ZuffenZeus

I would sure hope so or they wouldn't be worth the effort or money if the independent shop can't offer the same quality service cheaper than the dealership.

pulpo

Just an informational and cautionary tale:

I don’t know an Indy in my area so I went to the Porsche dealer to get fluids and filters. My vin wasn’t in their system so they wanted to do every major service (differential, transmission, spark plugs etc) and the total they quoted me was just under $6000.

I let them do the oil, filters, and brake fluid, for $1000. Yes I know that is still a rip off. I need to find an Indy.

wdb

I could be off base, and this might not be true for all dealers, but if I have a 20 year old car I do not necessarily expect the dealer to have a mechanic on staff who is intimately familiar with the vintage. A good indy on the other hand? That's what they work on every day.

TheChunkNorris

Same happened with my VW, my car came from the midwest and when it hit 30k mi.... they got me good. Unfortunately whenever I take the car for service, it ends up costing me $150 easily.

pulpo

I agree with you 100%. Most of the guys at the dealer have probably never worked on a 996. Unfortunately I don't know anyone in the area so taking it to an Indy off google is a shot in the dark too. But that's what I'll do next time after some more research. I've just been finding nothing but bad reviews for shops in my area.

Bbiela

Take this with a grain of salt. A couple of years ago I looked at a 944, a friend referred me to Mikar in Carmel for the PPI. I scheduled this outside of the owner based on my friends recomendation and he actually worked on the car previouslly and he told me to walk away. I was very impressed by his honesty and in my brief interaction, he seemed like a great guy. Best of luck!

plpete84

I know not everyone is mechanically inclined but brakes on these cars are some of the easiest I've ever worked on. Pads literally just slide into the caliper! I'd never pay to have them done, personally. I've been able to swap pads at a track in less than 30 mins on the front working at a normal pace. Removing rotors requires you to loosen 2 more bolts to remove the caliper and one or two screws holding the rotor on.

GC996

Depending on where you are located, you arr looking at $250-300 an hour for a dealer, versus 30-50% less for an indy.

Type65

Where are you located? I am sure some people here could give you a recommendation. We cover a pretty wide range. Your local PCA could also probably help you with suggestions. What the dealer charged you for basic fluids/filters seems quite high, and I'd imagine you'd save a lot with an indie.

Fishah

They aren't though.

What additional value is a dealer going to bring to a brake job?

ZuffenZeus

resell.

Fishah

Nope. Definitely not. Not compared to a qualified independent especially.

ZuffenZeus

Totally disagree.

It’s an unfortunate fact, regular service records from a Porsche dealership do benefit resell over a Jim and Jeps Euroshop.

Fishah

Nope. Not for a brake job on a 20 year old car. Definitely not a fact, but perhaps your personal opinion, sure.

On a complete engine rebuild, it probably makes a difference.

ZuffenZeus

Same thing goes for you. Your differing opinion is just that... an opinion.

IMHO, buyers will pay more if they see a service/maintenance history (yes, beyond warranty period) carried out by an official Porsche service center.

Porsche dealerships don't do "rebuilds". At least they don't in Atlanta... they swap out engines. Yes, I asked.

And yes, they have specially trained techs to work on the 996. It may seem like a 20 year "classic" but the M9X based Porsches are still very modern cars that they support unlike the aircooled stuff. That's a different ballgame.

btw... All I asked was if anyone knows the going rate for Porsche brake service from a dealership and this is what I get?