Service history

[mathiasd]

I have a 1998 986 that was imported to Sweden from the US that unfortunately has no service book. I tried contacting Porsche US to see if they had any records of the car but they redirected me to Porsche AG in Germany. Porsche AG says that they do not keep this kind of information.

"Thank you for your e-mail from 17 April 2009.

We kindly ask for your understanding that due to reasons of data protection Porsche AG is not able to provide you with a vehicle history. Any work conducted on your vehicle by previous owners is confidential information between the owner of the vehicle and the workshop. Furthermore, Porsche AG does not hold any information on repair conducted, which was at the owner's own expense.

We regret that we can not provide you any further assistance in your matter, but wish you enjoyable driving in the future.

Yours sincerely

Susanne Wendorf Uwe Werner

Porsche Contact

Porsche Contact - P.O. Box 104 911, D- 70043 Stuttgart

Tel.: +49 (0) 1805 356-911, Fax: +49 (0) 1805 356-912 (0,14 EUR/Min. from the German landline)

E-Mail: contact@porsche.de

Internet: www.porsche.com"

Does anyone know of an other way of getting hold of any history of the car from its time i the US? Could I try each individual workshop? Where can I find contact details in that case? Any help would be very much appreciated.

The car is a silver 986 with black leather seats and the VIN number: WP0CA2986WU624272

Thanx

/Mathias

[Loren]

Because of privacy laws here the only way you will get the car's history is if the previous owner(s) release the the information.

[Nurvus]

There is a way, but it requires a bit of luck, and is arguably a little sneaky. I was able to do it on my 1998 Boxster, kind of by accident.

First, do a Carfax.com report on the car, if you haven't already. You will learn a lot right there. Study it, and think about all the information you find there, and think of any and all questions it raises.

The carfax will tell you the dealer where the car was first purchased, and very likely a dealer where service was done.

My carfax did. I then called the service department of the dealer where my car had been serviced for most of its life. A friendly person answered. He told me that due to customer confidentiality, he could not disclose the service information. I said, of course I understand.

But then, I asked, "could you please tell me whether the car's engine was ever replaced? That is all I really need to know." He then read over all the service records and mileage for each visit, reading out loud for his own concentration and said, "nope, the engine was never replaced here!" I got pretty much the whole service history that way!

[rsfeller]

Nurvus is onto something here as I have never had a problem with any car dealer running the VIN for me on a used car I am looking at (or purchased) as long as I knew the dealer location (and of course had the VIN). A $20 has helped from time to time too! but finding the dealer is the first step...I've never been told anything about privacy laws.

Seems the consumer would have a right to know of all concerns on record for a vehicles...it's not like we are asking for the drivers credit history or health records!

[niebyl2002]

I did the carfax report before I got the car. From the report I found where the car was purchased and registered. Then I call local Porsche dealer and politely ask if he can fax me the records. Service guy just ask for my fax number and voila. I received my info starting from 0 miles.

If Porsche service won't give it to you, call next day and then next week. Try to note who did you talk to. Eventually somebody will give you those informations.

[mathiasd]

Thanx for all the input.

I did a carfax report (had not heard about this before), and found out that the cars has been serviced properly but also that it was a totaled in 2004. Too bad i did not check carfax before I bought the car... :-( It would be interesting to find out how bad the accident was. That will propably be quite hard to figure out.

Thanks,

Mathias

[Loren]

Thanx for all the input.

I did a carfax report (had not heard about this before), and found out that the cars has been serviced properly but also that it was a totaled in 2004. Too bad i did not check carfax before I bought the car... :-( It would be interesting to find out how bad the accident was. That will propably be quite hard to figure out.

Thanks,

Mathias

Check the laws in your country. In some countries you have legal recourse if someone does not disclose serious damage or defects in a vehicle.