30 K MIle Service at the Porsche dealer...?

[calvani]

Hi Folks,

I need to perform the 30 K mile service on my '01 Boxster. This will actually be the
first major maintenance service I am performing on the car since I bought it (with 20 K).

Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in the Baltimore/D.C. area? Or do you guys think it's better to take the car to the Porsche dealer to perform the maintenance (for the peace of mind). (Even though the cost at the dealership will be much higher, of course).

Any suggestions? Thanks very much in advance...

Humberto-

'01 Boxster 29.9 K - Triple Black

[Brucelee]

It may or may not be MUCH HIGHER.

Depends on the labor rate at your dealer vs the local German car guy.

Parts costs may be exactly the same unless you can source them yourself.

Are you under Porsche extended warranty? If so, I recommend the dealer for this service.

PS- if you use local German car guy, specify the oil or they may put in whatever they put in!

[Ronzi]

It's supposed to be about a 5hr job, if they do all the checks that are supposed to be done, and change the plugs and the oil and filter.
Doing the math on the shop rate, plus the parts, should get you close.
In my case it was $900 at the dealer vs $750 at an independant.

[Brucelee]

If the car is an 01, I don't think the plugs get done until 60K. I may be wrong on that but that is what my dealer cheat sheet says.

The plugs is about a 2-3 hour job, so the 30 K should be much less money than you suggest.

I think this is in the $500 range but as you can imagine, I never pay that much for this service.

[Ronzi]

Well, I'm holding the dealer 30k maint. invoice in my hand, and it reads $598 for labor and $309 for parts, for a total of $907.
Obviously you can change the oil, plugs, and filters yourself, and forget all the checks, and save yourself a ton of money.
If you take it to a Porsche dealer, $900 is about what it is going to cost, is all I'm saying.

[calvani]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your comments. I checked with my nearby Porsche dealer (Valley Motors) and the cost of the 30 K service is ~$880 (as said before, roughly speaking). An independent Porsche mechanic in this area states that labor+parts will amount to ~$700-750.

Given the relatively low cost difference and the fact that the car is *still* under extended factory warranty, I think I will go ahead and bring the car to the dealer. If something goes wrong during the service (although probably unlikely) I will not have any problems with the warranty. Which after all I already did paid for... !

Thanks again...

Humberto-

[99-Boxster-MK]

When my 30K service is due, I plan on changing the oil, plugs and air filter myself and have the dealer do whatever else is involved, like all those checks which should not take them more then an hour or two..

I think most of the time is spent getting into the engine to do the work..

Mike