Independant Porsche specialists issues

[Winny911]

I’m moving to DIY myself or (or was pre health issues). Let’s face it a lot of the servicing can be done DIY so why do people use a specialist?

I can see the benefit of going to a specialist for things like fault finding / coding / manifold drilling / engine rebuilding etc. but for every day jobs oil changes / brakes / suspension a back street garage can do that for £50 p/hr

 

[porkchops]

I’m moving to DIY myself or (or was pre health issues). Let’s face it a lot of the servicing can be done DIY so why do people use a specialist?

I can see the benefit of going to a specialist for things like fault finding / coding / manifold drilling / engine rebuilding etc. but for every day jobs oil changes / brakes / suspension a back street garage can do that for £50 p/hr

I think a big reason why people do it is to have the stamp in the book and keep an attractive resell value/appeal, a lot of us know how painful it is to sell a 996 privately. I think (I know by experience) that many people would not even consider the car if there was no stamp from opc or reputable indie.

 

[911UK]

where DIY comes in is the following

OPC indy schedule being every 10k 20k 2 years for just the major services

do DIY an oil change every 5k or in the year inbetween
do a brake pads and disc change as it's only the fliud change that is stampped
OPC's dont have to do a tyre change
Suspension tweaks, etc

there is a lot to do around that 2 year OPC Indy stamp

 

[AVI_8]

where DIY comes in is the following

OPC indy schedule being every 10k 20k 2 years for just the major services

do DIY an oil change every 5k or in the year inbetween
do a brake pads and disc change as it's only the fliud change that is stampped
OPC's dont have to do a tyre change
Suspension tweaks, etc

there is a lot to do around that 2 year OPC Indy stamp

You have a fair point there, unfortunately there’s this attitude in the UK that if the book isn’t stamped by a Porsche professional the car is worth less, and I can see where that might be the case, some of us diy people might have previously been a mechanic and have all the tools, know how etc, and let’s face it a diy’er will probably spend considerable more time on a job because time is not an issue if you’ve got all day to do it, therefore do a better job because of it, last week i changed all the disks and pads on one of my BMW’s stripped everything into its component parts, checked and lubricated everything, a garage paid mechanic would not have been so meticulous, then used my diagnostic tablet to bleed the entire brake system including ABS system just as (might) have been done at the dealership.
I wouldn’t go near a dealership, whether main or independent because I know I’ll do as good a job, if that hurts the resale value then so be it.

 

[911UK]

not forgetting whilst there are a lot of master technicians at OPC's
that is not always the case and there have been enough instances of OPC's not undertaking work right 1st time, which is amateurish

 

[AVI_8]

I would suggest to anyone who does their own diy to keep a digital reference to what they’re doing, a forum is great for that, it adds credence if you have your own maintenance thread with pictures ….. And it’s an interesting read to others.
It can be a proof of maintenance to show to a potential future buyer if it’s done properly.

 

[Zingari]

A car is only as good as it's last service and the overall condition when you inspect it. If 'Scripps Motors' completed a service in 2005 and stamped the book with a stamp direct from Ali Express it wouldn't bother me. You only have to look on PH and the Porsche Collecting Cars thread to realise how ***** some people are. To the point they dismissed a very tidy 90k 997.2 that sold for £23k because the book wasn't stamped despite a full OPC service history with associated receipts. Then they criticsie it for potentially having a £5k bill around the corner! Any car of that age could have a big bill crop up but that depends on who you get to do the work and cost of the parts.

It's worth noting that if an OPC has serviced a car they will backdate stamp the book for the original or new owner so I expect the buyer of that car is very pleased with themselves. (GDPR is irrelevant as it indentifies an 'object' not an individual).

 

[Winny911]

Think I spent more maintaining my car in 10 years than it’s worth so doing it my self cost of parts would have only been about 1-2k the labour is what stung me £10-15K

 

[GMG]

...I do all of my own vehicle maintenance because I do not trust a garage (any) to do a decent quality job; too many bad previous experiences! And they will never take the same care and attention to detail that I do; why would they? It's not their car...

...vis a vis the value impact on selling; the savings made by home servicing etc will far out weigh any value difference? Also once a car is getting on in years then condition,condition,condition will be the cars USP ...

 

[911munKy]

I bought my car 9 years ago for £11k, I’ve spent about £12,000 over 50,000m on servicing, upgrades & refurbishing to keep it in good nick, 80% of the labour has been done by me. I realised early on that if a Minor service was over £300 that I’d be better off going the DIY route before a Major was required.
The car is a keeper so I bought my own stamp for the logbook to keep it up to date, it’s probably worth £3k more than I paid for it and the lack of depreciation helps offset the running costs. Insurance is cheap and it averages 26mpg.
Obviously if something big goes wrong then I’ll need a specialist but I’m hoping to have another 10 years of trouble free motoring and by then I’ll be ready for something with a bit more ride height and comfort .

 

[hermes]

I used a well known and not inexpensive Indy to do some work on my 997 C4 a few years back. One of the items I requested was a new flex disc on the 4WD shaft. It wasn’t cheap in terms of labour.

About a year later I removed the shaft for another reason, and found an old and tatty flex disc still attached.

I do almost all work myself now.

 

[GMG]

...that!

 

[ashtonjay]

you need to name the indy your talking about so that none of us get the same issues you have had
what harms it gonna do you ? just name them

 

[PeterHoward]

They may advertise in here..............................

 

[barefoot]

Darren at Unique Porsche near Bolton is one of the best independents about. I've tried several in the North West and he's head and shoulders the best and he def is very competitive price wise. I also have an Audi R8 V10 Spider and when it comes to servicing or repairs I only use Ricky at REPerformance near Swindon. He's that good I have my car transported to him and back as he's over 3 hrs from me. An R8 looked after by Ricky out of warranty with his stamp in the service book is better than one looked after by a dealer and is a big plus come sale time.

I would do the same with my 996 Turbo if Unique Porsche where miles away they are that good.