DIY or Indy?

Planning a few jobs for the new toy and I am coming to the conclusion that I am not the target customer for the local Indies I have spoken with or the market is different for Porsche compared with other older cars of my experience. A lot of the car seems to be well engineered and classic design but the rates seem to reflect the overheads and skills to support the later technology. I couldn't understand why all the Boxster lot I have met from the south use Revolution, but that was probably because nothing was needed in 3 years other than servicing. Do most of you on here use Indies or do the work yourself? I'm sure deMort if he has a 996 does the work himself

I think that depends massively on your ability and the job itself. I get my Indy to do an oil and filter so I have a stamp in the book, it also affords them an opportunity to look over the car bearing in mind how much more knowledge of this marque they will have. I did my brakes myself and I'll do the exhaust manifolds over winter but I think I need a cam chain tensioner (or three!!) and seen as it wants locking off properly I'll have them do that. I have a unit with a ramp and I can twirl the spanner's quite well and have numerous friends in the trade and engineering although I'm more used to motorcycles than anything else. I think when you sell buyers will want to see stamps in books with these cars I'm afraid. Water pumps are a good example. Dead easy and access is good but they need bleeding, it's a long run and therefore a pain in the arse unless you know some tricks. In conclusion i often say pick your battles with these cars.

I do a mix of both DIY and my local trusted mechanic. He is an Agriculture & Plant Engineer and has no "Porsche Specialist" knowledge. He charges £30/hr and does a darn finer job that has previously been done on the car by OPCs & Porsche Specialists. I'd only use a specialist for a specialist job, like retrofitting cruise control, etc. It's just a car so don't be fobbed off that only a Porsche expert can change the clutch or a faulty variocam solenoid.

I've done a few jobs myself, and have enjoyed learning about the car. This forum is a great resource. I still get routine servicing done by a well-respected Indy, partly should I ever want to sell, and also so I know someone else is having a good look over the car for issues I won't have spotted. It's also worth being realistic about what you can do if you don't have a lift, a comprehensive range of obscure tools and someone to help. When I see what guys like Mistercorn get up to, I know I'm very much beginner level!

I've done everything so far on my car, including new suspension, new AOS, new clutch, new brake lines, and loads of other stuff as well. If you're ok with the spanners and research teh jobs beforehand then DIY is entirely sensible. Having said that, I'll never take on the AOS again unless the engine is out of the car. That job was a total nightmare.

At this day in age, information is easy enough to find but in your keen but unsure, watch as many different videos as you can. Don't be afraid to ask on here. Some very good advice from some very sharp guys. Some of the rest of us are idiots :floor:

These cars are pretty well engineered and lots of the larger maintenance jobs you would expect of a 20 year old car are within the remit of a DIY owner. You will struggle with corroded fixings almost everywhere underneath the car. The access to the 911 is also pretty difficult unless you have a lift as most things are done from underneath. If you don't have a garage I'm not sure I would attempt too many tasks, although you might live somewhere less wet and windy than Scotland in which case driveway maintenance might be an option! You will also find that the first couple of jobs you do will cost you almost as much as taking it to an indy as you will be buying some tools and equipment to complete the task (unless you already have a stocked workshop). You will need axle stands, a head torch, a minimum of two torque wrenches, a breaker bar, a couple of socket sets, torx bits, lots of wobble bars and joints, channel locks, mole grips, blow torch, punches, etc. Then there is the penetrating oil, ally grease, stainless jubilee clips, etc. Lots of these are inexpensive by themselves but could easily add up to a few hundred or more if you buy all the tools new/at once. The positives, however, are that you will be able to source all the parts yourself and satisfy yourself of their adequacy and quality. If I was taking the car to an indy I wouldn't expect that they would be able to take the time to pick particular manufacturers for each part, they will take what they can get from their factors delivered same day. Ramp time is costly for them so unless you want them to order all the parts from the OPC (which is an decent if expensive option) the doing it yourself allows you control over this. You will also be able to take your time and fix all the other little bits and pieces around the job site that an indy would not touch as part of the job. You will spend as much time on the internet researching how to do a particular task as actually doing it! This forum is an excellent resource and the members are very helpful. Pelican Parts also have lots of good articles with photos. Here is a link to the Porsche Workshop manual for the 996: http://arma.free.fr/porsche/996/GT3/996 Group 0 General.pdf Finally, you will get to know your car well and owning it will be more pleasurable, for the simple reason that when something goes wrong you will be armed with the knowledge to fix - or at least diagnose - the problem yourself.

I too have been doing all the work on my car myself, including full suspension, RMS, IMS, water pump, etc. Actually not a bad vehicle to work on. My car had never been winter driven, so I don't have any of the corrosion issues some have mentioned, making it a treat. I've not had to use a torch on anything and hope to never have to. I enjoy the satisfaction that comes from DIY and understanding the car better. Tons of info out there, just take time to research before getting too deep.

As others have said, there are plenty of DIY bits that are not that difficult, just time consuming and I rather not pay an expert hourly rate to cut off/drill out rusted fixings (which is often the most difficuly part of the job. I use a local one man band indie who is very pragmatic for the servicing to maintain a record and also give me some comfort that I haven't missed something nasty and for bits that are beyind my ability, I am fortunate that it's not my main car so, if it takes me 4 weeks to do a job it doesn't really matter and I enjoy the problem solving as its very different from what I do at work.

Thanks for the response. I like the idea of splitting the work and being selective, particularly the servicing and inspection. For those that have changed their own suspension, what did you do with the geo/set-up please?

Funny as it may seem but i would get an Indy to fix my car if i had one ( Biker ) .. time off is precious these days It does sound like you have had issues with your local garages but either way you will get whatever advise you need from this forum for any diy work you wish to do . Workshop manual is here ... http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=83491

, plus I agree about time! Re experience, not issues but more caution. I am very impressed with everything about nine excellence having met with them and they kindly looked over my car for me. I had an unplanned look over/under the car last weekend, so had the impression it wasn't hiding to many nasties, which they thankfully confirmed. However, some of the charges were a surprise, but that is fine as they have impressive facilities and I know that has a cost, plus the skills and experience of the people. If they were on my door stop it would be a tougher decision but its a 2-3 hour round trip with the drop off any discussion etc and the same for collection and with what I want to do, I can probably do some of them myself and with the money saved, pay for the investigation of my SAS sensor.. :lol: