OPC Rip Off?

[mikfinch]

A few days ago I posted about coolant loss from my '99 C4. First prize to Richard Hamilton for guessing correctly that the coolant tank was leaking
The car is now at Porsche Hatfield but I nearly choked on my lunchtime sandwich today when I heard how much they want for replacing it. That'll be £675 consisting of £219 worth of parts and 4 hours labour for replacing a little plastic container
Am I being ripped off here? The car is covered by an OPC warranty. Is Hatfield correct in stating that the warranty will not cover this? Lastly, will I invalidate the warranty by taking the car to an independent for the work to be done, hopefully a lot cheaper?

 

[TopBear]

Demand they explainillustrate why its not covered by the warranty. As its a knowncommon faulty like the RMS, therefore its surely covered by warranty, not being a wear & tear item thats faulty.

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Yes, that tank, which is on its 4th or 5th design itteration is not covered by the Porsche warranty. Independants charge far less for that job. Tower Porsche in London charged DavidO less than half that amount I'm sure. He will respond here soon with more details.

 

[POR_NT]

My independent (recently located!) reckons he can change a tank in about 20 mins (it took me 2 hours, and I'm not Porsche trained), so allow 1 hour, and the parts (tank and revised cap) cost me £155, including 1 litre of coolant...

 

[DavidO]

I'm sure. He will respond here soon with more details.

And sure enough, here I am []

Firstly the money quoted is ridiculous. Tower Porsche (who incidentally can now do these tank replacements with their eyes closed....they still had two cracked tanks in the workshop which they had replaced in the previous week) took about 40 minutes to effect the replacement. Yes, the tank itself is stupidly expensive, but my total bill was less than £250.

Now to the warranty. It is NOT covered under the warranty. I knew this before I drove round the corner to Tower. However, I subsequently spoke to Porsche GB about something else and raised the issue of the warranty, the coolant tank and it's propensity for flooding the neighbourhood. They then claimed that had I had the work done by an OPC, and pressed for a contribution from PCGB, I would have succeeded.

However, that is easy to say after the event, given that they also said they weren't going to contribute to work that I had done by an independent.

You can press your point home with PCGB in fighting for a contribution, regardless of its exclusion from the warranty. However, bear in mind that, according to your figures, a 50% goodwill contribution from PCGB will still result in a higher bill than I paid Tower Porsche!!!

 

[DavidO]

As its a knowncommon faulty like the RMS, therefore its surely covered by warranty, not being a wear & tear item thats faulty.

Until late 2004, the RMS was not covered by the extended warranty either. Some may have been done as a matter of goodwill, but it was not expressly included in the warranty until about August (I think) 2004

 

[ArBee]

I too know that the coolant tank is not covered under warranty but have still to hear a persuasive explanation as to why not. As anyone heard such explanation?

This is one of those thorny issues surrounding the OPC warranty and its worth. I hate the fact that items such as the tank are not covered but I still handover my £725.00 on top of service bill as I bet you as soon as I don't, the liner will slip or something just as bad will occur.

By the way - not having my warranty booklet with me - is the Sat Nav/ audio equipment covered?

 

[mikfinch]

DavidO, thanks for that. I have now asked Hatfield to request a goodwill contribution given that I bought the vehicle from them, have just had an annual service done 1 month ago, have recently renewed the warranty and this is a known fault anyway. JZ Machtech have quoted me £350 for the job and I have thrown that at Hatfield as well. Frankly, its not so much the money, its a point of principle given that I've just paid a cool £725 to renew the warranty as I'm pretty sure a used Beemer or Merc warranty would have covered this sort of work
Incedentally, both Hatfield and JZM say the job takes longer on a C4. Something to do with a fuel filter being attached to the coolant tank

 

[THX911]

ORIGINAL: ArBee
By the way - not having my warranty booklet with me - is the Sat Nav/ audio equipment covered?

I did ask about this and the OPC told me that the Sat Nav/Audio equipment is not covered under the extended warranty!

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Try asking the OPC for a list of items NOT covered by the warranty! After all the documentation is big on lists of what is covered.

 

[Guest]

get it done by an independant - what an OPC doesnt know wont hurt your warranty!!!

just tell them you are going somewhere else!!!

Khushy

 

[Grant]

I share the mutual frustration that it isn't covered by warranty, but would add that I have always found my OPC to "fair & flexible" on pricing providing I researched my various price options first.
In other words talk to them & say that you can get it done for £250 & see how near they can get!

 

[Pete B]

I don't think that any of the entertainment equipment or related fuses or components are covered. This is bad news when you find the Becker CD player falling to pieces in front of your eyes! Still the OPC told me how to repair it (almost) invisibly with sellotape!!

 

[996dom]

I was speaking to the mechanic at No5 garage in West London who has managed to change the header in 1 hour.......4 hours does sound like a rip off to me!!!!

Also you can have any work done at an independant and it won't effect the warranty as long as they use official Porsche parts, this includes annual servicing.