Correct Servicing?

Hi all, My 996 C2 is coming up 4 yrs old in Sept, so I rang my OPC to book it in for a service. Last Sept it had a 'Minor Maintenance' and had done 25k miles. Looking at my Guarantee and Maintenance book and bearing in mind the car will only had done 5k mile since the last service I assumed I would just need the 'Yearly Maintenance' plus replacement of spark plugs, polyrib belt (both every 4 years) and brake fluid (every 2 yrs). This works out as follows according to the OPC prices. Yearly Maintenance £128 Spark Plugs. £161 Belt £19 Brake Fluid £107 Total £415 However the OPC says I need a '4 Year Service Pack' (cost £688) which is basically a Major Maintenance service plus the cost of the Brake Fluid change giving a total cost of £795. Now on further reflection I wonder if I am going to pay for things like oil and filters that were changed last year and will have only gone for 5k miles. Surely this cant be right. Also it had its last Major Maintenance at 20k miles in Sept 03 so its only done 8k since then and the servicing book says every 24k miles between Major Maintenenace.. I get the impression that my OPC is booking me a service based purely on the age of the car and not the miles covered in total or since its previous services. Any thoughts? Rgds Mark

Mark I am about to book my c4 tip in for a 75k service so I'll let you know what they want to service bearing in mind it has had secvicing every 12 months Edmund

Mark, I think this is indeed the case. In other words, it's mileage/ age - whichever comes first. My car will be 3 years old very shortly. Even though I've only covered 10k (I'm away from home a lot!) it will still be subject to the maintenence requirements stipulated for a 3 yealy (36k) service. Hope this makes sense.

It is not whichever comes first! The Annual Check should be ok, plus plugs, airbag check, brake fluid (every 2 years) for a 4 year old car. I believe the polyrib belt is 48000 miles (it is on my Boxster S). My car had an annual check at 26000 miles or so last year, (at 3 years) and is in right now (7000 miles later) having a 12000 mile service, plus the above mentioned. Edit: Concept, I think you are being overcharged...[&o]

Drat...wrong again. I find the maintenence sceduling in the service book difficult to interpret as well. Thanks for putting me right Mark.

Concept, Sorry [&o] Just a check - do you have "Annual Inspection" or "Annual check" or something similar as an option in your book? It is basically a 12K service but without oil or filter changes. If so then for my model year (it may vary for a 996) and you do less than 9K a year, you can have an annual check. My car actually went something like this - Oil change at 2K miles (I insisted, this was 10 days after collecting from the factory!). 1st year Annual check at 9K 2nd year 24K service at 19K, plus Brake fluid 3rd year Annual check at 27K 4th year 12K service (as for 36K) at 33K, plus brake fluid, airbag check, spark plugs This last one is being done today, so I haven't got my service book at hand to check exact details!

Mark, When I said thanks for putting me right, I wasn't being sarcastic btw. If I've posted some misinformation then I'm always glad there's somebody around to provide the correct info., so genuine thanks. I'm away from home atm and don't have access to my books but the schedule is something for which I've never really set aside any time to try and get my head around. I think what I was trying to say before was that even if your car has only covered 10k miles, on year 3, the car will still require all the necessary work specified for the 36k 3 yearly service. I.e. in this case time would take preference over mileage. Conversely, if I had covered 36k on year one, the service requirements would still be as per 36k not 1 year. I don't recall anything about annual checks w/o oil change, mine was changed at each annual service regardless - there was no verbal mention of an option for a check without oil change. I never queried it since you can't change your oil too often, but I'll enquire about this when I take it in shortly. Might be able to knock a few bob off the bill [ ]

I only cover 6,000 miles a year and every other year have an annual check without oil change. Have brake fluid changed, airbag checks etc by age, not mileage. This is as recommended by my OPC. Keeps the costs down.

Thanks David. Think I'll have a good rant about the ABZ OPC hourly labour charge going up by £24/hr while I'm in there![ ]

Got back to my OPC today with the details as in my first post and they basically said its up to me whether I had the '4 year service pack' or the 'Annual service'. So I've decided that oil can last 5k miles especially seeing how much it costs, and all the other mileage related stuff can wait (whatever that entails that takes the cost up to £688). So I'm having the annual service, plus plugs, plus brake fluid, plus belt at £415 rather than the £795 for the '4 year service pack' plus brake fluid. I thought they were supposed to advise you what was the best option rather than saying 'its up to you'. Do they not read the servcing book that we all have which says cars under 9k miles a year only need an annual service? Rgds Mark PS: Of course the big money earner will be the things they find that 'need' replacing (i'm thinking brake pads and discs here). Why do I not trust a Porsche OPC, thats bad isnt it?

By the way, I know it can be affected by the type of driving such as motorway or city but how many miles should a set of brake pads last in a C2? I'm still on my first set at 28k miles. At the last service no mention was made that my pads wouldnt last until the next service (presumably 12k miles away) as I've only done 5k since that service I assume they wont need replacing this time? rgds Mark

I'm sorry to say this, but in my experience the OPC attitude to customers seems to have changed over the last few years. Not that they're unfriendly or discourteous or anything, but they just don't generally seem that bothered anymore. I imagine this could be attributable to the current sales figures and profits, whereby their order books are always full and they don't even have to try and sell cars anymore; the cars sell themselves. They can offer you a rubbish trade in price for your Porsche, then dismiss your subsequent multiple coronary thrombosis onset with an indifferent shrug of the shoulders, followed by a look out the window to eyeball the receptionist's skirt unfurling in the wind as she is climbing into the pool Cayenne![ ] If you place an order for a new 997C4S, you get offered a cup of coffee. If you place an order for a new CGT, you get offered a cup of coffee and a chocolate biscuit. Got to go now, just been called out....[&o] I

I have just received my car back today - 34000 miles It is on the original pads and discs, (these are the same as on your C2) and there was no mention of them needing replacement before the next service. I've done a couple of days at Spa with Autotrack and several trips to the Nurburgring as well. So I'm similar to you in wear patterns I guess!