718 2.0 PDK oil capacity?! - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Just had my 718 serviced (6 year service inc aux drive belt, brake fluid etc) at a local independent. Around half the cost of OPC quote. Costs are broken down by job so easy to identify where OPC’s are ripping us off. However, looking at the parts listed, I noticed oil 5.4 litres @ £54 plus VAT. Checked capacity and it’s 5.7 litres. Just checked my previous 2 & 4 year services at an OPC and they’ve been billing me for 8 litres @ £120 plus VAT - perhaps conveniently or a genuine error? In addition to that the 1 litre top-up @ £14.99 plus VAT then £3.99 plus VAT for the plastic Porsche branded pouch (I’ve never had to top up, ever so I’ve now got 3 top-ups! Of course Porsche will say “ah but it’s a fixed price so includes the oil irrespective of amount”. Some skullduggery going on methinks.

Not really, if an OPC quotes you £1000 (eg) for a 6 year service you can either pay it, shop around at other OPCs for a cheaper quote or go outside the network. Once you have left it with a garage and accepted their quote then you have no right to complain if they did the service they quoted for, whatever they print on a piece of paper makes no difference. I agreed a price, the correct service was done for that price how have I been ripped off? If you want to say Porsche are expensive cars to run I would agree with you, there are other cars you can buy that will cost less to run, your choice.

I think the point is why are you paying for 8 litres of oil when the capacity is less than 6 litres? Unless of course they then give you 2L unused that you won't need The only reason I'm at an OPC is beacuse of the extended warranty. If not I'd be using an independent to amongst other things pay less than half the Porsche labour rates.

I got around this by supplying my own oil in the correct quantity. Unfortunately not all OPCs will let you do this.

Armitage.Shanks said: I think the point is why are you paying for 8 litres of oil when the capacity is less than 6 litres? Unless of course they then give you 2L unused that you won't need That isn't how this works, if a garage quoted you £600 (eg) plus parts for a service then you can dispute how much oil you have been charged for. If they quote you an all in price then you can't, you got the service you asked for at the agreed price.

Did they leave a 1 litre bottle of oil in the front boot (often under the cover where the battery is)? If so that may be included in that charge unless itemised separately on the invoice.

981Boxess said: Not really, if an OPC quotes you £1000 (eg) for a 6 year service you can either pay it, shop around at other OPCs for a cheaper quote or go outside the network. Once you have left it with a garage and accepted their quote then you have no right to complain if they did the service they quoted for, whatever they print on a piece of paper makes no difference. I agreed a price, the correct service was done for that price how have I been ripped off? If you want to say Porsche are expensive cars to run I would agree with you, there are other cars you can buy that will cost less to run, your choice. My point is, yes I accepted the quote but surely they should state the actual amount of oil used (I think they’re still quoting the amount for the 6 cylinder models) so it seems a bit underhand to quote 8 litres instead of 5.7 litres especially at Porsche rates. In truth, I don’t actually consider Porsches to be that expensive to run (unless something serious goes wrong) - service every 2 years works out quite reasonable but I don’t like having my eyeballs taken out. I see your profile photo is a TVR Chimera - now that IS an expensive car to run - I know because I had one (2001 Chimera 450) - service every 12 months irrespective of mileage & always something extra to add on - regularly £1,000 a service and that was 20 years ago!

Voodoo Blue said: Did they leave a 1 litre bottle of oil in the front boot (often under the cover where the battery is)? If so that may be included in that charge unless itemised separately on the invoice. No, itemised separately & joined my other top-up bottle in the boot!

Boxster5 said: My point is, yes I accepted the quote but surely they should state the actual amount of oil used (I think they’re still quoting the amount for the 6 cylinder models) so it seems a bit underhand to quote 8 litres instead of 5.7 litres especially at Porsche rates. In truth, I don’t actually consider Porsches to be that expensive to run (unless something serious goes wrong) - service every 2 years works out quite reasonable but I don’t like having my eyeballs taken out. I see your profile photo is a TVR Chimera - now that IS an expensive car to run - I know because I had one (2001 Chimera 450) - service every 12 months irrespective of mileage & always something extra to add on - regularly £1,000 a service and that was 20 years ago! Lets forget VAT and exact numbers for the sake of debate, this is how any garage works, glass and chrome palace or under the arches. I the garage want to earn £400 for doing a particular job. I quote my customer £700 to do the job, knowing I will make £150 out of the parts and £250 on the labour. The quote is for £250 labour and £450 for parts. The customer then decides he wants to supply the parts himself because he can get them cheaper, I would then charge £400 labour instead. My point is it doesn't matter how you word it, the only thing that matters to the garage is their £400 because that is what doing that job is worth to them. Customers always expect garages to work for less than they do so keeping the labour down is an easier sell. If you can buy the parts cheap, great, they will still want their £400. So going back to the original point it doesn't matter what is written on the invoice, 10.00 litres, 5.76 Litres the only thing that matters to you is the number that appears on your CC statement, the only thing that matters to the garage is they get what they want for doing that particular job, no more, no less. I am sure if having the wrong amount printed on the invoice offends you get them to change it, but the price of the service won't change. A TVR costs peanuts to run compared to a Porsche if you are in the motor trade, can buy parts at cost and are capable of doing any work required yourself (the RV8 cars are very simple cars to work on). 18 years, never missed a beat, despite untold magazine reading experts always telling me how unreliable they are.