4th / 8 year 981 service

[bennno]

I’ve a 2015 981 Boxster I purchased this summer which has only done 12k miles.

It’s had 3 main dealer services and is due its 4th early next year.

Would you keep going with main dealer or go Indy at this point?

Can anybody suggest an Indy in Wales or Bristol area - have used Northway previously but I’m now 200 miles west of there….

[Twinfan]

Given the minimal price difference, and the benefit of a full book, I'd go OPC for servicing.

But use Indys for repairs.

[Devilspoke]

And consider introduce a yearly oil change and inspect like many of us do, two years is a long time if you are using it

[Twinfan]

With moden oils and engines you'd be wasting your money, even my OPC says that. Even the track driving handbook that came with my 718 GT4 says to change the oil every 6k track miles, which is a lot!

Each to their own though

[jimbo761]

Main dealer if you're keeping it in warranty, otherwise compare the quotes. I would be amazed if the main dealer cost anywhere near an independent.

As an example I paid £1,200 earlier this year for the six year service at a main dealer. An independent would have been around £360...

[andy-ski]

Hi, I’m near Bristol and have been a happy customer of Cotswold Porsche Specialists the past 6 or 7 years, he has enough space to work remotely for the day, or you book ahead for a courtesy car.

[av185]

Many upsides of using your/an OPC for servicing not just maintaining a much better residual value ££ on your p and j, cast iron warranty, free quality loan car and maintaining a decent relatiinship with them and brownie points for future car allocations if that interests you.

Indies clearly have their advantages for older cars but for the sake of saving a few hundred quid together with all the obvious advantages the OPC route for your car with FOPC history to date really is a no brainer tbh.

Most OPCs will negotiate on price too they want your business so as usual barter hard.

[Armitage.Shanks]

That'll be a plug service (every 4yrs) so costs will mount up at OPC. In warranty? Then OPC is your only option. If not go with a good value independent after trying to negotiate a better price with OPC if the costs don't stack up

[Boy0]

If you go down the Indy route then Chris Denning in Cardiff is excellent.

[981SPYGANG]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Sorry but £1200 v £360 doesn’t sound right to me and nothing like my experience.

OPC was £960 and Indy was £800. (6 year)

[981SPYGANG]

Twinfan said:

Given the minimal price difference, and the benefit of a full book, I'd go OPC for servicing.

But use Indys for repairs.

+1

[981SPYGANG]

av185 said:

Many upsides of using your/an OPC for servicing not just maintaining a much better residual value ££ on your p and j, cast iron warranty, free quality loan car and maintaining a decent relatiinship with them and brownie points for future car allocations if that interests you.

Indies clearly have their advantages for older cars but for the sake of saving a few hundred quid together with all the obvious advantages the OPC route for your car with FOPC history to date really is a no brainer tbh.

Most OPCs will negotiate on price too they want your business so as usual barter hard.

Wise words

[Royal Jelly]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Further north here, but revolution, Strasse, rpm specialists all charge in the mid-late 400s for a major.

In the south east, the gap may be small, but up here, there’s a wild disparity between OPC and (very good) specialists.

[jimbo761]

981SPYGANG said:

Sorry but £1200 v £360 doesn’t sound right to me and nothing like my experience.

OPC was £960 and Indy was £800. (6 year)

You need to try another Indy, these guys also do the major (4/8 yr) service with plugs for £455 vs £875 on the old Porsche fixed price scheme.

The Porsche tax is considerable around here; I'm running warranty so phoned around a good few OPCs, some of the Porsche owned ones were utterly ludicrous quite frankly.

[rawenghey]

Twinfan said:

With moden oils and engines you'd be wasting your money, even my OPC says that. Even the track driving handbook that came with my 718 GT4 says to change the oil every 6k track miles, which is a lot!

Each to their own though

I went to take mine for an interim oil change and got told the same by a well-regarded Indy.

[DRH986]

My 981S 8 year Major service with plugs was £732 at Cameron Porsche indy 12 months ago. It was its first service outside OPC network and this price included replacing a sheared brake caliper nipple which I suspect was due to OPCs only bleeding fluid through one nipple on each caliper in previous services. My previous Porsches with OPC history have all shown signs of only one nipple having been opened since new, which is poor practice.

My OPC had quoted £1175 just for the service and wouldn't negotiate.

Oh, and Cameron reported the discs as only 50% and 30% worn - two years after my OPC claimed they were all down to minimum thickness and needed immediate replacement at the Minor service two years before........

Cameron are 5 mins from M4 J18.

Edited by DRH986 on Friday 28th October 09:11

[Royal Jelly]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Watching OPCs relentlessly hiking their prices at every opportunity will probably help

To be fair, it makes good business sense. My 2 closest OPCs are swamped with work, so it can’t be putting too many off.

[981Boxess]

jimbo761 said:

As an example I paid £1,200 earlier this year for the six year service at a main dealer. An independent would have been around £360...

I doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts.

To the OP - it depends on whether you want to go down the warranty extension route or not, if you are then you have little choice but shopping around won't hurt.

I have stuck with the OPC/warranty route, it costs more but not as much more as some would suggest for the same work.

[Royal Jelly]

981Boxess said:

doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts.

My closest 2 specialists (RPM Specialist Cars & Revolution Porsche) charge 80 for the oil (your choice - Mobil 1 or Shell Helix Ultra - both Porsche approved) and 20 for the filter. Sealing ring is about a quid fifty.

You can source it even cheaper, if you care.

It won’t be costing the OPC more than that, so paying 700 quid in labour (which is what OPCs do) to change the oil and filter, which in itself is about 0.5 labour hours, and give the car a very brief once-over, is frankly nothing more than a vast warranty tax to top up what is a well-priced policy.

To add insult to it, I had a minor issue under warranty which Porsche acknowledged in a test drive, only to be told that the problem doesn’t exist because the computer didn’t detect it. Three trips at significant inconvenience later, it persisted.

Specialist had it identified in a few minutes. These folks have a working knowledge that ought to embarrass the main dealer ‘technicians’.

[Milnsey]

Twinfan said:

With moden oils and engines you'd be wasting your money, even my OPC says that. Even the track driving handbook that came with my 718 GT4 says to change the oil every 6k track miles, which is a lot!

Each to their own though

Recommended service intervals in USA are 12 months /10k miles though.
Presumably same oils and filter