Need some advice - Is my Service Centre ripping me off?

[bspecial]

Hi everyone

I've owned my 2003 996 for about 9 months. I noticed lately that there was a scraping noise from the front left wheel (disc I think) when I initially drove the car from cold. An annoying rattle had also developed with the exhaust pipes. So, as it was still under the Approved Porsche Warranty, I decided to take it in to Porsche Chiswick for them to have a look...

Two days later, they come back with:

Two Back Tyres illegal, Two Front Tyres cracked - Both should be replaced & balanced (£941)
Front Discs Corroded - Disc Pads 80% worn - Both should be replaced (£741)
Exhaust Pipes Rattling - Should be replaced (£471)
Badly Alligned Wheels - Wheel alignment required (£240)
Oil Levels - Needs 1L of Oil
Foot Rest Broken - (£36)

As none of this will be covered by APW I am currently overjoyed with my £2.5K bill...

The car passed it's MOT 1500 miles ago without so much as an advisory item... Has anyone got any feedback on this story of woe.

G

[PorkScratching]

Only need to read the title to give an answer: YES.

[Pickled Piper]

Have you had the work done already? if not then hot foot it round to your nearest recommended independant. They will give you a second opinion and be able do do the work for you at a much better rate.

If you have already had the work done then there's not really much you can do.

pp

[911wise]

PorkScratching said:

Only need to read the title to give an answer: YES.

Thats what I was gonna say!

[bennno]

Two Back Tyres illegal, Two Front Tyres cracked - Both should be replaced & balanced (£941)

circa £385 for a pair of tyres fitted and balanced

Front Discs Corroded - Disc Pads 80% worn - Both should be replaced (£741)

seems expensive be suprised if this should cost more than £400

Exhaust Pipes Rattling - Should be replaced (£471)

thats quite cheap for an exhaust which part are they talking about replacing

Badly Alligned Wheels - Wheel alignment required (£240)

tyre fitting place e.g. micheldever would do this for £50

Oil Levels - Needs 1L of Oil

so pour in £10 worth of mobil 1

Foot Rest Broken - (£36)

this sounds reasonable, presumably its £36 plus £80 worth of fitting

Have they done the work, if not then Tognola engineering (Windsor) or Northway Porsche (Reading) will probably both be cheaper for the pads and disks and Micheldever nr basingstoke would be much cheaper for the rubber and alignment.

Bennno

[fastfreddy]

bspecial said:

Two Front Tyres cracked

Hmmm what does this mean? Sidewalls look cracked? This would not normally be expected to happen unless the tyres were pretty old. Got any pictures?
Did you buy the car from an OPC or privately?

[Chris_w]

Pickled Piper said:

Have you had the work done already? if not then hot foot it round to your nearest recommended independant. They will give you a second opinion and be able do do the work for you at a much better rate.

Yep, thank them for their opinion and get the car out of there quickly. You may have to pay a bit of labour for the diagnosis, maybe you could sidestep that by having some of the work done, e.g. the footrest. That said, the last time I had to stump up for half an hour of diagnosis, the car came back cleaned out, which, given how hairy my dog had made the back seemed like pretty good value for money!

Would leave the brakes for the time being if I was you, I recently had my rear pads replaced and discs skimmed for considerably less at a nearby independant and bought the pads from Euro car parts to save a bit more cash. My discs had surface corrosion which gave the grumbling but have noticed no improvement in braking after having them done, so why get them done any sooner than you have to - that's what the warning light is for.

[paulburrell]

BSpecial

I'm afraid you've probably just learned an expensive lesson. Apart from the worn tyres, and assuming the exhaust is not broken, the MOT will not have picked up on any of the other items.

Corroded discs is a Porsche euphamism for bend over and let me roger you rigid. Top Tip: Take your own vaseline next time, they charge you for that as well. Most discs have some corrosion, after all water and steel tend to rust sfter they come into contact with one another. Chance are discs were fine, surface rust does not hinder performance and quickly diappears after a few pedal applications.

Pads could well be worn but buy a set from Eurocarparts £70 Textar OEM and fit them yourself - 1 hr job max.

Alignment might need doing but a good Indy wouldn't charge half that price for a cooking Carrera. Rattling exhaust?? So what if it's not broken then why fix it??

Tyres are an easily checked thing, if you didn't know whether or not they were worn when you took them in then I am sure you will check the next time you decide to wander into the lovely OPC showroom.

Best tip I can give if you must use the OPC for the service stamp, get them to do the fixed price service and anything else they advise either form your own opinion or take it to a good Indy who will charge a fraction of OPC price to fix the problem.

[2something]

I wonder if 2.5k is some kind of target, at my last service that is pretty much what they came up with.

Quick visit to excellent local indie
"sure these are worn but you expect that, they don't need replacing for some time"
"plenty left on those rear discs and pads"
"you could replace the front discs and pads at a pinch, not really neccesary"
New front discs and pads and some bits and bobs for £550 and I am happy the car is fine.

£240 sounds like the price for getting the geometry done.

All in all it's quite a nice setup they have going.
1. Any items they pick up like this they put on the service report, so when you sell the car people will ask "why hasn't this been done".
2. Allegedly they always aim on the side of caution for 'legal' reasons.

[hutchingsp]

I keep hearing "Corroded Discs" popping up with regard to OPCs. Is there a reason for this as I only seem to read it in relation to Porsche?

[paultje]

bennno said:

Have they done the work, if not then Tognola engineering (Windsor) or Northway Porsche (Reading) will probably both be cheaper for the pads and disks and Micheldever nr basingstoke would be much cheaper for the rubber and alignment.

Bennno

What he said !!!Give Peter Tognola a ring and ask him to give it a once over...Datchet is next door to Windsor...good luck...

[fastfreddy]

hutchingsp said:

I keep hearing "Corroded Discs" popping up with regard to OPCs. Is there a reason for this as I only seem to read it in relation to Porsche?

It's the brainwashing machine all the sales and service staff are put through when they join.

Car comes in for service - "your discs are corroded sir/madam"

Car comes in for part exchange - "we'll give you [insert insulting offer] for your car sir/madam"

Car comes in with a broken engine/transmission - "oh, we've never seen that happen before sir/madam"

[damianc4s]

They can't trusted!!!! Last year my car failed it's MoT, stupid me took it to my OPC as they'd serviced it a few month before. It failed, cracked front discs, the cracks were <5mm needless to say it passed at my local MoT Testing Centre.

I blame the service advisors, the proficient ones are great and will give you all the details, if you get a 'desk dolly' I'm sure they are compensated on 'fleecing' owners. Have you ever asked to speak to the technician? At my OPC I can speak to them when there's nothing wrong, yet can't when there appears to be a problem?!?!?!?

[Pickled Piper]

hutchingsp said:

I keep hearing "Corroded Discs" popping up with regard to OPCs. Is there a reason for this as I only seem to read it in relation to Porsche?

It may be true. It's possible that they have a higher ferrous content and are therefore more prone to surface corrosion. Mine certainly appears to get a surface layer far quicker than my other cars parked alsongside it on the driveway. However, surface corrosion does not necessitate changing the disks. All you need to do is drive the car and use the brakes as they were designed to be used. In a Porsche this means very hard indeed. Nine times out of ten an "Italian" tune up will get rid of any surface corrosion problems.

pp

[Pickled Piper]

2something said:

I wonder if 2.5k is some kind of target, at my last service that is pretty much what they came up with.

Quick visit to excellent local indie
"sure these are worn but you expect that, they don't need replacing for some time"
"plenty left on those rear discs and pads"
"you could replace the front discs and pads at a pinch, not really neccesary"
New front discs and pads and some bits and bobs for £550 and I am happy the car is fine.

£240 sounds like the price for getting the geometry done.

All in all it's quite a nice setup they have going.
1. Any items they pick up like this they put on the service report, so when you sell the car people will ask "why hasn't this been done".
2. Allegedly they always aim on the side of caution for 'legal' reasons.

Service departments have targets just like any other business. They have targets per customer and it sounds like £2.5k average is it. It used to be about £800 per customer at BMW main dealers. Also, the targets are shared with the mechanics on the job.

pp

[abarber]

Hmmm, having to go to OPC for servicing to keep the warranty going is a bit of a (costly) drag.

One of the big pluses having a porker is the extensive specialist network.

[sherman klump]

I find it amazing that evertime someone posts something like this that everyone jumps on the bandwagon,like you all have on this occaision as usual,and said oh yes they must be ripping you off.
Without seeing his car how the hell can you make these ludicrous claims ?
Havent you people ever got anything to do other than badmouthing OPC's.
Maybe just bloody maybe he needs that stuff doing.
Will you all be happy if he doesnt do any of it and has a crash and dies next week due to a failed tyre or brake discs.
There is so much crap and nonsense uttered on the pages.

[paulburrell]

Troll Alert!!!!! Troll Alert!!!!!

[welshchris]

sherman klump said:

I find it amazing that evertime someone posts something like this that everyone jumps on the bandwagon,like you all have on this occaision as usual,and said oh yes they must be ripping you off.
Without seeing his car how the hell can you make these ludicrous claims ?
Havent you people ever got anything to do other than badmouthing OPC's.
Maybe just bloody maybe he needs that stuff doing.
Will you all be happy if he doesnt do any of it and has a crash and dies next week due to a failed tyre or brake discs.
There is so much crap and nonsense uttered on the pages.

Total rubbish mate.

Without seeing the car, I can say with certainty that he would be better off (financially and quite possibly service-wise) by taking it to a reputable independent specialist - Just about everyone else here will echo these views.

What you will get here is a balanced view regarding dealers etc. - If praise is due then it will be given - unfortunately a lot of the OPC's have a long history of bending their customers over and rogering them hard before they know what hit them.

Chris

[Geneve]

hutchingsp said:

I keep hearing "Corroded Discs" popping up with regard to OPCs. Is there a reason for this as I only seem to read it in relation to Porsche?

That can be a problem on quite a few modern cars especially Porsches, partly through design and materials, partly through owner negligence (see the handbook).

Corroded discs are now an MOT failure. However, if the discs are thick enough they can be skimmed.