Extended warranty. Yes or no?

[ZBZGTS]

Hi, the 2015 981 GTS I purchased at the end May last year has a Porsche warranty that expires next month and I wonder what Cayman owners think about the value of extending it.
To give some context, I bought the car to use and enjoy, not just admire the sculptural beauty of it! Mileage is now 20,000 and I have done 4,000 of those miles. I have a track day booked with PCGB and the North Coast 500 is on my wish list for this year.
Whilst the car had cruise control fitted at the local Porsche Centre they carried out a free vehicle health check and all was well apart from some corrosion to the exhaust fixings, which I understand is common. Next service is due in September this year.

The cost is £660 to extend the warranty by a year plus £175 roadside, or £1190 for two years plus £285 roadside. Some peace of mind is offered by extending, but what would you do?
Julian

 

[Terry]

Lots of peace of mind with OPC warranty and the price for Caymans and Boxsters is less than for 911s and, in my opinion, good value. Porsche Assist is not cheap and there maybe better value with Green Flag or similar but the Porsche option gives you a loan car and they are supposed to be able to provide a spare wheel in the event of a puncture.

 

[RJW]

I also have a Cayman 981 GTS, 2015. Mine has 23k miles and has just been serviced at Porsche Centre Bournemouth. It was given a clean bill of health and I too had a quandary as to whether or not to extend the warranty. I decided to do it for one year but without the Porsche Assistance. My reasoning was that £660 doesn’t go far if there is a problem with the car. Another factor was that I previously had a 911 (997) which needed attention to the front suspension. The cost of the fix was covered by the warranty without any difficulty.

Bob.

 

[Andy Barr]

I agree with the replies so far that it is well worth it to extend the warranty with Porsche. Particularly with your planned use including track days. I always extend as I want the peace of mind that if something major lets go I am not left with a big bill

 

[doktorbone]

I also have a Cayman 981 GTS, 2015. Mine has 23k miles and has just been serviced at Porsche Centre Bournemouth. It was given a clean bill of health and I too had a quandary as to whether or not to extend the warranty. I decided to do it for one year but without the Porsche Assistance. My reasoning was that £660 doesn’t go far if there is a problem with the car. Another factor was that I previously had a 911 (997) which needed attention to the front suspension. The cost of the fix was covered by the warranty without any difficulty.

Bob.

Think that is a good call Bob to omit the Porsche Assist - in my experience Porsche Assist just doesn't work in Europe.

 

[kitchens]

You may also find they want approx. £200 to do the 111 point check before they extend /add the warranty ,but read over on Boxta net some OPC are wavering the cost. If you want piece off mind the warranty is decent value doesn't take much at an OPC to rack up the cost in a year .

 

[Motorhead]

Julian,

As always the decision you make is very much dependent upon how averse you are to risk. Be aware that the Porsche Extended Warranty is not the same as the 3-year factory warranty, and there are a lot of non wear and tear items which are not covered so read the T&Cs carefully! In the unlikely event that you have a major engine or perhaps a PDK transmission problem and the whole unit has to be replaced you’re looking at a really significant expense, most probably in excess of £12k. On the other hand many problems probably will be electrical requiring the replacement of electronic modules which can be expensive to replace. Coolant and a/c leaks can also be expensive to fix. Modern vehicles are highly complex machines and I’m not convinced that Porsches are any more reliable than similar so-called premium makes. You need to balance peace of mind for £660 a year against the possibility that the car will be 100% reliable, requiring only routine servicing.

Jeff

 

[DWaldie]

I bought my CS from an OPC and paid a significant premium, which did include a 2 year warranty. I assumed it was the same as the manufacturer's warranty. I did not realise at the time that adding grilles to my bumpers or changing the battery without paying the silly OPC prices would invalidate the warranty. I'm now over 18 months into ownership of my pride and joy and it has cost me nothing but fuel. So, with hindsight, I would have saved myself a pretty penny and bought elsewhere without said warranty as mine has technically been invalidated after only two weeks of ownership!

I have only driven 6k miles since purchase.

I'm sure you are aware that Porsche are part of VAG, which have a better reputation for reliability than most non-Japanese manufacturers, but don't have a good reputation for honouring their responsibilities, and can be shameless in avoiding paying. Just look at the dieselgate fiasco.

You'll still enjoy the car either way. Can't wait to get mine out of hibernation.

 

[tscaptain]

Think that is a good call Bob to omit the Porsche Assist - in my experience Porsche Assist just doesn't work in Europe.

Some years back, on a 997 tour in France, a good friend and member had a puncture at the top of Mt Ventoux, of all places( in the cloud too!) Porsche Assist came to the rescue. Worked in Europe on that occasion.[]

 

[GordonT]

I bought my 2014 981 GTS from Performance 28 in Chester-le-Street with a Porsche extended warranty in 2019. It’s only done 11,000 miles and not much of that is mine, given the year we’ve just had.

My car had a PADM failure, something which is not uncommon with the 981 GTS, and Porsche Teesside could not have been more helpful.

I am a great believer in insurance anyway and would continue with extended warranty unless the cost was really prohibitive. As far as I am aware, there is no longer a requirement to have the check before renewing - as long as you have had the car serviced by Porsche at last due date. Given that you’ve had it to your OPC already, that may be enough. Exhaust clamps - see the forum. Affects us all unless you’ve addressed the problem and replaced with something other than mild steel.

I insured with Lockton at last renewal, so have their breakdown cover which is excellent. Previously, I was on my other half’s AA membership so it was a relief not to have the annual fight to reduce the premium to a realistic level!

Hope this helps!

 

[JohnCRS]

If you want to keep it low mileage, factory fresh, and have a risk free ownership experience, go for it.

If you use it a lot, believe that the aftermarket can sometimes have better quality consumables and might want to change or modify some items, don't go the warranty route.

My GTS is now just over 45,000 miles and I am aware that some items like suspension bushes, battery, and perhaps clutch, may require attention in the next year if we are allowed to use our cars. None of these wear and tear items will be covered by warranty.

The engine and manual gearbox are readily maintained or fixed by independents if necessary. Even many of the electrics can be attended to in this way. The big stumbling block is the PDK gearbox which is an exchange only item (even the OPC's are not permitted to do any diagnosis). If you have a clunky change at any point or have ever felt that it is 'not quite right', buy the warranty. Smaller but expensive potential 'Porsche only' issues include the PSM system or the hydraulic engine mounts. These are generally reliable but there have been problems. So if you have all these on your car, the case for the warranty is more compelling.

 

[ZBZGTS]

Many thanks for the interesting and helpful replies. I had been wavering and your comments have encouraged me to continue with the Porsche extended warranty. It is my intention to keep the car for some time, and it has a PDK gearbox. Better safe than sorry in the end for me. This, from the OPC may be of interest... The rules for extended warranty have changed and as you currently have warranty on the car we don’t need to carry out 111 point check on your Cayman. To extend the warranty all that we would need is a copy of your V5 document