diginoise

Im looking to replace my totaled 997.1 with 997.2 and reserved a silver with terracotta interior 09 car with 50k miles on carmax
car fax is clean and will take it for a PPI as well but my red flags are
1. the car already has 5 owners
2. the car originated in MD in 2009 before transferring to CA in 2012
if you heard anything about this car specifically or if you have any suggestions about carmax in general much appreciated

nicely loaded too with heated steering wheel much needed in LA
BASE 911 Carrera S
250 7-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
342 Heated Seats
345 Heated Steering Wheel
419 19" Carrera S II Wheel
446 Wheel Caps with Colored Crest
541 Seat ventilation
603 Dynamic Cornering Lights
619 Bluetooth Interface for Mobile Phone
640 Sport Chrono Package Plus
672 Navigation Module for PCM
680 BOSE High End Sound Package
686 XM Radio
810 Floor Mats in Interior Color
845 3-Spoke Multifunction Steering Wheel in Carbon for PDK
870 Universal Audio Interface
970 Two-tone leather interior
BP Black/Terracotta Interior
P15 Power Comfort Seats with Driver Memory
X1 Arctic Silver Metallic
XSC Porsche Crest in Headrests

Balr14

Generally, I find Carmax is OK to deal with. They honor their return policy and their warranty is a good value. I and several family members, have purchased cars from them and they were as represented with no issues. That being said, the 5 owners would concern me, too. I would be curious about the migration from east to west coast, but it has little significance. I would like to see the CarFax or Autocheck history.

jeffleept

5 owners with 50k miles on the clock? Sounds like a hot potato.

Fined

It may help to calm your nerves if you analyze the 5 owners. I've seen, often, that as the car changes hands from one dealership to another sometimes 1 owner is added to the count. The Carfax often sheds light on this.

I'm not sure I'd pass on a 997.2 with 5 owners. If its the right car otherwise, PPI checks out, and you'd love to own it I'm not sure why you'd let the number of owners scare you away. If it was a 2016 with 5 actual owners that'd be a different thing. But if the car is, for example, a 2009.. its been 10 years and thats 1 owner every 2 years. That isn't scary.

diginoise

It does look like it was from a lease but not sure if it's as bad as a rental here is the auto check

Balr14

Since it was a lease, then sold as a CPO, if there were any problems they would have been handled by a Porsche dealer. That would have shown under dealer service, at least into 2015. There was nothing unexpected or unusual. Something could have become a problem in the last 3 years, but that would be very uncommon. Lemons usually manifest problems a lot sooner. Plus, Carmax does have the 30 day warranty. You could pay for a CarFax. That might provide more insight. I'm guessing it was pretty gently used for at least the first 6 years.

o'bluetouring

You may want to check into CarFax if you haven't yet. I was looking at a 997.2 a few weeks ago at CarMax (reserved and saw it in person). The AutoCheck record is clean, but CarFax actually shows a damage report. Oh and another thing is the key; the one we saw only came with 1 key and it wasn't original Porsche key. It was a copy with no remote functions.

voiceprint1

Go for it, CARMAX offers a pretty comprehensive warranty if your worried. As far as the multiple ownership, it is not uncommon at all, many of the cars I looked at had 3-4 owners, if that is a dealbreaker I suggest you join PCA and look into the classifieds, but expect to pay a premium for a 1 owner car.

ThomasCarreraGTS

Greenchunks

I'm the 5th owner of my car, but like others have said it's not bad when you see the story.
Owner 1: New 2009-13, 40k miles
Owner 2: CPO for 2 year 2013-15 56K miles
Owner 3: Older woman who liked the car, but found it too harsh so never drove it, did <6k miles in 2.5 years 62k miles 2015-2018
Owner 4: Air Force Pilot who drove it nonstop for about 6 months and then sold because he was buying a house 77k miles 2018.

So of the owners, there's really only one that's of worry (the last one) and that was the buyer so I got to meet him in person. The car was in fantastic shape with all maintenance records and checked out great from the PPI. It was trailered from Washington DC to Seattle, so cross country trips aren't that uncommon.

okbarnett

you need alot more history than that autocheck, get carfax, then go to porsche and get complete cpo inspection, and have them look at the warranty service history. If they will tell you previous dealers, call them and ask questions
I would do all that before i considered the car

Kg11

My buddy got a great deal on a cherry 991.2 C2S at Carmax. They often have some lemons as well.

I would look into it further. Have them do a comprehensive walk-around before you pay to transfer it to your local dealer. Buy the car, get a PPI straight away, and if it doesn't check out, get a refund! If it is the car you want, and you can also take advantage of their awesome extended warranty, then go for it!

diginoise

Great points everyone thank you so much I just got the Carfax it's clean will go get it as soon as it's clears up it's about an hour an half away from me.
​​​will look up recommend ppi in Los Angeles right afterwards
this car checked all the boxes only thing is I was so in love with the black on black and it's terracotta red 😂

F308gt4

I got my 997.2 Targa from Carmax over 3 years ago (had 13k on the clock, now have a little over 40k). Was using it as a daily driver until recently, with no issues. They do not allow you to get a ppi, but you can return no questions asked within 5 days. So, buy the car, then bring to to someone to inspect ASAP. If all checks out, you are good to go. If not, return the car.

sandwedge

I've asked this before and so far never got a reply. Why does the number of owners matter as long as the PPI checks out, maintenance records are available showing what should have been done was done timely and the car looks like it's been well cared for? I've seen one owner cars that I wouldn't even bother sitting in due to obvious neglect if not downright abuse.

In other words, isn't the overall condition of the car and the maintenance records available more important than how many people owned the car? And as others have pointed out, the number of owners needs to be examined if it's a concern. Sometimes cars go from one dealership to another for who knows what reason. And at other times, someone buys a car they soon realize is not what they really want and trade it for something different. Why is that a concern and why should that diminish the value of the car?

I really don't get this hysteria about number of owners. Just my opinion but I think there are a lot off better indicators of a car's condition than fixating on the number of previous owners and perhaps passing on a really nice example because of the number of previous owners.