Am I getting Hosed?

I bought my new 2000 S from a dealer 200 miles away from where I live in April 2001. After an unsatisfactory experience with the initial

15K maintenance from the local Porsche dealer, the dealer I purchased my car from agreed to give a 10% discount on all service as an incentive to drive the 200 miles to have them do it.

I am now approaching 150K on the vehicle and I have had this dealer do all scheduled maintenances, repairs, as well as new tires and alignment with every 30K maintenance. I have 18" rims and always go with Pirelli P-Zero tires. Each time I had a service done I asked if my discount was included. The first few times they would manually mark down the ticket 10%, but for the past couple of years they have assured my the discount was included. As I had built up a level of trust (always the same people, zero turnover) I took their word for it and didn't check the numbers.

Last week I took the car in for a new rear tire, two front tires, and an alignment (I had to replace one of the rear tires 2 weeks earlier at a local tire store). My bill was $1191, and this didn't seem right, so I questioned if the 10% discount was included. Once again I was assured it was. The alignment itself was billed out at $385, and I questioned that, stating that I thought alignment was more in the $250 range. I was told the normal price for alignment is $420. When I got home I checked my prior service records, and sure enough, I had been billed $240 for alignment at 90K but had been billed $385 for alignment at 120K (my service records for prior to the 90K maintenance are in storage). Also, the prices charged for the same tires are varying from $210 to $305!

So, what do most dealerships charge for an alignment? Are independents properly equipped and trained to do alignments a 2000 Boxster S? If so, what is their typical charge? Do most of you buy your tires from the dealer? What about buying tires over the internet and having a local tire shop install them?

Also, is there a guide as to how many hours should be charged for secluded maintenances (and maybe other repairs also)? If so, this dealer has a posted labor rate of $69.50 per hour, is that in line with other Porsche dealerships?

Thanks in Advance for your help.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Branum
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I have P Zero Rossos on a 2002 996, and the rears (285/30-18) are about $300 each.

We have two Porsche dealers in our locale - one does tire sales and installs in house, the other sends the work out. I bought my first set of rears from my dealer, who does the work in house. His price was better than the shop the other dealer uses, but not as good as a well known national chain store also in the area. I went with the dealer on the theory that they specialize in my car ( and there was other service being done as well). The dealer scratched both wheels, but also replaced the damaged parts when I pointed it out to them. I've used the national chain store frequently for other cars and have usually been happy, but I also suspect they tweaked the frame of one car due to sloppy positioning on the lift, although I can't say for sure. If you opt to buy over the internet, make sure the "local tire shop" knows what they're doing.

My dealer (San Diego County, California) has a posted labor rate slightly over $100 an hour.....

Reply to
Jim Keenan

"Bill Branum" wrote

When my wife took her Boxster to the dealer for it's 45K, they wanted to do front pads/rotors and a brake system flush for $850. I bought the rotors/pads online for $200 and had the local guy do the rest for about $90. I would think an alignment at any normal shop would be around $150 or so. If you look online at tirerack.com you'll see that their price for P0 tires are $180 front, $240 rear. Prices at Discount Dire (tires.com) and other shops that carry them will be comparable (plus around $15 per tire mounting/balancing.)

By going to the dealer, you are paying for the convenience of one-stop repairs/maintenance. As you can see, you're paying *a lot* for that.

$70 is really cheap; the rate at Barrier in Bellevue, WA is $99. You may not know, but most repair shops have a set rate for each repair - it comes out of a book: x hours for service y, z hours to change the fanbelt, etc. This is IMO a rip off that always favors the shop. It was instituted by the manufacturers so that they didn't pay exorbitant prices for warranty work, and it's supposed to also favor consumers if the work turns out harder than it's supposed to be.

Floyd

Reply to
fbloogyudsr

My god, I am glad I know how, and have the tools to do this stuff myself.

The question I have to ask is what do you do to make the cash to pay for your Porsche habit?

Do you need some help?

Back here in Iowa if you have a Porsche, you do it all yourself, no other way. Unless you want to put a full half the miles on the car getting it serviced, well now that wouldn't be all that bad now thinking about it.

Anyway, to your question, as a mechanic, NO, your not getting hosed.

I worked on cars for a while, and you know what? I worked my butt off and saved every penny I could for the customers, only to have them complain about my work or the bill, not once in a while, EVERY time. The world has been less one mechanic since my one year endeavor into it, 32 years ago.

It costs a TON of money for all those special tools and books that usually the boss don't pay for. Consider your discount as a tip. You give a waitress

15% for Christ's sake, what do they offer? Ohhh, lets not go there.
Reply to
Vern

Just for the records: Porsche in Germany charges 100 Euro per hour plus tax. If I´d find a place that would charge only 70 it would be worth the ride.

Markus

Reply to
ethnopac

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