Macster

Maybe.

But maybe what Porsche is doing is in some way making it harder for DIYers fooling themselves that an oil/filter service is a full service.

In some way then Porsche is making it harder for DIY'ers to give their cars skimpy insufficient service.

BTW, more dealers are charging for extinguishing the service light. I've had some tell me the reason is they want to have a record of the light being turned off with out the proper service being done.

This might be driven by PCNA. During this service light procedure a DME/other controller scan is done. This scan gathers info about the car and I wouldn't be surprised it is noted this is done without a proper service.

It is possible that what is going on is Porsche is adding collecting data as a safeguard to use to protect itself in the future when these cars start to show up as lease returns or just trade ins and it can note if the car had regular/proper servicing or just an oil/filter service every so often and thus can deny the car CPO warranty coverage. This can work to lower the car's trade in/resell value.

Also, there's a cost issue. Dealers tell me in order to keep the Porsche diagnostics computers alive it cost (last I heard) $600/computer. Some dealrs have 2 or even 3 of these. Also, wham bam thank you ma'am operation to clear this light/indicator.

It takes some time for the tech to not only connect the computer, perform the proper prelim steps, then get the process going, and monitor progress occasionally, which takes time as the procedure goes through many steps before it gets to the point the service indicator can be cleared.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Edgy01

Keep in mind that many issues may be missed if you don't have the maintenance checklists for your car. For example, you really need to stay on top of clearing your drain lines, but generally don't make a big deal about it--until it bite you! Sometimes the dealers know more about things that we just hear about--like recalls. And on the other hand, sometimes we learn more herein than some of the smaller dealerships.

If you maintain a good relationship with your service guys they will generally reset those pesky things for you without charging you.

J. Kid

Macster & Edgy, I see your point that Porsche is playing to the lowest common denominator that maybe some owners are not doing a good job with maintenance. At the same time there is nothing special or very difficult about what the dealership is doing to service our cars. This isn't neurosurgery just simple mechanical maintenance. There are many DIY'ers who are maintaining their cars with service more frequently than the factory recommends and are by no means "giving their car skimpy service".

There are many reasons not to hire someone else to do the maintenance work. Personally it's less about cost and more about knowing for certain the service was done right, using the parts & fluids I selected and the piece of mind knowing my car won't get damaged (and possibly covered up) by a careless dealership employee. I've had 2 dealership incidents with other cars in the past. Once they broke some plastic latches in the engine compartment. I had to find the damage on my own as they didn't tell me when I picked up the car. The 2nd incident was with a scratched rim. Both not really big deals but definitely more of a hassle than if I carefully did the work myself.

If you search the forum there are many stories about car damage while at the dealership. Many of them much worse than my 2 minor issues. I prefer to minimize the risk as well as enjoy learning more about these wonderfully engineered machines by servicing it myself. For me it adds to the ownership experience.

FiatCoupe

My service indicator came on at about 56,000 miles. I assumed it was for the 60,000 mile service but couldn't understand why it was 4000 miles early.

I was at the dealership shortly after booking in the car to have the starter cable replaced (very slow turnover when hot) and I mentioned the service light. They said it's probably for the oil change not the major service. This is the first time the service light has come on since I bought the car. I've been changing the oil myself more frequently than the Porsche recommended interval. Then it dawned on me, I have no proof that I have changed the oil if anything goes wrong with the engine while it's still under warranty. Therefore while the car is under warranty I intend on paying the dealership to perform the oil changes (and of course the recommended services) but change the oil more frequently myself.

John

USMC_DS1

+1... I use this approach as well to ensure that the original warranty(now lapsed) and CPO gets zero dispute from the local p-dealer.

MJBird993

As long as you have receipts for the oil and filter, you shouldn't have any issues "proving" that you changed the oil should a warranty issue arise.

USMC_DS1

It also helps with the potential Porsche buyer that insist that the p-dealer perform all maintenance... then I would not show that I've done more on my own. Really depends on the buyer... should I ever need to sell this one. BTW, when it comes to good faith service for say an engine... it also helps to gain the p-dealer's support in replacing say an engine if they've seen some service done at their shop. The grey areas benefit from a limited amount of work with the p-dealer.

MJBird993

I hear you DS1. When I went to trade-in my 996, the dealer wanted to ding me because the 30K service didn't show in history (I did it myself). I ended up selling it to a private buyer, and he didn't care. The PPI mentioned it as well, and I explained that I had done the work and he just nodded and said "give me the keys". So one never knows.

The point that I was trying to make is that they cannot deny a warranty claim simply because they didn't perform the scheduled maintenance. Surely it will help though if you have good history with the dealer should anything end up in a gray area.