wow all that at a dealer... mind if i ask what thats costing you? you can PM if it makes you feel better... i ask because Porsche of Richmond wanted 3700 for JUST a timing belt... nothing else.... maybe UK dealers are more forgiving...

 

You should go eyes shopping here www.paragon-parts.com could give you a better about what is available for your 968 suspension.Hope you get her soon.

 

Hello Sam, Great looking car. I know you will enjoy her. You might already know of the club, but here is a link to it.

http://www.968uk.com/

For maintenance: http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=htt...cr1Piju2wbON8w

Another 968 Forum: http://www.968forums.com/

Cheers,
Larry

 

Sydney, the belts service is going to be around £500 inclusive of VAT, parts and labour, that's about $800. They are fitting an OEM PAS pump which will also save a fair amount and the oil cooler refresh is basically a gasket; with a fair amount of labour on top. I'm also going to try for the discounted labour rate of £65 + 20% VAT, which they were offering just before Christmas.

Ernie, thanks for the Paragon hint regarding suspension, will check them out.

Larry, I've joined the 968 forum but only been lurking up to now. Will check the others out too, thanks for the links.

 

wow. thats a fair price. Thanks. if i could ship my car back and forth to the UK for less than 3000 roundtrip it would still cost more to have all that done at my local dealer. of course thats why there are independents... but still!

 

Sam,

Very nice car chap, certainly get yourself on the uk 968 forum mentioned above. Pain to register but years of technical knowledge and a few group buys (Janspeed did a run of 7/8 exhausts for us). My experiences on fitting Gaz Golds (EMC Motorsport Spec) are on the rather lengthy discussion around suspension.

Cheers

Paul

Paul

 

Don't want to depress you even more, £350 for cam/balance belt fitting and proper timing check ($556) from a Porsche Independant. I was there in Jan, 5 968s in there (1 bare shell 968 being prepared for Porsche UK Cup racing) and 2 944s. Love spending time there just to look around other peoples cars!

 

wow... dealers here don't like anything older than 996s... even then...

unless you go to Brumos maybe...

But wait, how much is gas there again?

 

lol good point

Today put some in. £1.34 a litre x 3.78 (1 us liquid gallon = 3.78 litres) = £5.07 a gallon which is $8.02

 

What's the labor rate over there?

 

Main dealer looks to be £100 + 20% VAT which is $190 per hour. Specialists like the one I use are much cheaper, £40 + 20% VAT which is $76 per hour, plus they know the cars inside out.

 

OPC Byfleet is £70 per hour + VAT for cars over 10 years old. They were an indie until about three years ago when they became an official Porsche service centre. The most reputable indies in south east UK are £60 per hour + VAT.

Byfleet have been really good, for example the PAS pump is being charged at just above cost price as they are doing all the other work and are knocking an hour of labour off for the PAS pump and oil cooler work combined.

 

I was brave at the weekend and replaced the clock bulb by following this great guide:

http://www.paragon-products.com/kb_results.asp?ID=21

The process was easy to follow and by working very carefully didn't result in any facia plate breakages or the temp sensor tube disconnecting.

I'd add the following from my experience of doing this on a 968:

7. Remove screws from heater control panel on both sides. Pull out the heater controls unit about 2 inches (5cm) so that the plastic plate covering the clock can be pulled out.

8. I didn't need to use a thin knife or small screwdriver to pry off the plate the clock is attached to. I levered it off slowly from the vent side and the hazard warning light side. It didn't take much effort at all to remove, but again, I was very gentle. Disconnect the clock and hazard warning light connectors, this enables the whole plate with the clock attached to be removed completely, allowing easy access to the bulb.

9. The bulb is exposed and can be removed by gently turning anti-clockwise one quarter turn with a small adjustable wrench.

Here's the finished result, sorry about the poor iPhone photos:

 

nice! thats on my list of things to do as well...