Noah Fect

Honestly I think they're already doing it right. Work your way to the top of the JD Power quality survey, and you don't have to resort to gimmicks like "free maintenance" to sell your cars.

If other manufacturers ranging from VW to Ferrari follow that example, it will mean fewer headaches for all of us.

Suzy991

+1

Besides that... There is no such thing like "free" maintenance. They make you believe it is free, but you have already paid for it when you bought the car. No company does anything for free IMHO. It's just a different marketing approach.

Suzy (via iOS app)

Z356

'Included Maintenance' during the initial factory warranty period (say BMW's) assures the manufacturer & their dealers that the mechanicals of these newer vehicles will be well maintained, thus minimizing pre-matured wear & tear (which leads to increase warranty costs). Remember that they look at this with different eyes (& longer point of view) than those of the first buyers...these dealers expect to get these fairly new vehicles back as lease-returns, trade-ins or Manheim auction-purchases! And they are ready to CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) many of them to facilitate the sale - so its in their best interest to have the ability to do so with relative well maintained cars!

So for the relative short time period (usually first 8 years after initial purchase) that BMW & their dealers expects to be involved with these newer cars (before they lose them to independent mechanical shops & to the corner auto sales lots), they have decided that its worth offering this type of included 'maintenance' service with new sales. I think its smart at all levels!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

rnl

Porsche will offer free maintenance when:
Little boys start saying "I want a Ford when I grow up."
Big boys stop paying $1200 for different colored stitching.

Not a second sooner

addysdaddy

Forgetting free for a moment, I called two local dealers and asked what their charges were and what work did they perform at 10-20-30 and 40k miles. One dealer was actually $1800 more than the other when you added everything up. Another case of buyer beware.

bboerit

+1

Well said!

StudGarden

Wow. Good to know. I'm a very loyal customer, but one example of shenanigans like that and I walk for good.

MerlinsGarage

Porsche gave us courtesy (free) maintenance for the length of the warranty. Sent us a certificate after we went to the Porsche Road Show.
Service to be at the dealership of our choice.

fester

Wow...I wonder how many other such examples exist??

Rainier_991

We get 3 years free maintenance, extended warranty and roadside assist. This can be extended to 5 years at time of purchase at an extra cost ($5000).
After this it can be extended on an annual bases (at a pretty high cost of around $3500 per year) until the car is 10 years old.

Rainier

porsche42

Apparently some will..other restrictions may apply...hmmm.


Herb Chambers Porsche
1172 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02134
(877) 575-4635

Start your Engines

Spring is almost here!



Start off your Spring Season with piece of mind.

Herb Chambers Porsche has your maintenance covered!*






With the purchase of any New Porsche,
Free *3 year / 30,000 mile Porsche Scheduled Maintenance Program





Contact your Porsche Team today, (877) 575-4635. We will help you find the Porsche of your dreams!





*Offer valid February 10, 2014 through February 28, 2014 at Herb Chambers Porsche 1172 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02134. Offer valid for purchases of In Stock 2013 or 2014 never titled Porsche models only. Program does not apply to previous purchases or orders. Other restrictions may apply. Included in your New Porsche purchase will be a 3 year or 30,000 mile (whichever comes first) Porsche Scheduled Maintenance Program. Please see dealer for complete description of Porsche Scheduled Maintenance Program.



This email was sent to: apalmeri42@yahoo.com.
From: Herb Chambers Porsche of Boston 1172 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02134

Update Preferences - to update your communication preferences.
Remove - to choose which lists to be safely and instantly removed from.
Report Abuse - to safely report abuse and to stop all future email communications.

MerlinsGarage

It was a first time buyers incentive, we had already ordered the car. The certificate had a shelf life of 3 months if I recall.

parkerfe

That's the best way to compensate an employee; the more you earn for your employer, the more you earn as the employee. Incentive is the engine of capitalism. To pay an employee just to "be there" is a waste of both the employer's money and the employee's time. I have several attorneys in my office that I pay that way and other than us partners, they are the highest compensated attorneys in my office.

paradocs98

I also received this certificate after attending the Road Show. We'll see how well it works when my car arrives.

Free scheduled maintenance is a double-edged sword. I've had it on my last few BMWs, and it is nice to know that you won't be paying for anything other than tires when you make a trip to the dealer's service department. Brake pads, rotors, wiper blades--all paid for. But, as others said above, BMW compensates for this expense by lengthening recommended fluid change intervals to ridiculous extremes--15k miles between oil and filter changes, "lifetime fill" for transmission fluid, etc. Even with modern synthetic oils, I'm not convinced that 15k miles is an adequate frequency for changes, especially in metro and suburban areas where there is a lot of traffic and start/stop driving--in essence, severe duty. Given that I tracked my M3, I would just get oil and filter changes in between each of the scheduled changes, and pay for it myself. At least I was getting half of them paid for. The transmission and diff fluid get changed as part of the initial 1200 mile break-in service, and then that's it--and that's only on M cars.

When my wife turned in her X3 at lease end and we picked up an Acura MDX, we were happy with the new car--great room, good reliability, and significantly cheaper than BMW's SUV offerings. And then we went in for an oil change at around 20k miles. Walked out $900 later, having needed to replace brake rotors and pads. Blech.

wpgfordguy

No need for them to do it. Most Porsche owners respect the cars enough to do and pay for proper maintenance. So there is little benefit to the manufacturer to offer it if it's going to get done anyway.