My Hartech story...........

When the Porsche Warranty expired on my 996 last year, as my car reached its 10th birthday, I wasn't sure what to do for the future. I didn't want to sell the car, but equally for all the mechanical reasons mentioned on this site was concerned about the financial risk of something major going wrong. It seemed to me that should the engine or gearbox go 'Poof', the OPC option was massively expensive, so the two other options that checked out for me were a rebuild by either Autofarm or Hartech – both of which appear to have a great reputation, but neither local to me. I felt that the balance was in favour of Hartech as they also promote a lifetime maintenance programme which provides standard annual maintenance and MOT for a fixed monthly cost. It also includes a warranty whereby should mechanical problems occur (there are some exclusions) the owner pays for the parts, Hartech fund the labour – which seemed like a reasonable compromise from my point of view. To get onto this scheme the car goes through their Gold service, which is basically a Porsche specified service plus lots of other checks. For example cylinder pressures, brake disc thickness, etc – the report runs to six pages. At the end of this you have the option of putting things right (should they be wrong) or having that item excluded from the maintenance programme. In my case I chose to have some work done, which was quickly priced and as it was stuff that is commonly required on 996's at this age, I was aware of the likely charges and it came well within this. What I liked about this aspect of the programme is that they have a tremendous incentive to be thorough - if they get it wrong they could be covering current faults which they then have to provide the labour to put right under their maintenance programme! You also get a very comprehensive written report which would be helpful should anyone wish to sell the car and it wouldn't be a bad way of getting a car inspected for purchase either (should the car require a service at that point). The added bonus being that you get a full report, annual service and access to the scheme should you wish at a reasonable price? So, the final thing to crack was how to do it as they are 200 miles from where I live! So I planned a driving holiday to Scotland, as Bolton was pretty much on the way. They have an arrangement with Enterprise, so 'Starship' KA was booked at £15.00 per day + VAT. The original sensible plan was to drop my 996 off on the way up, pick up the hire car and then swap back on the way home a week later. Then I thought about open Scottish roads, so I decided to swap over on the way home, which meant a 400 mile round trip to pick my car up – but 1,400 miles in Scotland with the sunshine, clear roads and hood down made it all worthwhile (although there are some horrendous potholes – especially on Skye, so you really have to watch out). The two people that helped me there are Grant and Tobias who are both knowledgeable, enthusiastic and refreshingly down to earth. This is an organisation where skills reigns over frills, so the teas in a mug, rather than bone china, the premises are workmanlike (and very secure) rather than palatial - the emphasis is very much on a passion for engineering. So I suspect that if Fred Dibnah (GRHS) had owned a Porsche, rather than Traction Engine, he would have been a customer! On the way home the car ran brilliantly, so I'm confident that the utmost has been done to ensure a year's trouble free motoring ahead with the added comfort of knowing that should the worst happen I'll be well looked after. With hindsight the only thing I would have done differently is to enter the scheme at a time when my car required a major service, (which it had last year), rather than a minor one. Thank you Hartech – great job. Sorry this post is so long, but hopefully it shows that we can own 996's and spend more time enjoying them than worrying about them! Regards Jonathan

Great company. Great people. :thumb:

Nice post I enjoyed reading that Food for thought

Good post - thanks for taking the time to write it up! :thumb: