First experience of Porsche servicing dept... - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

..and it was excellent! Booked in with Hatfield for a 20,000 mile service, rocked up at 730 expecting a wait. Concierge let me in straight away, offered drinks from the fridge etc. Service advisor turned up at 745, two signatures for the loaner plus a copy of my licence, few questions about anything else needing doing (reset the stop start function), offered the keys to a Boxster S and I was off well before 8. Returned at 345, car done, just needed a wash which didn't take long, was advised of a rear tyre cut to cords and shown the offender on the ramp. Probably the best main dealer experience of any manufacturer I've ever had. So the rear tyres, I like the P Zeros it came with and want to replace like for like. Looking through the various online suppliers they range in price from £150.00 each for a Dot2010,N0 to £173 for a non manufactured year specified N0. This appears to be delivered but not fitted, does it seem right? Not sure I want a tyre that was manufactured 4 years ago. Also I assume N0 satisfies the N rated malarkey Porsche insist on? OPC want significantly more money (£281 each plus vat) which make me suspicious or is this the norm?

Nice to hear of a pleasant experience! I suspect, as with all things Porsche, they get tyres in, double the price (minimum), then add VAT... Look at their oil prices? £100 from Porsche, £30-£50 from Costco/Halfords...

I hate p zero's. Best thing you can do is bin them imo. Mine were new on the car so I sold them for £300, but I would not use them even if they were free. Best n spec is the pilot sport 2 , best non N spec is the super sports which my car wears.

Many Porsche dealers are excellent. They obviously can't compete with the wholesale tyre discounters. They get their tyres from a supplier and add their margin, but there may be scope for negotiation. I bought a set recently and probably paid 20% more than if I'd shopped around. But, I felt happier with my OPC carrying out the work, valeting the wheels in the process, and all with a quibble free guarantee. Nothing wrong with P-Zeros, but agree MPS2s are vey good.

Thanks folks, I've got a quote from black circles and suspect this is nearer the mark at £244 per tyre fitted inc vat. Will offer this to the OPC and see if they can (are willing) to get closer. Interested in the comments re P zeros. I use the car as a DD with occasional fast road use on A/B roads and don't really have a comparator- my first Porsche. The P zeros seem to have a good balance of wet/dry grip, slip gradually but are bloody noisy (this could be the car- rears particularly so). I've got 20,000 miles from the set and only need to change because of the cut, otherwise they've got another 4-5k in the rears, perhaps not so much the fronts which are shouldering. What are the reasons for disliking them and preferring Mich's? I don't do track days and the hardest use they get is an alpine hoon.

I find P zeros ok, and did when I used to track whatever 996 was in stock at the time (about 10 years ago), I found them significantly better than Continentals, which were too hard (the Treadwear number on the sidewall being much higher is the giveaway). Re. The N number, to comply fully with what Porsche say they must have the same N number (0/1/2/3/4/5/6....never seen higher than a 6) on all 4 tyres. Common sense says they should at least be the same across an axle.

Oponeo (all tyres under 1 year old btw) delivered Bridgestone Potenzas rears (to match original fronts) for my GTS to my OPC at their very competitive online price and OPC fitted for £40 inclusive.........

OPC Colchester told me they will price match on tyres....

That's great, thanks. Concur with the out of round syndrome they suffer from, noticed it several times. I suspect the way I use the car means I'm less likely to experience the front end wash out you describe (although given the shouldering on the fronts maybe it's happening gradually without me noticing). Food for thought. Interesting comments on Colchester, I end up in that part of the world regularly so could be an option- thanks.

OP - You tried Camskill for tyres? Found them the best online, if you can be bothered to get them fitted.. G

Think we're going a little off topic with the tyre deviation, but all good (Blackcircles are the best option, they do TopCashback and Tesco Clubcard points - along with best prices) I also used Solihull OPC for my first Porsche Major Servicing experience. Very impressed, excellent customer service both upon arrival, collection and during! A brand new Cayman kept overnight as a courtesy car....sometimes you get what you pay for and having experienced the local Indy (PCT Coventry) overall will definitely use again.

I have to agree with all the previous comments re P-Zeros. My g/f's Boxster had them when we bought it and it really was terrible to drive. Poor turn-in, massive tramlining if the pressures of the fronts were only a couple of PSI down, 'dead' steering around the centre and incredibly noisy. The tyres were worn, but not excessively so - they probably had 3-4mm left on average. Much as I hate throwing things away that still have some life left (Tight-Fisted Northerner Syndrome!) the Pirellis were binned and replaced all-round with PS2s. The car has been a delight to drive since, so worth every £.

Geneve said: Many Porsche dealers are excellent. They obviously can't compete with the wholesale tyre discounters. They get their tyres from a supplier and add their margin, but there may be scope for negotiation. I bought a set recently and probably paid 20% more than if I'd shopped around. But, I felt happier with my OPC carrying out the work, valeting the wheels in the process, and all with a quibble free guarantee. Nothing wrong with P-Zeros, but agree MPS2s are vey good. My local OPC (Guildford) replaced 2 rears based on Blackcircle price + £4/tyre

Slippydiff said: OP asks questions about tyres. They get answered, he asks further questions, they too get answered. OP happy as thread enabled him to share his positive experience and establish the situation regarding tyre costs and suitability. Where's the problem ? The thread is entitled first experience of Porsche servicing department....

So, have enquired about PS2's but there seems to be a shortage in supply. Have therefore reverted to the P zeros and have got a good price from Camskill. However when I enquired about the age of the tyre this is the response; We are unable to enable date codes on the tyres as they aren't in stock with us but with our suppliers who will not check dates for us. All Tyres we sell are still well within the manufacturers warranty regards Michael Any thoughts?

mrdemon said: I hate p zero's. Best thing you can do is bin them imo. Mine were new on the car so I sold them for £300, but I would not use them even if they were free. Best n spec is the pilot sport 2 , best non N spec is the super sports which my car wears. Have just found out my 997 gt3 I've bought is on P Zeros. What's the story with these Mr Demon?

truck71 said: So, have enquired about PS2's but there seems to be a shortage in supply. Have therefore reverted to the P zeros and have got a good price from Camskill. However when I enquired about the age of the tyre this is the response; We are unable to enable date codes on the tyres as they aren't in stock with us but with our suppliers who will not check dates for us. All Tyres we sell are still well within the manufacturers warranty regards Michael Any thoughts? This sounds like jointly written corporate get-out waffle. And what is 'well within' in warranty. Have you looked at Goodyear Assymetric 2's. They are 'N' rated and available in 981 sizes