First major service of my ownership: 2014 Cayman 981 S

[AdrianJ]

Hello all,

I'm just posting this as some further thoughts on things to check for when buying, or indeed budgeting maintenance for, a 981 of similar age.

I'm approaching the end of my 2nd year of ownership and have just had my car back from a service (and chassis recall) work at my local OPC. All in all very happy with the car and the service from Porsche. For reference my car is a 2014 car with 45k miles, full OPC service history and benefitting from Porsche extended warranty from time of my purchase.

So 20 months into ownership my only costs had been petrol, road tax and insurance, a very happy owner then...

December:
Fault: PDLS error, 'Auto driving light control defective' and intermittently 'Check Right dipped headlight' / 'Check Left dipped headlight'
Resolution: Both headlights replaced under warranty (quoted price £1,300 each without warranty)

February (Major Service):
Fault: Both condensers leaking
Resolution: Replaced under warranty (quoted price for two, £1050 - earlier quite was £1,400)

Fault: Auxiliary belt failure imminent, seized tension lever bracket - tensioner coming off the engine.
Resolution: Replacement, not covered under warranty (price £500)

Fault: Rear lower arm bushes debonding
Resolution: Replacement of both lower arms, not covered under warranty (price £636, no labour charge as removed for recall work)

(plus standard service charge and two new rear tyre but no surprise there)

Overall the extended warranty would have easily paid for itself and I am renewing for the next two years, either for me or a new owner.

As I say, no complaints or issues just sharing in the hope it helps others.

Thanks for listening,
Adrian

 

[squarebob]

Hi Adrian,

Thanks for kicking that off, though I think that this is a very interesting topic for not just the 981. I have recently bought a 2010 987.2PDK with full PSH, and am considering putting it back on the extended warranty at least for a couple of years, so understanding the typical things that can happen is helpful to justify - not only the ExW fee, but having to change out a nearly new set of PS4s's. Anyone with a summary of unplanned costs on a 987, especially with PDK?

Bob

 

[Chris89]

It would be interesting to price up some of those items at an independent garage to see what the charges would be like as we know these can rack up bills fairly quickly hence people keep the warranty. I am in the same boat having had my car 18 months so have 6 months to decide whether to extend the warranty or not. i am struggling to decide between keeping a slush fund or paying for the warranty.

 

[malarcy]

I know of 987.1 that had an issue with its heated seats. Turned out to be the HVAC control unit. replaced under porsche warranty would have cost cost approx 1k

another car 987.2 had a new roof because one element of the heated rear screen died. Would have cost 3k.

i figure that as long as there isn’t too much remedial work to “join the party“ that the Porsche warranty costs about 2/3 of a tank of V power a month.

doesn’t suit everyone or their circumstances and we all have our own way of paying to play - some want to use after market parts and the cost of remediating that can be eye watering but if your entry costs are low ( mine was a Porsche battery ) then for me I like the cover.

pays your money etc.

 

[Motorhead]

Adrian,

It sounds as though the extended warranty has paid dividends for you. When I purchased my 987.2 CS back in 2009 the factory warranty was only 2-years and I ended up taking the extended warranty for an extra 4-years, during which time I used it once to replace a faulty alarm module.

Interestingly enough at the 6-year service I was informed that like you there was a fault with the auxiliary belt tensioner and that this wouldn’t be covered by the extended warranty. Despite my continued protestations I was unable to get the work done under warranty, although they did give me a discount, and when asked if I wanted to extend the warranty again unsurprisingly I declined and have not returned since then.

I don’t think that there’s a hard and fast rule as to whether or not to go for the warranty; it depends upon how risk averse you are and on the luck of the draw in the reliability stakes. My Cayman has a manual transmission, but I think if I had PDK I’d be taking the extended warranty option, especially on a 12-year old car.

Jeff