My Indy was a tech at a Porsche dealership before, and his place is clean and his equipment is up to par, including the PST2. He stresses on quality work, and will tell new customers that he is not cheap, just a little cheaper than the dealer, but he assures you of quality work.

So far he's been pretty good, so I'm happy for now.

 

I have no options. One indy here and that is it.

Aloha

Byron

 

I think it's more the case that in the back of our minds, we can show full paper work of maintence that's been done at an authorized dealership when it comes to sell the car.
Your indi shop is only as good as people around your area that knows them. Any mention of maintence done at a dealership tend to bring a faulse sense of a well done job.

 

In my case the dealer that now has the Porsche franchise in this area (just got that ~1-2 years ago?) was also the Mercedes franchise dealer in the area. If I had kept letting them service my Mercedes, the damn thing would have been worth it's weight in scrap metal at this point. Regardless of whether the service personnel there used the "official" service stamp or not, everything kept going downhill. Maybe things have changed because of new ownership, but I really don't want to be the Guinea pig for that experiment.

My independent, who was recommended by a friend, has taken that car under his wing and everything is working smoothly now. He has bought old Mercedes and Porsches, restored them and given them to his kids and uses others as daily drivers. When he inspected the car, he called some guy at Porsche with the first name of Eckhard (sp? in Atlanta?) to get the straight scoop on the car. I thought that was pretty funny. Either way, when he works on my cars the work gets done right.

 

whatever: That's true what you said.
But if the buyer were to look at an Indy's records and see that the car has been scheduled for regular maintenance, and whatever parts that has been replaced over the years, that should help too.

 

Porsche of Melbourne I assume? Boy am I glad I dont work there anymore! Although their one tech(Iforget his name) is Very good.

 

I definitely prefer the indy. Problem is he is so far away. Indy's have their livelihood on the line, dealers couldn't care less. There is always another customer around the corner.

 

The opinion of a dealer employed tech, for whatever it is worth. I for the life of me I cannot understand what kinds of things you guys have been through at your respective dealers. I will be the last guy to talk down on independent P-car shops, a lot of them actually really do know what they are doing, but I do have to say, the level of factory training that I have recieved has given me a familiarity with these cars that could not have been achieved any other way. Not to mention just being around other older more experienced techs, both at the dealer and at Porsche school. I would be very interested in knowing why there is such a bad taste in your mouths when it comes to dealers... Lack of trust? High prices? I try my best to get to know my customers and to treat them as I would want to be treated if I were leaving my pride and joy with a stranger.

Comments please,
Kevin Hines
Brandywine Porsche
Newtown Square, PA

 

LOL

 

Part of it might be the fact the the dealer tech's predominant diagosis of all problems is the MAF. Whether you have a flat tire, no gas in the car, bad plugs, etc, they always want to put in a new MAF. Then, after you spend $500+ and it does not correct the problem, they TRY something else. All expenses are covered by your wallet, whether the problem is fixed or not.

Or, maybe the fact that some people have experienced outright lies from their dealer. Like when you bring your car in for a service check and you get a call stating you need new brakes, even though a complete brake job was completed a month before.

BUT, like most other things in life, you have to be an educated consumer to keep from getting screwed. Unfortunately, the bad techs directly effect your reputation whether deserved or not.

 

i do basic maint myself...oil, filters, spark plugs, belts.

If dealer issues arise.....find a good indy (use your 6 speed friends for recommendations). I have had positive experience with both. selected indy for my suspension mainly because of price and scheduling.

indies can have their horror stories too.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...howtopic=13770

later

 

This whole topic is becoming silly. Lets face it guys there are bad stories on both ends. Find a place you trust and like and go with it. Everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect. Different people have different experiences. Just my .02 : )

 

Kevin Hines: With all due respect to you being a dealer technician.

I believe many times, it is not just the bad technicians with "couldn't care less" attitudes that give dealerships a bad name. Mostly it's the management and how they run business. Many dealerships are not honest with their customers, their No.1 goal is to make money, NOT customer service!

They tend to "Upsell" whenever you are in for something.
My past experiences with BMW and Porsche dealers include attempts to slit my throat, like:

Telling me all 4 brakes need immediate replacement when I was in for something else. I went to my Indy, he inspected and told me I had 40% fronts and 60% rears to go. And time proved my Indy right, in fact with way more to go than he diagnosed!

Dealer replacing part after part trying to track down a CEL, at my expense for the experimenting! When I disputed that, they told me those parts needed to be replaced anyway. It started with an oil separater, followed by the idle control valve, then a throtlle body, and finally the infamous MAF sensor! I say Bull****! (That was a BMW dealership)

Porsche couldn't program my new remote key to work with the car seat memory, told me the memory control module under my seat needs replacement. $1000 plus labor...and NO guarantee that it will solve the issue!? Yet my old remote key still works with the car seat memory, even if I change the seat memory, the old key still recognizes it. But the new key just won't. Eveytime it's unlocked, it sends the seat all the way back, and the seatback all the way down. I then went to my Indy, and he said he knows exactly what is wrong, he's been thru' that, the dealer didn't program the key right somehow, and he will reprogram it for me. (I have yet to schedule for that!) And for some reason, the dealer refuses to reprogram the key, they said that they were sure the programming was done correctly, yet the key doesn't work right. It only takes 30mins to reprogram the key and they just WON'T do it.

Well...I have a few more I'm sure, but these are just a few examples of my bad experiences to share. When a dealership is dishonest in the way they do business, it doesn't matter how good the technicians are. I stay away.

 

The 2nd part of your comments is true, I can agree with that.
The 1st line however...how is this topic becoming silly?? We are sharing our bad experiences at the dealerships with everyone here. I see you work for a dealership, but.....

The most important thing is, go to a place where the people are honest, and who do good quality work. If a dealership meets those criteria, I don't mind going to a dealership. But that is hard to find.

Also, the Porsche dealership here usually has a 2-week or longer wait to schedule an oil service. My Indy tries to accomodate me and usually gets me in within the week. The last time my car was stranded with all coolant lost, I called the dealer, they told me to bring it in in 2 weeks! So I'm supposed to flatbed the car back home, wait 2 weeks then flatbed it to the dealer??

I called my Indy, he was slammed that week. But becoz' it was an emergency, he said I could flatbed the car to his shop, eventhough he was full. Told me he can't promise me he'd get to work on it yet but I could leave the car at his place. He called me in 3 days, the car was fixed, and he even completed an annual service which I told him to do since the car was down there. Now that is customer service!

 

I would have to completely agree with all of you who have had bad experiences at dealers, for what ever reason. I believe as a tech as well as a customer you have to find someone whom you can trust to handle your needs. It is a fact that we as mechanics are one of the most distrusted professions (as long as we remain trusted more than politicians, I can deal with it) But I will say this, please be fair with the complaints, and don't discredit all of us because of a couple poorly handled situations. Dealers, as well as independants must realize that the customer is the number one most important aspect of doing business, it would make more sense to build a strong lasting working to benefit both parties (customers can be difficult at times too!) Maybe you guys could help me and give us some suggestions as to how we could make your experiences better, short of fixing your car for free, of course.