Full service history

[Dave Wilkinson]

Fernando, I guess the obvious answer would be that any propective purchaser would favour the car with the full service history and that would probably justify a price premium of some sort, but a full service history doesn't really tell the whole story does it?? You say that both cars are in the same condition - I'm assuming this is a theoretical two cars - so it's likely that issues such as colour etc. don't come into it. Stamps in the service book are not really proof of very much other than someone had a rubber stamp. Some accompanying invoices to prove what was done and when might be more persuasive. In my view, all that the service history (with invoices) gives you is a slightly warm feeling that previous owners have looked after the car as intended. All may equally apply to the other car but it may have been serviced by the owner himself or at an indie who hasn't stamped the book The condition now has got to be a better indication of the care and attention that has been given to the car and I don't think the existance of a full service history is reason enough to avoid a decent PPI - and THAT will give you a better indication of the state of either car. At the moment 964 prices seem to be all over the place - ranging from under £8,000 to more than £20,000 - so a decent history will make some difference, but hardly enough to matter. There are only three things that matter when buying a 964 - Condition, condition and, lastly, condition!!! Regards Dave

 

[fgasca]

Good morning to everyone,

Think of two 964, same year, same condition, everything simmilar. The only difference being one of them has a full original Porsche book service fully updated for the last 18 years, and the other has just the receipts for the last 6 years.

How much do you guess should be the difference in price amongst them? I mean how much is worth a original 964 book service?

Regards,

Fernando

 

[Mark Elder]

Nothing against OPCs, but if the invoices are from an indie, rather than an OPC, I might well favour the one with the invoices - (depends on what the invoices say). OPCs are very well set up to look after the very modern cars. But my experience of my 993 has been that they don't all have the experience of the older cars to be able to treat them well. Like Dave says, it's all down to "condition" and a PPI is best way to discover the fine details on that.

 

[Steve Brookes]

Another vote to buy condition. A good recent history is very important so that sounds good. However a lost service book severely affects the provenance of the car. You're finding it difficult to make you mind up about this car and so will others if you later sell it on.

 

[roygarth]

I agree PPI is the most important thing. If both cars had similar PPI results I'd pay a few % more for the FSH motor. I reckon that in some ways as cars get older the service history can become less important. My 1968 Fiat had no history but I had it PPI'd by a marque expert so I knew what was what.

 

[fgasca]

Thank you everyone for your answers. By PPI you mean a professional inspector, don't you? Regards

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

ORIGINAL: fgasca By PPI you mean a professional inspector, don't you? Regards

Correct. Pre Purchase Inspection. Preferably done by someone who knows the model intimately in order to evaluate the state of the known issues of a 964. Usual cost in the region of £250 - £300 depending on who you get to do it. Regards Dave

 

[roygarth]

By way of warning. A friend recently bought a 1989 3.2 Carrera from a well known central London Porsche dealer. He asked my advice about it. I said all I know is you must get a PPI. Dealer persuaded him not to. 6 months down the line at first service he has been told he needs top end rebuild (consuming 2 litres oil per 500 miles!!) and has just had £2k bill for new exhaust etc. And there's loads of other niggly stuff which is expensive on these cars.

 

[fgasca]

And which ones do you recomend in the London area? And to caary out the inpsection do they need to take the car to some place? I don´t imagine doing that in the middle of the street, in case the car is not garaged. Regards, Fernando

 

[polar964]

If the seller has any issue regarding you having the car undergo a PPI, just walk away. If the seller is up front and has nothing to hide, and your sure it's the car you're after then have a PPI. Better the loss of £250 than a car that will end up costing you K's. Not all sellers will have the facilities to allow for an inspection, like private sellers for example, in which case the car will have to be taken to the independant inspectors facility. The seller i bought mine from took the car to an indi of my choice, fortunately it wasn't to far away.

 

[roygarth]

ORIGINAL: fgasca And which ones do you recomend in the London area? And to caary out the inpsection do they need to take the car to some place? I don´t imagine doing that in the middle of the street, in case the car is not garaged. Regards, Fernando

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