Question: What is your DIY vs Dealer for repair criterion?
04-13-2018, 10:00 AM
#1
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Question: What is your DIY vs Dealer for repair criterion?
2009 C2S 124K miles
So, when do you choose to DIY or take to the dealer? Any rule of thumb?
For me, anything that requires a lift goes straight to the dealer. Plugs and suspension work, even springs and shocks, I DIY....
I am not sliding under a car on stands.... no way, ain't gonna do it. Scares me.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
So, when do you choose to DIY or take to the dealer? Any rule of thumb?
For me, anything that requires a lift goes straight to the dealer. Plugs and suspension work, even springs and shocks, I DIY....
I am not sliding under a car on stands.... no way, ain't gonna do it. Scares me.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
04-13-2018, 10:13 AM
#2
I try to do everything myself. I have access to lifts at a friend's shop.
Yves
Yves
04-13-2018, 10:35 AM
#3
Rennlist Member
I bought a lift years ago so I could do more more myself. Plug jobs in the turbo are quite a bit more involved than the N/A guys have it.. That job alone saved me over 1K vs what a dealer would charge.
.. althoguh I technically dont need the lift to do the plugs, it makes it easier.. Oil changes are so much quicker with the lift, too.
I still have an extended warranty until November, at which point, only thing I wouldn't DIY would be anything that required an engine drop, although I have been contemplating that one in case I have to fix my coolant pipes in the future..
.. althoguh I technically dont need the lift to do the plugs, it makes it easier.. Oil changes are so much quicker with the lift, too.
I still have an extended warranty until November, at which point, only thing I wouldn't DIY would be anything that required an engine drop, although I have been contemplating that one in case I have to fix my coolant pipes in the future..
04-13-2018, 10:59 AM
#4
Anything that I can do, I will do. The only things I've typically farmed out in the past have been clutch jobs and alignments. Next time I am in need, I am tempted to DIY the clutch.
04-13-2018, 12:38 PM
#5
Drifting
DYI vs Dealer.
If my car has warranty, and warranty could be effected. Dealer.
From my same-ish commute to work for 20 year, I can count 14 dealerships en route, that are now condo's.
Home, dealership, office. For vehicle service is 9o minute ea/ x morning and afternoon. So three hour commitment for a visit.
I took my X5 in for a leaking oil cooler repair and oil change. $8oo ish.
200 kms later, engine tossed a rod bearing. Dealership accused me of "being negligent on my servicing".
After proving my innocents, and 59 days later and a new long block cover by my extended warranty.
Upon pick up, I commented that they could have at least cleaned and detailed the vehicle before giving it back to me.
It was rinsed and wet, and dusty and gritty from the being in the shop for 2 months, with all the doors, hood and hatch open.
When I mentioned this to the service managers, he said to me. "RIGHT NOW I JUST WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE".
I have told this story before. And it is just a story, factual with no emotion.
The service industry is dead. In my continued bittering years. You are ultimately responsible for everything done by anyone else.
BMW Canada, BMW USA, dealership principles, all washed their hands of any responsibly of my experience. Again, not mad, just factual.
If I am ultimately responsible for any work, no matter who does it? Then, should I not try and do it myself?
If dropping off a car takes 3 hours of my life, any job under three hours, make me even.
If a 800 dollar repair at the dealer , causes 26000 in engine damage? and two months down time.
My BMW dealership is privately owned, one hands length from cooperate BMW. As I have learned... Their mechanics in the back? Are unionized. I did not know that.
So, who would be responsible for an error? Who am I contracting with. I dealt with a shop union steward, he read from a book. He would/could never admit to error by a fellow employee's error. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_representative
Next Porsche? I would choose my location carefully. Independent owner, or owner group? That is one arm length away from head office. Unionized back shop, one more arms length of responsibility.
We have all heard stories of special cars coming in and new owners being asked for a little more money before delivery. Be it a Porsche store, Aston martin, Bentley, Ferrari. I bet these were all privately owned and not cooperate stores.
There is one Corporate Porsche store here, with a non-unionized mechanics shop. If I close this deal on a used Macan over the next month, I will be visiting there for my PPi and my service.
Three car, snow tire change over this weekend. Defiantly a DIY in the driveway. Clean and scrubbed, and stacked in the corner for October's trade again.
If my car has warranty, and warranty could be effected. Dealer.
From my same-ish commute to work for 20 year, I can count 14 dealerships en route, that are now condo's.
Home, dealership, office. For vehicle service is 9o minute ea/ x morning and afternoon. So three hour commitment for a visit.
I took my X5 in for a leaking oil cooler repair and oil change. $8oo ish.
200 kms later, engine tossed a rod bearing. Dealership accused me of "being negligent on my servicing".
After proving my innocents, and 59 days later and a new long block cover by my extended warranty.
Upon pick up, I commented that they could have at least cleaned and detailed the vehicle before giving it back to me.
It was rinsed and wet, and dusty and gritty from the being in the shop for 2 months, with all the doors, hood and hatch open.
When I mentioned this to the service managers, he said to me. "RIGHT NOW I JUST WANT TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE".
I have told this story before. And it is just a story, factual with no emotion.
The service industry is dead. In my continued bittering years. You are ultimately responsible for everything done by anyone else.
BMW Canada, BMW USA, dealership principles, all washed their hands of any responsibly of my experience. Again, not mad, just factual.
If I am ultimately responsible for any work, no matter who does it? Then, should I not try and do it myself?
If dropping off a car takes 3 hours of my life, any job under three hours, make me even.
If a 800 dollar repair at the dealer , causes 26000 in engine damage? and two months down time.
My BMW dealership is privately owned, one hands length from cooperate BMW. As I have learned... Their mechanics in the back? Are unionized. I did not know that.
So, who would be responsible for an error? Who am I contracting with. I dealt with a shop union steward, he read from a book. He would/could never admit to error by a fellow employee's error. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_representative
Next Porsche? I would choose my location carefully. Independent owner, or owner group? That is one arm length away from head office. Unionized back shop, one more arms length of responsibility.
We have all heard stories of special cars coming in and new owners being asked for a little more money before delivery. Be it a Porsche store, Aston martin, Bentley, Ferrari. I bet these were all privately owned and not cooperate stores.
There is one Corporate Porsche store here, with a non-unionized mechanics shop. If I close this deal on a used Macan over the next month, I will be visiting there for my PPi and my service.
Three car, snow tire change over this weekend. Defiantly a DIY in the driveway. Clean and scrubbed, and stacked in the corner for October's trade again.
04-13-2018, 02:50 PM
#7
Three Wheelin'
I don't bother with the dealer, sometimes an indy. We have DIY garages here in Southern California so depending on the amount of work, I'll rent a spot. Southern California also has equipment rental from BJ's Equipment if I need to go that route.
I have Esco stands just like the DIY jack stand thread posted here and the car feels solid when supported by all four. I bought a 1994 GSR when I was 17 that eventually went turbo/nitrous before I got caught street racing. I took a break from imports, got into moto racing, got bitten by the bug again and then picked up a Supra TT. I've spend many hours on a creeper so as long as you put safety first, use common sense, use wheel cribs and extra support then it's not that scary to work underneath a car.
I have Esco stands just like the DIY jack stand thread posted here and the car feels solid when supported by all four. I bought a 1994 GSR when I was 17 that eventually went turbo/nitrous before I got caught street racing. I took a break from imports, got into moto racing, got bitten by the bug again and then picked up a Supra TT. I've spend many hours on a creeper so as long as you put safety first, use common sense, use wheel cribs and extra support then it's not that scary to work underneath a car.
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04-13-2018, 03:50 PM
#9
Three Wheelin'
I have only gone to dealers for things under warranty or for things I cannot do myself like programming. Other than that I do everything. My 911 is a daily driver, but I have other cars I can drive if needed so if the work on the car takes a few days or weeks that is fine by me. I must say though that I love to work on cars as I grew up in Detroit. My first car was a Porsche that I fully restored. I bought it and restored it at 15 even before I had a license. Yes with my own money. Being an engineer now and having a mill and a lathe in the garage along with multiple types of welders there is little I cannot do, although I will not touch an automatic transmission. I also am big into Rock Crawling my Jeep Wrangler and most of those parts I made myself. I even regeared the axles just because I had never done that before, bragging rights. I just like working on cars at least until all the surgeries catch up with me and I can no longer get under them to play anymore.
04-13-2018, 04:32 PM
#10
Three Wheelin'
2009 C2S 124K miles
So, when do you choose to DIY or take to the dealer? Any rule of thumb?
For me, anything that requires a lift goes straight to the dealer. Plugs and suspension work, even springs and shocks, I DIY....
I am not sliding under a car on stands.... no way, ain't gonna do it. Scares me.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
So, when do you choose to DIY or take to the dealer? Any rule of thumb?
For me, anything that requires a lift goes straight to the dealer. Plugs and suspension work, even springs and shocks, I DIY....
I am not sliding under a car on stands.... no way, ain't gonna do it. Scares me.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
I try to do as much as I possibly can because its the result that counts, knowingly that I've done it right myself. Things like clutch job and other software related issue, I'll go to the dealer. However, its annoying at times that I have to redo some little things that they missed. Things like a missing panel fastener that result in a rattling noise. nuts and bolts not torque to spec, scratches on wheels because they didn't exercise care in handling it, fluid volume/capacity way off and car comes back with whirl marks even after specifically ask that the car not be washed.
04-13-2018, 10:37 PM
#14
Three Wheelin'
I do most everything myself but if the project needs a lift I would bring it to my indy. I learned that the hard way.
My suspension project took me 2-3x the time because I could only jack up one side of the car at a time in my garage. It sucked.
If you saw the post on my recent clutch job I was actually able to do a hybrid approach. My indy let me use their lift and their lead mechanic walked me through the steps. I told them I wanted to do it myself and they said "a clutch job on jack stands was cruel and unusual punishment" :-) They were right. It would have likely taken me 3 days on jack stands. At my indy the two of us had it done in just over 4hrs. Great learning experience and only had to pay for 4hrs labor vs the normal 8hr rate (note: my local dealer quoted 16). I brought them all nice bottles of whiskey after.
My suspension project took me 2-3x the time because I could only jack up one side of the car at a time in my garage. It sucked.
If you saw the post on my recent clutch job I was actually able to do a hybrid approach. My indy let me use their lift and their lead mechanic walked me through the steps. I told them I wanted to do it myself and they said "a clutch job on jack stands was cruel and unusual punishment" :-) They were right. It would have likely taken me 3 days on jack stands. At my indy the two of us had it done in just over 4hrs. Great learning experience and only had to pay for 4hrs labor vs the normal 8hr rate (note: my local dealer quoted 16). I brought them all nice bottles of whiskey after.
