[Perfectlap]

I was actually reading up on local independent mechanics in South Florida as I'm considering parking another Porsche down there at some point. It seems like there are shockingly few good independents until you get up further north to central FL.

And I can see the value in having the dealer give it a once over. Before I began major maintenance at around 70K miles I made a stop at my big dealer up here for a full diagnostic which wasn't very expensive at all. Their quoted fee for the needed repairs was of course somewhere between astronomical and heroic...easily exceed the value of a 70K mile car. But the point was that if any little thing was wrong they'd find it. I had my local indepdendent do all the work at 1/3 the cost.

The one issue, particluarly with the way the IMSB has been handled by dealers and Porsche, is that they don't alert you all of your options on preventative maintenace (which would imply/admit engine design weakness I guess) nor any advice that I should run the car frequently to keep internals well lubed, change the oil at 3-4K miles, should shift above 3K RPM, etc. And of course they certainly aren't going to tell you when Mobil 1 reformulates their oil to offer less of the protective additives found in other brands they aren't doing business with. Kind of crucial information to have if they aren't going to adjust their 15K mile oil change recommendation accordingly. Point is you can only place so much trust in the dealer who take orders from Porsche.