broncos17

Found a 2006 C4s Cab with 3000 miles, 1 owner carfax for $64k. Dealer has no maintenance records available. In my search I haven't found an 06 P-car with miles this low, most are 15k+

Interested in comments/concerns with an 06 with so few miles. I'd do a full PPI of course. Thanks

Macster

My info is Porsche considers the normal range of miles covered per year between 6K and 9K miles. The lower range for garage queens while daily drivers make up the higher range.

'course, these are averages. In your case, well, the case of this Cab it would bring the numbers down. There cars on the other end of the spectrum that have accumulated way more than 9K miles per year.

If the average speed -- obtained by having the engine operating time read (this is read along with the overrev counters) and dividing the number of operating hours into the miles -- is around 30mph then the car just has low miles. Many Porsches are 2nd and even 3rd cars, Cabs especially since they are at their best in fair weather, and as a result they tend to rack up low miles.

If the average speed is very low... this might be an indication of odometer tampering.

To help alleviate this concern one can rely upon servicing paperwork which will give the date/time and type of service but also give the miles. Thus one can see by reading the receipts/invoices the miles accumulated at a rate that explains the low miles.

If servicing records are not available...

Now the dealer might not have any servicing records because the car was not serviced at this dealer. Dealer servicing departments are not interconnected so no way Dealer X and search Dealer Y's service records.

What you can do is call PCNA customer service and find out to which dealer the car was initially sold. You can call this dealer's service department and ask if it has any servicing records. You want to stick with the car here and not ask about the previous owner. While some dealers are ok with this, some are not. You are buying the car not the previous owner so focus on the car's servicing. What was done, and when, and at what miles.

With a CarFax report you can likely learn where, in what area or areas, the car spent some time. Call dealers in those areas and with the car's VIN see if any dealers can call up any servicing records.

You want to try to verify the low miles are real low miles that they are *not* made that way by odometer tampering.

Even if you find the miles are real -- and chances are they are -- the car is still a new car and subject to the ills that can befall a new car. The difference is in this case the car while 'new' (in the sense of its low low miles) the warranty has expired and absent a CPO warranty you will have to cover the cost of any problems that crop up.

To alleviate the risk of a low miles car and the new car ills it might manifest you want to buy the car at a discount. IOWs, the low miles instead of being a plus are a negative.

Trouble is the seller believes the low miles is a plus and will price the car accordingly and reluctantly, if at all, knock anything off the price.

Of course you should arrange to have the car PPI'd. But only after you have spent some time riding in the car, driving the car, to make sure it at least runs ok, has nothing obviously wrong with it.

Sincerely,

Macster.

broncos17

Thx Macster for all the advice. One of my other options is a better equipped 2007 C4s cab with 25k miles with full service records and the major 4 year service just completed. Might be a safer bet but I'll be sure to check out both. Thanks again

USMC_DS1

+1... the '07 would be the safer option. The low mileage '06 likely sat around at some point... the RMS seals are known to leak on inactive cars. My '08 was traded in at the p-dealer with 45K miles then it sat for 4+ months before I purchased it. P-dealer CPO'd the car and insisted that it was pristine. My PPI caught the RMS leak which was replaced prior to delivery.

broncos17

I'm going to try for the '07. PPI tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes

Edgy01

One of the problems with these cars is not getting adequate miles. They were engineered to be driven, as that keeps the seals intact and the engine bearings lubricated. When lubricants are allowed to congeal they can't be expected to perform adequately when the key is turned.

As Macster suggests, the below normal (like this--way below normal) miles on a car become a red light for me. It suggests that the car never really was broken in satisfactorily and that much of the 'infant mortality' issues that exist in anything electrical and mechanical never had an opportunity to play themselves out. Now you become the guy who gets to underwrite all repairs, even if the factory installed something wrong, or a sub-contractor screwed something up during their assembly.

The sure way to know if the miles are true are the old DMS test and also a look-see at the highest obvious wear areas in these cars.

(1) The driver's seat bolster
(2) The number of rock chips in the front hood
(3) Road rash on the fender extensions behind the left and rear tires.
(4) Inspect the date code on the tire. If it was an 06 car my guess is the owner never bothered to put on fresh tires just because of their age. If it is running on 06 tires then they are original and most likely the mileage you are seeing is accurate.