Hi All

My car has about 9000 miles now. I guess service is due at 10K miles.
Do you guys take it to the dealers or independent shops? Will going to a independent shop affect the warranty? How much should I expect to pay for dealer service compare to independent shop?

Finally, anyone in Chicago can recommend a good shop?

Thank you all in advance.

 

That is an age old and loaded question, but at 9000 miles all you really need is an oil and filter change. Thats pretty easy and I DIY all the basic stuff.
Oil Changes at my local dealer is about $185

~9 quarts of oil, 1 filter, 1 washer, + 30min of labor.
Its costs me less than $70 DIY.

You risk your warranty anytime an unauthorized person touches your car.
good luck.

 

"unauthorized" person meaning anyone other than the Porsche dealership?

 

For an oil change???

 

Yes, for any work not done at an authorized Porsche dealership there is some risk of warranty loss. I use the dealership until warranty expires then go to independent. Any risk of having warranty issues is too big a risk for the few $ saved.

 

yes. Case in point- my friend over torqued an oil drain plug on his 997. A leak ensued. His dealer would not warranty it so he had to pay for it out of pocket.

 

I guess that answered my question. I will stick with dealers till the warranty is out. Now I just have to figure out which dealer is the best in the area.

 

It costs around $400 for oil/filter change in NYC area for the 997.2. Not sure what they will charge for 991.... :-)

 

No danger of over torquing the filter or the drain plug...invest in a really good torque wrench, with care, they last forever because they are rarely used ... it's simple to use and set if it's a good wrench.

No risk here of losing warranty coverage south of the border....Magnuson-Moss
Warranty Act provides that generally, tie-in sales provisions are not allowed. Such a provision would require a purchaser of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product in order to be eligible to receive a remedy under the warranty.

Now, Canada...who knows eh?

I performed the massive 10000 service all by myself...it's an oil change.
I also performed most of the 20000 service too....cabin filters changed, wiper blade changed, oil and filter change....I did take it to the dealer for the PCM update and paid the a whopping $65 to complete the remainder of their warranty to do list...retorque suspension, sprinkle pixie dust on the wizzle winker, reset service light etc...they were happy to do it.

 

The voice of reason has spoken... Thank you..

 

The reason I started this thread is because I had an alignment done yesterday by an independent shop who charged me $98 when the dealer quoted me $299.

I will not be doing the maintenance on my own since I have no tool, no space for it. But if I could save 20-30% by taking it to a Independent Porsche Specialist without effecting the warranty, I definitely would do that.

 

Alignment is an interesting question. If you have an opportunity to look at the car while it is elevated on a lift you will see that there are a lot of alignment adjustment points and markings. As I recall, there is one prominent mark in the rear suspension.

If the alignment was out in my car (severely pulling, drifting or odd tire wear) I'd take it to the dealer to make certain that a suspension part has not failed and or has failed under warranty and I would bite the bullet on the cost of a dealer alignment if needed. I could not even guess how to align a 991 and am not really interested in finding out how...but, that's me.

(can you tell that I am too bored and tired to finish a brief I have been working on all day such that I am trolling my favorite site? then again, i answer only to the client and he's not around and I'm not billing him for this)

 

I usually do all routine maintenance myself after expiry of the factory warranty. Exception is the free service--and worth every penny!--offered by bmw and vw while under the factory warranty. For the 991--no free service, of course--I changed the oil/filter myself at about 3k mi, and then let the dealer take care of it at the 1 yr mark. Cost in the LA area is about $400, with beverly hills at $550 w/o a Porsche loaner!

BTW, the last "free" oil change on my Touareg TDI resulted in a puddle of fresh oil under the car the next mroning. Poped it up on my lift to discover that the tech "forgot" to use a new crush washer. So, to save a dime and 10 sec, he will now have to seek employment elsewhere. Free service indeed.

Spyder

 

I had H&R Springs installed 3 months ago but never aligned. After reading more threads about car lowering, I decided to do that. The mechanic said the rear wheel camber is off and he set it back to factory setting.
I definitely could tell a difference. I really can't describe it, but it is a good improvement.

 

i dont understand the $400-500 oil change. Given the cost of the parts, wheres the balance coming from? It takes me 30mins. Are they charging for 2hrs or more?