Has anyone had recent (e.g. this year) experience with ordering information from the PHS? Most of what I've read about them is several years old and the last info I can find here on the forum is over a year old. There are mixed reviews around the Web as to if the information they provide is sufficient and accurate.
To their credit, there is more good than bad reviews on them, but their web site doesn't instill confidence. It isn't a secure site (it's http, not https) and their ordering system is archaic. You have to print out the order form and mail it in with a check or your credit card info (not a good idea to put this in writing and mail it!), or you can fax the information to them if you give a credit car number (who even has a fax nowadays??). There is no way to order online.
The cost currently is $75 - admittedly not a huge amount - so I'm just wondering if others have had a good enough experience to justify the cost. I just purchased a 1969 GTO and am eager for more information about it.
Dude.... they are solid. It is an old timer running it and I am not sure what will happen when he dies because it seems to me like 2 man or woman or shop. I am not sure how they got all the records but they have them.
I was uneasy about it as well so i called the number and they did it all on the phone and I have used them around 10 times.
2 times I called on a friday as he was about to leave and I asked him to run one for me because a car popped up and I needed to verify it before I went out to look at it and if it happened to be real did not want someone else swooping in on it while I was waiting on the report to come in on the following Monday.
He took my info called me back in 40 min and told me to pass....
Another time similar circumstances....he called me back and told me the vin came back as a catalinia. The we realized he either wrote it down wrong or I told him the vin wrong. he corrected it and called me back with a verbal " Yes it is a real GTO" then mailed me the packet on the monday.
I am now the proud owner of a 64 convertible non tri power car that was a solid rust bucket. It has been going through a frame off nut and bolt restoration that i have sunk a ton of money into. You dont want to drop that kind of restoration money on a car that will be nice but just would never be worth what you put into it. You still have to be close on cost verses final value. This aint the federal government you know...........
Bottom line it is the only trust worth resource around and he knows his stuff. he has to search through hundreds and hundreds of micro fiche to find your punch card. Well worth it. If you talk to him on the phone you will realize he really knows his stuff as well. He just doesnt seem really modren tech savey. But he is reputable and worth every dollar you send him.
I have personally spoken with Jim Mattison, the owner at PHS, and he is a super nice guy. He is the real deal with early Pontiac data. His GM career included work in the Pontiac division, and prior to that he was in the Chevrolet Fleet & Special Order Department (now referred to as COPO).
Ditto on all the other guys who say PHS is well worth it. I have used him 3 times, once he saved my from buying a phony Judge. Some guy on craigslist in NH was trying to sell a '69 which was in pieces, he showed me pictures of it from the 1980's dressed up like a Judge. 30 years ago his brother told him it was a Judge, turned out to be a 242 gto but non-Judge clone, cost me $90 to avoid buying it but it was well worth it.
Also, if you fill out that form on the PHS site and print to .pdf, you can e-mail it to him to save time. I most recently used him in June of this year with no problems. I always pay for the expedited "fax-back" service, he will e-mail you the results the same day usually within a few hours.
Agree that PHS is solid. I paid $35 I think years ago for the one on my '65.....I wasn't in a hurry as I had the Protect-o-plate which verified that it was a tripower GTO. I was surprised to learn that someone before me had installed factory power steering and an outside rear view mirror! ( I've owned it since 1982). Never bothered buying the PHS for my '67 GTO which I bought in 1983.....it's a garden- variety base engine model with no neat performance options, and all the numbers match. For the $$$, a PHS is a great way to avoid making an expensive mistake if in the market, as previously noted.
I just received my car’s info and the information excellent. The microfiche material is getting old and some is hard to read.
Well worth the investment if you are wanting to keep your car original
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