Servicing - When is 2yrs or 20k miles NOT 2yrs or 20k miles?
Servicing - When is 2yrs or 20k miles NOT 2yrs or 20k miles?
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DJMC

Original Poster:

3,584 posts

127 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
I must be stupid (don't answer that!)...

981C reg'd 22nd May'14.

1st service at 20,061 miles on 8/4/16. 20k came just before 2yrs.
2nd service at 39,694 miles on 2/3/18. 40k came before 4yrs.

Now at 53,000 miles, I had been thinking this time the 2yr point would come sooner than the 60k point, i.e. at 22nd May 2020 which is 6 years from date of registration. As per the service booklet, page 7...




Who would think the same?

No, it's due on 2/3/20 which is 2yrs from the last timed service on 2/3/18.

So, if I take it in on 2nd March at 53k miles, does that mean my subsequent service is the earlier of 73k miles or 2/3/22?

No, the service book states cleary a service is due at 20k, 40k, 60k, 80k etc... so it would have gone 27k miles between this service at 53k and the next one at 80k.

But this is also wrong. The service would actually be due at 73k miles.

So whilst we often say "£1,000 isn't that bad for a service every two years" in reality unless you're doing exactly 20k miles in exactly 2 years your services may be more frequent, like mine have been.

I was only alerted to my mistakenly thinking the service would be in May by my dash telling me the other day it's due a service in 7,000 miles or 30 days.

Now I know why.

Olas

911 posts

81 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
Send an oil sample to millers - the particle count and TBN are the biggest indicators of condemnation limits.
If warranty is a concern then ring them up and ask them when it’s due.

DJMC

Original Poster:

3,584 posts

127 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
Olas said:
Send an oil sample to millers - the particle count and TBN are the biggest indicators of condemnation limits.
If warranty is a concern then ring them up and ask them when it’s due.
No warranty, I'm just keen to keep it serviced to Porsche "rules" and so it's due for a service in 3 weeks.

DJMC

Original Poster:

3,584 posts

127 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
quotequote all
One OPC quoting £1,446 saying it needs spark plugs at 60k, but they were done at 4yrs (40k) in line with the service schedule - whichever comes first, 60k or 4yrs.

2nd OPC quoting £775 without the plugs.

1st OPC then deleted spark plugs saying they didn't know they'd been done "early" (they weren't, they were done at 4yrs) and reduced price to £1,016.

RPM quoting £594 (plus courtesy car cost).

Some would say a Porsche stamp is worth £175 more, but that's from the last OPC I used and don't intend to again. So it's £420 more for the Porsche stamp, and RPM certainly come across as knowing their stuff whereas both OPCs have made mistakes before.

996Targa

269 posts

170 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
quotequote all
£775 is the last published Participating Centre price for 6 years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes sooner. No plugs required but includes brake fluid, drive belt and air filter.

Pricing goes £615/ £975/ £775/ £795/ £525/ £1,095 so the aim has to be to get to 10 years/ 100,000 miles.

Twinfan

10,125 posts

128 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
quotequote all
The clock always gets reset at service time, so the last service is the starting point for the 2yrs/20k miles interval. I'm surprised anyone thought about it differently - it took me a while to work out your logic that you were always counting from the registration date....

DJMC

Original Poster:

3,584 posts

127 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
quotequote all
Twinfan said:
The clock always gets reset at service time, so the last service is the starting point for the 2yrs/20k miles interval. I'm surprised anyone thought about it differently - it took me a while to work out your logic that you were always counting from the registration date....
No logic. No conscious thought at all really! I guess it's because the mileage has always come before the time limit previously but now it's the other way around.

gsewell

718 posts

307 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
quotequote all
I must be bordering on paranoia! My Cayman has an oil change annually on top of the 2 year schedule. Bearing in mind I struggle to do 8k miles in 2 years including the Swiss Grand Tour and Scottish NC500.
That said, I use a local specialist that helps keep costs down.

A1VDY

3,575 posts

151 months

Friday 7th February 2020
quotequote all
My 23k mile gen1 3.4S Cayman has done around 1500 miles in 10 years but has been serviced to Porsche schedule four times in that period Inc the last one with plugs, belt and all filters Inc pollen.

DJMC

Original Poster:

3,584 posts

127 months

Tuesday 11th February 2020
quotequote all
Now booked in for 2nd March with RPM at a shade under £600 all in. Sent them the detailed quote from my OPC at £1,015 so as to check the service items are identical - they are.

Negatives:
- some would say only an OPC stamp will do in the service book.

Positives:
- so far I've saved £1,160 (refunded 2yr warranty 2017/18) + £660 (disallowed warranty 2019) + £415 (this service) = £2,235. This has gone into my "it's a Porsche so the engine will blow up and cost me £10,000" fund.
- my two visits to RPM, and telephone enquiries, have given me great confidence in their knowledge & set-up.
- I can keep my Zunsport grilles on with pride.
- I don't have to have an inferior Porsche battery (RPM use Bosch) when it needs one.
- I still have full Porsche factory support at RPM.
- hopefully my car won't have been shat on, like it had been when delivered back to me from the last OPC service.
- hopefully my bonnet won't have fresh stone chips, like it had when delivered back to me from the last OPC service. I didn't notice at first as I was busy cleaning off the st.
- hopefully RPM will know how an oil gauge works, unlike the last OPC.
- hopefully RPM won't bad-mouth me on dash cam, unlike the last OPC, after PGB agreed to pay for a second oil service because the OPC didn't know how the oil gauge should operate.
- hopefully RPM will know that it's unnecessary to open the boot when checking the oil via the electronic gauge.
- hopefully RPM will be open when I arrange to go there and not cause me to have a 2hr round trip as I did with the OPC which last serviced it. They were closed at 9.30am, the time I'd pre-arranged to collect it on a Saturday morning.
- hopefully, if my car needs fuel whilst with them, RPM won't put in Tesco unleaded as the OPC did.
- hopefully, any future buyer will appreciate the value of a well respected indy looking after my car.

Bitter?... me?