Range of Prices for 60k mile Service
 

Well, it's time to bring my 99 in for the 60k mile service so I called around to the local dealers for a quote. Once again, very suprised at the range :

Dealer 1 - $954
Dealer 2 - $1300
Dealer 3 - $1100
Dealer 4 - $1250
Dealer 5 - $1600
Dealer 6 - $1830

So, I have an appointment at Dealer 3 on Monday ( Dealer 1 is an hour and a half from the office, Dealer 3 is 10 minutes )

All stated the same work would be done ( highlights ) :

- Change Oil and Filter
- Replace Spark Plugs
- Replace Air Filter
- Replace Pollen Filter
- Replace Fuel Filter

( plus a bunch of checks and inspections )

Hope this helps someone in the future...

Nick

Why are you going to the dealer?

- is it because of the free coffee?
- hot receptionists?
- get to sit in the demo cars?
- loaner car?

If it's not for the above 4 reasons. Don't. Go. There.

2 reasons :

- Loaner car
- Gotta get the little stamp for the maintenance book !

Nick

Nick, what about Fischer in Lake Barrington? Call them- 847-304-8822. Jmatta goes. there I.I.R.C.

Nick, one moe thing. Are you going to Motor Werks? I think I have a 15% off coupon for them for scheduled service. You can have it. Call me.

how about replacing the serpentine belt. I thought that was part of the 60K service.

agreed. i went to a dealership for the 1 yr. service ( $15 headlight clip, oil change and new wipers were the only "new" things put on / in the car ) and left $800 lighter.

they also recommended some things:
- upper strut mount : $1080
- cv boots: $950
- ac line: $765
- rear pads & rotors: $1000

took it to an independent porsche mechanic to do the strut mount: $445. he laughed at the ac line and brake "issues" and suggested replacing the cv boots for $740.

he buys his parts from the same dealer i took it to...

if the person i'm buying my used car from can produce the documentation for the work, that's as important as having the stamp in the book, but maybe that's just me.

ramo,

You are correct. The 60k also includes checking the condition of the polyrib belt and replacing if needed...

Nick

Make sure they bleed your brakes and clutch too.

Adam,

Thanks for the reminder. I bled the brakes back in Sept 2007 so I'm due.

I'll have to ask them if that's included in the quote for the 60k mile service.

My bet is that it's not, but I do remember some of the dealers mentioning it when I called around.

Here is the list I used for reference :

http://mysite.verizon.net/resqir1s/PorscheMaintenance.pdf

Nick

I have been quoted about $750 including replacing the serpentine belt in Tampa, Florida by an excellent Indy shop.

i'm not mechanically inclined, don't know a gasket from a washer, but i felt comfortable doing my own belt. and i would recommend to others to do it themselves, the car doesn't have to come off the ground and it lets you see that mass of spinning metal bits sitting inches behind your spine ( well the outside anyway ), whirring around at 3500 RPM - worth the time for sure, and it's a $35 belt.

Well, I just got a call from the dealer. Not good news :

- He says the brakes are at 20-30%. I just did them less than 2 years ago. Does this sound right ?

- He said the clutch should be replaced soon and they can fix the RMS as well ( I knew about the RMS - about a drop a week )

- He said the "cam covers" are leaking and could start a fire with the exhaust. Any idea what this is ? $1900 to fix !

- The bleeder valve on the coolant tank is leaking. $300 to repair

To top it off, my air conditioner at home died a week ago. That's a $1300 repair ( scheduled for this Friday ).

I can't see dropping $3500 + into a car that's only worth around $9000, so I may be getting rid of the car soon.

Very upset !

Nick

Nick, I think the dealership is just trying to make their numbers & budget, with a little help from your car. They are slow.

If you need brakes, just do them again with Sammy. I'd wait until the wear sensor goes off.

As for the other stuff, take a run by Fischer, and talk to those guys first, one day during your lunch break.

take anything a dealer says with a grain of salt...

i was told i needed new cooling hoses and the brakes were gone and wouldn't pass inspection.

took it to an independent, he said there was some coolant on a hose, but the hose was fine. he looked at my radiator cap and said "ah, that's your problem. you've got the old one. go get the new one." he also said brakes were fine.

passed inspection no problem and the mechanic doing the inspection ( vw dealer ) said the car looked to be in good shape, just needed the headlight beams adjusted. ( which the porsche dealer didn't even notice ).

$1900 to do this? Anyone done this before? I wonder why it cost this much.

d-e-a-l-e-r...

But he would really like to have a loaner car, and the little stamp for the maintenance book !

Nobody in the right mind would pay that much just for the free coffee and hot receptionist.

You're an ****************************...

Ekam, why do most of your posts have such a negative slant & tone to them? What's got you so unhappy in life? Your smarter than that.

I agree with Nick too.

Sorry for the thread jack but what shop are you talking about here in Tampa?



Nick and ekam, are you guys friends and just clowing on each other?

Last time I was at the local Porsche dealer here in Tampa they didn't give out free coffe and the receptionist was a dude. I feel cheated.

We are learning that more should be inspected at 60K than just what Porsche recommends.. This includes a lifter inspection and an inspection of the variocam components as the tensioner pads are normally shot at 60K.

I have saved more than a few engines by pulling the sump at 60K miles and cleaning sealant from the oil pick up tube that had been partially blocking the oil inlet, thus reducing oil pressure.

By 60K most engines have a handful of lifters that have seized and at least the upper vario cam pad tensioners are heavily worn. Timing chains are also starting to wear and can have notable wear at 60K miles.

I have yet to do a single 60K service on a vehicle that didn't have at least 3 ignition coil packs that were cracked and required replacement.

Long story short, done right this inspection needs to go further than the "book" says to ensure you don't end up without an issue that can cut your engine's life short.

From what I have seen the Techs that are doing these inspections just go through the motions at the Dealerships.. They don't look at anything they don't have to per the directives and they certainly don't go any deeper than they have to looking for issues that can be noted and then solved with preventive measures before they break.

A car came to us for an IMS bearing retrofit recently and it had just had a 60K done by a Dealer in Texas..(700 miles prior) All 6 coil packs were cracked, it had a broken vario cam tensioner pad on the 4-6 bank and 6 noisy lifters. The Dealer didn't annotate any of these issues on the invoice but they did charge 1100 bucks extra to re-seal the cam covers. (and they still leaked)

Ensure who ever does these services doesn't just go through the motions and follow some generic check list. What was **believed** to be necessary at 60K miles when these cars were new isn't what reality has proven to be necessary. Having deep internal experience with these engines has taught us whats really necessary.

It looks like alot of the engine has to be disassembled to replace the variocam pads. Is that something that's easy to inspect? How about the lifters?

That is a lot of money to spend on a '99 car. For those of us that have the space to work and the time, all of this stuff is good DIY work. Also, I encourage drivers, especially of older cars, to learn and practice such maintenance to save some bucks and become more knowledgable about your cars.

However, if DIY isn't your thing then I strongly advise finding a good aftermarket shop. But dealer pricing is outrageous. We can do better than that......keep in mind that they service cars worth between $60,000-$200,000. They don't even understand that the guy with the '99 might not be rich!

Bob