"Also find it interesting that there doesn't appear to be any UK OPC techs/employees who are Rennlisters (I imagine they would have chimed in by now)."

mags993tt,
I 2nd that statement.

I am in IT Security and pretty much have a grasp for good resource sites like <a href="http://www.insecure.org," target="_blank">www.insecure.org,</a> <a href="http://www.@stake.com" target="_blank">www.@stake.com</a> and <a href="http://www.cert.org" target="_blank">www.cert.org</a> - just to name a few.

I am amazed when I speak to OPC mechanics how none of them are aware of any good Porsche resource sites. They all keep pointing me to Porsche.com - hmmmm, ah well. Can't have it all!

I must admit however that I will follow the crowd in terms of which one of the Independent Specialists are good to use.

May be those who live close to London may not object to us finding a realisable Independent Specialist and giving them all our business on the premise that IF any of the others are wronged and matters get out before solved, they lose ALL our business to the next best Independent Specialist nominated – a sort of league system.

 

Hi,

I also had my distributer caps changed on recommedation by GT one. I saw the old caps and they were worn. Skeptics may say - that they have one old set of caps that they show everyone -I cant disprove that . But I believe them and the car felt better to me. I don't think they would stoop to lying for ~£100 pound on a £2000 bill (service , clutch and front pads).

I also had my front lower control arms changed by them , but this was because I complained specifically of the front end floating at speed (the OPC had done the alignment and could not suggest anything new to try). GT one cured my problem.
I live much closer to JZ but I trek to GT one because I am happy with their service. May be I will try JZ, but I like the idea of one team looking after my car, rather than lots of different teams.

Just my opinions
Tito.

 

La ,
just out of curiosity what was the error that GT one failed to spot. That sounds worrying!
Tito.

 

Hi <a href="http://www.996cab.com," target="_blank">www.996cab.com,</a>

The league system sounds good, and should mean they would take more care then they already do.

The only thing is that I'm in Harrow and have a friend in Harrow who is a good Porsche trained independent technician. So generally I would see him first about things and take it from there. He's very personable and explains things well, which is what I like.

Im happy to give anyone his details if they wish.

Although mine doesnt need a service yet, I was thinking about using an OPC just to get the stamp.
From this discussion, it may not be AFN Chiswick, which leaves HROwen or Arlington. None give me much confidence though.

Out of the large independents local to me, JZ and Jaz seem to have the best rep. Ive seen them both but have not used either. There is Langley Autocraft which is close to JZ but I dont know anything about them.

Regards <img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />

 

Thank God for you guys... I posted this same topic on 993 Turbo (geez RennList is big - I have read over 2500 posts in the last 3 weeks to try to get up to speed as I am buying a 993tt and I still missed this thread) and here you have sorted it for me.

For what it is worth I second the league table idea. Feedback from me will start with the indep. check I get on the car before I buy it and I'll post it here... Cheers, let's make sure the good get the work and the charlatans are left with the "bought-it-for-the-badge" posse.

 

I read this little debate with some interest. Snoops (who started the thread) lives round the corner from me and I actually used to work for Jaz (only as a 'Saturday boy' I hasten to ad!) about 6 years ago. I take my 944 Turbo to Jaz for servicing and it felt so much quicker the last time it was serviced. My Dad has a 993 Turbo which he takes to Lancaster Cambridge OPC to be serviced because the service is good but mainly for the Porsche stamp in the service book, for anything else he uses Jaz. Steve, the owner of Jaz, is a real Porsche enthusiast and totally hands-on. I go to Le Mans every year with him and a bunch of his customers, Steve has been going for 17 years and his house is filled with Porsche posters and models. Also, through Jaz I also knew another guy, whom I wont mention by name, but used to work for HR Owen as a Porsche mechanic but left because they were not doing right by the cars, e.g. using Mercedes technicians to work on Porsches. My Dads business partner also has a 993 cabriolet which he used to have serviced at Lancaster Bow but after a whole heap of problems with them he stopped using them and now treks from East London to Wembley to have his car serviced by Jaz. Just my two pennys worth!

 

Stan - thanks for the input. Interesting that your dad goes to OPC for the service stamp and independent for other stuff. Quite possibly a route I will take in future however right now I am sorting out a trip to Werk 1 next week and they are faxing me a list of goodies they can do to the car while it is there. It will be nice to get a factory stamp and look round the factory and museum but I hope I don't have to do it every time!
M

 

So league table then?

JZ Machtech - top of my list, been there twice, knowledgeable, helpful and timely.

AFN Chiswick - bottom of my list - manage to damage my alloy wheels each and every time i leave the car with them.

 

League table - good idea. (Just a thought...How do we exclude friends of a dealer flooding us with good reports and maybe bad reports on competitors?)

Out of interest, can anyone think who is it that is impressed by an OPC stamp? After all, anyone who knows (like us), knows that a car with a service book full of OPC stamps may not have been serviced properly at all.

 

Unfortunately, its psychological.

Anyone who has little/no experience with Porsche or OPC will get worried if a car has not been serviced by OPC. If you tell them that someone like JZM is more reliable, they would probably become suspicious and would not necessarily believe it.

What I really find odd is that I have even been asked by independent Porsche traders whether the car has been serviced by OPC.

People seem to want to see OPC stamps on service books.

 

May be wrong but got the impression the main problem about OPC stamps (apart from the vast majority of buyers who feel more comfortable with OPC stamps - given though it's largely through ignorance) is that no OPC will touch the car if you ever find yourself trading it in. Like I say - just my experience - may not be true of all OPC's.
M

 

Im a bit surprised at that. I would have thought that they would accept any trade in , Porsche or not. The only difference being that they would pass the car onto an independent or through an auction house.

 

[quote]Originally posted by Bins:
<strong>Im a bit surprised at that. I would have thought that they would accept any trade in , Porsche or not. The only difference being that they would pass the car onto an independent or through an auction house.</strong><hr></blockquote>

You're right Bins. I was thinking in terms of them giving a better number because they know they can stick it in their showroom with the usual massive mark up without having to pass on all the benefit to another trader.