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Old 09-30-2004, 07:37 AM   #1
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30k Service

Just got my '99 back from a dealer-done 30,000 mile service. Many of you have probably already had this pleasure, but for those of you that haven't, the damage came to a shade over $900. They changed the oil, oil filter, spark plugs, air filter, pollen (cabin) filter, and adjusted the emergency brake and replaced two recall items (gas cap and transmission cable) at no charge. Labor was for 5.6 hrs for the above, plus the laundry list of things they check.
Additional problem discovered during the checks is that the climate control system panel is not displaying the cabin air recirculation symbol, and the footwell air distribution arrow. Replacement of the panel was quoted at another $800, which I decided to pass on for the moment, since the functions actually do work.
The same work at an independant shop was quoted to me at $750, but for reasons I won't go into here, I decided to go with the dealer service.

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Old 09-30-2004, 10:20 AM   #2
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Hey Man, Thanks for that info. I didn't know the 30k was just shy of 1 large. Just curious is that what others are paying?!!

For what is listed on what they did, it wouldn't be worth it to me to pay that much just to have the Porsche stamp in my maintenance manual when 30k rolls around on my Boxster, since I feel i could do as good a job if i serviced it myself. I thought they were supposed to bleed some of the hydraulic systems or do the radiator at that mileage service too at 30k... Besides that I like working on my own cars, gives me a sense of ownership =)

So why did you did you go with the dealer rather then an independent shop?

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Old 09-30-2004, 10:45 AM   #3
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found this site....

gives quotes about maintenance charges..

http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/MaintenanceServlet?tid=edmunds.g...8.1.*

requires you to put in detials of car and zip code...

does anyone know how accurate it is...
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Old 09-30-2004, 11:21 AM   #4
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I bought the parts and oil for $100 and did the 30k service on my 2.5 myself. Also did the 45k service myself. For a mid-engine it is an easy car to work on.
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Old 09-30-2004, 12:51 PM   #5
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Why the dealer vs independant shop - I wanted some information about the car that I felt was only going to be available to me through an authorized dealer. Specifically, the previous service history on the car. There were no service documents whatsoever with the car when I bought it, with the exception of one oil change receipt from a year ago. Carfax revealed that it was originally an "executive lease" car, consistent mileage history, no known damage etc., and where and when in the country it had been titled, but not specifically where (dealer name) it had been originally purchased.
The Porsche "Certificate of Authenticity" obtained from Porsche Cars North America told me the original production date, the VIN, engine number, transmission number, original total MSRP, exterior and interior colors, plus all of the installed optional equipment. Interestingly, the Certificate does not specifically say where the car was assembled, so if you don't know that the "U" in the VIN means Uusikaupunki, Finland, versus an "S" meaning Stuttgart (fairly rare for a US car), you still wouldn't know where it was made. Virtually all of this information is available other places, including the sticker on the under side of the front luggage compartment lid. On the Certificate, however, the options list is in plain English vs the meaningless, but decodable, option numbers on the sticker.
In any event, the Carfax and the Certificate put me no closer to reconstructing the service history of the car. My thought was that I might be able to get this information from the dealer that did the 30k service, since they can get into Porsche's computer records via the VIN. This turned out to be partially true. Porsche keeps records of all warranty work done on any specific car. A dealer can enter the VIN and up will come a "VIN Claim Summary Listing" which has a bunch of really good stuff, including a list of everything that was done to the car under warranty, the date it was done, the mileage on the car when it was done, and what dealer did it. My dealer was good enough to print this out for me. In return I gave him a $900 check for the 30k service. Would he have done this if I had just walked in off the street and asked for service data on VIN such-and-such? Maybe. But maybe not.
I am still not quite where I want to be however, as all I have is a list of warranty work, not a complete list of all service. An oil change is not warranty work, for example, and the Porsche computer system does not hold non-warranty work, even though it was performed at an authorized dealer. But at least I now know where I have to go to hopefully get the records.
The question arises, of course, why would I go to all this trouble to build 4 or 5 years worth of service records. There are two reasons. 1.) I'm kind of a nut about knowing as much as I can about any Porsche I own, and 2.) my previous experience with buying and selling Porsches has indicated that complete service records can be valuable at sell time. Maybe not if you are selling it to Daddy's Little Princess as a high-school graduation present, but if the prospective purchaser is a dyed-in-the-wool Porsche nut it is the first thing they will want to look at.

Last edited by Ronzi; 09-30-2004 at 01:00 PM.
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Old 09-30-2004, 04:46 PM   #6
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The 30K does other items - like adjust the serpentine belt tension - I know because my tensioner blew up shortly after the dealer (apparently) misadjusted it.

If memory serves my 30K service at the dealer was about $850. I have gone with the dealer for service and repairs to avoid 'finger pointing' when something goes wrong - but I am gradually weaning myself from this habit.

Oh yeah, there is a manual that comes with the car that details the 30,000 mile service items.
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Old 10-01-2004, 09:36 AM   #7
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Yes, the belt is checked at 30k and replaced at 60k.
I think it makes sense to take the car to a dealer for service as long as it is still under warranty. After that, maybe not so much. Unless perhaps you are having some kind of problem best diagnosed by the special eqpt. available at the dealer.
It is always a question as to how much is it worth to have the 25 separate items checked that are listed in the Maintenance book for the 30k service.
Probably not much if they are only given a cursory examination, or maybe even none at all. If the checks are concientiously done, then you probably pretty much get your moneys worth for the time spent on the checks.
The independant shop that quoted me the $750 price referred to the 30k service as a "five and a half hour ordeal", which matches pretty well with the 5.6 hr labor charge from the dealer.

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