Indepenents v OPC' s

[Guest]

My MY2000 2.7 is coming up for its 48,000mile/4 year service and as I am intending to keep it foe some time having an OPC service history is not particularly important to me. Having a properly serviced car however is. I have heard that in order to service Boxsters and 996's properly you need an electronic gizmo or something that plugs into the cars Engine Management System and that not all Independents have them.
Anybody got any info.

 

[Helen Goff]

phone round and ask.!!

i could help more if you were in my area as my own car is now out of warrenty and a little while ago i asked the very same question. you' ll find the thread on this boxster page if you scroll down the list!!

 

[Rodney Naghar]

For what its worth, I just had the 48k mile service undertaken by HR OWEN OPC in Staples Corner London for my 97 Boxster tip. It took 1.5 days, they picked it up and delivered it polished and cleaned inside out with free windscreen wash. It cost £515. (But I think that included a discount because my car is 5yrs old otheriwse it would have been around £715)There was a list of extras which I rejected, the only other item that goes on the service book is the brake fluid change £90, which I had done aswell. New tyres all round also and MOT (by a local garage) £600.

 

[tim court]

There was a list of extras which I rejected

Interesting point here..... just cos someone can sell a car with FPSH it means very little apart from what is stamped in the book. The dealer, independant or not, will make the dreaded call and you get a list of all the things that need doing..... The choice is yours....

When I bought my 996 privately I called the dealer (located at the other end of the UK) who had serviced the car and asked them if there were any significant items the owner had opted to ignore during routine servicing. They confirmed they knew the car and confirmed they had carried out all the scheduled service items, but were reluctant to divulge anthing further, suggesting they carry out a pre-purchase inspection.

I pointed out that the seller had moved to London and I was therefore unlikely to be using them for a p-pi. I intimated that I may not even bother with one if they could open up a bit and they gave me a list a mile long. Mostly fairly minor but soon adds up....

It gave me a clearer picture of how the owner had treated his car which, after a p-pi at Porsche Reading I was able to use this info to maximise the haggling on the price.

 

[Diver944]

This is why stamps in the book do not constitute a Full Service History. You need to see invoices which detail all the work that was done plus more importantly the items they advise but the previous owner has chosen not to do.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

I' m not too sure if thats true. I used the OPC for the service. Porsche have witheld the software used in the diagnostic equipment required to service 996' s and Boxsters, so you would never be able to get a proper service at an Independents.The extra work will be done by an Independant. So if the next owner just calls the OPC to see what was rejected they will not get the full picture. The previous owner of my car had no receipts for anything, does that mean he did not take care of the car, or that the car was in perfect working order?

There is an interesting article in 911 & Porsche World March ' 03 about records. In summary it states that the condition of the car when you buy it is all that counts, not what the records or receipts show you. If you have the car checked before you buy it and it comes up trumps, but has a sketchy service record, would you rather have that or a car with an impeccable service history with a stack of recipts that doesnt drive well?
That is a very brief summary, and is clearly open to debate as is, read the article if you can for a more extensive discussion of that matter.

 

[tim court]

so you would never be able to get a proper service at an Independents.

Wow! Bet this will upset a few Independants!!!

On the other issues, I think you also may have got the wrong end of the stick - as an example; car goes in for service.... Porsche Garage X rings up and says ' All items in the service schedule have been done, but here is the bad news... you have a bit of an oil leak in your transaxle, your disc pads will need replacing in the next 500 miles and your front discs are near the limit, thickness wise.... Oh and by the way, there are two dash bulbs out that illuminate the heater controls......etc, etc, etc...'

Mr Don T' Care says ' Naah... who cares, forget it. Will sort it out when it' s absolutely necessary. May be selling it soon anyway'

Mr V Caring says ' but of course boys.... do the lot - nothing' s too good for my pride and joy'

May not affect which is a bad car and which is a good car but if you were considering buying one and you had your Pre-purchase inspection report, a pile of receipts with one and nothing with the other, which one do you think would be easier to haggle down the price?? and which one would you be more comfortable with that any problem would have been instantly rectified, no expense spared??

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Independents are upset! They ' have threatened Porsche GB with legal action over access to diagnostic equipment essential in servicing and reparing 996 and Boxsters.....threatening the future of their businesses' (Independents take on Porsche GB - Feb 03 issue of GT Purely Porsche).

Back to the issue of servicing and records! Take two cars, both with identical pre-purchase inspection reports, one with a mound of receipts, one without. Why would you automatically take the one with recepits? One having lots of receipts could mean it was treated badly, needing lots of work to be undertaken to it, whearas the other might have been treated impeccably, and no extra work was needed to be carried out on it.
The one with receipts.. are you sure they have given you all the reciepts thay have, are you sure thay haven' t left out the important ones such as ones for accident repair or waterlogging?

The point is if the pre-inspection reports are identical, ie the current condition of both cars is deemed to be identical, why would a batch of reciepts hold any relevance to your purchasing decision?

 

[JCB..]

One thing to reflect on is that should your[8|] engine expire before time it' s going to cost you several thousand pounds to put right. According to an OPC service manager you could expect a gesture from Porsche if your car is under 5 years old or has less than 100k on the clock. However, as you might have guessed, this would require OPC [8D] dealer stamps in the book.

 

[Guest]

My understanding was that the law had changed or been clarified, thanks to the EU. I thought that in order to encourage choice and promote good things for the poor old consumer, the manufacturers had to make proprietary tools available to independents.
In this way Joe Bloggs Garages Inc., could service Beemers, Porkers, Mercs, etc. and reset the service computers and other electronic bits.

Now, whether they have to make them available at a reasonable cost is another matter ...

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Porsche GB' s reply to the legal action being spearheaded by Camtune was ' " technical information can be withheld where this is subject to intellectual property rights or constitutes identified secret know-how" under the tenets of EU Block Exemption laws' . (GT Purely Porsche Feb' ' 03), but Camtune' s barristers rate their chances in court at around 75%. The jury is still out on that one.