Do you service your Porsche at the dealer?
 

Hi All,

I'm curious to see how many of you service your Porsche at the dealer or if you have service done at an independent?

If you go to an independent shop, is it because of the price or the service?

The couple of times I've needed anything different done I've gone to the local dealer (local being an hour and a half away). Oil changes go to a local guy. In a rural area, this car may as well be a space ship and I wouldn't chance it with an indy.

I do all of my own service (so far). I may look into an indy shop if the project is bigger than I can take on, but I do sometimes buy parts at the dealer. :)

So far all work in my garage by me. I bought this car with that expectation. Have only gone to the local dealer on Sundays to look at the new shiny bobbles. I did call them once to see if they had a relay in stock, they didn't, I would have to order, take 5 days. I ordered from Pelican.

That's the hardest part about this car, getting anything. I can get oil and filters and belts locally, that's it.

I do everything I can do myself and take it to an indie when its too difficult for me. Never to the dealership.

Same here - only had my car for a month, but so far I've been able to do everything (and there has been a number of things) myself. Seems that it's not a terribly difficult car to work on, its actually less annoying than the VW Jetta I had years ago.

You're right on the parts availability - local auto parts stores don't have much on hand, so sometimes the car needs to stay in the garage for a few days while I wait for things to ship.

If there is something I cannot do (mostly internal engine stuff), I will sometimes take it to the dealer in my area. I am friendly with one of the service managers, and they have never tried to rip me off, but the base prices are very high compared to an independent. That said, I had one instance where they troubleshooted my car for 2 weeks, and then only charged me for the final fix. Mostly because it was so obvious they should have figured it out the first day, but still it was very nice of them.

I do all my own maintenance, including recent 60K mile service, but usually get the parts at the dealer. Their parts pricing is competitive on most items. Spark plugs, oil & what not I bought at Canadian Tire. Major work (clutch, IMS, etc) was done at a local independent.

I'd love to get service at the dealer, their shop is gorgeous, but the high labour rates are prohibitive.

I always quote jobs with my Indy and the dealer, I know my Indy very well and don't have to worry about him using subpar parts. Some times I order parts from the dealership keys >.<, gas cap, coolent stuff like that.

Either do it myself or take it to an indie. Here in the Phoenix area there are a number of good indies with reasonable labor rates and they all know what they are doing. We have two dealers, one is close to my house that I use sometime for parts as they are competitive (10% to 20% below retail), will make the extra effort to find what you are looking for (grey center console delete kit was a little hard to find) and I avoid shipping costs.

35% myself, 45% indie, 20% dealer so far.

6 months of ownership and never been to the dealer. RMS, IMS, AOS performed at my Indy. Brakes, Rotors, Oil, Filter, Air Filter, Cabin Filter, gas cap (lol), Radio Bluetooth Adapter, LED Interior/boot/bonnet lights, etc. were all done by myself.

+1 Have a local indie who specializes in the breed.

My breakdown:

70% DIY
20% Local indy
10% Race prep (highly specialized indy)

I DIY for fun and enjoyment (its my zen zone) and so that I know that the job was done exactly how I wanted it done, not necessarily to save money (although that is a nice byproduct). So, if I am feeling lazy or am too busy, I'll send the car to the shop without hesitation (in fact, they often will send a flatbed to pick it up so I don't even have to drop off/pick up).

I never go to the dealer.

There are dealers, and then there are dealers. We are about equidistant from two dealerships, which we try to remain cordial with. One of which is retail parts at list price only, "your IMS cannot be replaced without taking the engine apart", etc. The other actually stocks LN IMS retrofits in their parts department, and sent two retrofit jobs to us when the IMS Single Row Pro first came out because we had the Faultless tool while theirs was on back order.

You really can't lump them all into one category.

If the maintenance is outside engine e.g. oil, plugs, change fluids, filters, etc. I do my own work; if it requires getting into the engine e.g. IMS, clutch, etc. I am likely to get a cost comparison between dealer & indy shop.

Dealer as they know there stuff. Better off paying and getting it done right.

I bought my car new in 2003 and did my maintenance with the dealer I bought it from, Prestige Porsche in Nanuet, NY. Basically oil changes and recall notices. They went out of business in 2008 or 2009 - taken over by Jack Daniels and closed down the Nanuet dealership and turned into a preowned showroom for all makes. Had one oil change done by Jack Daniels and didn't like their attitude. Then I started going to Pepe Porsche in White Plains, NY as I was working within walking distance of their maintenance facility. When Hurricane Sandy hit Pepe was out of commission for a long time and I needed something done so I started with my independent specialist, Power Tech in Rockaway, NJ. I've done a few things on my own, rear speaker kit, center dash cupholder replacement, hard top spinlocks, OBC add-on with PDwight's cable, Ben006 short shifter, front brake pads and disks, r&r front bumper to clean radiators and replace horns. But I have Power Tech do all my oil changes and serious work/upgrades. If Prestige stayed around I might have stayed with them, but now I'll go to Power Tech for as long as I own a Porsche. I think it depends on the dealer as JFP said.

every other year service/inspection from my trusted dealership to pass the TÜV inspections.

All the mods done by me.

Initial after-buying multi k$ updates by trusted indie, oil changes 50% by me, 50% by quick lube place with oil/filter/etc supplied by me. Tires by indie, battery by me (mail order). Airbag light 3x by dealer, O2 changes by muffler shop, air leak CEL by indie.