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Ronzi · 10-19-2005, 09:05 AM

xclusivecar wrote:
"Now I am thoroughly confused...your first post basically rips the guy up for doing his own maintenance because nobody would ever purchase a DIY maintained car and now you admit yourself that you had purchased a car without any idea of what you were doing?"

I wondered if somebody was going to nail me for that.
Was it Karl Marx that said "Consistency is the hobgoblin of the small mind"?

My position is that full maintenance records are an important factor to be considered in the purchase of a used Porsche. Not the only one, but an important one.
In the case of my car, it had a little over 26k miles on it when I bought it, not yet up to the major maintenance interval of 30k, so it had as yet not potentially missed a major maint. At most it would have missed an oil change or two.
Not the best thing in the world, but not fatal, either.
Since the rest of the car was in extraordinary condition, I chose to ignore the lack of maint. records, and buy the car anyway.
Another point to consider is that as a car becomes older and racks up the miles, regular maint. becomes, in my mind, more important. That's the reason for my little example stating that the two cars were 10 yrs old.

My initial post was more intended to point out that changing the oil, filters, and plugs at 30K does not consitute the "major maintenance" specified to be carried out at that interval, and for which a dealer charges approx. $1,000.
To be sure, the rest of the maintenance consists almost exclusively of checks and inspections. How thoroughly those checks and inspections are carried out at any particular dealer is open to question, as subsequent posts by others have pointed out. However, by stamping the maintenance book and/or invoicing a customer for a 30k maintenance, the dealer is certifying that the work has been carried out. Does that mean anything? I think it does, but others disagree. At least it means more than a seller saying "Sure, I did the 30k maintenance" when questioned about it by a prospective purchaser of his car.

10-19-2005, 09:05 AM	#40
Ronzi Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Denver CO Posts: 748	xclusivecar wrote: "Now I am thoroughly confused...your first post basically rips the guy up for doing his own maintenance because nobody would ever purchase a DIY maintained car and now you admit yourself that you had purchased a car without any idea of what you were doing?" I wondered if somebody was going to nail me for that. Was it Karl Marx that said "Consistency is the hobgoblin of the small mind"? My position is that full maintenance records are an important factor to be considered in the purchase of a used Porsche. Not the only one, but an important one. In the case of my car, it had a little over 26k miles on it when I bought it, not yet up to the major maintenance interval of 30k, so it had as yet not potentially missed a major maint. At most it would have missed an oil change or two. Not the best thing in the world, but not fatal, either. Since the rest of the car was in extraordinary condition, I chose to ignore the lack of maint. records, and buy the car anyway. Another point to consider is that as a car becomes older and racks up the miles, regular maint. becomes, in my mind, more important. That's the reason for my little example stating that the two cars were 10 yrs old. My initial post was more intended to point out that changing the oil, filters, and plugs at 30K does not consitute the "major maintenance" specified to be carried out at that interval, and for which a dealer charges approx. $1,000. To be sure, the rest of the maintenance consists almost exclusively of checks and inspections. How thoroughly those checks and inspections are carried out at any particular dealer is open to question, as subsequent posts by others have pointed out. However, by stamping the maintenance book and/or invoicing a customer for a 30k maintenance, the dealer is certifying that the work has been carried out. Does that mean anything? I think it does, but others disagree. At least it means more than a seller saying "Sure, I did the 30k maintenance" when questioned about it by a prospective purchaser of his car. Last edited by Ronzi; 10-19-2005 at 09:16 AM.