it. Once he was home his mechanic agreed it was A+. Anyone that knows anything about cars could see a mile away it was a gem of which you just almost never see. If said Eldorado (unique buyer for a unique car) was a Toyota or Honda or Acura, It would be sale proof I think. (Typically their owners mostly are "in the box" thinkers, often only ruled by; A: Your lowest advertised price. B: Consumer Reports- they know cars you know and finally....of course CarFax...gotta see that...all my friends say its a must have and of course has to be perfect. Luckally most of our vehicles have clean CarFaxes which we happily provide, we ALWAYS make people sign their CarFax freshly printed that day upon delivery which is another entirely too long story, but is well founded. An enthusiast that uses their head will always get the better car at the better price. I see new car dealers at the auction all the time buying late model stuff that looks like it was hit by a train. People think that since “Jim Schmucks Honda” is selling it, they are automatically safe. My point after a bit of rambling is that WAY too many people put WAY WAY WAY too much faith in CarFax without using common sense. Cars are vehicles that we use to get places so things happen. A new bumper cover does NOT mean "This car is a wreck" as so many people love to point out after WE point it out to them. I have always felt that if I know good, bad or otherwise the end user is due that respect, 99% appreciate it, the rest just look at your weirdly, like why would you say that? Just a little of my daily life for you. If a car runs and drives well and is safe and gives you pleasure just do it. Life is too short.

Cincy_Ron

Man, I thought about breaking this up into paragraphs for you, but got about half way through and gave up...

sullivanstravels

Aloha! I am looking at an '87 Targa and the Carfax makes me curious. It seems to have a registered or titled event twice a year, a few months apart, every year.

It has incredibly low mileage and looks pretty cherry...but I can't figure out why it would need to be re-registered every few months...

Any thoughts? See below:

01/25/1991 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Kailua, HI
Title #CJF95787 Title or registration issued

02/12/1993 22,000 Massachusetts
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Title #AJ286782 Title or registration issued

08/14/1997 27,222 Georgia
Inspection Station
Tucker, GA Passed emissions inspection

01/29/1999 29,914 Service Facility Vehicle serviced

01/30/1999 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/21/1999 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

08/21/2000 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/12/2000 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

02/08/2002 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

04/12/2002 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

01/16/2003 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued
Registration updated when owner moved
the vehicle to a new location

04/05/2003 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/09/2003 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

02/27/2004 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

06/04/2004 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/29/2004 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

08/26/2005 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/07/2005 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

08/22/2006 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

10/14/2006 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/07/2006 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

12/31/2007 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

09/26/2008 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

11/28/2008 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

02/04/2009 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

11/24/2009 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

03/04/2010 Hawaii
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Honolulu, HI
Title #GXJ43799 Title or registration issued

07/11/2010 Porsche Cars North America