new boxster owner, advice needed please

[andymc]

my car is a 2000 boxster S with 67K on it, it was last serviced (minor) at 60k roughly a year ago, the specialist (peter morgan) who checked it out said it could go another 6k with no problems, the dealer has advised me it needs a major service and brake fluid change, all in about £750. who would you trust?
many thanks
ps a minor servie is about £370 from OPC

[headlesshorseman]

without a doubt peter morgan opc just want to get its hands in your pockets.

[Lurking Lawyer]

As and when it does need servicing, give serious thought to using a recognised indie mechanic rather than the OPC - you'll save yourself a chunk of wedge and it won't affect any OPC warranty as long as OEM parts are used.

[Wetwipe]

defo believe mr morgan

and given the age and the mileage on the car get an indie to service the boxster

[yetie]

don't agree opc's WILL HAVE A REPUTATION TO KEEP IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG .....MOST INDE'S DON'T CARE !!
always stick to the person who has the most to loose if things go wrong

[Don]

yetie said:

MOST INDE'S DON'T CARE !!

Not being rude but that's utter bollox.

yetie said:

always stick to the person who has the most to loose if things go wrong

All indys have a LOT to lose if they do a poor job. The Porsche world is much smaller than the Vauxhall one and word gets around if an independent Porsche specialist is good or bad.

All one needs to do is put a post on this board and you can guaran-effing-tee that you will get a host of comments on the work of any indy you like - and off-board emails spewing vitriol if they did not live up to expectations.

'Round my way there are a number of excellent indpendent specialists (Northway Porsche for example) who, for certain things, can prove to be both cost effective and thorough in comparison to an OPC.

On a younger, lower mileage car that will be resold fairly quickly (or even not) I would consider carefully, however, about getting an OPC stamp in the book for servicing.

• Everyone will buy a car with full Porsche mail dealer service history.
• Enthusiasts will buy a car at a small discount that has been serviced and maintained by a good recognised independent Porsche specialist that they check up on - newbies will ignore these cars when buying unless budget constraints mean they do their research very carefully.
• No-one will buy a car with an incomplete service history or one that contains the stamps of unrecognised garages.

If re-sale is important consider the above carefully...but in any case there is nothing wrong with a good independent: most used Porsche buyers are "enthusiasts"...

[GreigM]

While I agree OPCs "err on the side of caution" when recommending replacing parts you have to factor that into their recommendation. They have to assume you're mechnaically inept and are bringing it to an OPC in order that they will make it safe for another year...so maybe peter morgan and the OPC are both correct - Peter said 6K miles (which isn't a lot - to me that means he's seeing signs of parts nearing the end of their life) and the OPC will assume you'll do 12K before bringing it to them again, so even if they think there is 10K left on a part they will recommend replacing it...you have to remember that the majority of an OPCs customers these days are not the enthusiast type you'll see on this forum, but more likely to be the "don't know how to open the bonnet" type of owner who hold the dealer responsible for the maintenance of the car - and will pay accordingly for it. OPC will also recommend a major service and brake fluid change on the basis of the history they have - if there is no record of a fluid change in the OPC system they will recommend the change as per schedule.

Edited by GreigM on Friday 20th July 08:32