[.ca] Illustrated Porsche Buyer's Guide (ISBN 0760302278)

Not useful as a Buyer's Guide. Save your time and money.:
I found this book worthless in helping me select a used Porsche.

book needs to included updated information!:
Book was very dissapointing. The author originally wrote the book a long time ago and claims to have updated information, but it is scare. If you want a Porsche from before 1985 the book is fine otherwise forget it.

Very little substance... and looks dated.:
I was looking to buy a Porsche and was searching for a book that would get down to the 'nitty gritties' of each model, but alas it really just gives a basic overview of each model. It does not feature potential problems of certain years which a reader would be looking for.I found more about models info surfing the net.The black and white pics in this modern age of colour also make it look dated. It also took too long for the book to arrive (8 weeks), by the time it arrived, I had already bought and driven one for a month. So if you're going to order a book over the web to assist you in a purchase and live outside the US order early and order wisely.

Good overview, if that's what you want:
This book provides good, general information about the Porsche line of cars from the first 356 up to the '97 Boxster. Information is generally more detailed about the earlier cars (pre '80) and then the author(s) seem to run out of steam, adding only brief paragraphs to describe modifications during the more recent years. This is perhaps understandable, as all Porsche cars are evolutionary, with small changes being made over the years. The book will be useful if you are just starting to think about buying a used Porsche, and aren't even sure which model interests you. If you have already narrowed your search to a particular model, then there are other sources of information. For example, there is a great webpage of the evolution of the 911 which contains most of the information contained in this book on model changes. The Early 911 FAQ website also has a lot of detail on individual model year changes, plus some performance information and a great section on the possible trouble spots. This book will not provide enough information for the final selection of a good used Porsche. It warns of the most obvious troublesome Porsches (ie. 2.7L 911s) but lacks the details for some other common problems that are smaller, but potentially very expensive if overlooked. Consider the book a good primer, but definitely look elsewhere for detailed pre-purchase advice.

Fine as overview, NOT a buyer's guide:
This is book is not at all sufficient as a buyer's guide, but it would serve as a great first book if you want a Porsche model overview and are not sure you want to buy other porsche books. I use it all the time just to read up on different models. But the information is VERY basic. Another negative - all photos are black and white - color photos would very much improve this book. But there are very adequate histories of many models, so this book serves as a decent, quick overview. These comments refer to the fourth edition.