Servicing

[Kaiser981]

If you are getting good service from your Indy and they are using genuine parts in the car, can the future value really be of much benefit to you when you work out how much more it has cost you to have it serviced at the OPC. Many of the quotes above are double to cost of the indy, so if thats on average £300 per visit and you service the car annually instead of every two years, the saving adds up to a substantial amount at the end of 5 years. Would the car really be worth thousands of pounds more with an OPC service history as opposed to a well known and respected independent? If you are keeping the car completely standard and under warranty then that is understandable, but it is pretty straight forward to keep the car in tip top condition, with the right parts installed and then if you want to sell the car with a Porsche warranty, and you have planned ahead, take it to the OPC for a major service, get the multipoint check completed, which my OPC has stated there will be no charge for during a service, and put the warranty on.

 

[Motorhead]

Some very valid points there Paul, especially if you’re not in the Porsche extended warranty scheme.

I think that the older the car the less important a full Porsche dealer stamp becomes, especially if the car has been serviced regularly by one of the many good Porsche Independents we have in the UK. If you’re an informed Porsche enthusiast purchasing an older used car then it won’t be a problem.

Jeff

 

[Ray]

Some very valid points there Paul, especially if you’re not in the Porsche extended warranty scheme.

I think that the older the car the less important a full Porsche dealer stamp becomes, especially if the car has been serviced regularly by one of the many good Porsche Independents we have in the UK. If you’re an informed Porsche enthusiast purchasing an older used car then it won’t be a problem.

Jeff

I agree 100% that an Indie should use genuine Porsche parts and this is up to the owner to check on prior to leaving their vehicle.

Would a person purchasing an 8-10-year-old Porsche expect to see a fully documented Porsche dealership service record? It would be nice, but I think the best you could expect would be a fully documented service record performed by a reputable garage.

 

[Kaiser981]

I have bought parts from the Porsche Service counter and taken them to my independent. The majority of the Porsche Parts used by my independent here in NI are through a Porsche centre on the mainland. I don't get the beautiful showroom but I do get invites to events and hopefully a track day in the near future. Latest event had some stunners

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[PAul73]

I have a 981 Spyder due its 6 year service. Best quote from nearby OPCs is £1070. (oil/filters/brake fluid/drive belt). The indy I have used before has just quoted 60% of that. I'll still be going to the OPC given it has 25 months AUC warranty on it (and thats worth a lot to me) but its only a handful of years ago that an oil change was £300 ish on a boxster not the £608 + VAT that it now is.

They're still in the same dealership building too.....

 

[AndrewCS]

981 GT4 six year service at local OPC for £957 all in, with loan car. The Perth OPC down the road quoted £970 plus £15 loan car insurance.

Both are owned by the same company

 

[Ray]

I have a 981 Spyder due its 6 year service. Best quote from nearby OPCs is £1070. (oil/filters/brake fluid/drive belt). The indy I have used before has just quoted 60% of that. I'll still be going to the OPC given it has 25 months AUC warranty on it (and thats worth a lot to me) but its only a handful of years ago that an oil change was £300 ish on a boxster not the £608 + VAT that it now is.

They're still in the same dealership building too.....

I think these OPCs are having a laugh at the owner's expense. How much is the oil, filter and sump plug washer? Please correct me if I am wrong, but that is the sum of the parts? Their overheads must be enormous?

 

[PAul73]

I have a 981 Spyder due its 6 year service. Best quote from nearby OPCs is £1070. (oil/filters/brake fluid/drive belt). The indy I have used before has just quoted 60% of that. I'll still be going to the OPC given it has 25 months AUC warranty on it (and thats worth a lot to me) but its only a handful of years ago that an oil change was £300 ish on a boxster not the £608 + VAT that it now is.

They're still in the same dealership building too.....

I think these OPCs are having a laugh at the owner's expense. How much is the oil, filter and sump plug washer? Please correct me if I am wrong, but that is the sum of the parts? Their overheads must be enormous?

It will certainly be my last "newish" Porsche. Costs are insane now

 

[Twinfan]

If you're not happy, just go Indy?

I agree that OPCs are getting pretty bad though. I read the other day that the 4yr service on a 991.2 GT3 is over £2k...

 

[Ray]

When purchasing a new or used car, servicing costs should be taken into account. However these costs are increasing at a rate of knots. You expect Porsche parts to be costly as we are looking at expensive vehicles. But disposables such as oil should be no more costly than from your local Motor superstore.

One item we haven't mentioned is the dreaded VAT. The time is long past for this tax to be reduced.

 

[Twinfan]

I think the 4yr and 8yr services with plugs and air filters etc aren't too bad for around £1000 at an OPC for a Cayman given the labour rates they charge.

However, £600+ for an oil and filter change plus a few visual checks is a tough pill to swallow. My wife's Focus RS is no more than £300 for something similar.

 

[PAul73]

If you're not happy, just go Indy?

I would be...its next owner may well not though []

 

[Twinfan]

Depends on the Indy I guess, but choose a well respected one and it shouldn't make much difference.

I plan on using my supplying OPC unless the prices get to current GT3 levels, which on the current trajectory will be around 18 months...

 

[Motorhead]

Well, I’ve just had the 12-years/120,000 mile service, brake fluid change and MOT carried out by Silverstone on my 987.2 CS for the princely sum of £1,191.84, including PCGB discounts. This is the most comprehensive service available and includes plugs, air cleaner, pollen filter, poly-belt and a (manual) transmission oil change and surprisingly came in much lower than the original quoted price. Quite close to a quote from RPM Technik too. Still v-expensive but maybe I just struck lucky on the day!

The downside was that the tech found a very minor coolant leak, somewhat unusually at the engine end from a return pipe joint rather than from the front cross-pipes. It looks as though any money saved on the service will soon disappear on repairs! []

Jeff

 

[JMR]

Well, I’ve just had the 12-years/120,000 mile service, brake fluid change and MOT carried out by Silverstone on my 987.2 CS for the princely sum of £1,191.84, including PCGB discounts. This is the most comprehensive service available and includes plugs, air cleaner, pollen filter, poly-belt and a (manual) transmission oil change and surprisingly came in much lower than the original quoted price. Quite close to a quote from RPM Technik too. Still v-expensive but maybe I just struck lucky on the day!

The downside was that the tech found a very minor coolant leak, somewhat unusually at the engine end from a return pipe joint rather than from the front cross-pipes. It looks as though any money saved on the service will soon disappear on repairs! []

Jeff

Wow, still expensive.

2 yr ago I had the 12yr/120,000 mile service by OPC Nottingham which was engine oil/filter, air cleaner, spark plugs, pollen filter, poly-rib belt AND water pump and fresh coolant. Came in at £1350. They wanted £280 to change the manual transmission oil so I declined on that and got it changed by Cavendish for £90+VAT ish.

Jeff - good luck with the coolant leak hope its a straight forward fix

 

[Motorhead]

Servicing prices seem to have rocketed in the past couple of years James. Maybe the dealers are trying to recoup some of the losses made as a result of the pandemic restrictions over the period when workshop throughput most likely was reduced? By my reckoning the dealer labour charge is around £150/hour, with some London dealers charging even more … which is bordering on the ridiculous! I think that in the future I may well be using a reputable Porsche Independent specialist for any work.

I’ve not had a chance to see exactly where the coolant leak’s occurring but from the picture it looks as though the joint’s only weeping slightly and there’s been no obvious sign of leakage on the garage floor, so I’m just going to monitor the coolant level for a while. Most probably all that’s really needed is to break the connection, apply some sealant and fit a jubilee clip but this is a Porsche so it’s going to be a replacing pipes, hoses and clips job! Thanks for the good wishes.

Jeff

 

[robertbaird]

For info booked my main service in for May 2022 with OPC as I was there today having the MOT. They say standard price all inclusive £1379 less 10% PCGB discount for parts/materials used.

RB

 

[Ryan9729]

You could in theory use a good local independent specialist from new; EU Block Exemption laws allow customers to get vehicles serviced outside of the official dealer networks without invalidating warranty. But manufacturer service schedules must be followed and original equipment parts used.

With that in mind and I'm not if it exists already it would be a good idea if we had a list of 'PCGB approved' garages which follow the above to keep intact warranty and allow owners to have a bit more choice without the fear of warranty refusal down the line.

Thoughts?

 

[Twinfan]

EU Block Exemption laws only apply to the 3-year factory warranty and PCGB have very close ties to Porsche so I very much doubt they would offically sanction such a list and would always support use of the OPC network. If you're running the extended warranty, which is essentially an insurance policy, you have to play by the policy rules which require OPC servicing.

The simplest solution is to get the first (2yr) service done at an OPC therefore there will be no quibbles under the 3 year factory warranty. After that point, it falls down to whether you're running the extended warranty or not as to whether you continue to go to an OPC or consider switching to Indy servicing.

I won't be running the extended warranty and my plan is to use my OPC for routine servicing every 2yrs but everything else (repairs or upgrades) will be done by my local Indy. That way I get Porsche stamps in the book and any relevant checks/software updates performed by the mothership but save money in labour charges on non-servicing work.

 

[AlistairF]

I note no one on the 'Transparent pricing list" near London...