Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

Time for the important service question

One other factor to consider if going down the warranty route is the requirement to keep the car standard, using only Porsche parts. So a battery has to be replaced with a Porsche one, ditto brakes and all other consumables. If you are inclined to modify, don't.

The extended warranty is a bit of a straight jacket for the enthusiast, but works for many as intended - an Insurance policy.
 
I had this exact same situation a few months ago when mine was due a major service but I knew I would be out of a warranty a few months later. I too was looking at a bill of around £4k to service the car in Aug and renew the warranty in Dec.

I also weighed up the costs of other things that I needed doing like battery and I wanted to fit front grilles. I am also due tyres in a few k miles and want to switch from Potenzas to Michelin PS4S.

I decided to ditch OPC when they wouldn't budge on the 111 check price. Also they wouldn't cover the price or front crossover pipes or fix the misting front diff so I was getting pretty pissed all round, not entirely OPC at fault, the warranty people were being very picky. Overall though I felt like a 2nd class citizen and I wasn't entirely happy with the Porsche 'Ownership Experience'.

I decided to go with a service plan with DW Performance (other service plans are available) for about £1k a year. That included my major service including plugs etc and free labour on any work I wanted doing to the car apart from mods for the year so I had a load done, discs&pads, grilles, diff seals, heat shields. pipes etc etc. At OPC prices I would have cried.

I figured if something big goes wrong all I have to worry about is the cost of parts so the PDK/engine £10k and £15k horror stories would be about halved in a worst case scenario.

It wasn't just about the money though, I also have 110% confidence in my indie and they look after me and my car. I can also have my car the way I want it albeit I have no intention of doing much but the warranty limitations are nuts - cost of opportunity I think some call it. OPC sold my car to me with it having an indie 2nd service in the book it made no difference to the price and it seems those that know are not too bothered either.

You can't go wrong either way, it's just how you want to spend your money and who you want to give it to.
 
Free labour on any work you want done to rectify things! They must be absolutely bonkers. Either that or people are just not as fussy as me. That seems entirely unsustainable.

MC
 
MisterCorn said:
Free labour on any work you want done to rectify things! They must be absolutely bonkers. Either that or people are just not as fussy as me. That seems entirely unsustainable.

MC

I am sure over a large customer base and over time it works well for the business. Quite a few indies offer similar and Hartech provide the same service.

http://www.dwperformance.co.uk/maintenance-plans.html

https://www.hartech.org/maintenance-plan


I couldn't afford to be as fussy as I am with my car if my only option was OPC ;)
 
As it's under warranty now (and this is what I did), put it in for the 111 point check, see if anythings wrong, get it fixed under warranty, then don't renew it and use an Indy (sounds like you have a good one nearby).

When mine was under warranty, which was for just over 2 years, it had a few things, like coil packs, stereo amp went, probably worth it, but the car is in very good condition so didn't see the point in renewing it.....

Oh, and I could then change the stereo as PCM2.1 is just crap, and if you change anything, you can't get a warranty......

I trust my Indy more than my OPC. What he doesn't know isn't worth knowing, and he is 10 mins away and puts himself out if something happens. Had a coolant pipe go last year on new years day, he fixed it almost immediately!
 
If the warranty is important go the OPC route. If you decide to go to the indie route, then get your arithmetic right before choosing - compare labour rates like-for-like (with or without VAT - OPC prices always include VAT whereas all indy prices are exclusive of VAT). Ask for labour rate at OPC on modern classics rates and compare to labour rate for indie for your model. Ask for book time for the service or job - a major service with plugs for example on a 996 turbo is a around 7+ hours. Multiply that by an indie labour rate and compare to the quoted service prices. If there is a discrepancy then ask why the hours x labour rate don't tally with the quoted service price.

The phrase "main dealer servicing at half main dealer prices" (and similar variants of same) always needs to be tested and validated in arithmetic.

Choice is plentiful, but if you want a warranty, an indie has to use OPC parts. So what will you save on labour for service costs? And OPC work carries a 2 year warranty - no quibble.
 
FZP said:
You need to consider that the warranty is more than just the engine. There are a myriad of things that could go wrong over the next 2 years. Air con condensors are 1k. Steering rack is 2k+. Coolant pipes should they need doing won't be cheap.
It all depends on the cost of remediation. If your car is currently under warranty then the cost of extending will be minimal as any current issues could be covered under warranty.
I'd shop around for the 111 check. Most OPC waive it upon the taking out of the warranty.

I think thats abit bold to be throwing numbers around like that. All of those things you've quoted can be sourced for a lot less, with the same quality of work.

Steering rack, Can be overhauled at £250.
Air con condensers are £90 each....

Everyone thinks these cars are expensive and are scare mongered into paying ludicrous warranty costs "incase" something goes wrong.

Enjoy the car, keep some spare cash and find a good local indy. Theres lots of them around, pretty much all of which are ex porsche tech's.

So what are you really getting from taking a 10 year old car to an OPC anymore? It wouldn't be the deal breaker for me when buying a car, A healthy stack of receipts from well known indy's is much more desirable in my opinion.
 
^^^^^^What Neil has posted ^^^^^^^^ shop around , parts can be sourced for decent prices, OPC labour prices are silly, the techs get a small percentage of that rate, some are good some are crap, any decent specialist is the way to go.
They are just nuts and bolts, nothing to be frightened of !
 
Just to clarifie .. OPC Techs are on bonus .. they do the job as fast as possible .. cut corners ? not for me to say .. i know what i did though :(

OPC guys have an evalauation every month where their hours sold is discussed .. and "questioned " if less than say 80% .. OPC would prefer 100 % then there is a talking to of said Tech .

If your hours are too low consitantly then you are probably out of a job ... sad but true.

On a service or a 111 point check then the tech would probably gain time .. diagnostics .. rattles etc and he would loose time .

Techs earn money by geting bonus .. hence the difficult faults tend to get a quick look over and kicked out NFF .

The Techs are in no way to blame here .. the system is .

Forget talking to service advisors .. these days they are NOT ex techs .

Talk to the Tech if possible .

btw .. im a Car Mechanic .... not a Tech . :D
 
Exactly that, Bonus based from timed efficiency is massive in the car industry.

One thing i noticed from taking my car to a Indy over an OPC..is the little things.

After an OPC service, things like the gas strut ball joints, door hinges etc weren't lubricated. Whats to say the tech had over run trying to get an under tray off/on and ran out of time to get his bonus so left out the trivial bits and bobs to get it complete on time.

I only realised they should have been lubricated after i took it to an indy and he showed me in the hand book what should be covered under each service...They weren't time pressed, and went out their way to have a chat about the car and make sure everything was as it should be.

If you like being ripped off while drinking out a mug that says porsche on it in a fancy waiting room. Go to an OPC :lol:

This is my opinion and personal experience, I'm sure many have had good experiences at OPC's. I was just left wondering what i was paying the extra cash for.
 
:agree: :agree: unfortunate because it shouldn't be like that... but it is. Indy all the way. ( I have just had mine taken on to the Hartech maintenance plan so can sleep easy!)
 
Thanks for all the very helpful advice and comments.

I also spoke to the guys at the indie Porsche dealership that sold me the car 4 years ago. Their advice was that the next 2-3 years will be the period in which a number of components, like the tandem pump, will be reaching the end of their lives and could be the subject of a warranty claim. Bottom line - probably a good time to renew the official Porsche warranty for another 2 years.

Very interested to read on here the engineer's comments about how the OPC engineers are paid. My experience at Reading OPC was of very "enthusiastic" reporting of potential problems and recommendations for remedial work. My bi-annual bill there was always significant and on a previous occasion they waived the 111 point inspection fee in recognition of this.

The car is now booked in to Porsche Service Brookline, of whom I have heard very good reports.

Thanks guys
 
997.2 doesn't have a tandem pump, It's got a vacuum pump. They're cheaper than tandem pumps, and the best prices around is directly from Porsche!

Easy to change though, I did mine last winter as the case was abit corroded.
 
Mike, I am regularly in Reading and live near the area. The original owner of my 997.2 C2S always followed the service schedule at the Reading Porsche. Upon handover, they gave me the last list of advisories that had not been acted on. I would say a good 50 percent of this list was deemed unnecessary by JZM in Kings Langley, who now look after it.

Always a great experience with them and a very fair approach to car care and management. Very willing to discuss and negotiate. Worth taking a look!
 
I use Matt at Porschacare, now in Bramfield in Hertfordshire, which is handily 10 minutes from my house, and a nice little drive up country lanes to boot :)

He was senior mechanic at Portiacraft in Mill Hill for 15 years or so and went out on his own pretty much when I bought my car about 3.5 years ago. He has just jointly bought Bramfield Motors with a mercedes specialist. Lovely guy, really knows his stuff, always available for advice and questions, even today when I've had a rattly exhaust, sent him a pic, booking it in straight away :) OPC was fine, but Matt knows far more and I trust his advice 100%
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,350
Messages
1,439,416
Members
48,706
Latest member
SBSEA
Back
Top