whalebird

I feel you pete. I was a dealer tech and was astonished at the charges they were charging for my work (and what percentage they were paying me, but thats another story) Scheduled maintenance is where service departments make their money. An oil change, some plastic clips for various air filters, tire rotation and pressures. I could drain the oil, do all the required checks while the oil was draining, and be done in no time. Some call it a scam. The point is to get the tech to look at the car and find other things - brake pads are a biggie. It helped the tech turn hours, promoted upselling of parts, and paid for the cappachino machine in the lobby - all at the expence of a good customer. I'm nott trying to bash dealers, but I have seen unbelievable things go out the front door of the dealer. It's a slippery slope for car owners out there...I would be riding a bicycle if I had to pay somebody to work on my car. I could go on for hours about the factory/tech/dealer trifecta.
Yes to the OP-$600 is too much to pay for an oil change. Be prudent in your services. Get a second opinion...any reputable service department would encourage it. Call several dealers even out of town and ask them "how much" and "what for". Travel for your service work if you need to, make the dealers work for you just like you would when you bought the car. I know many owners who would schedule their service work out of town and make a family weekend out of it. Some things are worth paying for, but the dealers want you to think their supplies and especially their factory computer is the only way to keep your car on the road.

Slimwear

I do all the work on my 1986 Targa but there is little that I would work on with my 2003 Boxster S. Nothing is nearly as easy to get to and there always seems to be a special tool required along the way.

For reference, I paid $184 for my oil change at the dealer for the Boxster S. I would think that the 997 wouldn't much more (it would actually be easier to do) but its a more expensive car so I'm sure they gouge a little more.

User 4221

As a reference point, the Cayenne oil change is ~$250..... One hour labor ($120) + materials and misc.

I do it myself in 45 mins for about $60 with filter and oil.....

whalebird

Slimwear. Don't be afraid of the Boxster, really it's not that difficult. Maintenance is a piece of cake and I would say that an 87 Targe is a much more sensitive car. I think you would be pleasantly surprised at how thoughtfully a Boxster is put together. I like Boxsters and thats one of the reasons: they are wonderfully engineered and executed. A lot went into the Boxster design, the 996 was an afterthought. Not knowing your skill level mechanically, but I would not suggest engine or transmission disassembly. If you could do that on an 87 Targa, you sure could do it on a Boxster. Same for maintenance.

Roc Doc

This is why I drive old cars. The newest vehicle I have is a 2000 Ford F250 diesel, and it doesn't even have spark plugs. I can do all of the PM on all of my vehicles, and only take it into the stealership for real messy jobs I don't want to do, like a waterpump replacement on said pickup. I have a buddy with a 40 x 60 shop and it's got a lift, a coke machine full of beer, a dart board, satellite TV and it's heated and cooled.

I understand that health care costs are going up, as are some payroll taxes, but damn, it seems like shop rates went from $75 per hour to $125 in just a few years, and I doubt that the techs got that kind of raise.

dshepp806

My son-in-law is a master tech at Toyota dealership, so I get info on their pricing.....amazing stuff.

Somewhat OT, but you should see the frikin' hours they're putting in now to get that "pedal mod" completed on MANY cars, especially the broad inventory of brand new autos.....holy cow....

back to topic...Man: I thought Royal Purple (motorcylce stuff) was expensive...what kind of frikin' oil is that (that went into the LR?)....Looks like more of a mathematical error? Am I truly seeing $46.44 per quart? I can see gouging on labor but oil costs (parts) is insulting, no?

WOW...

Doyle

ricster

Hey...how is the owners of the dealership going to buy their new 12,000 sq foot house? Not by charging $100 dollars for an oil change lol

theiceman

and don't try to tell me it took the 8 hours to do either ...

911Dave

My 997 S has had 3 oil changes in the 3 years I've owned it, and they were all about $170-$180 at the dealer. I don't understand all this talk about $600 oil changes.

Slimwear

Whalebird: You make a good point, I should look more into doing the Boxster stuff myself. It hasn't needed anything but oil changes so I haven't really looked into much other then flipping through the Bentley manual and then it looks worse then it probably is.

My repair experience includes working on a 62 Ford Sunliner (Galaxie convertible), many jobs with my 1991 Honda VFR (incredible engineering, gear driven cams, etc.) and plugs, wires, dashboard, electrical bugs, etc with the Targa. The Targa is just so rewarding to work on that I'm at the point of looking for stuff to work on with it. I took the seats out at the winter storage and brought them back to the house to condition the leather last week for example.

Just a couple of weeks until better weather here in Atlanta.....

Emery

DesignerGenes

LOL ... and I thought my Dealership was high. Oil change with filter on my 1996 993 coupe was about $250. That's 12 quarts of Mobil 1 @ about $8.00 a (marked-up) quart, $19.95 for the Porsche oil filter, and labor.

abe

Easy..you are in Colorado.
abe

911Dave

I'm not following you abe. Why should they be any cheaper here?

abe

Because overall there are more people with more money in NY and CA than Colorado (we also have more poor folks because we are a bigger state) who think that there time is too precious to get their fingernails dirty and so dealerships think they can charge more. Also, income higher...overheads are higher, workers comp, insurance, labor rates are higher....even my dog license is higher. There are many places in Colorado that are nicer and more expensive...but I am talking in general...no different than labor rates in Barstow vs Century City.
abe

whalebird

DGenes your right on with that price I think. 993 has 2 oil filter. I think there is a huge varience in dealer pricing. The dealer I worked at had parts priced at full retail+10%. At the end of every month that 10% was deposited directly into the owners retirement fund. True. Labor is where they make their money, parts are hard to make money on, but some dealers do. It pays to shop around for service work.
911DAVE...Thats a fair price for a 997 oil service. Really it is an easy service and could easily be done for less. The air-cooled cars are a little more involved and hold more oil. I suspect your 997 is costing you an hour labor + parts for an oil service. Not unfair in the end. I would also say that, when you go to the dealer, they are using bulk oil out of a big tank. This is not as safe as oil off the shelf in individual bottles. It's hard to know exactly what your getting and how contaminated the tank is. I know this sounds a little spooky, but I have seen things done in bulk oil containers that should not have happened.