HELP

[rash m]

Hi just been to see a 997 turbo which was ordered for the first owner from a well known independent dealer it said cyprus on the first page were it would normally say a porsche dealership cenrte, on the log book it was first registered in the uk from new also had the c16 sticker were options list is would this be a import? .

[ChrisW.]

C16 is UK spec.

I bought a Cypriot spec 996 GT3 MkII.

It was a great buy --- lovely specification, and I had no trouble selling it secondhand.

But it was sold new with delivery miles by a non OPC Porsche dealer, and serviced as normal at the local OPC with normal warranty options.

[thegoose]

The options sticker will show C98 for a Cyprus market car. Autobahn (now taken over by PCT) use to import a lot of new cars via Cyprus dealers (chances are the cars didn't actually get shipped via Cyprus) and they knew how to spec them so that they were exactly the same build spec as a UK market (C16 car), but saved money ordering them that way. This sounds like one of those kind of cars, but check the build spec with an OPC (friendly Parts dept). They should also be able to tell you the factory warranty start date (which is likely a bit before the date of first UK registration).

An incorrectly-spec'd C98 car may not have a Thatcham Cat 1 immobiliser system. An OPC can re-program it for you so that it is compliant, although they'll charge circa £250.

[rash m]

present owner did mention the first owner had ordered through Autobahn makes sense.