OPC Free 'Healthcheck' Tomorrow........anyone going ?

[skmark]

I'm booked in at OPC Hatfield for 1:30 tomorrow.....anyone else going ? Not been to one of these before....missed it with the Boxster, what sort of things do they do ?

[stuttgartmetal]

Convince you to pi55 a load of moolah up the wall.

HTH

[Actus Reus]

SWMBO's birthday so can't, though I'd expect them to give the car a good check and then try and flog me at least some winter tyres. Worth doing though I'd say - though I won't use Hatfield for servicing after they messed me about with my Box a couple of years ago.

[gsewell]

Would love to go, but I am working :-(

[khushy]

for "bored" Porsche owners with way too much money and time on their hands!

FFS - whats the point - unless you do about 200 miles a year - just wait till the service is due and get it all done then - or am I missing something??!?!?

For the OPC's . . . . a far more useful marketing idea would be "book your car in for a free valet/detail" - then whilst waiting people will surely spend a bit of money - have a TD - talk to to a technician or something like that - get the suckers that way - rather than worrying the st out of them over nothing - "sir your brake pads are 5% fully worn - its time to change them (and the disks, lines, fluid, pedal rubber and Master Cylinder) before it becomes quite dangerous and invalidates your OPC Warranty LOL!

khushy

[X-UFO]

I've always wondered who falls for this 'free health check' which to me translates as 'bring in your car and we'll see how much money we can make out of you'.

It's like inviting a plumber into your house to take a look at your plumbing and advise on what might go wrong in the future and get it replaced 'to be on the safe side'.

[STiG911]

khushy said:

for "bored" Porsche owners with way too much money and time on their hands!

FFS - whats the point - unless you do about 200 miles a year - just wait till the service is due and get it all done then - or am I missing something??!?!?

For the OPC's . . . . a far more useful marketing idea would be "book your car in for a free valet/detail" - then whilst waiting people will surely spend a bit of money - have a TD - talk to to a technician or something like that - get the suckers that way - rather than worrying the st out of them over nothing - "sir your brake pads are 5% fully worn - its time to change them (and the disks, lines, fluid, pedal rubber and Master Cylinder) before it becomes quite dangerous and invalidates your OPC Warranty LOL!

khushy

Alright, alright, calm down fella, it is Friday after all!
Jeeeeezzzz...

[nickfrog]

X-UFO said:

I've always wondered who falls for this 'free health check' which to me translates as 'bring in your car and we'll see how much money we can make out of you'.

It's like inviting a plumber into your house to take a look at your plumbing and advise on what might go wrong in the future and get it replaced 'to be on the safe side'.

You don't have to spend any money with the OPC. I am sure some do out of fear or loyalty but my local OPC were very casual and not pushy.

[gsewell]

The reason I wanted to was that when I had some work done recently, the technician mentioned this day coming up and said that it would be an opportunity to get under that car and see bits that are not easily visible.

As someone who built his own Caterham, I was interested from the engineering side to get some idea of the whole new dictionary that Porsche seem to use.

Unfortunately, I am busy that day and look forward to the next time they run one of these days.

[speedyun]

X-UFO said:

I've always wondered who falls for this 'free health check' which to me translates as 'bring in your car and we'll see how much money we can make out of you'.

It's like inviting a plumber into your house to take a look at your plumbing and advise on what might go wrong in the future and get it replaced 'to be on the safe side'.

You'd have to be a bit of a simpleton to fall for that. Better to see it as a free (pre-winter)inspection - it's then up to you if you act on it or not. And if the work is covered by a warranty then you've lost nothing. Plus you get to drink their coffee and mooch around the showroom.

If I could find a plumber who was willing to look at my plumbing for free I'd do that too! Doesn't mean I have to give him any work, I can always check his findings, and you never know - may find something serious?

I can't imagine why so many are so cynical, unless they've fallen for it themselves?!

[speedyun]

skmark said:

I'm booked in at OPC Hatfield for 1:30 tomorrow.....anyone else going ? Not been to one of these before....missed it with the Boxster, what sort of things do they do ?

I'll be there at 10am (will be gone by 1.30 though).

[disco1]

Don't see the point of these healthcheck days, as mentioned above it's just an excuse for the OPC to try to hammer you with bills. Isn't this where Porsche make their £££? They did one on my car when it was dropped in for a major service and some of the stuff they 'found' was frankly a loads of rubbish.

OPC "Your car needs new tyres on each corner, the tread is down to Xmm and they're not N rates pirelli corsas, do want us to change them today?"

Me "Pirelli corsas are pirelli corsas to me and that depth reading is well above legal isn't it? there's 000s of miles left"

OPC "Yes but we like to change them early!"

Me "Nope!"

They also tried to hit me with the brake overhaul despite them acknowledging there was 80% wear left!

[IMI A]

i'm there at 1pm mate. see you there.

Imi

[monthefish]

stuttgartmetal said:

Convince you to pi55 a load of moolah up the wall.

HTH

p.s. other thread here

[monthefish]

speedyun said:

You'd have to be a bit of a simpleton to fall for that. Better to see it as a free (pre-winter)inspection - it's then up to you if you act on it or not. And if the work is covered by a warranty then you've lost nothing. Plus you get to drink their coffee and mooch around the showroom.

If I could find a plumber who was willing to look at my plumbing for free I'd do that too! Doesn't mean I have to give him any work, I can always check his findings, and you never know - may find something serious?

I can't imagine why so many are so cynical, unless they've fallen for it themselves?!

..because it's Porsche who are telling you this, (the supposed professionals/all-knowing experts on your car) whereas you are just 'joe public', and therfore you can't possibly know better than them.

It's a similar wheeze that BMW use. I once had an Inspection 2 where the listed about £4k's worth of work that was 'required'. IIRC, I had them do about £900 worth of work.
That was 4 years ago (probably 40k miles), and the car is still running perfectly.

[speedyun]

monthefish said:

speedyun said:

You'd have to be a bit of a simpleton to fall for that. Better to see it as a free (pre-winter)inspection - it's then up to you if you act on it or not. And if the work is covered by a warranty then you've lost nothing. Plus you get to drink their coffee and mooch around the showroom.

If I could find a plumber who was willing to look at my plumbing for free I'd do that too! Doesn't mean I have to give him any work, I can always check his findings, and you never know - may find something serious?

I can't imagine why so many are so cynical, unless they've fallen for it themselves?!

..because it's Porsche who are telling you this, (the supposed professionals/all-knowing experts on your car) whereas you are just 'joe public', and therfore you can't possibly know better than them.

It's a similar wheeze that BMW use. I once had an Inspection 2 where the listed about £4k's worth of work that was 'required'. IIRC, I had them do about £900 worth of work.
That was 4 years ago (probably 40k miles), and the car is still running perfectly.

Well, if one falls for it then that's just tough. Doesn't mean that all of us are going to, and with the appropriate level of caution it can be a useful check - no need to mock it, better to provide prudent advice on how to use the information provided.

Whether you are cynical or not, for most owners it's a useful way to give the car a once over, and they are happy to take you into the workshop to show you what they have found.

As ever, caveat emptor.

I went to the one last year, and they found that I had a snapped bracket on one of my silencers (I had noticed a rattle at low revs). Of course you would say that they broke it in order to make some money. But no, I was alongside when the inspection was done, and was impressed (as always) with the tecnicians thoroughness. Silencer replaced under warranty.

Edited by speedyun on Friday 7th October 16:07

[Actus Reus]

STiG911 said:

Alright, alright, calm down fella, it is Friday after all!
Jeeeeezzzz...

Take no notice - Khushy's probably just seen the other thread offering a Spyder for sale at 20k below list

And yes - I think it's a bit of a money spinner, but that said, you don't HAVE to buy any work, and if your car's under warranty it might be worth doing...

[RudeDog]

Its so that they can tell you stupid stuff such as "Your car's electricity is not Porsche branded"

[speedyun]

RudeDog said:

Its so that they can tell you stupid stuff such as "Your car's electricity is not Porsche branded"

Yes, that's exactly what they do.

[Arenki]

guildford at 1pm for me. Hoping to get an annoying rattle from the passenger's front side looked at. also gives me a chance to pretend and lie to myself that I can justify looking at the new 991