Hi,

I recently picked up a 997.2 GT3 and was hoping to get some opinions on future service of the car.

I bought the car from a used car dealer, not a private seller and the car did not come with the proper service booklet with the stamps.

However I was able to track down via carfax the dealership where the car was serviced for the first 6 years of it's life and they sent me the service records.

It looks like the 1st owner went to the dealership for a lot of the work (recalls, changing colored belts, clear bra, detailing etc) but in terms of engine service it only had a few oil changes done at the dealer although it looks like the last year of ownership were not performed at the dealership and as there is a 1.5yr gap of visits.

The car is a weekend car that will remain stock and i'm wondering how important it is to get it serviced at a porsche dealer going forward. For anything complicated i would take it to the dealer, but is the dealer premium really needed for oil changes/fluids/brake flushes etc when it comes to resale down the line?

My choices as it see it are:

1)Go to dealer for oil change ($500 quote)
2)Go to private garage owned by a porsche factory driver/race team owner ($250)
3)Do it myself and keep receipts ($100?)

It's not a massive difference as I'll only do 1 change a year but given the partial service history what would do in my case?

Thanks,
Peter

 

3. For the gratification factor alone. And find a good indie who knows these cars. you can bring it over to them for the more complicated maintenance/repair items.

BTW, congrats on the car but it is mandatory to post a picture of it. Sorry, but rules are rules. How many miles on it?

 

Thanks! Love the car so far. My first p-car and I moved up from an M3 and I was blow away by the gap.

Here is a pic...hope it works...first time ever posting a pic

 

Me personally, as long as it's a reputable shop I'd say go with option 2. Option 3 is gratifying too but it's too easy to BS it and depends too much on buyer trusting seller, and trust is something hard won and easy lost, especially around these parts. Dealer can't even do a oil service without overfilling or something, and I'm not fond of the Mobil One they use personally, with Motul is on the approved oils list for Porsche.

Picture worked fine, nice looking car. I absolutely love a black car with yellow bits, wish my car had come with yellow and not red accents personally, but belts dash and brakes are all red and I'm not so motivated to change all that out, haha. I think red bits work better on a white car, personally.

 

Congratulations! Nice car. Here's it's RS cousin. Enjoy every mile with it.

Vivian

 

...and your .1 cousin

I like the look (and color) of the giant PCCB brakes, but would prefer the worry free steels. That said, the other day I washed my car and didn't even touch the wheels. They kinda don't get dirty with the carbon brakes.

I'm all yellow stitching and yellow belts and yellow floor matt piping on the inside. The stitching being yellow is OK, but I'll be swapping out the belts for blacks and replacing the floor matts w/ something more subdued.

I'm a DIY guy whenever possible. Not just to save money (well, mostly to save money), but I am very particular about the specific parts that are used and I have trust issues .

Plus, I'm an engineer and I always like to see how things go together and work.

Your car looks Beautiful! Enjoy it!!

 

From M3 to 997.2GT2 is a leap out of space gap. Congrats on a beautiful car.

 

And your twin...



Congrats and welcome!

As for your question of where to take the car for service, if the service at the local dealership is good I would take it there if not for anything but to have a good relationship with the service manager.

 

With two Porsche's I have used both Hendrick Porsche in Charlotte, and more recently Zuffenhaus near that city for an engine-out pipe welding and other service. For routine service, an independent shop is likely cheaper and just fine, but if you have some sort of unusual, hard to sort out problem, like an electrical issue, a dealer has access to the internal "knowledge" of Porsche problems and likely fixes. Plus the dealer can order the tiny parts like plastic pins and such if you need them. I am sure there are good and bad independents and dealers for your car. Then too, much of the routine maintenance is easy for an owner to do, with just jack stands and the usual tools. Bleeding brakes, oil changes, pad changes, even plugs and coils with patience and the right small tools are all pretty easy.

By the way, we have the long 56 inch Race Ramps, the two part ones, and the extra length extensions, and used them for the first time last week to fix a drooping front brake duct, and found that with the Cup front splitter, even with the above, we could not get our GT3 up onto the flat part of the ramp without interference with the ramp end lip.

Oh, by the way, we keep our car's RPM at 3K and up, so we are in the lower gears a lot in city traffic. There is some suggestion that engine "load" at lower RPM is potentially harmful to these Mezgar motors.

You will find suggestions for the best oil for your climate too. Enjoy your handsome GT3; you will find it a really very different car,

and all the best.....

 

Thank you all for the advice and thanks for the extra eye candy. I'm leaning towards 2 or 3 but i'm glad to hear 1 isn't necessary.

My first car with pccb and I will say the lack of any brake dust is pretty awesome. Put 800 miles on the car the first day i got it as I picked it up out of state and the car was a mess with a ton of bugs but the rims were spotless.

I'm also glad I found a car with the yellow bits. I was actually looking for red steel brakes as I heard horror stories of the carbon replacement costs but I don't track + i was set on finding black and I think the yellow actually works well with black. I agree that red is killer on white though and if I had red brakes i'd be all over red belts.

Also jonwb - sent you a pm.

Thanks

 

servicing these cars is easy... I do most of my servicing myself i.e. plugs, coils,filters (fuel and air) etc then put old parts in the frunk and get the dealer to do a oil change and check over and stamp book as a full service- they trust me and parts are evidence. I then do intermitted oil changes etc myself and keep a log book with receipts to back it all up.

 

$500 for an oil change?

 

Here's another option. Did you know Porsche will price match? Get a quote from another shop and Porsche will match it. Ultimately that's what I ended up doing for my 24,000 mile check. Originally Porsche was going to charge me around $1500 for the service. I got a couple quotes from local Import shops which were around $800 and Sunset Porsche in Portland matched their quote! Saved me almost $800.

 

That's pretty cool.

 

Congratulations on a very nice car in the proper color too!


Go with option 3
I did an oil change myself for about $100, and spark plugs for $66 (get the ones in the Bosch box, not the Porsche box) Easy, and gratifying DIY.
For me the dealer is 6 hours away, my time alone is worth more than that round trip.


Your older twin sans pccb/centerlocks...