997 servicing shocker

[richardrsc]

hmm. Car in for a service, needs disks and pads all round... which is probably right, haven't been done for a while.

But £1922 ? (997.1 c4s) quoted by OPC. Seems a bit on the steep side of bloody expensive. Can anyone recommend a specialist in Hertfordshire? Oh apparently needs the heat shields doing to.

Apparently I need a new battery as well, after the last one was replaced 2.5 years ago - so it appears the original ones are crap anyway (car gets driven every day). I'm out of warrantee now, so can I just drop in a 3rd party job myself? Any particular brands worth going for?

Cheers

R.

Edited by richardrsc on Thursday 21st January 13:12

Edited by richardrsc on Thursday 21st January 13:21

[nxi20]

RPM Technik will look after you for general servicing http://www.rpmtechnik.co.uk/

Agreed the OEM Moll batteries are terrible, especially considering how expensive they are.

Bosch Silver S5 is about as good as it gets for batteries. Eurocarparts normally have them in stock for decent price.

[richardrsc]

Thanks for that. Is it a simple drop in and spanner on job? Last time it needed doing OPC persuaded me to part for £300 for what sounded more complex than open heart surgery.

[mm450exc]

Get the parts and do the brakes yourself. Real easy.

That Moll battery must have a built in timer or something. They will last just under 2 years max! Put a Bosch S5 in the GT3 now and sorted. 5 year warranty!

[Trev450]

Yes simple job to do - just don't put your back out as its a bit of a stretch. Any warnings you get after changing the battery should clear after a short drive.

[LeighB]

richardrsc said:

hmm. Car in for a service, needs disks and pads all round... which is probably right, haven't been done for a while.

But £1922 ? (997.1 c4s) quoted by OPC. Seems a bit on the steep side of bloody expensive. Can anyone recommend a specialist in Hertfordshire? Oh apparently needs the heat shields doing to.

Apparently I need a new battery to, after the last one was replaced 2.5 years ago - so it appears the original ones are crap anyway (car gets driven every day). I'm out of warrantee now, so can I just drop in a 3rd party job myself? Any particular brands worth going for?

Cheers

R.

Edited by richardrsc on Thursday 21st January 13:12

That'll be due to the genuine Porsche boxes the parts come in

If you get an Indy to fit say Pagid disks and pads, anti-vibration shims etc I'd expect it to be less than £1k.

Price up the bits on Design911's website, they may do a bundle for all round or at the least per axle.

Linky to Design911

See here for 5% discount

[Billsnemesis]

I was given an estimate less than the OP's from JZM for new discs and pads all round on a 997 turbo so I would expect something cheaper still for a carrera

[pete.g]

Firstly, check that the brakes actually do need to be done, as it is unfortunately quite common for franchise garages to suggest this when it isn't necessary. Check disc thickness measure and pad wear percentage - if it's in daily use corrosion should not be an issue.

You can buy the parts yourself for around £500 and get a Bosch Silver battery for around £100.

Any decent mechanic can do the brakes - they are easy to work on and a straightforward DIY job. With heat-shields it will probably be the hole around fixings that have corroded - again a mechanic (one who fixes) rather than a technician (one who replaces) will be able to solve this - as a DIY I have used stainless steel washers to cover the hole caused by the corrosion and then refitted them.

[richardrsc]

Thanks all. I'm not spanner worthy enough to fit brakes, I'll no doubt cock it up...

Prices for the disks and pads so far one using pagid @ 870 ish and one using Porsche at 1400?

I'm out of warrantee now anyway, so would anyone be particularly worried about going for the cheaper option?

[mm450exc]

Pagid good enough for road use.

[W8PMC]

I've no experience of Porsche consumables/servicing (hoping that will change next year), however having had numerous performance Audi's & BMW M's I nowadays never entertain a dealer for anything other than a routine service as per the service schedule. For all consumables i go to independents/specialists & on average you'll pay at worst 50% & often down as low as 33% of what the respective main dealer would charge.

As an example, rear pads for my F10 M5, supply & fit with the OEM Pagids, £100 but Williams BMW wanted just shy of £300. I now treat all consumables in the same way most would treat tyres & nobody ever buys tyres from a man dealer so why would you for pads/discs etc.

[Adamski69]

Not the same car but some similar issues. 986 Boxster S. Had it for 7 years, put 2 sets of discs and pads in 80k miles, bought from design 911 as OEM parts, discs, pads, and fittings as a kit, £199.00 per end. Fitted by either a local independent garage or specialist for a fraction of porsche cost. Performed perfectly.

Heat shields corroded, Porsche £480 plus vat and fitting per side, local specialist, £10.00 jubilee clip on each side in 10 mins, replaced the clips twice in 7 years, no issues. A decent and knowlegdable specialist will save you a mint and not risk your safety or the cars integrity and performance. Mine is in Theale, so a bit down the road but would recommend them in a heart beat.

First time I spoke to them on the phone was due to a creaking that was coming from the steering rack. Porsche had recommended it being stripped down / replaced rack, and a bearing of some description possibly at fault on the column so that too to be stripped down and investigated, replaced, many hrs and £££'s later, problem might be solved. So I phoned a specialist instead...

The specialist asked me if the car was lapis blue pr black? Lapis blue says I. Thought so, the darker colours can do that when it is hot (it was July) due to suspension turrets minutely expanding, when it gets cold it will go away. It did. That was nearly 7 years back and every summer, occaisionlly it happens. But never had other probs with the steering. Porsche would have had my pants well and truly down...

On a note with the discs, even as a daily driver the inside faces can get corroded, worth a check to see.

[Fl0pp3r]

Adamski69 said:

A decent and knowlegdable specialist will save you a mint and not risk your safety or the cars integrity and performance.

+1

[pete.g]

mm450exc said:

Pagid good enough for road use.

The last set of factory fitted pads I replaced (Cayman S, owned from new) were Pagid - same markings and numbers as the replacements, for which I paid 40% of the 'Porsche' price.

I have yet to see a Porsche disc - the Pagid replacements are indistinguishable from the OEM.

[richardrsc]

Morning gents,

I was just having a look on Halfords for the battery, and am told this one is compatible and apparently is guaranteed for the life of the car...

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batt...

Does anyone have an opinion on them? a lifetime guarantee seems very tempting as I suspect I'll have this car till I'm old and grey. I like it very much.

Edited by richardrsc on Friday 22 January 09:21

Edited by richardrsc on Friday 22 January 09:21

[Trev450]

Looks ok and is a decend brand. Check the Amp per hour rating on your current battery to ensure this one is compatable as Porsche fit different rating batteries depending upon options fitted.

[BertBert]

I've used Yuasa in quite a lot of the fleet now and they seem to work fine and from halfrauds are very easy to get. If you go lifetime, you'll need to keep the receipt for that long and not forget about it when the batt dies!

I have no info, so just a WAG, but I was musing that there is no difference between the 5 yr one and the lifetime one. They just work off the basis that most people have sold their car by the time it dies or loose the receipt!

[richardrsc]

Right I'm going to give it a try I think. I'll try and remember to update this thread in 10 years time

[uknick]

How is lifetime defined for the battery warranty then?

[richardrsc]

uknick said:

How is lifetime defined for the battery warranty then?

Apparently for as long as you have the car... though I haven't seen the small print.