Cayman gt4 servicing and tyres opc - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Hi all, My cayman 981 gt4 is going in for servicing on Monday. Price is £1500 for a major service which is the going rate for maintaining the warranty so it is what it is But I will need two rear tyres and they have quoted me £547 each for Michelin cup 2 tyres.. I have found them on black circles and other places for £340 fitted.. So what am I missing? Also is the drain check really 4 hours labour? Thanks Pete

Ask if they can price match the tyres, if not get them done elsewhere. Also I don't think caymans need the drains cleared the same way as our soft top brethren? There aren't any rear drains afaik and they're the problematic ones.

No rear drains and the front drains are easily accessible with the front cover off. 4 hours sounds like the labour time for a Boxster. If the OPC won’t price match tyres then go elsewhere.

Camskill are usually very competitive for mail order if you can find a local fitter. I use a local wheel refurbisher for tyre fitting as they are used to handling wheels with care

My OPC knocked £500 off my major 8 year service for a Cayman GTS. Still did a poor job, and got fed nonsense when I enquired politely about some elements. Costco for tyres. Joined for £22, going to be about £50 or so off Kwik Fit. OPC quoted me £386 for 265/35/20's rather than £267 less £25 from Costco when they have an offer on apparently. Edited by andygo on Friday 10th May 21:09

I found around £500 difference in pricing for the 8 year service, all OPC, same job. Go figure.

Yeah I have found this. Porsche Exeter £1800 Porsche Bristol 1500 Porsche Swindon 1600 Some include the drains some don’t.. It’s chaotic pricing at its best

My 981 GT4 is going for its 8yr service 1st June. £1576, minus 10% each for the car being 8yrs old and loyalty, £1261. They’re happy for me to provide my own oil, that’ll shave another £150 or so off the final figure.

My 981 GT4 had its 8 year OPC service back in March. Labour time was 3 hours 20 minutes for the whole of the service, including clearing drains. Came out at just under £1400 all in. It only needs a big service every 4 years, so it seems pretty OK to me. Could have asked for discount I guess. I tend to go elsewhere for tyres. Camskill, or MyTyres mail order, except local indie specialist Jasmine Porschalink can generally hunt down a similar price for a set. I always get them to fit them nowadays too. It helps that they are a 10 minute drive away from home. I'm told by other customers of the OPC I always use that they will generally get a decent price on tyres if asked to. They did tell me my tyres are "out of date" at the last service, but were unsurprised when I told them there's no such thing in real life. Not very worn, no signs of perishing, no signs of cracks, staying on the car until any of this changes. (It seems I put all the wear on the high days and track day tyres, which are on a spare set of rims...) Liam

b0rk said: No rear drains and the front drains are easily accessible with the front cover off. 4 hours sounds like the labour time for a Boxster. If the OPC won’t price match tyres then go elsewhere. I was recently charged one hour labour for doing the drains on a 981 Boxster.

I agree with the comments already made , I wouldn't consider an OPC for tyres at this price differential .

LiamH66 said: My 981 GT4 had its 8 year OPC service back in March. Labour time was 3 hours 20 minutes for the whole of the service, including clearing drains. Came out at just under £1400 all in. It only needs a big service every 4 years, so it seems pretty OK to me. Could have asked for discount I guess. I tend to go elsewhere for tyres. Camskill, or MyTyres mail order, except local indie specialist Jasmine Porschalink can generally hunt down a similar price for a set. I always get them to fit them nowadays too. It helps that they are a 10 minute drive away from home. I'm told by other customers of the OPC I always use that they will generally get a decent price on tyres if asked to. They did tell me my tyres are "out of date" at the last service, but were unsurprised when I told them there's no such thing in real life. Not very worn, no signs of perishing, no signs of cracks, staying on the car until any of this changes. (It seems I put all the wear on the high days and track day tyres, which are on a spare set of rims...) Liam Just out of curiosity, what year is stamped on the tyres? I'm wondering what the OPC would consider to be too old.

It’s supposed to be five years old max for used sale and six years old at inspection. Tyre age isn’t IIRC a warranty fail item just an advisory. This doesn’t mean you’ll get six years out of a set mind as depending on when the manufacturer made the tyres and general demand tyres could be couple of years old at fitting.

Don't forget that if you're a PCGB member you'll get discount on servicing and possibly tyres however I agree with others and go elsewhere for tyres. Also, they will charge you for the top up oil and bag which is c.£55 so unless you want that then tell them not to do it. I's also ask for a breakdown of work, unless you already have it. Most likely, brake fluid, oil and filter change, cabin filters, spark plugs and drains. Maybe a belt change as well? Try and find a tyre fitter that doesn't use tyre irons. They will beat the crap out of your alloys and check if they use coated/coloured wheel weights rather than the horrible zinc ones that rust in 5 minutes (OCD kicking in).

My 991 had its 8 year service at an OPC in March. I asked if there was a Porsche Club GB discount and they knocked 10% off. 12 months ago I wanted a new set of tyres, they knocked 15% off on that occasion and were cheaper than the usual suspects (I had looked them up beforehand). You need to ask.

DarkVeil said: Just out of curiosity, what year is stamped on the tyres? I'm wondering what the OPC would consider to be too old. I hadn't looked, but have now, and was surprised. The older pair on the car are 4918. The newer pair 1219. So not even 5 1/2 years old for older ones. Given they are the "road" tyres, they are kept in a cool dark garage most of the time, so are of course in excellent condition. Track tyres are younger, but condition not that great... Weren't on the car when it went in for service, so a moot point. So they were either trying to be very cautious with my safety, or not being very cautious with my money. Liam

LiamH66 said: DarkVeil said: Just out of curiosity, what year is stamped on the tyres? I'm wondering what the OPC would consider to be too old. I hadn't looked, but have now, and was surprised. The older pair on the car are 4918. The newer pair 1219. So not even 5 1/2 years old for older ones. Given they are the "road" tyres, they are kept in a cool dark garage most of the time, so are of course in excellent condition. Track tyres are younger, but condition not that great... Weren't on the car when it went in for service, so a moot point. So they were either trying to be very cautious with my safety, or not being very cautious with my money. Liam Tyres can deteriorate due to age even if they are not visibly cracked, worn or perished. 5 years old isn't too bad, but I personally wouldn't let them get beyond 7 or 8 years old.

Car passed with no issues even the tyres were fine. 11k on the original tyres and 3mm tred left isn’t bad One question was the ctek. I wired that to the front battery so I could use the connectors quickly but Porsche say it needs to be wired to the battery control unit. Any ideas what that is and where it is?

Ah thanks that makes sense

KOKSRACING said: Car passed with no issues even the tyres were fine. 11k on the original tyres and 3mm tred left isn’t bad One question was the ctek. I wired that to the front battery so I could use the connectors quickly but Porsche say it needs to be wired to the battery control unit. Any ideas what that is and where it is? Live to the +ve battery, negative to the spare bolt hole on the suspension post. The battery control unit is then in-play. Bringing connector through the cover keeps it all tidy and convenient. Edited by HighwayStar on Monday 13th May 22:17

KOKSRACING said: Car passed with no issues even the tyres were fine. 11k on the original tyres and 3mm tred left isn’t bad One question was the ctek. I wired that to the front battery so I could use the connectors quickly but Porsche say it needs to be wired to the battery control unit. Any ideas what that is and where it is? Live to the +ve battery, negative to the spare bolt hole on the suspension post. The battery control unit is then in-play.