So I got a call from my service guy at Porsche. They have my 2012 CTT in right now for the 1yr maintenance along with some fixes to the wheels (which is covered when I bought the wheel protection... totally worth it IMO right now). So while the guy was investigating the wheels for them to claim it with the insurance, he noticed that my inner sides of the rubber on the tires is 1mm smaller than the outsides. He's says that this can be fixed and extend the life of the tires if I get an alignment. His original alignment cost was $280, but then when I balked at the price for an alignment, he brought it down to $199. This is a 1yr old vehicle, is this something I should go ahead and do or do you think I shouldn't do it and just a dealer ploy to get some more money? The tires (which he is replacing one of them through the insurance) is about $500/tire. So, it might make sense in doing. I just don't want to be cheap on such an expensive vehicle, but if he's gouging me for no reason, then I'd much rather not waste my money. It's more principle than anything. What do you guys think?

 

Not sure I understand why you got an alignment on a new car. Usually the factory does a good job when it's built. Frequency of alignment depends on the type of roads you drive on, if you have hit any pot holes, etc. it's best to check you tires periodically for uneven wear & get them aligned when needed. Once per tire change (10,000 miles) or ever other tires change is not unusual depending conditions.

I don't know if CTT wheels are set up in such that you get the type of wear you are seeing or not. High performance cars are often set with positive or negative camber which could cause the wear pattern you are seeing.

Ask a dealer or tire shop you can trust.

 

It is a known fact that many Porsche's come off the line needing an alignment.
Which was the case for my carerra s and Cayenne.
Cayenne wasnt off by much, but still needed an alignment.

 

Interesting - have not experienced that problem with my cars, but good to know. Might be the handling to the port and from the port? These assembly are so automated today that quality is much better than in the good "old" days.

In any event, even at $200+, it's worth having good alignment, the car will handle much better and you won't burn up $2000 worth of tires early. The price Porsche dealers charge is high, especially if there is only minor or no adjustment necessary. Part of the overhead of dealing with Porsche dealers.

 

Ok, this is the type of info I was looking for. I did not know this.

Yeah, this is why I balked at first. $280 for an alignment seemed very high, but I realize it is the dealer so you will get taken for no matter what. He did reduce it down to $200 so that's better. I'll see if I can bring it down any further.

 

So, the service guy called me today since my tire is in now and asked me if I wanted to do the service. He said that the $200 was his special discount rate already, but would ask his boss if he could do $179 and if he could, would I do it. I said yes. LOL. These guys have so much margin it's unbelievable. He could go down to $100 I bet and still make lots of money.

 

The Porsche dealers in our area are definitely high cost guys - especially the bigger dealers such as a Penske dealership in my area. They send sales guys all over the world for model introduction, i.e., going to South Africa late last Fall/Winter to South Africa. Someone has to pay ... on the other hand, the facilities are very nice, it's a pleasure to go there and both the sales and service guys are well trained. Tough balancing act.

 

No. 92: Just curious, which dealer is this?

 

It's in Nor Cal. I think I'll refrain from saying who so I don't get anyone in trouble. They ended up doing a great job and gave me the discounted rate for the alignment so I'm pretty happy with the service.