[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'm going to go against the conventional wisdom and say that maintenance records help, but wouldn't be a deal killer one way or the other.

Honestly by the time a car gets to over 100k, certainly over 150k, there's probably regular things being done to it and - really - who takes their car to a mechanic (much less a dealer mechanic) for all the little things here and there that pop up at that point?

Records are nice and make it easier to document things (and they show evidence of a caring/meticulous owner, which is a "good vibe" thing), but I'd consider them a starting point and figure there have probably been other things done along the way that don't show up in the records or stack or receipts.

I'm actually pretty meticulous about keeping accurate records of what I do on my cars, but I admit I tinker more than the average person. I rotate tires regularly, I flush/change fluids. I replace little hoses and things that look like they might be problematic. I clean the heck out of things. I upgrade bits here and there as I can. I realize this is more than most people do, but it's not out of the ordinary for "Porsche guys" either. And most probably don't necessarily keep track of every single screw they turn in a spreadsheet like I do either.

I'd say the most important thing is to give the car a once-over. A thorough one. Research and know the things to look for that can rapidly turn into high-dollar repairs - things like transmissions, clutches, obviously compression and leakdown numbers, etc. There are many resources about the common failure items on 944s and 968s (delaminating hatches, timing belt failures, water pump failures, air conditioning system failures, etc.) Check all those things or if you're not comfortable with doing it, I suppose you can always fork out the money for a formal PPI.

A couple other things that come to mind are:

- check the condition of the sheet metal on the undertray next to the jack points - a lot of cars fall off of jack stands or lifts and buckle the metal here.

- check the bottom/front of the oil pan. A lot of 3.0L (and 2.5L) engines tend to leak oil from a faulty/worn oil pump drive sleeve seal. It quite often is overlooked at belt-change time and is a cheap "while you're in there" item or a very expensive "take it to my mechanic and have him fix it" item.

- check operation of the mirrors. 968 mirrors are quite expensive.

- do NOT (ever) accept "the a/c system just needs a recharge". That's a load of crap. Insist that the seller charge it and have it working properly then. If the "a/c system needs a recharge" it means it leaks and probably has a blown compressor or evaporator (big $$$)

- check the condition of the driver's seat bolster. This is a common wear item in older/higher mileage cars and replacement seats can get mighty expensive.

- spray a hose on the rear hatch and look for water penetration around the perimeter seal under the wing. There's a gasket there that likes to dry out and can be a nuisance to fix (albeit not that expensive)

- check the ball joints and engine mounts. They can both be a PITA to replace.

- check the tie rod ends

- check power steering reservoir hoses (they leak. Always.)

- check the area under the battery (corrosion-prone)

I'm sure I can think of more. There's a decent write-up on things to check on 944s on Clark's Garage; a lot of it probably crosses over to the 968.