Porsche Parts Tax

[pattyg]

I’m more than aware that servicing your car and buying official Porsche parts is going to mean you pay a bit more. I’m usually ok paying the Porsche tax knowing I’m keeping the car OEM whether it be suspension parts or service kits for my old Boxster.

However, I do have limits and £1,997.60 including VAT for an alternator (part only) is taking the proverbial. As a comparison £514 for a new Bosch part fitted at my local garage. Probably nudging £2.5k to get it fitted at a OPC. Who pays these prices?

Edited by pattyg on Tuesday 21st May 20:08

[phazed]

Fluck me! That is criminal.

Recently paid £138 for a plastic oil breather pipe. Ridiculous.

[2ono]

On the flip side of this, I called up my local OPC parts dept, as I had broken a trim piece on my 911, told them what it was, explained could I order part for both sides as I will no doubt break that one as well, guy in parts dept said 'No problem sir, let me have your address and I will send them out for free, thanks for your customer loyalty', nearly dropped my phone in shock.

[Oz83]

On the plus side you could have a broken front diff on a 997.1 Turbo.
Can't be rebuilt. Can't buy parts. Complete diff assembly only. Take your chance with a used item or buy a new one from Porsche. £8367 + VAT.

[Slippydiff]

Oz83 said:

On the plus side you could have a broken front diff on a 997.1 Turbo.
Can't be rebuilt. Can't buy parts. Complete diff assembly only. Take your chance with a used item or buy a new one from Porsche. £8367 + VAT.

That's pocket change ^
A replacement Ferrari FF front gearbox (PTU) for the 4WD system works out at three and half times that. And better still, it'll have exactly the same issues/weaknesses as the one that failed ...

[Snowy999]

I blew my Cayman diff up last month.

Either £6.5k for a refurb on exchange or £10.5k for a new one. Can't buy a diff, can't buy an input shaft or output....

But I would get my PCGB discount....and they could have either with me in 3-4 days.

Clutch slave cylinder has a huge premium on it too.

I have bought lots of small parts from West London parts dept they match Design911 pricing (I've had good service from them too) for original parts and turn round is v fast.

R

[Hoofy]

Yikes.. How do you break a diff?

[jeebsy]

My wheel centre caps are starting to look a bit tatty - £160 for four tiny plastic circles is really testing me.

[ChrisW.]

Snowy999 said:

I blew my Cayman diff up last month.

Either £6.5k for a refurb on exchange or £10.5k for a new one. Can't buy a diff, can't buy an input shaft or output....

But I would get my PCGB discount....and they could have either with me in 3-4 days.

Clutch slave cylinder has a huge premium on it too.

I have bought lots of small parts from West London parts dept they match Design911 pricing (I've had good service from them too) for original parts and turn round is v fast.

R

R ... PM me ?

[Rusty Old-Banger]

Are any of these major components shared parts with other cars? I know on smaller items you can find replacements elsewhere - on my 996, the headlight switch is about £290, or you can get one for a mid-2000's Merc E-class (Not VAG, surprisingly) for £60.

[Snowy999]

The gearbox is from a FWD Audi. Blew diff doing pre-start tyre warm at a hill climb. No bang just no drive. RPM is installing an uprated LSD from DEMAN in the US.

[Schuey_911]

Got quoted £800 for a starter motor on my 986.2 Boxster by my OPC!

Got a brand new Bosch part instead from eBay for £200 and fitted it with the help of my neighbour mechanic.

[andye30m3]

I gave up on Porsche when they quoted £1k to change the oil in my 996.

I would tend to buy parts from reputable manufacturers, ideally the original suppliers, seem to recall on the BMW's if you buy lemforder suspension parts you can often see where they've removed the BMW stamp so that they can sell through other sources.

[Hoofy]

Snowy999 said:

The gearbox is from a FWD Audi. Blew diff doing pre-start tyre warm at a hill climb. No bang just no drive. RPM is installing an uprated LSD from DEMAN in the US.

Oh right, wondered if it was "out of the normal" driving. How much was the new LSD and how does it feel compared to the old one?

[Snowy999]

RPM fitting it at the mo'. Ill report back in a couple of weeks after its done its first competition.

As ever with mods, the benefit will probably 'disappear' after the first few times if using it.

But if the times improve, well that will be nice.

[Hoofy]

Snowy999 said:

RPM fitting it at the mo'. Ill report back in a couple of weeks after its done its first competition.

As ever with mods, the benefit will probably 'disappear' after the first few times if using it.

But if the times improve, well that will be nice.

[ChrisW.]

Snowy999 said:

RPM fitting it at the mo'. Ill report back in a couple of weeks after its done its first competition.

As ever with mods, the benefit will probably 'disappear' after the first few times if using it.

But if the times improve, well that will be nice.

[Oz83]

Slippydiff said:

Oz83 said:

On the plus side you could have a broken front diff on a 997.1 Turbo.
Can't be rebuilt. Can't buy parts. Complete diff assembly only. Take your chance with a used item or buy a new one from Porsche. £8367 + VAT.

That's pocket change ^
A replacement Ferrari FF front gearbox (PTU) for the 4WD system works out at three and half times that. And better still, it'll have exactly the same issues/weaknesses as the one that failed ...

Ouch! I can’t remember the price of a new FF, but I guess the pricing is in line with the cost of the cars.

[Mogul]

You may find that all your alternator needs is a new voltage regulator - a £25 part… (here’s one example - you’d need to check which one you need).

I repaired my 986 alternator with something similar and it although it wasn’t an easy driveway fix, the £2k saving vs. what my local Swiss OPC would have charged for a replacement was similarly eye watering..

[ATM]

Mogul said:

You may find that all your alternator needs is a new voltage regulator - a £25 part

996 alternator
Refurbed for 120 quid
A local refurb place found using Google Maps
Just prefer fixing instead of throwing away and buying new

I asked about refurbishing the starter also but they said no it's cheaper to buy a pattern starter so the old was thrown away

I also replaced the Y cable
Purchased part from OPC
That could probably be fixed easily with just new heavy gauge copper wire - that isn't cheap nowadays if you look on ebay