[Wintermute]

So this last weekend my future father-in-law and I decided to tackle the 60k service on my S. He has a nice shop with full lift that makes getting under and working on my car a cinch. We replaced the spark plugs, serpentine belt, oil and filter, cabin air filter, wipers, topped off the coolant, and checked all the belts and hoses for cracks leaks, checked the brake pads (plenty left), etc. It was hard work but worth it since Porsche had quoted me about $1200 for the service. Anyway, while we had the tires off we noticed that all 4 of the CV join boots were split. The joints themselves looked fine. No unusual noise or movement and still had plenty of grease so it hadn't been long. But I was not relishing the thought of how much this would cost to get fixed. It had to be done, so I made an appointment with the dealer for Tuesday.

I had bought a 4-year, 75k mile extended warranty from WD when I bought the car, and looking over the contract it appeared that this should be covered. After dropping off my car, Russ from the Scottsdale AZ Porsche dealer called me and said that it was mostly covered. They covered all the expensive stuff, but not stuff like axle nuts and clamps, and they would only cover 4 of the 6 labor hours and only up to $120/hr of the $125 the dealer charged. So not great, but better than nothing. Russ told me he had argued with them to try and get them to cover the full $125 or at least cover 5 hours of labor, but no dice. What he did do was split the difference with the labor charge, 5 hours instead of 6, and only $120/hr instead of $125. I was impressed.

Well when I picked up the car and paid my bill, I was floored by A. how much the total cost was (about $1100), and 2. how little I paid ($240, including the $100 deductible for the warranty). This made me very happy. So I just thought I'd share with you a happy story of extended warranties and dealer service departments.