Bins

If you had a choice of JZM major service or OPC Major service for similar prices, which would you go for.

Riccardo

Bins,

On a 964 without a doubt I'd go to JZ, they know the cars much better than OPCs. I think OPCs only known how to work on 996s and 986s these days.

Hope you got your prob sorted out by the way, shame you missed a great day out.

nineninethree

i had a similar dilemma last week and went to a OPC mainly due to the fact they could do the car in a couple of days time as opposed to a couple of weeks at JZM.

are you sure they are similarily priced?

a 12k service on my 1997 993 was £450 at HR owen and £300 at JZM

JZm 'appear' to be an honest outfit but I have never left a car at a garage and not got that phone call later in the day, you know the one.........

'hello there sir, we have carried out the service for you and all seems fine except for the following few items........i will start with the minor ones first........hello, hello sir......are you still there, tap tap tap... '

Bins

Hi Riccardo - Ive ordered the DME relay so I should have it delivered in a day or so. I'll find out then how it works out. Im just glad it happened at home and not the motorway.

nineninethree , The service price is very similar to an Arlington promotion (give or take £100)

Its just that Ive got a PFSH on it BUT it is a 94 993. I have more faith in JZM but the OPC stamp always seems to have a better image to potential buyers (in the future)

Tito

Hi,

That's a tough call and I guess a personal one.
I had to make the same decision last year. I went with the non OPC based on their knowledge and care of the car.

A compramise may be to get the yearly service done by an OPC and the remaining maintainance by the non-OPC. Its pretty difficult to botch a service unless you are down right dishonest.

On a conincidental note I am taking my car into JZ tomorrow to sort out the AC.
Two questions:

1. what are they like - they sounded very dealer like on the phone - ie I spoke to an assistant (I assume, as it was a she -not trying to be sexist here) - and not the mechanic.

2. How do I get from Kings Langley back to civilization? They mentioned a train - does anyone know where it stops as I have to go to North London and not Euston.

Cheers and good luck with your decision.
Tito.

Bins

Tito,

Yep its a difficult one. The next service is a major service.

I personally havent used JZ yet but I hear only good things about them and am perfectly willing to try them.

You havent mentioned where you want to go.

They can drop you off at Kings Langley Station.
Theres a train going from Kings Langley to Watford Junction.
From Watford Junction you can take the fast train to Euston via Harrow&Wealdstone, Wembley Central (I think), or the slow train stops at a range of stations.

If youre going to the Finchley end, then there may be a train going from Watford via Mill Hill.

Dont take my word for it though. Check the Thames Link and Rail links.

johnfm

Never used JZ (200+ miles away!), but always extremely helpful and knowledgable when I ring them for free advice. Jonas knows I can't bring the car down there, but is always happy to talk me through something or clarify a problem. I think Christer Pinstripes has just used them and had a good experience.

Tom Pepper

"Kings Langley station, ring them up, Finchley end, Christer Pinstripes..."
this is why I love England! It is my joy also in owning two Nortons and a Morgan. In the past TVR, MG, Lotus...even can tolerate Lucas electrics.
Britania rules!
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Bins

Tom, you should have your car serviced over here from time to time.

nineninethree

tito, out of interest what is wrong with your a/c?

I went to Le Mans this year and it was crap even though it was on full blast...

i am just about to drive to the south of France for a couple of weeks and am not looking forward to being cooked!

I have heard 993 a/c is generally poor anyway

TIA

Tito

Tom.
I had to read your location twice - I thought you were in the UK.

Bins
I need to get back to Friern Barnet. I know that I can get a bus (blasphemy <img src="graemlins/icon501.gif" border="0" alt="[icon501]" /> ) from Brent Cross.
But New Southgate, Mill Hill, Finchley or Arnas Grove would do.
I think that I will ring up the station as Tom wisely suggested.

Back to your Q.
In all honesty if you are worried about resale value in the near future. A full OPC service book - will bump the value - but how much ?

Lets face it if we were in the market for a 993 and did not know much about them we would be looking for an OPC serviced car. Someone that knew about Porsches , maybe had one before would be more accepting - but they would still use the non OPC fact to lower the price. Well wouldn't you.

For me I felt that I was going to keep my car for the forseable future. (Hey I'm only a medic and not in IT; oh yes and I love it to bits etc).
To me the quality of the service seemed better at the independents. I don't know about Arlington but HROwen did not inspire me with confidence despite several attempts. I got fed up with telling them what the problem was ( after consulting the Rennlist).

Tito.

Tito

993,
I am not sure.
My first gambit it to simply get them to charge/regas it.

I think it just needs recharging , it seems to blow cold intermittantly and its getting worse.

I will be waiting anxiously for the phone call to let me know that I need ________ ( insert extremely expensive item here ) to be replaced.

I was going to wait till the next service but we are having a bit of a heat/humidity wave here. Needless to say my fixing the a/c will signal the end of it.

Tito.

Tito

ps I agree at the best of times the a/c is crap ( crap being an over estimate ).

The ac in a yugo is probably an arctic blizzard incomparison.

<img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Bins

Tito ....

Sods Law

Get the A/C fixed and youre gonna find we have an arctic freeze here.

ps - youre right. Ill just make my mind up when the time comes.

Tito

An update.
Just got my car back from JZ.
The air is cool ...
...
this is the coolest it has ever been. Comparable to BMW and VW a/c.

They said said that the 'oil' for the aircon was v. low and they topped it up ( I have not heard of this before ). They put in a uv dye to look for leaks if the cooling goes off with in a few months.

What can I say I had this regased 2x with HROwen and specifically asked them to check out the ac system and they a) did not get it to cool properly ( I thaught that ac was always going to be crap in a 911) b) did not mention oil levels.

In any case its v cool now. Just hope it lasts.

Over all I was impressed with the level of service. And JZ seems like a decent chap.

Tito.