996 servicing - confused!

[Gareth135R]

Very quickly...I'm confused by 996 servicing.
This car states FPSH but the book is missing its yearly stamps (5 years).
I've just turned down another 996 with similiar status of history so beginning to wonder if I'm wrong.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

Can anyone advise?

[Magic919]

If it's 2004MY you can service every 2 years for low miles cars. Not 5 years though!

[6C4GTS]

Sounds fishy!
Should have had at least annual inspection every 12 months with stamp in the book.
Can you post the dates and mileages of what you think had been done.
I was shocked at the lack of maintenance on some cars I thought sounded good, FPSH in ad, even at the bigger indies, only to find there was up to 48 months between oil changes!!

Edited by 6C4GTS on Tuesday 26th March 16:50

[6C4GTS]

If its a MY04 car the VIN will have a 4 at digit 10 rather than a 2.

[6C4GTS]

Gareth135R said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

If that is all the service history - the 4 stamps in the picture - then run away!
That beats my worst history seen during my search of 48 months between services!
Its a buyers market so there is no need to buy a car with a girly box and ruffled "soft touch leather".
Also no PSE - maybe why it has sat in somebody's garage unused for half a decade??
I remember a low mileage black 4S that was for sale a while ago that had been sitting for years during a legal battle over an insurance claim - could it be this one?

Anyway - a "future classic" is not a good buy if its past is tainted.

[thegoose]

Given that Porsche themselves changed to 2 year/20,000 mile service intervals without changing anything about the car I wouldn't pass on a good car just because there was a gap of more than a year, provided the mileage can be verified with MOT's etc. You're driving the car not the book and provided it's not been doing say 30,000 on its oil then don't get too hung up on it.

More services may be more desirable but if a car's done say 10,000 miles over the course of 3 years and then been properly serviced by someone that knows them, then provided the car itself is all good and priced OK (a little lower than if it had more frequent service visits for example) I wouldn't make it a barrier to purchase.

[Terminator X]

6C4GTS said:

Sounds fishy!
Should have had at least annual inspection every 12 months with stamp in the book.
Can you post the dates and mileages of what you think had been done.
I was shocked at the lack of maintenance on some cars I thought sounded good, FPSH in ad, even at the bigger indies, only to find there was up to 48 months between oil changes!!

Edited by 6C4GTS on Tuesday 26th March 16:50

I get my oil changed every year of course albeit I've just checked and I've only done c2k miles since the last annual service would you still have the proverbial bee in the bonnet if oil changes weren't done every year on the basis of ultra low annual mileage? The OP's car appears similar is all.

TX.

[6C4GTS]

Terminator X said:

I get my oil changed every year of course albeit I've just checked and I've only done c2k miles since the last annual service would you still have the proverbial bee in the bonnet if oil changes weren't done every year on the basis of ultra low annual mileage? The OP's car appears similar is all.

TX.

I have no issue with low mileage cars but if you ran your car for 2K miles each year and changed the oil every five years - as is the case between 23 March 2006 and 14 July 2011 with the car posted by the OP I would be of the opinion that you were neglectfull and I would not buy your car nor recommend anyone on here to do so.

My annoyance during my search for my car was when a car - like the linked car - was advertised as FPSH - which I interpretted as having been serviced in accordance with the manufacturers advice - whereas what it actually meant was that the few services that had been done were in the history. This to me was a significant difference and made me discount a surprising number of cars.

For what it is worth I do less than 5k a year in mine and waste money (as TX has said he does) by having it serviced annually alternating between minor service and major service - now called intermidiate maintenance and maintenance - see below.



Bottom line is.. if it were my money I would wait for a car with more evidence of an enthusiast level of care especially at top money.

[Angelus]

First 2 pictures aren't even the actual car. OPC library pictures.

[Dave Thornton]

There are 3 questions which need to be answered:
1. Where are all the MoTs since 2006 which back up the low mileage?
2. When was the last owner change?
3. What can Glasgow Porsche say about the car?

[C8LNJ]

Similar nicer car here with a fuller history file - http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

[smj996c]

Gareth135R said:

Very quickly...I'm confused by 996 servicing.
This car states FPSH but the book is missing its yearly stamps (5 years).
I've just turned down another 996 with similiar status of history so beginning to wonder if I'm wrong.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

Can anyone advise?

Have you seen the book itself or just the photo? often the service stamps are across 2 pages, and maybe they have only taken a photo of one page.?

[mollytherocker]

Dave Thornton said:

There are 3 questions which need to be answered:
1. Where are all the MoTs since 2006 which back up the low mileage?
2. When was the last owner change?
3. What can Glasgow Porsche say about the car?

Question 1 is the key one. If there are no records to back up the mileage during those 5 years, that car could have any mileage on it.

[Terminator X]

You can view mot's on-line now + a new mot shows the last 5 or so years worth of mileage ie new electronic ones.

TX.