OPC Warranty Dilemma
Discussion
I am looking for some advice regarding OPC Warranty on a car I recently purchased privately around 2/3 months ago. The car in question is a 718 GT4.
The car was purchased from the seller with a fresh 1 year OPC warranty, which is great. However, whilst the car did previously have full OPC history, the last service, shortly before I purchased the car, was done a very reputable specialist. Albeit one that is not in the Porsche Partner Network.
Fast forward to today and I need a minor issue looked at under warranty - a minor electrical issue, rather than mechanical/engine related. No big deal, the OPC will have a look, however my conundrum is that if I wanted to renew the warranty in a year's time I'd have to get a 6 year, major service redone(!!)
This is despite the OPC being able to clearly see the drive belt was new, spark plugs were recent too if they so choose. The OPC advisor suggested that things could be incorrectly torqued etc.
TBH I would trust a reputable specialist's work moreso than the main dealer for servicing as it's just a numbers game to the meal dealers... but having a warranty in case of major engine failure or similar offers peace of mind that makes running the car a bit less worrysome.
So - I am wondering do I:
1) Get the major service redone in a couple weeks, thus the car would have full OPC history, albeit one service is 3.5 months late, cost perhaps £1500 or even more!
2) Get the major service redone in a year's time, which means to sell with OPC history in future, it would be serviced a year 'late' - making the warranty potentially useless in case of major issue?
3) Retain warranty for a year, risk it without a warranty for another year and then put it back on by getting the car service by an OPC in 2 years time? Again perhaps a specialist service could go against me if I needed a big claim.
Residuals aren't the primary concern - it's not a 10k or even 20k mile example.
Am I missing another angle?
TIA
The car was purchased from the seller with a fresh 1 year OPC warranty, which is great. However, whilst the car did previously have full OPC history, the last service, shortly before I purchased the car, was done a very reputable specialist. Albeit one that is not in the Porsche Partner Network.
Fast forward to today and I need a minor issue looked at under warranty - a minor electrical issue, rather than mechanical/engine related. No big deal, the OPC will have a look, however my conundrum is that if I wanted to renew the warranty in a year's time I'd have to get a 6 year, major service redone(!!)
This is despite the OPC being able to clearly see the drive belt was new, spark plugs were recent too if they so choose. The OPC advisor suggested that things could be incorrectly torqued etc.
TBH I would trust a reputable specialist's work moreso than the main dealer for servicing as it's just a numbers game to the meal dealers... but having a warranty in case of major engine failure or similar offers peace of mind that makes running the car a bit less worrysome.
So - I am wondering do I:
1) Get the major service redone in a couple weeks, thus the car would have full OPC history, albeit one service is 3.5 months late, cost perhaps £1500 or even more!
2) Get the major service redone in a year's time, which means to sell with OPC history in future, it would be serviced a year 'late' - making the warranty potentially useless in case of major issue?
3) Retain warranty for a year, risk it without a warranty for another year and then put it back on by getting the car service by an OPC in 2 years time? Again perhaps a specialist service could go against me if I needed a big claim.
Residuals aren't the primary concern - it's not a 10k or even 20k mile example.
Am I missing another angle?
TIA
I'm sure someone will correct me...
1. Get the warranty work done under the exisitng warranty - which it sound like the OPC will do.
2. When the policy comes near to expiration, renew it over the phone. As I understand it, one can renew over the phone and avoid a 111 point check provided the car has an active warranty.
3. Then get the next service done (what ever it is, when it arises) at the OPC.
If one buys a used Porsche without an active warranty and one wants a warranty, you have to have owned it for a 90 day period and have a 111 point check before it can be covered - nothing at all to do with who serviced it last. In fact, looking at the policy booket ( https://assets-v2.porsche.com/gb/-/media/Project/P... ) it seems to not matter a jot who actually services it going forward, unless one actually wants to claim, and then
"A claim made under your policy shall be invalid to the extent that the defect results from any of the following:
Like I say, sure someone will correct me, but the above is what I would do and my understanding.
1. Get the warranty work done under the exisitng warranty - which it sound like the OPC will do.
2. When the policy comes near to expiration, renew it over the phone. As I understand it, one can renew over the phone and avoid a 111 point check provided the car has an active warranty.
3. Then get the next service done (what ever it is, when it arises) at the OPC.
If one buys a used Porsche without an active warranty and one wants a warranty, you have to have owned it for a 90 day period and have a 111 point check before it can be covered - nothing at all to do with who serviced it last. In fact, looking at the policy booket ( https://assets-v2.porsche.com/gb/-/media/Project/P... ) it seems to not matter a jot who actually services it going forward, unless one actually wants to claim, and then
"A claim made under your policy shall be invalid to the extent that the defect results from any of the following:
- Your vehicle has previously not been repaired, maintained or serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s standards
- Service, repair or maintenance has previously been performed on the vehicle by you or by a third party who is not an authorised Porsche Centre/Porsche Service Centre"
Like I say, sure someone will correct me, but the above is what I would do and my understanding.
Thanks, I do intend to use the existing cover for the minor issue.
I don’t believe I would be able to renew the warranty unless it’s done at the OPC - and to do that it would have to be last serviced by them.
At least, that is my understanding of the situation, which makes me wonder it’s worth “wasting” £1500 to have the service redone in one for or another.
I do agree that the torque line is feeble, I did have to resist countering that one!
I don’t believe I would be able to renew the warranty unless it’s done at the OPC - and to do that it would have to be last serviced by them.
At least, that is my understanding of the situation, which makes me wonder it’s worth “wasting” £1500 to have the service redone in one for or another.
I do agree that the torque line is feeble, I did have to resist countering that one!
carbonblack said:
Thanks, I do intend to use the existing cover for the minor issue.
I don t believe I would be able to renew the warranty unless it s done at the OPC - and to do that it would have to be last serviced by them.
At least, that is my understanding of the situation, which makes me wonder it s worth wasting £1500 to have the service redone in one for or another.
I do agree that the torque line is feeble, I did have to resist countering that one!
I looked at a 992 recently, advertised with an independent dealer. I called my OPC to ask what to get it under warrant. Since it had no active Porsche warranty I was told must have owned for 90 days and 111 point check. I enquired about what if a Porsche warranty was active (I could seek out a car with some remaining); in which case the service advisor said just renew over the phone and no 111 point was required. In neither case was there any stipulation about having to have last service by Porsche - which is consitent with the policy handbook I provied the link to.I don t believe I would be able to renew the warranty unless it s done at the OPC - and to do that it would have to be last serviced by them.
At least, that is my understanding of the situation, which makes me wonder it s worth wasting £1500 to have the service redone in one for or another.
I do agree that the torque line is feeble, I did have to resist countering that one!
In your case I'd opt for Option 2. However I'm not sure the next service would be 'late' if it falls within the service window from when it was last done by the Indy?
If they've quoted £1,500 for a major service you're doing well. A colleague has just paid that for a minor, albeit on his 981 GT4 and told the major is near £2,300 now!
If the warranty for these wasn't half the cost of a 911 it's tempting to bin off OPC altogether and go with a well regarded Indy. In near 5yrs of ownership with my 981 GT4 I never had one warranty claim, perhaps I was lucky who knows. When I buy the 718 GT4 (unless I stump up for the 4RS) I'll let my Indy service it.
I have a different attitude to risk than most people.
If they've quoted £1,500 for a major service you're doing well. A colleague has just paid that for a minor, albeit on his 981 GT4 and told the major is near £2,300 now!
If the warranty for these wasn't half the cost of a 911 it's tempting to bin off OPC altogether and go with a well regarded Indy. In near 5yrs of ownership with my 981 GT4 I never had one warranty claim, perhaps I was lucky who knows. When I buy the 718 GT4 (unless I stump up for the 4RS) I'll let my Indy service it.
I have a different attitude to risk than most people.
carbonblack said:
The car was purchased from the seller with a fresh 1 year OPC warranty, which is great. However, whilst the car did previously have full OPC history, the last service, shortly before I purchased the car, was done a very reputable specialist. Albeit one that is not in the Porsche Partner Network.
Doesn’t having the car serviced by an Indy after renewing the warranty invalidate it?Otherwise you could extend the warranty for three years and then have the next two services done by an Indy and still be covered. I cannot see them missing that trick.
£1500 was a guesstimate. In reality it s likely to be more, at which point it becomes less attractive to potentially redo all of the service!
Having an Indy service the car doesn t invalidate the warranty but does potentially open you up to having to prove that it didn t cause an engine issue for example. So I do suspect you d be fighting tooth and nail in the case of a major claim perhaps.
Slightly frustrating as I d have probably paid the difference to have the car serviced at OPC prior to purchase but alas that wasn’t an option!
Having an Indy service the car doesn t invalidate the warranty but does potentially open you up to having to prove that it didn t cause an engine issue for example. So I do suspect you d be fighting tooth and nail in the case of a major claim perhaps.
Slightly frustrating as I d have probably paid the difference to have the car serviced at OPC prior to purchase but alas that wasn’t an option!
Isn’t there a difference between the original manufacturers warranty and the extended warranty?
My understanding is that for the original warranty they are by law not allowed to force you to service it at an OPC, and provided the right work was done they have to honour warranty.
With the extended warranty, a separate product, they are allowed to set the terms, one of which can be that it must be serviced at an OPC (including presumably during the previous factory warranty period?)
Because no one is forcing you to buy the extended warranty from them, others being available, the monopoly rules are different I believe.
My understanding is that for the original warranty they are by law not allowed to force you to service it at an OPC, and provided the right work was done they have to honour warranty.
With the extended warranty, a separate product, they are allowed to set the terms, one of which can be that it must be serviced at an OPC (including presumably during the previous factory warranty period?)
Because no one is forcing you to buy the extended warranty from them, others being available, the monopoly rules are different I believe.
carbonblack said:
Having an Indy service the car doesn t invalidate the warranty but does potentially open you up to having to prove that it didn t cause an engine issue for example. So I do suspect you d be fighting tooth and nail in the case of a major claim perhaps.
Invalidate was probably the wrong word but let's put it another way, when you have a car with a large problem that would be covered by the warranty the last thing you would want to do is to gift them a way out of paying to repair it.The whole point of paying for the warranty is to avoid finding yourself in that position in the first place.
The policy as someone posted above is only void to the extent that the non Porsche work caused the issue.
A service is pretty simple. Oil and filter maybe more filters and plugs depending on which one.
If there are done and there are bills showing oem parts the risk is I think close to nil.
An engine out for xyz hi risk. But in that case you would have used the warranty anyway.
I would not modify the car. You do then get into a grey area. The aftermarket exhaust caused the engine to blow. It is very difficult to prove or disprove.
Use oem parts. Keep the bills.
A service is pretty simple. Oil and filter maybe more filters and plugs depending on which one.
If there are done and there are bills showing oem parts the risk is I think close to nil.
An engine out for xyz hi risk. But in that case you would have used the warranty anyway.
I would not modify the car. You do then get into a grey area. The aftermarket exhaust caused the engine to blow. It is very difficult to prove or disprove.
Use oem parts. Keep the bills.
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