JohanvdWalt

Took my 89 Cabrio in for a minor service and check up. The shop that serviced my 928 closed down so I tried a new shop. Look very nice and the staff are really friendly, interested and helpful. They said it would be two to three days.
I got the car back after two weeks!!

They charged me 18 hours labour!!!!!
Check belts 4h
Remove & fit rear timing belt cover 2h
Bleed brakes 1h
Check brake pads 1h
Change oil & filter 1h
Check suspension bolts & nuts 2h
Inspect engine & Gearbox 1h
Remove & replace 2 supressors 1h
Flush radiator 1h
Replace steering boots 1h
Steam clean engine 1h
compression test 1.5h
Total 17.5hours

Jeremy Himsel

Wow, that's really bad. Are they a Porsche shop? At those rates you better believe the staff is friendly. They get paid for 3X the work they do.

Legoland951

Check belts including timing belt: 15 min
Why would you ever remove the rear timing cover unless you are doing the water pump or seals?
Bleed brakes: 30-45 min
Check brake pads: 30 SECONDS when you bleed brakes
Oil and filter: 15-20 minutes

You get the idea. If they are charging $5 an hour in S. Africa, I wouldn't care but if they are charging you U. S. rates, you should get a Porsche Dealer rate chart and show it to them. Anyone taking 1.5 hours for the compression test instead of 15 minutes have no business working on the car.

PennyWise

Scary....Johan... I have been using Carrera Motors (they are in your cars service manual as an autothorised Dealer) for three years now and they are fantastic. They do the job right the first time and honestly. I think their rate is about R350/hour, but I've never left ripped off. I'm planning an engine rebuild next year and won't hestitate to use them.

ibkevin

Frank, if you have a copy why not just PM it to him.

xsboost90

if they pulled the belts to reposition the rear cover- i hope they put new belts on too!

Legoland951

Kevin, I don't have a copy but I am going by what should take an experienced mechanic to do. I am sure someone here has a copy though.

jjjr944

BTW, R350 (ZAR) = about $46 USD / hour for reference...

mavfan

as some places do, they charge 1h minimum for any job. for instance replacing a headlight bulb, 1h at $85. i do it myself in about 15 minutes, but my dad unknown to me took it to a shop to have it done...

jason952

dealer and some shops pad the bill with all those "checks" and inspections....do them yourself

JohanvdWalt

I've been out of town for a couple of days.

I thought of using Carrera Motors but I once took my 924 there and they quoted R4500 for a new cold start valve or something like that, I decided to get a second opinion and the car was fixed by fitting a 2c washer beneath the spring to increase lost pressure. I drove the car like that till I sold it with no problems.
They also tried to sell me a very bad 944 Turbo Cabrio, apparently one of only two in the country. I just had a bad feeling about the car and did not buy - I was later told by someone else that the car was involved in a major accident apart from the poor maintenance that I saw.

JohanvdWalt

I just saw this old thread of mine and thought it good to give you an update.

I phoned the official Porche agents and discussed the matter with them. After a long conversation I found out just how much I was ripped off.

I stopped payment of the cheque I payed with. After a couple of days I received a phone call from one very angry lady telling me they where going to sue me if I don't came over and pay cash immidiately.
I told her I am willing to pay what is fair, I calculated it to be about halve of what they charged me. She put the phone down and the next day I received a fax from their layers.
I wrote then a letter to the layer explaining that I felt the work was worth only half of what they charged me and included a cheque for that amount marked as full and final payment.
They banked the cheque and have not heard from them since.

I also took the car to a different specialist (less than six months later) who told me I needed a new clutch, new motor mounts, and recon steering rack - after I asked and dearly paid the first shop to inspect and report on ALL potencial problems.
I paid the second shop an arm and a leg to fix the mentioned problems with a smile and never got the feeling that they are trying to rip me off.

xsboost90

ouch. always get an estimate first!

JohanvdWalt

I did!!! They gave me a very reasonable quote and promised to phone if anything expensive came up - they never phoned.
According to them 18hours labour for a small service and some checks is nothing to phone about.

alordofchaos

That's how I am when I want to screw someone

In MI, once you get a written estimate, the shop can't charge you more than 15% (iirc) over the written estimate, unless they get approval from you for more.

Worked out well that I knew this law, back when I had an RX-7 die in front of a garage. Estimated $130 to replace the alternator, came back and the bill was $350. Shop owner said his son made a mistake, special order parts, the alternator itself was over $200.

I pulled out my written estimate, said it wasn't my problem. Owner cussed his son briefly, agreed, and accepted the $130.