Servicing: Independent or OPC
Discussion
Had my 98 996 C4 cab for about three weeks now 
and can't stop smiling - just need some sun now and that will be great!
Pretty soon I will need to have a service completed though. While I'm fairly sure that servicing at one of the better known Independents is likely to be as good as going to an OPC and likely to be cheaper, I wonder how this is likely to affect the re-sale value of the car. The car is 5 years old now with full OPC history so far, is it likely to have such a significant effect on the value if I use one of the better Independents for servicing for the next couple of years? Is the lost value likely to be less than the money I would save on servicing or am I best to stick with an OPC? Thanks for any help.
and can't stop smiling - just need some sun now and that will be great! Pretty soon I will need to have a service completed though. While I'm fairly sure that servicing at one of the better known Independents is likely to be as good as going to an OPC and likely to be cheaper, I wonder how this is likely to affect the re-sale value of the car. The car is 5 years old now with full OPC history so far, is it likely to have such a significant effect on the value if I use one of the better Independents for servicing for the next couple of years? Is the lost value likely to be less than the money I would save on servicing or am I best to stick with an OPC? Thanks for any help.
A full OPC service history is always worth a little more, but how much more depends on the independent dealers used and the age/mileage of the car itself.
On your car, there may be 500-1000GBP difference at resale at the moment. In a few years, it may come down to 250-500GBP. When almost new it could have been as high as 2000GBP.
Some people get the book stamped at OPCs for servicing, then use independents for clutches etc.
I would say that 5 years is a good watershed - younger than that OPC is worth it, after that it's not. This is because the drop in selling price will probably be less than the cost of getting it serviced at an expensive OPC in relation to a 40GBP per hour independent.
On your car, there may be 500-1000GBP difference at resale at the moment. In a few years, it may come down to 250-500GBP. When almost new it could have been as high as 2000GBP.
Some people get the book stamped at OPCs for servicing, then use independents for clutches etc.
I would say that 5 years is a good watershed - younger than that OPC is worth it, after that it's not. This is because the drop in selling price will probably be less than the cost of getting it serviced at an expensive OPC in relation to a 40GBP per hour independent.
996 servicing is so cheap at main dealers you would have to be a stark raving looney to take it to an independent.
off the top of my head the last service on my 996 was 275 inc delivery and collection and a valet. A few independents were advertising at even more.
A non Porsche history will make any goodwill claim impossible and will knock the value by up to 10% as dealers and many private buyers wont want to know.
Its not worth it for a 40 saving!
Bennno
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