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What are the going rates for the 2 year service? Have had my car now for 2 years (9600 miles) and I got the notice that it's time for interim service. Got quote 1100 from BH and 975 from Downtown Porsche Is this really how much they go for? BH said they would match Downtown but still feel like it's pretty excessive.

Thoughts or recommendations for places in LA to do this? thanks in advance

 

Regardless of how many years it is simply a 10000 mile service... I'm sure they might try convince you there are other things you need in addition to the basic 10000 mile service (which is oil and filter)... Maybe the cabin and intake filters but that's ridiculous if you only have 10k miles... How dirty those are is based on how much you drive anyway...

So I'd pay no more than a 10k service which is going to range from 250 to 400 depending on your dealer..

 

Since I don't want to start a whole new thread, would I be fine opting for only oil change and filters for my 2 year service? My car is a garage queen with less than 4000 miles and I really don't think flushing the brake lines is needed.
Not trying to be cheap, just trying to be sensible.

 

Scatkins is right. I did the 2 year on mine a couple of months ago and paid $411 including a brake flush. I did not change the cabin air filters.

ChuckJ

 

Personally I wouldn't flush the brake lines on this new of a car..

My opinion (and I've debated it with others on the forum in the past who think I'm dead wrong) is that for a street driven car that operates in mild environments flushing the brake lines at low mileage and age has little practical value. I'm ONLY talking for those who aren't pushing the brakes hard (trackers, living in harsh environments). For me I wouldn't do something like this until around 5 years or so.. And definitely not for a garage queen.

Don't really want to debate that issue here again with anyone.. but people will tell you (and they are correct) that moisture accumulates into the brake fluid etc over time which has the effect of corroding system out etc.. This tends to be more significant in more harsh, humid and wet environments.

In either case, this is something that happens over a long period of time.. i,e, years. So it goes along with the philosophy of a lot of maintenance that it helps the guy out who owns your car when it is 10+ years old..

I look at it more practically, in that changing the brake fluid is something that I would start considering about the time I replace the brakes or after a few years whichever comes first. For a conservatively driven car with low mileage and time it's a waste of money.

 

It would help if you itemized what it is BH and DP are charging you for.... that does sound excessive for the "standard" 10k service (which as others have pointed-out is all you need) but then you don't indicate what it is they said they would do for that price. Could be they have something extra going-on in there for you Southern Californians or something.... do the dealers know you only have 10k miles on the thing? And more importantly, why you aren't driving it more? There ya go -- maybe the extra charge is for removing the cobwebs and stuff that has built-up from not driving enough!

 

Maybe go to Walters Porsche and get the 10K done there?

They charged me $290 when I brought it in.

 

I paid around 300 for my 10k visit and did not get a brake flush done, sounds very excessive in cost. Find out what they are doing for that price.

 

And this is the problem with the Internet. Anyone can write whatever they want, and it is presumably given the same weight as advice from someone more knowledgeable. Even when it's totally, absolutely wrong.

We don't have to get into a debate here since apparently you've already been down that road. I'll just say that:

1) Porsche recommends it every two years, so that should be enough justification for doing it.
2) Brake fluid is hygroscopic. Regardless of the useage of the car or if it's stored in a air conditioned bubble, the fluid will absorb moisture from the air. This is bad and will eventually rust the components. This is science, not speculation.

People forget (or don't realize) that the master cylinder reservoir is not a sealed unit.

Anywho... back to the OP, yes, those prices seem high. I would suggest that you learn to DIY, or if not inclined to do that, find a good independent shop. Doing it yourself or having a shop do it will not void your warranty. You just need to keep the receipts to prove that it was done, should you ever have an issue later.

 

I'm pretty sure every car manufacturer recommends brake fluid flushes every 2 years and have for as long as I can remember.

 

You are right anyone can write things on the internet, and they can also be short sighted.. ... and given the same weight.

No it isn't about forgetting or ignorance of the properties of brake fluid and the brake system, it is because I don't care...

Porsche recommends it as is the case with most lubrication and fluid oriented things to get the maximum life possible of the components. It feeds their dealers revenue and it is also in their best interest to have their products last as long as possible from a brand perspective especially when it costs them nothing to do so since the customer foots the bill.

If you care about the maximum life then you should absolutely follow it to the letter.

For something like brake fluid, you are absolutely right it absorbs some moisture, especially in an environment that is more humid. The point was it is a long term cumulative process before the components degrade and takes many years. And for the most part there is little difference in that regard between a 911 and a Toyota Camry.

Personally, I don't care what happens to the brake system when the car is 15 years old. I also don't care if the engine rings are shot and the cylinders scored.. I only care how it operates and performs up until the time when I sell it which will be around 5 or 6 years. Not everyone feels the same way, and I state it only as my own opinion based on my personal experience.

That is my perspective based on my experience both owning and working on them for 40 years..

Other's experience may be different which is why I state it with a disclaimer that you may not agree. However you will be hard pressed to find cases where deferring this kind of maintenance for street driven cars had any impact until after many years and are at high mileage.. That's the point..

 

Skatkins, I read a lot of your stuff here and I respect what you write about - you seem to be right on the money most the time but I have to side with mjb on the brake fluid (Beemerguy) thing and let me tell you why....

As that brake fluid pulls in moisture, it degrades the performance of the braking system. While I don't have the exact numbers and am not going to look them up, let's say for the sake of this discussion that the Porsche braking system is good for 500 degrees in stock form and a fresh fluid change. Anything over that and the fluid will boil, and when it does, your brakes are gone, baby, gone. Now, over two years time that brake fluid will have lost say 100 degress of use and now boils at 400 degrees. Another two years after that and its at 325 degrees - you get the point.

This is not a big deal for street driving and commuting, or for garage queens that only go to the winery on Sundays. But if you get the car wicked up - and Porsches are made with that in mind - you may very well exceed those temps on a track day or even some aggressive canyon driving. Once your brakes boil, its done - the pedal goes to the floor and you have nothing....and that usually means a crash. So the question becomes are you willing to accept risk combined with how you drive your car. If I'm doing track events, I change my brake fluid every 6 months. On my street cars and motorcycles every two years religiously. On my wife's SUV and my pickup truck I get lazy and do hers about every three years. It's so easy to do, too.... I use a small air compressor dialed down to 25 psi, but an adaptor cap on the Master Cylinder then hook up the air hose to maintain pressure on the M/C and can do all four wheels in 15 minutes once the wheels are pulled off the car. Easy, 1-man job.

The water will rust the brake system internals over time as well - and I do care about that because when I sell a vehicle I have a reputation of them being right and straight and up to date, and i dont' want to sell to anyone with a possibly rusty brake system that could fail. That's not what you do. But the main reason I change the brake fluids is I don't want to boil over when I'm out there playing hard with my car or my motorcycles....I want the brakes to work 100 % of the time in all the situations I put the car in.

Hope that helps clarify....

 

Dr. Collie you have very valid points and I do agree with much of what both and as well Beemerguy said.

What I failed to adequately say was that for track or aggressive use it is much more critical especially in a more humid environment. For brakes, typically I would still bleed them every year or so even if I didn't replace the fluid in it's entirety. I think however the point is about what happens at high temps and yeah the boiling point could indeed become an issue at extreme use or for example if I frequented mountain roads and grades. It is more a matter of how the car is used in my mind. I'm not completely convinced at how quickly the brake fluid is contaminated, my suspicions are it happens much slower than say two years, but I will admit I have always lived in a warm dry environment and thus I don't see the corrosion/rust or experience the effects of a softer pedal in aggressive conditions.

I think it however it is all a matter of degree... for a mildly used DD, and I'm guessing it isn't necessarily represented by the forums, but I'm pretty sure the majority of Porsches are DD'd and driven rather conservatively.. And that is really where in general my comments tend to be aimed when it comes to recurring maintenance. For me I tend to do all of my own maintenance because it is my baby and cost is not a limiting factor so I tend do things at much more frequent than recommended intervals.

I hold similar opinions with tires as well. Patching a tire for me is fine for DD use, but if I'm tracking or doing a lot of high speed driving then I'd be more apt to replace.

I'm never going to say that following an OEMs recommendations are wrong. It just not always black and white....

 

I just ordered one of these, I'm going to try it out and monitor over time how much degradation in the fluid there really is....without a measuring device of some kind none of us really know - we're all just guessing. This is pretty cool and doesn't cost a lot. Appears like it will do the trick.

 

Sounds like a great idea, drcollie. Please share your experience with the device.