Hi guys,

The C4 is coming up on 90K miles. I'd like to have the service done by a local Indy, but not sure on where the closest/best one is. I was thinking that at the same time I would also upgrade the suspension and get rid of the SUV look. What should I look for in a local Indy? Should I really stay away from the "stealership"? Thanks in advance.

 

I lived in Newark,DE/Landenberg, PA up until 15 mos. ago, stay away from Winner. Greg Wilson, the Senior Tech there is a fantastic guy and a great wrench who knows air cooled cars but the dealership itself is a PITA. The indie guy who did my work has retired and moved to NY so he can't help you. There is another indie in the Wilmington area but I never used him.

There are a couple of shops w/ good refs. in the SE PA area, don't remember their names right now but do a search on Pelican in the 911 BBS for PPI recomendations in the Philly area and you should pull up those threads.

HTH

 

I go to performance in Malvern. they did a nice job on my suspension set-up. I would be willing to bet that they service more 993s than anyone in the area, including the dealer. btw, i don't know if the dealer even knows what a 993 is.

 

There are a lot of independents in SE PA. Dougherty in West Chester, Performance Automotive in Malvern, AWE in Fort Washington (performance stuff only--no maintenance), Possum Hollow Motorsports in Phoenixville.

 

Ah, Dougherty was one of the ones I knew but couldn't remember. There's another one too but again my memory fails me.

I forgot about RallyJon being in the area.

 

Out of the ones mentioned, Dougherty in West Chester, Performance Automotive in Malvern, does any come out ontop? I like the idea that the shop is involved in reace prep. I don't know if I'm dreaming, but I just want an honest straight forward service.

 

I'm not sure if any allow you to avoid the Porsche tax. They're all pretty good and pretty pricey.

Usually an independent has to be both good and reasonably priced to take business from dealers. With Porsches the dealers are (with a few exceptions) so bad and (with no exceptions) so expensive that the temptation for an independent to gouge is high.

 

I was looking at the 90k serivice. It looks as if most of the items that need replacing, I can fix on my own. Although, I do like the idea of having a qualified wrench look at the car and let me know if anything is out of wack, but maybet that's inviting a high gouge.

 

I agree with you there. Changing oil, plugs, wires ect. is not too difficult but it's the other issues that creep up thet we may not have the experience (on these cars) to catch. Don't know what to suggest to you but for me I do most of my own work and hope I don't miss something.

 

eswartz

I have used both shops on a number of occasions. Both are very good and in my opinion honest in terms of letting you know what your car needs and doesn't need. However, Neither is cheap. Both will do an excellent job and will give you estimates in advance. No real risk in having the car checked out.

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff I appreciate the feedback. On the way home tonight, the C4 is my daily driver, I went off the road, so I think I will be looking to take her into a shop shortly.