overpriced ? brake sensors

saorsa · Aug 13, 2009

Hello all .....for some reason i cannot access my old account so had to re register

had my boxster for 4 years now and decided to gice it a new set of discs and pads , managed to get my local guy to buy and fit them for £500 , all good so far

he didnt have access to the porsche diagnostic reset kit hence the abs and traction control lights were lit up on the dash.

I called porsche in aberdeen and took the car up for a reset, Unfortunately they found one of the front brake sensors faulty and so i rebooked for them to replace the sensor the following week . quoted £85 for the sensor and "around half an hour to replace".

well they did the sensor and suggested at the time to replace the other , to which i agreed , sat down in the showroom and waited for the car to be fixed

3.5 hours later the car is sorted along with a bill for £315 for labour (£90 an hour , reduced to £80) and the parts at £170. total £518 .44

am i wrong to feel that i have been ripped ? or is this the norm nowadays

bryno · Aug 13, 2009

Welcome to the reality of Porsche Centres. Porsche Centres are usually transparent about their pricing re servicing and general mechanical repairs ( clutches, brakes, brake fluid replacement etc etc) and somewhere in their facility there should be a leaflet on these issues with "standard" prices. You should also be able to get a 10% discount for being a PCGB member from most PCs.

On a job such as you describe you need to have a real questioning attitude before committing to work... ask the what if qustions about snags, common mode failures etc that could ramp up the times. Their part prices are normally but not always dearer than other suppliers ( there are many who advertise in Porsche Post and are regularly spoken about on this forum).

I have been lucky in my life to have owned and run performance cars from Audi, BMW, Ferrari, TVR and Porsche. My inescapable conclusion on the experience of running such cars is that it costs a lot of money. Anyone that tells you that you can run a performance car on a shoestring is lying. I have used Franchised Main Agents, reputable independents and done a fair bit of work myself on such cars. Whichever route you take it costs money. My preferred route for repairs and servicing on cars that I am unable or unwilling to conduct work on myself is a reputable independent, mainly because they are enthusiastic about the cars and you can build a rapport with them, they are of course generally cheaper.

Some people can afford Franchised Main Dealer servicing and repairs, good luck to them although many like yourself express concern about pricing and or treatment by such organisations. Next time you cross the threshold of a Porsche Centre look around at the ambience, fixtures and fittings.... customers pay for all that so question hard before you commit to work.

Paul Fraser · Aug 14, 2009

Well, I sympathise but for a start, why did you agree to change a part that wasn't broken? That's £150 of unnecessary cost for a start. As to whether or not it should take them three and a half hours to change two brake sensors the answer is maybe no. I just did one of mine and it took me days as the thing broke in half but it would not take me more than a hour if the same thing happened again as I now know what to do, i.e. undo the Jesus nut and slide the tension bolt back so you can knock what's left through. I suspect this is what happened to both of yours; I just don't know why it took them so long, although if it was an hour and a half per side and half an hour for the diagnostic they aren't a million miles out. If the sensor isn't jammed (like mine and probably yours were) it probably is a half hour job.
Further, as Bryn says, you could have used an independent with a PST2 like Bavaria if your mechanic hasn't got one, or buy yourself a Durametric for £250 -- it'll probably repay the purchase cost in a fairly short time. An independent may have managed to get the brake sensors from somewhere like Design 911 and pay £112.13 inc VAT and delivery like I did rather than £170+VAT like youself.
Sorry if I sound rather hard but I learned about OPCs the hard way, like you seem to be doing. I once got charged £65 for cables that didn't sort out a seat tilt problem and was told it would cost £375 for a new seat back. I said leave it, but when I took the seat apart to have a look myself a year later there weren't any cables in there at all. Not only had they not put new ones in they had taken the old ones out as well!!
BTW, I thought the labour rate at all OPCs had changed to £100 some time back, and how did you get a reduction to £80?
PS Bryn, Aberdeen have never done the 10% PCGB discount.

ianfiat · Aug 14, 2009

I thought the brake sensors were £14.72 each ?
http://www.porscheshop.co.uk/acatalog/porsche_boxster_987_brake_components.html

Paul Fraser · Aug 14, 2009

Those will be brake pad wear sensors not speed (ABS) sensors.

http://www.design911.co.uk/fu/cma81-cmo82-ct287-searchspeed+sensor/Porsche/Boxster/Boxster-986-2-5L-1997-99/

will give you the general idea but the Boxster ones don't quite look like that.

saorsa · Aug 14, 2009

The first reading when the car went in to be cleared on the computer initailly showed both sensors needing replaced , after a retest only one sensor was showing as a problem , the following week when i took the car to be repaired they indicated that the other sensor might be faulty and therefore suggested both to be fitted , to which i agreed .
as for the reduction it was probably because i went in at 2 o clock and was told to have a seat as it wouldnt take long > they must have valued my time by the hour at around a tenner.
i have used mototune in shotts and found them to be great , but thinking i was looking at £150 bill tops ... though it quicker and easier to go from arbroath to aberdeen

my local mechanic has since told me that all discs and pads came off very easy , but i suppose the sensors are a different kettle of fish

Paul Fraser · Aug 14, 2009

Sorry, I didn't realise you had an intermittent fault on the other, I would have done the same. Ironically, I just finished putting new horns on mine and was checking the rest of the stuff for an MOT when, you guessed it, an intermittent ABS fault I thought I had cleared on the rear right reappeared... That's tomorrow sorted out with me eating my words about being able to replace one in an hour

Are you not equidistant between Aberdeen and Edinburgh OPCs? I think the latter seem to be the best of the three, although I have only used them once for a minor service which went fine. Unlike Aberdeen they let me supply my own Mobil 1. But, I suppose if you go to Edinburgh, you might as well go to Shotts...