4th / 8 year 981 service - Page 5 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I’ve a 2015 981 Boxster I purchased this summer which has only done 12k miles. It’s had 3 main dealer services and is due its 4th early next year. Would you keep going with main dealer or go Indy at this point? Can anybody suggest an Indy in Wales or Bristol area - have used Northway previously but I’m now 200 miles west of there….

Given the minimal price difference, and the benefit of a full book, I'd go OPC for servicing. But use Indys for repairs.

And consider introduce a yearly oil change and inspect like many of us do, two years is a long time if you are using it

With moden oils and engines you'd be wasting your money, even my OPC says that. Even the track driving handbook that came with my 718 GT4 says to change the oil every 6k track miles, which is a lot! Each to their own though

Main dealer if you're keeping it in warranty, otherwise compare the quotes. I would be amazed if the main dealer cost anywhere near an independent. As an example I paid £1,200 earlier this year for the six year service at a main dealer. An independent would have been around £360...

Hi, I’m near Bristol and have been a happy customer of Cotswold Porsche Specialists the past 6 or 7 years, he has enough space to work remotely for the day, or you book ahead for a courtesy car.

Many upsides of using your/an OPC for servicing not just maintaining a much better residual value ££ on your p and j, cast iron warranty, free quality loan car and maintaining a decent relatiinship with them and brownie points for future car allocations if that interests you. Indies clearly have their advantages for older cars but for the sake of saving a few hundred quid together with all the obvious advantages the OPC route for your car with FOPC history to date really is a no brainer tbh. Most OPCs will negotiate on price too they want your business so as usual barter hard.

That'll be a plug service (every 4yrs) so costs will mount up at OPC. In warranty? Then OPC is your only option. If not go with a good value independent after trying to negotiate a better price with OPC if the costs don't stack up

If you go down the Indy route then Chris Denning in Cardiff is excellent.

anonymous said: [redacted] Sorry but £1200 v £360 doesn’t sound right to me and nothing like my experience. OPC was £960 and Indy was £800. (6 year)

Twinfan said: Given the minimal price difference, and the benefit of a full book, I'd go OPC for servicing. But use Indys for repairs. +1

av185 said: Many upsides of using your/an OPC for servicing not just maintaining a much better residual value ££ on your p and j, cast iron warranty, free quality loan car and maintaining a decent relatiinship with them and brownie points for future car allocations if that interests you. Indies clearly have their advantages for older cars but for the sake of saving a few hundred quid together with all the obvious advantages the OPC route for your car with FOPC history to date really is a no brainer tbh. Most OPCs will negotiate on price too they want your business so as usual barter hard. Wise words

anonymous said: [redacted] Further north here, but revolution, Strasse, rpm specialists all charge in the mid-late 400s for a major. In the south east, the gap may be small, but up here, there’s a wild disparity between OPC and (very good) specialists.

981SPYGANG said: Sorry but £1200 v £360 doesn’t sound right to me and nothing like my experience. OPC was £960 and Indy was £800. (6 year) You need to try another Indy, these guys also do the major (4/8 yr) service with plugs for £455 vs £875 on the old Porsche fixed price scheme. The Porsche tax is considerable around here; I'm running warranty so phoned around a good few OPCs, some of the Porsche owned ones were utterly ludicrous quite frankly.

Twinfan said: With moden oils and engines you'd be wasting your money, even my OPC says that. Even the track driving handbook that came with my 718 GT4 says to change the oil every 6k track miles, which is a lot! Each to their own though I went to take mine for an interim oil change and got told the same by a well-regarded Indy.

My 981S 8 year Major service with plugs was £732 at Cameron Porsche indy 12 months ago. It was its first service outside OPC network and this price included replacing a sheared brake caliper nipple which I suspect was due to OPCs only bleeding fluid through one nipple on each caliper in previous services. My previous Porsches with OPC history have all shown signs of only one nipple having been opened since new, which is poor practice. My OPC had quoted £1175 just for the service and wouldn't negotiate. Oh, and Cameron reported the discs as only 50% and 30% worn - two years after my OPC claimed they were all down to minimum thickness and needed immediate replacement at the Minor service two years before........ Cameron are 5 mins from M4 J18. Edited by DRH986 on Friday 28th October 09:11

anonymous said: [redacted] Watching OPCs relentlessly hiking their prices at every opportunity will probably help To be fair, it makes good business sense. My 2 closest OPCs are swamped with work, so it can’t be putting too many off.

jimbo761 said: As an example I paid £1,200 earlier this year for the six year service at a main dealer. An independent would have been around £360... I doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts. To the OP - it depends on whether you want to go down the warranty extension route or not, if you are then you have little choice but shopping around won't hurt. I have stuck with the OPC/warranty route, it costs more but not as much more as some would suggest for the same work.

981Boxess said: doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts. My closest 2 specialists (RPM Specialist Cars & Revolution Porsche) charge 80 for the oil (your choice - Mobil 1 or Shell Helix Ultra - both Porsche approved) and 20 for the filter. Sealing ring is about a quid fifty. You can source it even cheaper, if you care. It won’t be costing the OPC more than that, so paying 700 quid in labour (which is what OPCs do) to change the oil and filter, which in itself is about 0.5 labour hours, and give the car a very brief once-over, is frankly nothing more than a vast warranty tax to top up what is a well-priced policy. To add insult to it, I had a minor issue under warranty which Porsche acknowledged in a test drive, only to be told that the problem doesn’t exist because the computer didn’t detect it. Three trips at significant inconvenience later, it persisted. Specialist had it identified in a few minutes. These folks have a working knowledge that ought to embarrass the main dealer ‘technicians’.

Twinfan said: With moden oils and engines you'd be wasting your money, even my OPC says that. Even the track driving handbook that came with my 718 GT4 says to change the oil every 6k track miles, which is a lot! Each to their own though Recommended service intervals in USA are 12 months /10k miles though. Presumably same oils and filter

Royal Jelly said: 981Boxess said: I doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts. My closest 2 specialists (RPM Specialist Cars & Revolution Porsche) charge 80 for the oil (your choice - Mobil 1 or Shell Helix Ultra - both Porsche approved) and 20 for the filter. Sealing ring is about a quid fifty. You can source it even cheaper, if you care. It won’t be costing the OPC more than that, so paying 700 quid in labour (which is what OPCs do) to change the oil and filter, which in itself is about 0.5 labour hours, and give the car a very brief once-over, is frankly nothing more than a vast warranty tax to top up what is a well-priced policy. Reading and understanding what someone has posted would be a good start. I have commented on the cost of a 6 year service and the £1200 v £360 suggested price difference at an indy. You clearly don't know what is included in a 6 year service if you think it is just an oil/filter change.

Our 981 Cayman had its 6 year service done last year and as its on extended warranty it had to be done at an OPC. The service required the usual stuff plus brake fluid and spark plugs as the car is low mileage and they didn't need changing at 4 years. Our closest OPC quoted nearly £1800 all in which I thought was pretty steep compared to the cost of previous services on this and other Porsches we have so decided to ring around for quotes. In short, another OPC 30 miles away quoted £500 less for the same work and it was booked in on the spot. Bizarrely, our Macan had its 4 year service this year and the closest OPC was £20 cheaper

Judging by your servicing quotes there's a reason why the extended warranty premium looks such good value...

981Boxess said: Royal Jelly said: 981Boxess said: I doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts. My closest 2 specialists (RPM Specialist Cars & Revolution Porsche) charge 80 for the oil (your choice - Mobil 1 or Shell Helix Ultra - both Porsche approved) and 20 for the filter. Sealing ring is about a quid fifty. You can source it even cheaper, if you care. It won’t be costing the OPC more than that, so paying 700 quid in labour (which is what OPCs do) to change the oil and filter, which in itself is about 0.5 labour hours, and give the car a very brief once-over, is frankly nothing more than a vast warranty tax to top up what is a well-priced policy. Reading and understanding what someone has posted would be a good start. I have commented on the cost of a 6 year service and the £1200 v £360 suggested price difference at an indy. You clearly don't know what is included in a 6 year service if you think it is just an oil/filter change. Seems quite clear what you said, which I found amusing: The retail cost of the oil and ‘all’ the filters wouldn’t be far off 360 quid. Absolute tripe. Do enlighten me which part of your statement I misunderstood. Perhaps embolden the part of your response (quoted herewith) that I’ve clearly got so confused about. Would you like me to include the price of a pollen filter? Is that it? I’m acutely aware of the 6 year service details, having just had it done, thank you. The work order was identical to an OPC, and it was 300 including VAT. Don’t pretend you’re not having your eyes gouged out by OPC routine servicing carried out by fresh-faced technicians with just about enough knowledge to pull up fault codes. Even OPC rates were close to half of todays prices not long ago. Edited by Royal Jelly on Friday 28th October 19:35

Royal Jelly said: I’m acutely aware of the 6 year service details, having just had it done, thank you. The work order was identical to an OPC, and it was 300 including VAT. I am sure there are many reading this that would be happy to learn from you, what exactly did you get done for your 6 year service for the £300 inc vat? Feel free to list the genuine parts supplied too.

981Boxess said: am sure there are many reading this that would be happy to learn from you, what exactly did you get done for your 6 year service for the £300 inc vat? Feel free to list the genuine parts supplied too. So, did you or did you not say that the oil and filters would be not far off £360? A simple yes or no, please. I’ll gladly take a photo of the invoice with part numbers when I get back to my car. Don’t worry your little head about it too much - it was identical to the 6 year service at the OPC. Oil & filter, pollen filter, underside/engine bay/general check of numerous items (drive shafts, axles, hoses, fluids, leaks, electrics, tyres & brakes, clean out vents & intakes, steering system, fault code analysis etc). Test drive. All using Porsche genuine parts, as all of the decent independents do. Feel free to call them for further info. Revolution Porsche, Birstall. Anyhow, please answer my question. Edited by Royal Jelly on Saturday 29th October 09:38

Royal Jelly said: So, did you or did you not say that the oil and filters would be not far off £360? A simple yes or no, please. I’ll gladly take a photo of the invoice with part numbers when I get back to my car. Don’t worry your little head about it too much - it was identical to the 6 year service at the OPC. I said the retail prices, can you not read, have another go, eventually you will get all the words posted, take note that after the word filter there is also an "S" you probably missed that too. 981Boxess said: I doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts. Since you clearly know nothing about how the motor game works and I have decades of experience in it there is a difference between Retail price, Trade price and Cost price. I said the retail price, not the Halfords retail price, not the Eurocarpart retail price, the Porsche retail price. Lets not worry too much about my "little head", lets worry more about the fact I am trying to debate something with a complete moron who cannot even understand what he reads but is desperate to try and look clever. Feel free to raise you game insult level wise I am just warming up and have plenty of levels to go.

Sorry to interrupt the fight! That’s a hideous OPC quote for a minor service. 12 months ago my 991 Carrera S was about £600 for a minor. It is worth shopping around the OPC’s though. There was a good £200 spread in prices

Boardingnath said: Sorry to interrupt the fight! That’s a hideous OPC quote for a minor service. 12 months ago my 991 Carrera S was about £600 for a minor. It is worth shopping around the OPC’s though. There was a good £200 spread in prices The 8 year in question is a major with plugs. I’ve now been quoted £1250-£1800 by opc’s Design 911 offer 10L mobile 1, all OE (spark plugs, all air and oil filters, sump plug and ring) for £220 so it’s a hell of a mark up.

bennno said: Design 911 offer 10L mobile 1, all OE (spark plugs, all air and oil filters, sump plug and ring) for £220 so it’s a hell of a mark up. You can save a few quid by supplying the oil, but once you go past that with parts supply you could potentially become responsible for any failure. If you buy from an OPC parts department, no problem, but no cheaper, but once you go outside that, even buying identical parts you are leaving yourself open to the "you supplied the part sir" over to you get out. Unfortunately if you want to keep the warranty running you are stuck with paying more at an OPC for servicing, but shopping around or knowing someone with a trade account helps. But when you come to sell a car with full OPC history/warranty it will be an easier sell and for more money, something worth keeping in mind.

The value of main dealer stamps in lets face it mainstream cars which arguably boxsters are , diminishes with time .More so if the modal has been leapfrogged by newer .The later still sought after and mostly in the dealer net work . I would have thought the 981 desirability is low at the mo , “ last yrs modal “ etc and the gen economic down turn .There’s just not enough buyers and that numbers shrinking every week in the current approaching winter market . So the few that do shift will be on price .Price only . A miss mash of stamps weather OPC or Indy’s like RPM in a 7-9 yr old car ain’t gonna make one iota of difference . I am not getting a main dealer book full of stamps is any extra value and the difference in terms of ownership costs at the end of the day will not be recovered in the final sale price by the few buyers out there . WBAC only knock off £250 for partial histories.Not that RPM is partial i an talking self service ( with supporting parts invoicing ) . WBAC reflects the market the “ring “ values to the trade . Obviously a 26 month old GT4 ( current shaper ) needs that stamp to trade it back in and is remember still under warranty……apples and pears .So the financial hit for not perusing it , sways the punter into the OPC s . Also against the 981 is the 987.2 cars , substantially less tens of thousands less arguably more pure in terms of steering ( none electric ) and digging deeper the 2.9 bases none DFI means one less risk going Fwds .The 987 s are physically smaller as well . So putting all together I don’t see any advantage ( none OPC warranty aside ) of the OPC stamps for early 981 s in a low buyer market .You are wasting your money you will never get that difference in cost from OPC vs Indy back at sale today or the foreseeable future . Colour price and spec first , stamps 2 nd .

RPM do the minor for £282, the major for £380, plugs £140, aux belt £75 and brake fluid £65. Oil and filter is £175. https://www.rpmspecialistcars.co.uk/service/porsch...

Interesting question . Which is better a 2 yr lub change at an OPC assuming under 20 K miles intervals or …………………..A wad of invoices from an Indy for lub changes every 5 K ( same Mob 1 oil btw ) Plus records of additional stuff like “ remove , clean , inspect brake pads , grease the caliper and pad friction points ,the pins and pad holes replace to prevent inner piston sticking “ “ remove fromt bumper clean out debris from radiators and AC condensers apply anti corrosion to them refit bumper , clean up brake pipes “ “ clean and inspect front cooling pipes connections , apply waxoil “ “Reassemble front end replace wheel well liners and clean + balance front wheels “ Can’t see the just finished apprentice at the OPC doing any of this while a 9## is in for a lub changes every 2 yrs ! They are parts throwers . Would prefer it fails it’s MOT or they spot corroded inner disk faces .Would prefer you phone up and say “ there’s a puddle of coolant on my garage floor at the front of the car “ Or “ My AC isn’t blowing cold “ etc etc . Any preventative work is just blowing the services managers brains out ….shrinking his turnover per car under his tenure . So the reality is a book of OPC only stamps on a 7-9 + yr old Porsche is a book of deferred maintenance.What iam I missing ?

thompson9745 said: Judging by your servicing quotes there's a reason why the extended warranty premium looks such good value... For me the primary value of the warranty can only be judged on the peace of mind it offers. Fortunately when something has gone wrong with our cars the issues have been resolved without any drama and we're happy to continue with that. The cost of servicing is somewhat dictated by the above since we're tied to the OPC network but that doesn't mean you have to pay what the closest one is asking as my example above demonstrates. Whether the cost of a service at any OPC represents good value depends on your perspective. You can certainly save money outside the OPC network and if that's your primary concern then the choice is an easy one to make but for others saving money doesn't always present the best value if your perception of value is different. Edited by Voodoo Blue on Saturday 29th October 12:31

981Boxess said: I doubt that very much, the retail cost of the oil and all the filters isn't far off that, assuming they are using genuine parts. Is quite easy to obtain similar quotes from specialists, I think you've been spending too much time being brainwashed by your OPC.

Fiammetta said: Interesting question . Which is better a 2 yr lub change at an OPC assuming under 20 K miles intervals or …………………..A wad of invoices from an Indy for lub changes every 5 K ( same Mob 1 oil btw ) Plus records of additional stuff like “ remove , clean , inspect brake pads , grease the caliper and pad friction points ,the pins and pad holes replace to prevent inner piston sticking “ “ remove fromt bumper clean out debris from radiators and AC condensers apply anti corrosion to them refit bumper , clean up brake pipes “ “ clean and inspect front cooling pipes connections , apply waxoil “ “Reassemble front end replace wheel well liners and clean + balance front wheels “ Can’t see the just finished apprentice at the OPC doing any of this while a 9## is in for a lub changes every 2 yrs ! They are parts throwers . Would prefer it fails it’s MOT or they spot corroded inner disk faces .Would prefer you phone up and say “ there’s a puddle of coolant on my garage floor at the front of the car “ Or “ My AC isn’t blowing cold “ etc etc . Any preventative work is just blowing the services managers brains out ….shrinking his turnover per car under his tenure . So the reality is a book of OPC only stamps on a 7-9 + yr old Porsche is a book of deferred maintenance.What iam I missing ? To be fair you are describing a load of unnecessary tasks, why for example would you remove and clean brake pads?

jimbo761 said: Is quite easy to obtain similar quotes from specialists, I think you've been spending too much time being brainwashed by your OPC. Correct. It’s ok, they have decades of experience in the motor game, though. Whenever you point out this cretin’s nonsense, there’s a fresh level of back pedalling. Retail price isn’t retail price now, apparently. Only if it’s Porsche retail, despite originally calling out the price of said parts against someone quoting an indy. A fool and their money. Very excited to see what they have for insults, as they’re only getting started! What a whopper.

Something that amuses me about these debates is that the assumption is often made (and quoted on this thread) that if you have your car serviced at an OPC it will be carried out by a spotty apprentice who is unable/incapable of doing the job properly and that somehow this means the customer is being ripped off. Conversely, if you have your car serviced at an independent the assumption is often made that the work will be carried out by a seasoned professional with many years experience and therefore receive a much higher level of quality. I suspect that unless the independent is one man band many customers will have no idea who did the work on their car and for all they know it could have been done by a spotty 17 year old who spent the last year since leaving school doing oil changes at Halfords. Personally if the workshop has a good reputation OPC or not, then the assumption should always be that the work has been carried out competently and according to schedule. To suggest otherwise without evidence is somewhat disingenuous.

8yr 981 service earlier this year at RPM was £750. OPC quoted £1455. Indies also care, OPCs don't. Last OPC service was a farce.

DJMC said: 8yr 981 service earlier this year at RPM was £750. OPC quoted £1455. Indies also care, OPCs don't. Last OPC service was a farce. Don't tar all OPCs with the same brush. Some are excellent.

Twinfan said: Don't tar all OPCs with the same brush. Some are excellent. Thanks all for input, seems you can get inept service from an opc or an Indy ……. It’s £600 vs £1270 as things stand. Will see if opc can move any closer, if not then it’s the very well regarded Indy

anonymous said: [redacted] Spot on - but if memory serves in your part of the world OPC prices tend to be much lower than over here? The long and short of it is that if someone wants to keep their warranty going then they are stuck with OPC servicing costs, if they don't then they can spend as much or as little as suits and have whatever they want done to their cars. This notion that indys are the Robin Hoods of the motor trade and the OPCs are the villains is rubbish. We worked on peoples's cars for decades, I don't ever remember my priority being to do an excellent job and earn peanuts for doing it, I doubt they are any different and rightly so. The £300 inc vat 6 year service using genuine parts quoted above is complete nonsense, given that the poster does not even have the most basic grasp of how parts pricing works or what parts are required I can see how he may have come to that conclusion though. Cutting corners on maintenance happens on all cars it isn't exclusive to Porsche, I dread to think the standard some of these cars have been maintained to, buyer beware as they say.

bennno said: Thanks all for input, seems you can get inept service from an opc or an Indy ……. It’s £600 vs £1270 as things stand. Will see if opc can move any closer, if not then it’s the very well regarded Indy Worth a read if you are debating the worth of an OPC warranty/servicing: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

bennno said: Twinfan said: Don't tar all OPCs with the same brush. Some are excellent. Thanks all for input, seems you can get inept service from an opc or an Indy ……. It’s £600 vs £1270 as things stand. Will see if opc can move any closer, if not then it’s the very well regarded Indy It's good to see you taking a balanced view and am sure that whoever gets the work will do a good job despite some of the more extreme views posted here which I suspect are more borne out of personal experience rather than generally representative.

DJMC said: Indies also care, OPCs don't. To be fair the only thing you can say with any degree of certainty and without evidence to the contrary is that OPCs don't care about you but Indies do, if in fact you've had experience of more than one of each.

981Boxess said: The £300 inc vat 6 year service using genuine parts quoted above is complete nonsense, given that the poster does not even have the most basic grasp of how parts pricing works or what parts are required I can see how he may have come to that conclusion though. We’re all ears. Please provide us all with the wisdom we’re all lacking; namely required parts for a 6 year service, in this instance. I’ve got the Porsche service schedule web page open right now - perhaps we can go through it together? As for your thinly-veiled insinuation that the highly regarded specialist indies will have a service schedule that under-maintains these cars just vindicates my opinion of you as a brainwashed fool.

I might be a mug but I still have the extended warranty on my 25K miles 64 plate BGTS which pretty much forces me to use the OPC for servicing. The car just had its 8 year service. I tried three OPCs and they all quoted roughly 1300 for the service including brake fluid and plugs. Then they tried to say an AC service was needed for 200-300 and up to 400 for checking/cleaning the drains. I quoted a local indy who wanted 700+VAT for the basics and they reduced their price by 10%. I accepted that and declined the AC service and checked the drains myself. So there is some wiggle room on pricing but even then it's still OTT. Edited by AW10 on Sunday 30th October 12:34

bennno said: Fiammetta said: Interesting question . Which is better a 2 yr lub change at an OPC assuming under 20 K miles intervals or …………………..A wad of invoices from an Indy for lub changes every 5 K ( same Mob 1 oil btw ) Plus records of additional stuff like “ remove , clean , inspect brake pads , grease the caliper and pad friction points ,the pins and pad holes replace to prevent inner piston sticking “ “ remove fromt bumper clean out debris from radiators and AC condensers apply anti corrosion to them refit bumper , clean up brake pipes “ “ clean and inspect front cooling pipes connections , apply waxoil “ “Reassemble front end replace wheel well liners and clean + balance front wheels “ Can’t see the just finished apprentice at the OPC doing any of this while a 9## is in for a lub changes every 2 yrs ! They are parts throwers . Would prefer it fails it’s MOT or they spot corroded inner disk faces .Would prefer you phone up and say “ there’s a puddle of coolant on my garage floor at the front of the car “ Or “ My AC isn’t blowing cold “ etc etc . Any preventative work is just blowing the services managers brains out ….shrinking his turnover per car under his tenure . So the reality is a book of OPC only stamps on a 7-9 + yr old Porsche is a book of deferred maintenance.What iam I missing ? To be fair you are describing a load of unnecessary tasks, why for example would you remove and clean brake pads? Brembos are famous for the inner pistons ceasing up , more like the pin and ear corrosion of the pad set .This if left as you infer = massive inner disk corrosion = heading for earlier replacement or it’s flagged up at mot time . Either way totally preventable.

Royal Jelly said: Please provide us all with the wisdom we’re all lacking; namely required parts for a 6 year service, in this instance. You claim to have had a 6 year service done with original parts for £300 inc vat - I didn't. So what did you get done, parts and labour for your £300 inc vat, simple question?

981Boxess said: ou claim to have had a 6 year service done with original parts for £300 inc vat - I didn't. So what did you get done, parts and labour for your £300 inc vat, simple question? I already explained above. Your turn. The same at an OPC is 800, give or take. Plain minor service. 300 at either of my preferred indies. Again, feel free to call them up. RPM specialist cars in Knaresborough or revolution Porsche in Birstall. No belts/plugs/etc. which are extra at both the Indy and OPC. Back to your statement that “oil and all the filters” wouldn’t be far off £360, please. Edited by Royal Jelly on Sunday 30th October 14:00

Royal Jelly said: I already explained above. Your turn. The same at an OPC is 800, give or take. Plain minor service. 300 at either of my preferred indies. Again, feel free to call them up. RPM specialist cars in Knaresborough or revolution Porsche in Birstall. No belts/plugs/etc. which are extra at both the Indy and OPC. Back to your statement that “oil and all the filters” wouldn’t be far off £360, please. Edited by Royal Jelly on Sunday 30th October 14:00 The 6 year is supposed to include the v belt replacement.

I know. This is in addition to minor service costs. I didn’t claim that you could get that done for 300 quid alongside a minor. My assertion is that when 981boxclown claimed that ‘oil and all the filters’ wouldn’t be far off 360 quid, that was nonsense. The 6 year service is a minor service. Additionals such as plugs, belts, break fluid etc is on top. A minor at an OPC (without belts or anything other than oil, filter, pollen filter) is (give or take) 800. Same at my 2 very well regarded indies is 300. That’s before we start adding s t like belts and brake fluid change. Mine didn’t have its belt done on its six. Just so boxclown doesn’t suffer an aneurysm; it had an Indy stamp when the previous owner wanted to warranty it. They insisted on doing a combined and bastardised minor & major with plugs, belt, brake fluid etc 4.5 years ago before they would warranty it. Another OPC eye-gouge. I was the beneficiary of nearly all of that warranty. The one issue I had couldn’t be sorted by the OPC, but moments with a Porsche indy and it was identified and solved for 15% of the 2 year extension price.

Earlier this year I quoted both OPC and Indie (RPM) for 6 year and got £960 & £800 so not sure about all the ‘Indies are such good value’ stuff that I read about on here. Indie experienced, caring, professional technician verses OPC don’t care, just out of short trousers technician comments also make me smile. Car having a full OPC history not sure why anyone would go to Indie to save £160.

981SPYGANG said: Earlier this year I quoted both OPC and Indie (RPM) for 6 year and got £960 & £800 so not sure about all the ‘Indies are such good value’ stuff that I read about on here. Indie experienced, caring, professional technician verses OPC don’t care, just out of short trousers technician comments also make me smile. Car having a full OPC history not sure why anyone would go to Indie to save £160. I’m sure there’s significant regional variation (and that you’re talking about RPM Technik). It’s less appealing when the difference is 160 of course, although I’d take a car with an RPM Technik service history over an OPC one any day of the week.

bennno said: Royal Jelly said: I already explained above. Your turn. The same at an OPC is 800, give or take. Plain minor service. 300 at either of my preferred indies. The 6 year is supposed to include the v belt replacement. Correct, it is also supposed to have a brake fluid change every two years, I notice there is no mention of air filters either, but as long as we keep the costs down that is all that matters. I have opted to go down the warranty route by choice, but I certainly have no problem with shopping around to get the same quality of OPC servicing for less, you would be daft not to. But once that is done I do not regard straying from the schedule just to get the bill down something I would want to do regardless of the warranty contraints. I stand by everything I have posted, clearly the quoted £300 inc vat 6 year service doesn't exist and didn't happen. I knew running a Porsche the right way was never going to be cheap but overall I don't think it is unreasonable given the two year service cycle. If I needed to cut corners with maintenance to the reduce servicing costs I would seriously have to question if I might have been better off running a car with lower running costs instead.

981SPYGANG said: Earlier this year I quoted both OPC and Indie (RPM) for 6 year and got £960 & £800 so not sure about all the ‘Indies are such good value’ stuff that I read about on here. Indie experienced, caring, professional technician verses OPC don’t care, just out of short trousers technician comments also make me smile. Car having a full OPC history not sure why anyone would go to Indie to save £160. Me neither - I paid just under your OPC quote including the belt, given the two year service cycle I don't see that being unreasonable money to run a Porsche in the warranty loop. Obviously for older cars that are outside the warranty there are plenty of cheaper options available outside the OPC network to make servicing more reasonable, you pays your money, you takes your choice.

i've had quite a few issues with my car so the warranty/servicing costs have worked out in my favour (at OPC prices), plus it's no extra hassle to get to the OPC as i can just drop my car off and pick up the courtesy car message has just come up now that car needs to be seen but can be driven. it's likely the dynamic engine mounts (the side that didn't get done last time) and once they're done i will be seriously considering whether to keep up the OPC maintenance it's just that i seem to have some problem with the car at least once a year, and some things would have been very costly had there been no warranty plus, as many have pointed out, come resale the car will be much easier to sell and will likely be worth a bit more - just not sure if i'll ever sell it though (already had it for 6 years)

Voodoo Blue said: To be fair the only thing you can say with any degree of certainty and without evidence to the contrary is that OPCs don't care about you but Indies do, if in fact you've had experience of more than one of each. Yes. Two OPCs. Both made more than one error. One damaged my paintwork (amongst multiple other things) which I had to pay for to put right, the other tried to rip me off on tyres (DP later apologised) and sold me an extended warranty PGB later said I couldn't have (got my money back after a suitable letter sent to the dealer head office). Two different indies. RPM latterly were excellent on a dead AC, investigated it thoroughly, re-gassed, and the cost was an extra £70 iirc. I knew it was dead when I took the car in and thought I'd be paying for a new condenser, but they confirmed there was no issue there. RPM don't try and sell stuff that's unnecessary whereas most main dealers (many brands, many dealerships), in may experience, try to flog you whatever they can. RPM also come across as normal people, not some snobby outfit who look down at their customers. My wife insists on taking her BMW to Sytner. We know them well. But last service she had two different calls from different people: 1/ Would she like her wheels refurbished? And later, 2/ Her tracking was out they'd noticed and would she like them to do an alignment (but it had been checked independently 6 months prior). When her car went in today (EGR recall) their health check said tyre wear normal (same tyres), no mention of having checked tracking this time. I am 100% sure at their morning service meeting dealer service managers say "Right lads, today we need to make £20,000 on tyres and tracking, £10,000 on wheels, £10,000 on shock absorbers, and £10,000 sundries. Target £50,000." If you don't believe this is going on at your dealership you're naive. In six years of dealing with RPM (club meet, health check, service) I have come away with 100% confidence in them and their way of working. I've no need to consider the OPC network, thankfully, as PGB made it clear I cannot have an extended warranty.

av185 said: Many upsides of using your/an OPC for servicing not just maintaining a much better residual value ££ on your p and j, cast iron warranty, free quality loan car and maintaining a decent relatiinship with them and brownie points for future car allocations if that interests you. Except you aren't guaranteed a loan car and it might not be 'quality'. It varies. A lot.

DJMC said: I am 100% sure at their morning service meeting dealer service managers say "Right lads, today we need to make £20,000 on tyres and tracking, £10,000 on wheels, £10,000 on shock absorbers, and £10,000 sundries. Target £50,000." If you don't believe this is going on at your dealership you're naive. My lads now a qualified mechanic having done 6 years combined at JLR and Toyota. That didnt happen in either dealership, the only pressure ever applied was with regards to trying to get jobs in within or below book hours to achieve an average efficiency of 75%+ (i.e. 3/4 of working hours customer billed.

DJMC said: My wife insists on taking her BMW to Sytner. We know them well. But last service she had two different calls from different people: 1/ Would she like her wheels refurbished? And later, 2/ Her tracking was out they'd noticed and would she like them to do an alignment (but it had been checked independently 6 months prior). When her car went in today (EGR recall) their health check said tyre wear normal (same tyres), no mention of having checked tracking this time. I am 100% sure at their morning service meeting dealer service managers say "Right lads, today we need to make £20,000 on tyres and tracking, £10,000 on wheels, £10,000 on shock absorbers, and £10,000 sundries. Target £50,000." If you don't believe this is going on at your dealership you're naive. In six years of dealing with RPM (club meet, health check, service) I have come away with 100% confidence in them and their way of working. I've no need to consider the OPC network, thankfully, as PGB made it clear I cannot have an extended warranty. Not entirely sure how relevant how badly you get treated by a particular BMW dealership that knows you well is to a Porsche servicing thread is, but sorry to hear about that anyway. As for the upselling angle it goes on in every industry that isn't exclusive to the motor trade. If the point you are making is that all main dealers are the same and are out to treat you badly and get more money out of you then that is a bit of a sweeping statement given how few main dealers you will have dealt with compared to the rest of UK motorists, but you are entitled to your opinion based on the experience you have. More to the point though, if as you suggest the main dealers are only after taking as much money from us as possible then why have PGB refused to extend your warranty? Surely that would be a good earner for them and it would have been easier for them to just take your money than decline it, but they didn't, so there must be more to it than that. You claim to have maintained the car better than an OPC would have, so your car must be a good example and yet PGB don't want you as a customer under any circumstances, very odd. I cannot help feel they either have a very different view of the service history/condition of your car to you or they simply would rather not have you as one of their customers regardless of money. Dealers very rarely turn away paying customers that are reasonable to deal with, the only customers I have ever turned away are ones that were not worth having.

DJMC said: Your experience....... All this says is that in your opinion 2 OPCs didn't care about you . Unfortunately you can't extrapolate those experiences to the generalisation that "OPCs don't care" since this suggests that all OPCs don't care about anyone which is clearly a ridiculous statement to make without supporting evidence. Personally I've had nothing but exemplary service from the 2 OPCs I've dealt with for servicing over the the last 12 years but unlike you would never claim that every OPC provides consistently excellent service to everyone, stuff happens, perhaps you were unlucky. I'm not sure how I can be naïve to practices you have suggested that I have not personally experienced nor have I seen any evidence to except from the odd comment on forums like yours that again describe an individual's experience. To be fair, based on your comments, you still sound quite bitter about your own experience and that seems to have tainted your view of the world. It's clearly untrue to suggest all OPCs will rip off all their customers and all independents wouldn't. That would suggest a different level of naivety.

It does vary. I previously used one OPC near me until they started lying to me about brake wear. Took it to another OPC who gave me an honest assessment and they were actually barely worn. I'm sure it happens outside of the dealer network as well but main dealers aren't nicknamed 'stealers' for nothing.. No complaints about the current one but they are certainly more pricey - if I didn't have warranty I suspect I'd take it outside the network to save a fair bit.

my 2014 981 Cayman S was due its 4 year service when I owned it. OPC Silverstone wanted £1400, local independent (used to be a tech at Silverstone) charged me roughly £600, and all the parts came from Silverstone.

981Boxess said: ot entirely sure how relevant how badly you get treated by a particular BMW dealership that knows you well is to a Porsche servicing thread is, but sorry to hear about that anyway. As for the upselling angle it goes on in every industry that isn't exclusive to the motor trade. If the point you are making is that all main dealers are the same and are out to treat you badly and get more money out of you then that is a bit of a sweeping statement given how few main dealers you will have dealt with compared to the rest of UK motorists, but you are entitled to your opinion based on the experience you have. More to the point though, if as you suggest the main dealers are only after taking as much money from us as possible then why have PGB refused to extend your warranty? Surely that would be a good earner for them and it would have been easier for them to just take your money than decline it, but they didn't, so there must be more to it than that. You claim to have maintained the car better than an OPC would have, so your car must be a good example and yet PGB don't want you as a customer under any circumstances, very odd. I cannot help feel they either have a very different view of the service history/condition of your car to you or they simply would rather not have you as one of their customers regardless of money. Dealers very rarely turn away paying customers that are reasonable to deal with, the only customers I have ever turned away are ones that were not worth having. Zunsport grilles fitted. Warranty applied with them on in 2017, but 2 years later failed 111 point check at same OPC due to same grilles. I'm not taking them off.

DJMC said: Zunsport grilles fitted. Warranty applied with them on in 2017, but 2 years later failed 111 point check at same OPC due to same grilles. I'm not taking them off. Mine was warrantied with the grilles, and they were happy to extend with them on. Warranty work with the grilles and wrap no issue. The inconsistency is baffling.

I remove the grills and Rennline phone mount when the car goes in for a service. If the car ever breaks down on me I have the removal tools in the boot. I just don't want the potential (ridiculous) bun fight.

Royal Jelly said: Mine was warrantied with the grilles, and they were happy to extend with them on. Warranty work with the grilles and wrap no issue. The inconsistency is baffling. mine's had grilles on for years and never had a problem extending warranty, servicing, or having some major items fixed under warranty

JasonSteel said: mine's had grilles on for years and never had a problem extending warranty, servicing, or having some major items fixed under warranty It seems like I’d have the same experience as you, but plenty of others haven’t.

DJMC said: Zunsport grilles fitted. Warranty applied with them on in 2017, but 2 years later failed 111 point check at same OPC due to same grilles. I'm not taking them off. When something doesn't make sense there is invariably more to the story and there probably is in this case too. Irrespective of what has gone on it sounds like you have reached the perfect solution for all involved, you no longer have to deal with the main dealers you seem to have so many problems with and they don't have to deal with you, problem solved.

OK hot off the press - just checked a 6 year service cost for my 718 2.0PDK Boxster, circa 26,000 miles OPC £1,045.52 inc brake fluid, v-belt & air filters (tried 2 but all owned by the same group) - “discounted” from £1,223 as car is over 4 years old! Same dealer said 8 year around £1,400 but discounted to around £1,000 as Labour rate reduced when over 7 years old. Indy £617 inc all the above (£289 interim service, brake fluid £84, air filters £140, v-belt £95) One OPC stated inc PDK gearbox oil change (which is wrong as that is 12 years - confirmed it didn’t when they sent their quote). Sorely tempted to go outside of main dealer network.

Yes shop around but it seems the 6-year £300 service was in fact and oil and filter change… Indies will be cheaper just get one that has experience on the car not because it’s the cheapest around.

During 10’years of 993 and Boxster ownership I used some of the well regarded specialists and OPC. The OPC would match prices then, and give you a new Porsche as a courtesy car. Total no brainer for me.

highway said: During 10’years of 993 and Boxster ownership I used some of the well regarded specialists and OPC. The OPC would match prices then, and give you a new Porsche as a courtesy car. Total no brainer for me. I think things have changed now - servicing prices seem to have gone through the roof in the last few years. Never thought it an issue previously but they seem to be pulling our pants down lately. Very much doubt they would price-match now!

Boxster5 said: OK hot off the press - just checked a 6 year service cost for my 718 2.0PDK Boxster, circa 26,000 miles OPC £1,045.52 inc brake fluid, v-belt & air filters (tried 2 but all owned by the same group) - “discounted” from £1,223 as car is over 4 years old! Same dealer said 8 year around £1,400 but discounted to around £1,000 as Labour rate reduced when over 7 years old. Indy £617 inc all the above (£289 interim service, brake fluid £84, air filters £140, v-belt £95) One OPC stated inc PDK gearbox oil change (which is wrong as that is 12 years - confirmed it didn’t when they sent their quote). Sorely tempted to go outside of main dealer network. For those opting to extend the warranty Porsche/OPCs seem to have got the pricing just right (for them) Just enough they will get away with, not too much to scare off the majority of owners who are comfortable paying their prices. Porsche East London are now working night shifts they have so much work on, doesn't look like a mass exodus to the indies to me. I dare say the older cars will start to drop out of the warranty loop, leaving plenty of work for the indies too, works for everyone

I have a 981 Cayman GTS with full OPC history, the last one carried out just before I purchased in July. Its a 2016 example, so I'm looking ahead in 18 months to it's 8 year service. I have changed spark plugs on my previous 987.2 CS and 981 CS and whilst it's slightly fiddly the plugs themselves, even from design 911 are only about £35. Whats the implication if I have the 8 year service done but decline the OPC's kind offer to bend me over for a spark change swap. Does it invalidate my OPC warranty? Similarly with brake fluid refresh. On my previous 3 Porsches, for some reason the inner bleed nipples were always stuck, whilst the outer nipples were always OK. When I freed off the inner nipples, the brake fluid I changeswas always a different colour to that from the outside nipples. With that in mind, I'm going to buy some stainless or titanium nipples to prevent any potential nipple stiffness (!) in future. On my car, obvs.. Am I allowed to decline that part of the service as well without upsetting any warranty? Edited by andygo on Wednesday 9th November 19:25

Hard to link those particular items to a major failure so perhaps worth the risk - more importantly it would stop you from extending the warranty further if that’s your intention as the OPC would want to repeat the work themselves even if you’d already done it.

andygo said: I have a 981 Cayman GTS with full OPC history, the last one carried out just before I purchased in July. Its a 2016 example, so I'm looking ahead in 18 months to it's 8 year service. <snip><snip> Am I allowed to decline that part of the service as well without upsetting any warranty? Edited by andygo on Wednesday 9th November 19:25 It has to be serviced according to Porsches service schedule, so you can't decline those things - if you want the warranty to be valid/extended.

andygo said: Am I allowed to decline that part of the service as well without upsetting any warranty? Would you be happy to extend the warranty on a car where you had no idea what standard it has been maintained to? Look at some of the examples above of where people have cut corners on maintenance to save money - not suggesting you would, but it obviously happens. You may well be a better mechanic than all the people that work in your local OPC but unfortunately the bottom line is if you want the warranty you will have to play the game and cough up.

anonymous said: [redacted] Or even when supposedly done by the OPC as well. My first 981 CS had a full OPC history Clearly the pollen filter had never been changed (had a 2013 date on it in 2020) brake nipples were seized and the oil filter had been on a long time judging by the film of oil it had all over, obviously unsullied by human hand for some time. I'm not sure I will be availing myself of Porsches generosity in 18 months.

anonymous said: [redacted] I think that a lot o

anonymous said: [redacted] I think that a lot of OPC customers wouldn't know what a bleed nipple, oil or pollen filter looked like. It happens with a lot of other main dealers I suspect. What sort of normal person ferrets about under their cars mid service interval anyway?

andygo said: I think that a lot of OPC customers wouldn't know what a bleed nipple, oil or pollen filter looked like. That is probably true of most owners of later cars, as opposed to the older classics. andygo said: It happens with a lot of other main dealers I suspect. I disagree, I don't think there is a culture of charging for jobs that are not done or parts that are not used in any main dealers, OPCs included. There is a culture of encouraging fitters to run behind book times but not by not fitting parts and chucking them in the bin to make their job easier. Why would they charge for parts and not fit them, they pay a fraction of retail prices for them and how long do you think they would get away with doing that, especially today in the days of reviews etc. The OPCs are on to a good thing, they charge plenty for servicing, they have a healthy mark up on the parts and they get paid warranty rates not far behind retail rates. They have a captive market with the warranty and earn out of the extensions on top. Why would any OPC risk all that by intentionally ripping off any customers, earning well out of most of them is a good business model, upsetting a few and ruining their reputation isn't. I am not a fanboy of OPCs but neither do I subscribe to the common held view on here that they are all out to get us. If you want to run a Porsche and maintain the warranty you have no choice other than cough up. If you are not bothered about a warranty then you are free to do whatever type of maintenance you see fit. Anyone who thinks the Indys are the Robin Hoods of the motor trade is mistaken, they take OPC prices, knock a percentage off and just get their money with a different business model. Nothing wrong with that, good luck to them, you pays your money you takes your choice.