sorry brenen had two windows open and had another thread confused with this one. my fault. I had 50% of my 1st post correct

 

In all fairness to the dealer I believe the allowed time for an oil service on a turbo is 1.2-1.5 hours multiply that by there hourly labor rate add the retail cost of the oil, oil filter, disposal fees etc you aren't to far off.

Is it expensive yes, did the dealer follow the right process? Did they tell you up front ? I am not sure about that nor am I here to play judge.



Could you do this work yourself, sure.. Can it be done for less somewhere else sure. But in the end the reality of the matter is that a dealership needs to be profitable and needs to generate revenue. A tech is not going to do a oil change for 15 minutes of labor especially not one working at flat rate in a dealership environment.

What is piece of mind worth?

You could go to Jiffy Lube and get the same service done for about $125.00 maybe less maybe more.. But is your 180K Turbo worth a tech that makes 9 bucks an hour doing oil changes on camry's and suburbans?


Just wanted to be objective as I have been on both sides of the fence.



I feel that often times people focus on the price of something and not the value behind it.. And when things go FUBAR they are left wondering....Why did that happen..

 

I was agreeing with you, right up until the "Camrys and Suburbans" comment.

I feel you could have just left it at somebody who gets paid $9/hr - indicating lack of experience, motivation, specialty, etc... What does the other vehicles that he may be proficient in, have anything to do with the ability to unscrew a device, and dump contents from a container (or pump)?

 

My point being simple.. I had a customer who was in this exact same scenario and went to a lube shop could he could get it done for less... Well the tech who was proficient in draining oil in other cars was clearly not proficient in doing an oil service on a Porsche, he drained the sump but forgot to drain the oil tank.

Long story short he proceeded to fill the car with 8 quarts of Mobil 1's finest.
Starts the car, oil in the intake and blows out some engine seals oil over the place.

My point was not offend a tech working at Jiffy Lube doing oil changes on Camry's and Suburbans. It was to point out that when you go to a dealership and specialist you pay for that specialized service and that comes with a price.

Lets face it you cant compare a tech who is at a lube shop to a tech at a dealership.

Not trying to offend anyone.. Hope that help clear the air.



In closing, when I was first working on cars and going through a apprenticeship a very wise tech with years of experience told me.... " I don't get paid to remove a bolt, I get paid to know which bolt to remove" ...

 

Fabryce@GMGRacing - the dealer always goes by the "service book". Everything they is do is listed in there with the associated time that it should take to do that work. Many dealerships give bonuses to their techs for getting it done sooner, but they still charge the client the book hours.

 

I don't disagree with you.... Techs who are on flat rate are motivated to get it done.

If the job books for 1.5 hours and they do it in 30 min- they paid for 1.5 hours.
The incentive is to get work done........

 

Agreed. Thanks for the clarification!

 

That is just disrespect. I own a high end luxury goods company and I always look to not take advantage because people are not dumb and will not come back when it comes to larger purchases. Treat them right and you will be successful. Do not take advantage because that one huge profit will be your last with that customer.

 

Just for comparison -- my local Porsche dealer usually charges $169.95 for oil changes. And this is the expensive SF Bay Area.

The breakdown is as follows:

Oil-Filter Element: $26.15
Aluminum Seal Ring: $2.14
Pump Seal: $2.14
O-Ring: $13.08
Mobile 1 Synthetic Oil: $60
Labor: $66.44

 

Beautifully stated. Short term gain long-term pain for the dealer.
Fabryce I certainly understand paying more for a higher end car but the fee should be commensurate with the services rendered.

 

I too understand paying more for a higher end car. But what I don't like is paying more when comparing apples to apples.

I get it my p-car isn't going to get a Jiffy lube price. But that's not what this thread was about - it's what one dealer is charging/gouging while other official dealers seem to deliver much better value

I was quoted ~$400 prices too in SoCal until I found a local dealer that charges $169. Obviously I'm going to be much more likely to buy my next car from them. At very least give them first shot to win my business.

 

Having been "taken" by other Porsche dealerships in the past I totally sympathize with your feeling that $500 for an oil change is ridiculous. I have also resorted to accumulate the proper tools and factory workshop manuals for doing everything to maintain all of my Porsches at home. The savings from having all the jobs done at home have allowed me to learn and pay for 2 car lifts, a tire changer and balancer that can handle up to 16 inch wheels. Unfortunately today's modern Porsches need the factory PIWIS computer diagnostic interface which only the dealers can afford (@ $30K each with $12K per annual software upgrades). Thus, the current Porsche owners are once again become dependent on the dealerships to insure that proper factory service are being done and there is an electronic record of the service for every car out there after 1996 (Boxsters, then 996, etc).

With that said, I have visited Paul Miller and have attended a Saturday Tech session sponsored by the Northern NJ PCA Region where the technician (Marty) explained that whenever a Porsche comes in for service (of any kind), he usually hooks up the PIWIS to look for any faults in the system as part of the standard practice for work code P250 besides doing the oil change or other routine maintenance. The reason for this is that the dealership is obligated to correct any faults found under warranty and also that dealership then gets paid by Porsche if the warranty is still in force. The result is the customer should also be happy and a good relationship is established. So while other dealerships may charge less for the same service there may be exceptions to what is being accomplished here.

 

My Dealer charges $200 for the oil service. that includes hooking up the car to computer and updating any campaigns and wash and vac. Everything else is BS.

 

My local dealer charges $300 for an oil change which includes state mandated inspection sticker. Once it's out of warranty I'll probably take it to local independent.

 

Who in virginia charges less than$300