asofine

Hi All,

Not that I don't trust the folks who I'm dealing with, but I just want somebody to confirm that this all makes sense.

I purchased my car in Jan 2011, at which time it had 9k miles on the odometer. The service history going backward was actually not as complete as it could be. I chalked it up to the low mileage of the car in general.

I changed the oil when I bought the car and again (along with some other things) at 16k miles.

One year later, the car has 26k miles. Obviously, I need nothing less than an oil change (in the future, after doing some reading on RL, I've decided that I'll change the oil in 4k mile intervals). I assumed it could also use a break fluid flush.

The shop is telling me that it's due for a full service (incl. spark plugs, distributor caps, etc.) and is quoting $1,800-2,500. The only thing that's catching me is that they told me "the last time you did an oil change was 17,000 miles ago," when in fact it was 17,000 KILOMETERS ago. A simple slip like that leads me to believe that I should do some homework before telling them to go ahead with the rest of the work.

Oh knowledgable folks of Rennlist, your thoughts?

EDIT: I should clarify, the shop did indicate that they would inspect a spark plug or two before moving ahead.

race911

If *I* were still in business working on a car like this I'd take the 4 minutes to pull a cap off, and one of the accessible spark plugs. Then discuss with the owner the pros/cons.

So _______ easy to go the extra millimeter to build some customer confidence................

JPP

Well .. the big major service interval is 30K miles .. but on a car that obviously sat for long periods before you bought it .. doing it early is probably a good thing. Also, on these motors, it's suggested by many people that you should change the oil at 5K mile intervals or yearly whichever happens first .. and many folks here do it at 3K .. I'm a 5K guy and that's way overkill according to Porsche if you're running synthetic like these cars require. $1800 to $2000 is par for the course for most independant shops .. the dealerships really gouge for this stuff .. but it sounds like you're on the right path ..

JPP

^^^ I just noticed you're in the Bay Area .. if you're shopping for a service, you should call Darin at FDM and have him quote you what they charge .. they service my cars and I'm very pleased.
http://www.fdmotorsports.net/

Fünfer

If you are in the south bay you can PM me. I can give you a recommendation for a good Indy.

asofine

I should clarify, the shop did indeed say that they would check a spark plug or two before moving ahead.

asofine

I already messaged Darin

I don't want to rob Darin of business but unfortunately I don't have a way of getting myself back from Brentwood (~2 hr. drive from where I am) any time soon.

asofine

Thanks. Yeah, I remember reading the manual and doing a doubletake at Porsche's "15k mile" figure. I figured 10k was being conservative before reading a little more on RL. I've landed on 4k, I think that will do!

asofine

PM sent

il pirata

If you do not have complete records I would highly recommend a 30K plus changing ALL fluids. Belts, plugs, caps can be easily looked at and a decision made. My local shop (a porsche dealer with the head mechanic trained originally on the 993 and the only person who works on it) came back and said not to change the belts or caps. BTW in Denver they charge relatively the same as the indies (not the case in the bay area though).

Dr. No

The 17k error is probably just a whoops because no one here sees odometers in km. Agree with the 5k oil interval - my shop (RMG) says 7500 is OK but I go closer to 5k - as soon as the oil starts to look a little dirty.

Those prices sound in the ballpark for the 30k service, and with the age on your car I too would do it early.

Talk to Bob Grigsby at RMG if you haven't already. http://www.realmeangarage.com/

911Dave

Change the plugs, at least.

It's too bad you can't do it yourself, as all of those tasks are easy and you'd save a bundle on labor.