OPC Dealers - Warning

Hi, I am currently selling my 996 with low miles and a full opc service history .....and after taking a deposit off a enthusiastic buyer i agreed to have the car inspected at the local OPC (Newcastle) Well what can i say - after having "issues" with them in the past i was a little worried what they would find some issues. I had a clean concience as i thought the car wanted for nothing. Then i received a rather unnerving call from the buyer claiming the dealer had found a lot of issues approx £4000 worth. I was shocked to say the least and phoned the service manager who said he would phone me back in 10 - 1 hour later he was still too busy to talk so another hour past. . . . . Evetually i spoke to him and he listed the faults they found - Serious oil leak from Variable Valve Timing Solenoid seal - £1800 to sort based on 7hours labour. Oil Leak from Tiptronic Box Sump gasket - £600 to sort Air Con Condensors leaking - £1200 (aircon fine and cool ?????) Wrong Battery Fitted - £250 (halfords gel type fitted after breakdown) After this the buyer was either wanting the issues sorting or the price knocking off the car. So we agreed to go our seperate ways. After speaking to them on the phone i took the car into Specialist Cars of Malton (independant Porsche specialists in North Yorkshire) I cannot praise theys guys highly enough - i spoke to the technician over the phone and told him the issues, he asked if i was joking after telling him what i had been quoted. When i arrived i was shown and explained the offending seal and what they were going to do, this was nice you can really get a feel for what the job entails. He then fixed the oil leak by fitting a new geniune seal in less than a hour and total price was £106 - slightly cheaper than the £1800 OPC Newcastle had quoted me. He also checked my Aircon condensors and said they had stains on them and a bit corroded - about right for the 11 year old car - he said if the aircons fine the condensors are fine....simples !!! So lost the sale for £106.......lesson learnt OPC Newcastle should wear a mask and a stripey top. On a serious note - if you have been given a quote from a OPC for a job get plenty of details and phone around Independant specialists it could save you thousands. Its a shame i have only discoved this garage as im selling my 996.

I have to say i am very very suprised. I have been using OPC newcastle for the past 8 years and i must say there service is fantastic, right down to caroline in reception. OPC are going to charge insane prices, as do ferrari dealers. Most of the work OPC gets is insurance repairs, so prices are going to be sky high. They wouldnt say something needed doing if it didn't as i know some of the tech guys there really well, and they are so genuine. When OPC check car's, they really check them well. I took my 911 in about a year ago and they found a few things and they sorted it out quickly. They even re programed my satvnav and radio for free. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them, they are always and still are first class in my book. How much is your cab for sale ?

I have no issues with the check on the car or the fact they found problems. That is after all what the check is for. My biggest issue with them is the fact they wanted to charge £1800 to change a seal that is quite accessible in situ, i can only guess they were trying to charge for removing the engine (7hrs labour) I know that OPC's are more expensive than Independant's, thats understandable - but personally i feel very angry this quite simple job was over quoted by so much. PS my 99 C2 Cab Triptronic is up for 16.7K, 50k FOPCSH. Black with red interior...see ebay 150463206597 - its on autotrader as well. Shameless plug over....

yeah i love the red leather in your car. I would be annoyed too, upset at first, but yeah.. they would have had a reason why it would take 7 hours. Maybe like you say, they may like to remove sections of the engine. I guess every garage has there own way really. hope your car sells, its nice. Atleast you can sell it as its had a full porsche check done, so RMS leaks have been checked out. safe as houses :thumb:

I thought that replacing the seal you mention involved removal of the exhaust manifold which on an early 996 would certainly present with corroded header studs whose removal often necessitates drilling them out of the head, hence the hefty labour charge - are you sure the indy did the same seal? If so how did he do it without stripping away the exhaust header pipes?

douglas, When i questioned the OPC they said it involved removing everything off the top of the engine - intake manifold and other things. When the car was up on the ramp the the seal / soleniod is visable on the upper (rear end of the car ) side of the cam cover. Nothing was required to be removed to access the solenoid. It's not the easiest to get to but i suppose if you do them all the time like the garage do then its a doddle. DCE, cheers mate, i can at least sell it now knowning everything is ok :thumbs:

Hi grahams 81, You say that you lost the sale for £106, did you fix the Oil Leak from the Tiptronic Box Sump gasket - £600 to sort?

The reason OPCs want so much to replace the Variocam seal on early 996s is that (according to the workshop manual) the Variocam solenoid should be vertical when it is removed. Hence engine out, and rotated through 90 degrees. Most indies do it as described above, as if you are careful it can be done in situ. The tiptronic sump gasket can also be done in place, so I have no idea whay they want so much do do that job. Book time is 1.8 hours including drain/refill, and the part is less than £15.

Hi Richard, Thanks for the info. Ref the gearbox - The sump looked moist with oil but with no drips or obvious leak points. They looked at the tip box sump and found the bolts quite slack, said they needed torquing back up - apparently about 3/4 - 1 turn on them. Wierd im guessing the gasket must deform / shrink over time leaving the bolts a bit looser than when originally installed. They steam cleaned the underside of the engine / box so i can keep any eye on it. Done about 200 miles now and you can still eat your dinner off it - if your that way inclined.

3/4 to 1 turn is a Lot of slackness!!! :eh!: I'm surprised that the OPC didn't check the tightness and re torque them when they found the leak...... not good! :nooo:

IMO the difference between OPC and Indy OPC * will be replacing seals even if they are only weeping * you get Caroline the receptionist Indy * will leave the weeping seal until it starts dripping * you get Fred the mechanic Take you pick :?:

Is it just me or does anyone else just want to know what Caroline looks like? uh:

Tried a search on google :dont know:

lol apw2007

Thank you for the photo's - I note that Caroline version I has a box of wipes adjacent to her desk, whilst not so appealing in the eye candy department this makes me think she is more handy and hard working than version II. Back to the weeping seal I am lead to believe that leaving this to worsen can result in peril to the cam variation thingumy solenoid which may then cause erratic running as the cam served by said solenoid can stick in "full on" mode... is this the case or is this my fixer fishing for business?