Just did the 30k service.. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

99-Boxster-MK · 10-15-2005, 12:11 PM

Wow.... This was soooooooo easy. I just saved myself 1000 bux, as the parts only cost me about 200, and the dealer wanted 1200 for this..

Hardest/longest part were the plugs, but they were pretty easy just took a long time and if you take your time, no problems. the back ones on each side are the hardest

The entire service took about 2 hours for me and a friend to do.

I would also like to say that I got my parts from pap-parts and their quality is above that of the parts I pulled out of the car (dealer installed) The best example was the pollen filter, as it was a piece of crap, but the one from pap parts, which cost 1/3 the price was charcoal activated, thicker and much better.

If anybody is thinking of doing this yourself, definetly go for it... An added plus is you get to see your engine

ehehe

Mike

Ronzi · 10-15-2005, 12:59 PM

If you and a friend did the "30k service" in 2 hours (with no previous experience), then you DID NOT do what the dealer charges the thousand bucks for.
I am not disputing that you changed the oil, plugs, and filters, all at a considerable savings over dealer fees, but I wager you did none of the laundry list of things performed by the dealer at the major maintenance interval.
The maintenance manual for the '99 Boxster lists 24 separate checks and inspections to be performed in addition to the replacing the oil, plugs and filters.
All this takes a trained Porsche mechanic about 5 hours to complete.
What you did was only a part of the specified maintenance.
This serves to emphasize the difference between owner maintenance and authorized dealer, or at least Porsche specialist shop, maintenance.
Somewhere down the road you are going to want to sell your Boxster, and if a prospective purchaser is at all savvy, they are going to want to see the maintenance records. A hand full of sales slips for oil, filters and plugs is a poor substitute for certified maintenance records.

xclusivecar · 10-15-2005, 02:10 PM

Ronzi-

I semi-disagree. I've seen many a shop, dealership or not, do the "checkover". Literally it's just a look-over. No special equipment is used to do this and the mechanic might tap and pull on a few parts under the car but thats it! I'm not saying all dealerships or mechanics do this but business these days doesn't warrant allowing a tech to spend 5 hours on a car!

As far as selling the car without proper Porsche documentation...the grand he saves today in labor will more than pay for itself. If a savvy purchaser wants to knock a few bucks off the cars selling price due to not having the car serviced at a Porsche dealership, I highly doubt it would be much at all. Most people just want to make sure the basic upkeep was at least done to the car and a handfull of receipts should be just fine.

Just my opinion!

kavlono · 10-15-2005, 02:32 PM

The other risk you face when you do it yourself is that if anything goes wrong with the car and you take it in for warranty work, what do you do if the dealers says that the problem was caused by an improper 30k service and tells you 1) the problem is not under warranty is going to be many thousands, and 2) the warranty had been voided. Granted it is illegal for the dealer to require that you have them service it. But what I do is always have my vehicle serviced by the dealer during the warranty period just to avoid and such issues.
I agree that if you know what you are doing it is better to do it yourself. You know it is done right and save money.

Brucelee · 10-15-2005, 03:23 PM

During the warranty period, I think it prudent to use Porsche for the scheduled maint. After that, I would not do so for cost reasons.

spine911 · 10-15-2005, 03:56 PM

I just did the 60k service maintenance with the Spark Plug Tube/Gasket replacement. Dealer quoted $1,350 just for the 60k service/parts, NOT including the Spark Plug Tube/Gasket replacement and parts. I got the 60k service parts from pap-parts for $295. Total time for the whole service is only 3 hours(that includes hooking up my car to the Porsche diagnostic computer, cleaning the water drains/air ducts, brake fluid replacement/bleeding, Spark Plug Tube replacement, cig. lighter repair). Service was performed by my Master Technician friend of a major Porsche Dealer in SoCal.

Adam · 10-15-2005, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xclusivecar

Ronzi

As far as selling the car without proper Porsche documentation...the grand he saves today in labor will more than pay for itself. If a savvy purchaser wants to knock a few bucks off the cars selling price due to not having the car serviced at a Porsche dealership, I highly doubt it would be much at all. Most people just want to make sure the basic upkeep was at least done to the car and a handfull of receipts should be just fine.

Just my opinion!

Yeah, I agree with you. Say you buy your car new and pay for all the services required at the dealer until 60k miles. You spend 3k in service with them(this is conservative). You decided to sell the car then and get a camry or something. Does having all the documention add 3k to the car's value? Or does not having the car dealer serviced reduce the car's value by 3k? I would think not. At worst you will break even I would imagine.

99-Boxster-MK · 10-15-2005, 07:34 PM

Geez.. I wasn't expecting this reaction.. I was proud of myself until I read all this.. thanks for the support guys.

BTW, before you start bashing me I did everything that was specified in the service checklist, inclusing hooking up to a code reader, and we even bled the breaks.

If you guys want to continue funding the new granite floors and marble bathroom in the dealership owners house then go ahead, but please don't bash me or other for wanting to do the work ourselves.

I much rather get my hands dirty and get a beter understanding about my car, then pay someone else to do it. It's not a money issue as I am more then able to afford dealer upkeep, but why?

If you think about it 2 people at just over 2 hours is 4 hours of labour anyways.. so its damm close. Me and my friend weren't working together, as much as each of us were doing our own thing. I did half the plugs, he did the other half, while he was jaking the car and taking the wheels off, I was replacing the air and cabin filters, etc... so I think we were rather thorough.

Mike

kavlono · 10-15-2005, 07:45 PM

Its not bashing. It is helping you understand the downside. I am sure we are all envious that you can do that and we old want to also. I know I am. Presenting someone with the negative consequences of their actions is good because it allows people to act with their eyes open.