Rant about independent specialists
Discussion
Not really sure why I'm posting this, other than to vent!
I had some new eBay intercoolers put on my 996 Turbo three years ago by a well known Porsche independent in the South East ready for a power upgrade and asked them to pressure test the system afterwards and was told there were no leaks. Was happy with the work they did, which was a healthy 4 figure bill.
Due to lockdown and generally not using the car much, a couple years go past, but only a few thousand miles driven on the car. It now needed a service and the actuators adjusting ready for a remap. I leak tested it at home, wouldn't hold any pressure. First independent was quite a distance from me, so used another well known Porsche independent specialist. Again asked them to pressure test. Car came back with "intercooler hose loose, and an intermittently leaking diverter valve". Those were fixed, told the car held boost. Car miraculously developed an airbag ECU fault whilst in their care. Another healthy 4 figure bill.
Got the car back, put it on my Durametrics to data log it, car still not hodling boost as it should. Took it to a third well known independent specialist, 6 months after the visit to the second, this time they showed me videos of the pressure test: both intercoolers leaking from the veins and from the throttle body seal.
The intercoolers only have a few thousand miles on them, so in all likelihood were leaking from the very beginning, or from the install.
Neither of the first two independents picked up on that, or the throttle body, whose seal between the body and motor housing had perished - certainly not in the 6 months between the second and third independent specialist visits and was probably there for the first.
So what am I to make of this: these aren't back street garages. They are Porsche specialists, clearly being used by hundreds of Porsche owners judging by the number of cars they have in every time I visit and they have clearly not done at least some of the work that I have asked for and they have billed for?
I had some new eBay intercoolers put on my 996 Turbo three years ago by a well known Porsche independent in the South East ready for a power upgrade and asked them to pressure test the system afterwards and was told there were no leaks. Was happy with the work they did, which was a healthy 4 figure bill.
Due to lockdown and generally not using the car much, a couple years go past, but only a few thousand miles driven on the car. It now needed a service and the actuators adjusting ready for a remap. I leak tested it at home, wouldn't hold any pressure. First independent was quite a distance from me, so used another well known Porsche independent specialist. Again asked them to pressure test. Car came back with "intercooler hose loose, and an intermittently leaking diverter valve". Those were fixed, told the car held boost. Car miraculously developed an airbag ECU fault whilst in their care. Another healthy 4 figure bill.
Got the car back, put it on my Durametrics to data log it, car still not hodling boost as it should. Took it to a third well known independent specialist, 6 months after the visit to the second, this time they showed me videos of the pressure test: both intercoolers leaking from the veins and from the throttle body seal.
The intercoolers only have a few thousand miles on them, so in all likelihood were leaking from the very beginning, or from the install.
Neither of the first two independents picked up on that, or the throttle body, whose seal between the body and motor housing had perished - certainly not in the 6 months between the second and third independent specialist visits and was probably there for the first.
So what am I to make of this: these aren't back street garages. They are Porsche specialists, clearly being used by hundreds of Porsche owners judging by the number of cars they have in every time I visit and they have clearly not done at least some of the work that I have asked for and they have billed for?
Youforreal. said:
Don’t be silly now, everyone knows that specialists can do no wrong and all OPC are crap……..sorry of your woes, id present the findings off the third Indy to the second one and ask them to explain their bill!
The first is a stretch due to time elapsed
First, there's the issue of burning bridges though - there aren't that many specialists around.The first is a stretch due to time elapsed
Second, it's not just the money, it's about trust. This item is one that I can prove they haven't done. What else have they not done, or half-assed that I'm not aware of?
And on the OPC, my local one has been worse than all of the independents combined.
Just generally, I do wonder how about the entire industry of mechanics. My experience of many of them, knowing a little about cars, is that they exploit the general owner's lack of knowledge all the time.
One local general mechanics that is highly recommended by many tried to charge my wife £1,200 to replace the intercooler on my 2014 A6 Tdi. I phoned the garage up and pointed out that blueprint parts were available for £250 and the intercooler was easily accessible at the front of the engine bay.
They replied that it also needed a pressure switch "because they always break when removed from the intercooler" for £90 (actually available for £30). I ordered a new one, swapped it out in 5 minutes with no issues. Old one was working perfectly, so I put it back in.
Balance of quote was £700 for intercooler (OEM) and labour.
I then ordered the intercooler, considered fitting it myself, but rang another local garage who offered to swap it for £200.
So, all in, supplying the parts myself (with no trade discount), I got the job done for less than half what the "recommended" garage quoted.
Unfortunately the owner of the local garage that I used to use exclusively and trusted implicitly died during Covid and it hasn't opened since.
ditchvisitor said:
Would highly recommend Bahnsport, they are bloody excellent.
And here's the problem. I would have recommended two of the independents and the OPC I've used before checking or having their work checked.In total I've now used 4 of the most well known independents in the South East and one OPC.
3 Indy's and the OPC were less than perfect to varying degrees.
The fourth Indy is the one currently working on the car and so far I'm the most impressed with - have sent me videos of the faults and their fixes, so I'm very hopeful with them.
Guybrush said:
Note the moderator edit. It seems a person isn't allowed to name a garage they don't like, even if no detail is given. In any case, all Porsche specialists in the area are now suspected.
Maybe Porsche owners as a group need to start leaving reviews on one chosen review website with their PH username to validate and then we can make an informed decision without infringing PH's naming and shaming prohibition?Trust pilot seems decent - I note that the first two indy's I searched for aren't on there yet, so would give us a pretty blank slate to start from?
OK, so OP here for an update, the car has been in at the latest Indy since my first post, fixing various boost leaks (with video proof) that the last place said didn't exist 6 months ago.
They've now found what looks to be the cause of the airbag faults that ocurred whilst the car was at the last place and the last place said they'd run out of ideas on and it just needed a (£2k) replacement airbag ECU...
...and the last place charged me £thousands, remember.
They've now found what looks to be the cause of the airbag faults that ocurred whilst the car was at the last place and the last place said they'd run out of ideas on and it just needed a (£2k) replacement airbag ECU...
...and the last place charged me £thousands, remember.
FMOB said:
Unfortunately that wiring is chewed, there are bits of yellow insulation on the grey material at the bottom of the pic. If it was melted the insulation would have smoothed edges or be discoloured but wouldn't pull copper strands out of the wire as shown.
RE the cut wire can only think it was cut to stop the chewed wires causing a fire.
Thanks - the grey material at the bottom of the pic is part of the interior carpet, I believe that part of the wiring is behind/under the dash near the transmission tunnel.RE the cut wire can only think it was cut to stop the chewed wires causing a fire.
Do you know if the interior is properly sealed when the doors and windows are shut - is it possible for a mouse to get inside the car?
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