Porsche Servicing Options - OPC or Independent?

Porsche Servicing Options - OPC or Independent?

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The-Wanderer

Original Poster:

213 posts

66 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
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Hi all

I've posted this in Porsche General rather than Cayman/Boxster as I'd appreciate the thoughts of a wider range of Porsche owners; apologies if it's in the wrong place.

I bought a 2010 987.2 Cayman S in September, 41k miles, with the three previous services carried out at every two years at OPC Solihull. The previous owner bought it Approved Used, and it should still be under the two year warranty, however my local OPC tells me the warranty doesn't carry over with the car as I bought it from another dealer (Sytner BMW) rather than privately.

I'm in the (seemingly) fortunate position of having a number of options for servicing, being based in Bolton:

OPC Bolton, although experience on the phone so far has been patchy at best;
Hartech are a couple of miles from me and are obviously well known and well regarded, and I like the look of their maintenance plans;
Unique Porsche (ex Hartech techs) are a little further away but have been recommended to me by a fellow owner, and they seem well thought of

It's not a daily driver, and will do no more than 5k miles per year.

What would you do? Pay the OPC bills and keep the full Porsche service history, or have it looked after by an independent who cares about the cars?

Thanks for reading, and for any thoughts or insights.

supersport

4,040 posts

226 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
quotequote all
Indie, especially with the pedigree in your area.

Twinfan

10,125 posts

103 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
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I would suggest doing what I plan to do in the near future:

1. Keep the OPC history for servicing. There's a not a huge difference in price between OPC and indie if the OPC follows the fixed price servicing plan, and the car is new enough for OPC techs to be familiar with working on it. OPC stamps in the book will be of benefit when you come to sell.

2. Use an indie for everything else - repairs, niggles, upgrades etc.

DJMC

3,431 posts

102 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
quotequote all
Agree entirely with Twinfan. In fact my OPC (Leicester) said they're happy if I want to use GCR (indy) for ad hoc work as most of the techs there came from that OPC. That's as long as original Porsche parts are used of course, to validate my extended warranty.

Not sure why your Porsche extended warranty wouldn't be valid even though you didn't buy from an OPC? Call PGB to check.
Did Sytner do a service perhaps which has upset the insistence on Porsche main servicing to keep the warranty live? You can always put it back under Porsche warranty by having their 111 point check done. This has to be done anyway when taking an extended warranty.

See: https://www.porsche.com/uk/approvedused/porscheapp...

Twinfan

10,125 posts

103 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2019
quotequote all
I believe it's in the T&Cs that the extended warranty can only be transferred via a private sale, not via a non-Porsche dealer.

The-Wanderer

Original Poster:

213 posts

66 months

Thursday 24th January 2019
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies, I hadn't considered using OPC for service and indie for everything else.

Plenty of time to think it over some more before the service and MOT are due.



WG

1,009 posts

125 months

Thursday 24th January 2019
quotequote all
Syntner do own a number of OPC's so I suggest double checking the warranty issue

woodysnr

1,023 posts

227 months

Thursday 24th January 2019
quotequote all
My understanding re transferable warranty is.. If the car is sold from one private party to another the warranty is transferable or if the car is sold on via a dealership /independent on a SOR basis it is also transferable .
If you buy direct from dealership /independent no transferable warranty can be passed and if the new owner applies for a warranty to be added at an Porsche OPC they have to wait 90 days from the date of purchase and get it through its 111 point check £220 and any faults have to be addressed before warranty can be applied.


Edited by woodysnr on Thursday 24th January 11:22

garypotter

1,483 posts

149 months

Thursday 24th January 2019
quotequote all
After purchasing a 2003 1 owner 911 with full OPC history 45,000 miles i had a list of issues on the car from a PPI i had done on the car, and some were caused by the OPC servicing I would use an indie specialist.
FYI cross threaded geabox sump plug so new sump required, engine oil over filled.

I have had a few friends having bad experience from my local opc so I have found a specialist in Horley and have been very pleased with their service and the work they have done.

Carlson W6

857 posts

123 months

Thursday 24th January 2019
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Hartech mauntenance plan.

All day long.

RSVP911

8,192 posts

132 months

Thursday 24th January 2019
quotequote all
DJMC said:
Agree entirely with Twinfan. In fact my OPC (Leicester) said they're happy if I want to use GCR (indy) for ad hoc work as most of the techs there came from that OPC. That's as long as original Porsche parts are used of course, to validate my extended warranty.

Not sure why your Porsche extended warranty wouldn't be valid even though you didn't buy from an OPC? Call PGB to check.
Did Sytner do a service perhaps which has upset the insistence on Porsche main servicing to keep the warranty live? You can always put it back under Porsche warranty by having their 111 point check done. This has to be done anyway when taking an extended warranty.

See: https://www.porsche.com/uk/approvedused/porscheapp...
Hi there , what’s your view of GCR for AC cars - any good ? I usually use RPM , but GCR are closer . Cheers smile

DJMC

3,431 posts

102 months

Friday 25th January 2019
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RSVP911 said:
Hi there , what’s your view of GCR for AC cars - any good ? I usually use RPM , but GCR are closer . Cheers smile
I couldn't comment. I've spoken to Chris at GCR a few times but not used them so far. My research here and elsewhere tells me they're well regarded. I've only researched GCR and RPM and would trust both to do good work based on my findings and contacts with both.

DJMC

3,431 posts

102 months

Friday 25th January 2019
quotequote all
woodysnr said:
My understanding re transferable warranty is.. If the car is sold from one private party to another the warranty is transferable or if the car is sold on via a dealership /independent on a SOR basis it is also transferable .
If you buy direct from dealership /independent no transferable warranty can be passed and if the new owner applies for a warranty to be added at an Porsche OPC they have to wait 90 days from the date of purchase and get it through its 111 point check £220 and any faults have to be addressed before warranty can be applied.


Edited by woodysnr on Thursday 24th January 11:22
That rings a bell now. When I bought my 981 privately it had its original warranty but there was some reason I asked the seller to get a 111 point check done (at my cost) prior to sale for peace of mind and the 90 day thing comes to mind as to why it had to be arranged that way and not by me.

RSVP911

8,192 posts

132 months

Friday 25th January 2019
quotequote all
DJMC said:
RSVP911 said:
Hi there , what’s your view of GCR for AC cars - any good ? I usually use RPM , but GCR are closer . Cheers smile
I couldn't comment. I've spoken to Chris at GCR a few times but not used them so far. My research here and elsewhere tells me they're well regarded. I've only researched GCR and RPM and would trust both to do good work based on my findings and contacts with both.
That’s great thanks for replying smile