Free MOT from Hatfield OPC?

[SFO]

I once took advantage of a free MOT offer from Mercedes Stratford in East London for my cheap E class estate runaround, which was worth about £1000.

They failed my car, and suggested I spend £4000 to make it roadworthy.

The only things I had to fix were an exhaust mounting (£20) and rear discs (£100) to get it through the MOT at another place.

There is no free lunch in this world

[DYKWIA]

Indeed. I went into this knowing my car needs about £3,000 worth of work (Clutch, RMS, revised IMS bearing, AC Condensers, vacuum pump, rear discs, exhaust hangers and heatshield) I've been putting it off for a while and have been planning to get it all done this year. However, this whole experience has got me thinking about the Porsche warranty. If I get the work done (not by the OPC, obviously) the car will be spot-on, so maybe I should jump at the warranty and buy myself two years of worry free motoring?

The only thing putting me off is the non-standard parts nonsense, such as the battery as I also wanted to fit grilles behind the bumper to protect the new condensers and a Dension widget to add bluetooth and DAB. Are things like this really a dealbreaker? Would Porsche refuse to repair, say, a damaged engine, because I fitted a bluetooth kit and a decent battery to the car?

[hali001]

Just a late addition to this thread.

I've had my 'challenges' with OPCs, but I have recently found Hatfield more deserving of bouquets rather than brickbats.

I took advantage of the free MOT and my seven year old 997.1 Turbo flew through with no issues.

Hatfield (and presumably the remainder of their group) offer an older car (7+ years) reduced rate for labour and parts - the labour is £75/hour (ex VAT) - which is very helpful, particularly as there seem to be fewer incidences where parts randomly regenerate/degenerate between inspections...

[ChipsAndCheese]

hali001 said:

Just a late addition to this thread.

I've had my 'challenges' with OPCs, but I have recently found Hatfield more deserving of bouquets rather than brickbats.

I took advantage of the free MOT and my seven year old 997.1 Turbo flew through with no issues.

Hatfield (and presumably the remainder of their group) offer an older car (7+ years) reduced rate for labour and parts - the labour is £75/hour (ex VAT) - which is very helpful, particularly as there seem to be fewer incidences where parts randomly regenerate/degenerate between inspections...

Hatfield do seem to have improved a fair bit since the new dealer principle came in. However, I still only use them for warranty work now. I have felt truely ripped off by them on so many occasions in the past that I never trust anything they tell me. For non-warranty OPC work I will stick with Leicester, even though they are further away, who always seem to be more realistic and honest when quoting jobs.

Even with Hatfield's cheaper labour rates for 7+ year old vehicles, bringing their per hour rate to nearly the same as local specialist JZM, their quote for some recent work was still nearly £300 more than JZM! The suspicious side of me feels that maybe the lower labour rate is a ploy to lure customers back, but then they get the money back some other way - perhaps by quoting longer times for jobs and/or higher parts prices. Either that or JZM's technicians are just way more efficient than the OPC's!

[DYKWIA]

Hatfield and Reading OPCs are part of the same group and offer the same 7+ year deal, including the £75 hourly rate. However, despite this being on a par with the rates at my local specialist, they want £400 more to change the rear discs, over £600 more to fix the coolant hose clips and are quoting £900 in labour to investigate the leaky RMS whereas my specialist will fix the leak and fit a new clutch for the same price. So, how is this possible? Do the mechanics at the OPC work much more slowly than the ones at my specialist?

Here's the thing, if the OPC quoted fair prices I would use them and I suspect many more people would too, so surely it makes good business sense to charge competitive prices, forge a good reputation and remain busy? Their greedy rates and high prices must be counter-productive, so why do it?

Edited by DYKWIA on Sunday 27th April 01:24

Edited by DYKWIA on Sunday 27th April 01:25

[Zoin]

Well timed topic - I had a call from Hatfield OPC telling me about their reduced rates and free MOT just yesterday. One difference is that when I told them I live in Reading, they were quite happy to tell me I can get the same deal at my local OPC.

Given some of the comments above, I think I'll stick with Northway.

[DYKWIA]

Good call, just booked mine in with Ray to get all the work done that needs doing. I was still grateful for the free MOT though.

[Zoin]

DYKWIA said:

Good call, just booked mine in with Ray to get all the work done that needs doing. I was still grateful for the free MOT though.

Sounds like you're getting the best of both worlds

Re the AC condensers, Northway did mine just a few weeks ago. What they didn't tell me until afterwards is that they have some very discreet mesh covers which fit directly over the condensers rather than in the bumper so are practically invisible.
Apparently they don't like to be seen to be pushing products but if they haven't mentioned it to you, it's worth asking about. Protection without the 'modded' look.

[DYKWIA]

Ah yes, I have already discussed the discrete grilles with Northway and they are being fitted, but thanks for the heads-up nonetheless.