997.2 C4S with no maintenance history

[Greenace]

Evening all.

Currently on the lookout for my next Porsche. Viewed a 2009 997.2 C4S, 63k miles, £42k yesterday. It’s well spec’d and in good cosmetic condition. The dealer (not Porsche) sent me pics of the service history prior to my visit and everything’s in order. It’s just had a major at OPC Wolverhampton and I didn’t spot any horrors when poking about.

But (as it’s a C4S it’s a big but) I was surprised to be told there are no invoices for it. The dealer has no record of any non-scheduled maintenance for this car. That’s not to say it hasn’t had any - it clearly has. There’s just no paperwork to show for it.

All of which leaves me to ask: what would you do?

Walk away? Based on face value, negotiate as big a discount as you can and take a punt? Get an inspection, see what’s what and go from there? Get the dealer to do some detective work?

Or something else I haven’t thought of?

 

[Rodney Naghar]

So he’s sent you pictures of the service book all stamped up correctly? Just no invoices to show for it? Not surprised. Most OPCs will throw away all invoices when they sell cars so for a non OPC to have done the same or not received any is, IMO, not a deal breaker.

I often found the same with cars I’ve bought. I called every garage that serviced the car and asked for the invoices. Some said no (due to GDPR) but most were ok with it. You can build up a new file for it.

Get an inspection done regardless.

 

[Greenace]

Thanks Rodney. I’ve filled in gaps by calling dealers before and, like you say, had mixed results. It missed one service in 2023 but other than that it’s spot on.

I’ve not come across a car with zero supporting paperwork before, though. Not even an old MOT or invoice for tyres. A good healthy maintenance file is always a good thing IMO. Maybe I’m just being over cautious…

 

[Motorhead]

As Rodney has indicated data protection regulation means that any invoices will be withheld by dealers involved with sales, so really it’s not surprising that there’s no paperwork with the car, but if the service book is up to date I can’t see there being a problem, and if you have the registration number of the vehicle you can check the full MOT history online which will indicate any failures and advisories.

A PPI is always a good idea and a wise investment, especially when purchasing from a non-Porsche dealer. If there are any issues you will be able to negotiate a better price … and recoup some of the PPI outlay!

Jeff

 

[BigAlChesham]

Hi Greenacre,
I'd walk away for sure. I'm about to sell my 2008 997.1 C2S which has been owned by me from new, has always been garaged and which has done less than 30,000 miles and I'm selling it with a boxful of receipts including MOT certs etc. There's plenty of better cars around than the one you're describing with FSH and proper receipts !

 

[Rodney Naghar]

When I sold my 996 GT3 to a dealer, I sold it with a folder full of receipts including a recent expensive full geo and corner weight and suspension rebuild.

I got in touch with the new owner years later and asked him why he was selling the car, he said he didn’t the way it drove coming out of a Lotus and thought it needed a full suspension rebuild and geo.

I asked him if he looked in the full file of invoices he would have gotten with the car. He said he never bothered. In it was receipts for a full rebuild and geo and that’s the way we’ll set up GT3s run.

He decided to keep the car now knowing it’s meant to drive that way.

Some people don’t care about invoices just stamps in a book

 

[Greenace]

Thanks chaps. I guess if a PPI doesn’t turn up anything of concern and the dealer takes care of anything that does comes up, it shouldn’t be too much to worry about. I’m just the kind of buyer that likes to see the receipts and I’m conscious questions might be asked when I come to sell.

 

[BrianJ]

Last time I part-exchanged a car to a franchised dealer they actually refused to take any of the invoices for servicing, repairs, tyres etc because of GDPR. Said they couldn't do anything with them. So not surprised there aren't any.

 

[Motorhead]

Just to add that if the service book indicates that either Porsche dealers or reputable Porsche Independents carried out servicing at the recommended intervals that should give you confidence that the car has been well cared for, and a decent PPI should back-up that observation.

Jeff

 

[BigAlChesham]

Thanks chaps. I guess if a PPI doesn’t turn up anything of concern and the dealer takes care of anything that does comes up, it shouldn’t be too much to worry about. I’m just the kind of buyer that likes to see the receipts and I’m conscious questions might be asked when I come to sell.

One further point - why do you particularly want a C4S? In normal everyday driving, as the C2S has Porsche ASM, it provides all the grip you're ever likely to require - unless of course you'll be doing track days and driving it to its absolute limit.

 

[geedee]

Unless you decide to drive it in poor road conditions.....?

 

[BigAlChesham]

I’ve driven my C2S in snow and ice without any problems whatsoever and you can’t get poorer road conditions than that. I didn’t deliberately set off in those conditions. I was up north and encountered them unexpectedly up in the hills one morning.

 

[geedee]

No argument from me Big Al, and congrats re your all weather Porsche driving.
Even I admit to driving my then 77 911 back in the 80`s in the snow and obviously without the advantage of FWD.... lots of fun to be had in such situations, but chances are that on average, FWD can get you into or out of places where 2WD might just fail...?
Just thinking in type.. (-:

 

[malarcy]

i have had missing "work orders" replaced by OPC for services - i simply asked them to redact name/address/payment details - on one occasion they redacted the costs as well - but was able to complete the history.

 

[StuartH1]

I bought my 997 C2S with nothing, the lady that owned it had lost everything and I crawled all over the car and was satisfied that it was a good one, so I bought it and I've had a few years of trouble free motoring. In fact other than a door catch breaking (a common issue) that I replaced myself, I've had no issues significant that spring to mind.

I'm sure this is going to be controversial but you could have a 10" thick file of invoices and it's helpful but it just means it's had services and perhaps some things fixed when they broke, it's certainly no guarantee of the future. My 996 has a file of paperwork that would fill a library, but the big ends went within a year.

Edited.

 

[Red997C2Sport]

This is increasing problem of dealers simply discarding the paperwork, or the auction house where the car came from are discarding paperwork. It's a lot of work to redact paperwork so dealers/auction houses are taking the simplest route.

 

[Peter_Bull]

I recently bought a Macan S from a OPC and there was no file of invoices, but the maintenance booked was fully stamped up. I had no problems buying it - especially as it has a two year Porsche warranty.

I traded my Cayenne and they were not interested in the file of receipts I had. I have kept them to pass on to the new owner should they contact me.