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Thank you for your helpful responses to my post about maintaining my 2019 Base Macan. I now understand that owning a Porsche comes with a higher cost of maintenance and that there are ways to spend less money while still keeping the car running smoothly. I appreciate your recommendations and will definitely take them into consideration in the future.
@Sunderwunsch, I completely agree that the service from the dealer was a ripoff and that I should have taken it to an independent shop. You live and learn I suppose. Dumb on me. I will definitely look into finding a good independent shop in Austin for future services. I appreciate your advice on only replacing worn items when they're visibly going bad and keeping up with regular services like oil changes. I will also look into the cost of an extended warranty and consider that as an option.
@nevil I understand that German performance cars are not known for being economical to maintain and that finding a good independent shop is critical. I appreciate your suggestion on looking up posts regarding extended warranties, and I will definitely do that.
Lastly, I keep hearing about the PDK transmission and was wondering if you could explain what that is and if I should be concerned about it in the future.
Thank you both again for your responses and guidance.
T
My suggestion is that if you want to own any Porsche long term, get extended warranty coverage. I just bought a new Macan GTS and paid almost another 20K in extended warranties. I had a 2017 991.2 Carrera S that I loved but it just went out of factory warranty. A coolant fault developed and I was facing $2K repair just for a thermostat. If that PDK goes out it can be over $20K because Porsche will only replace the transmission not repair it. There is another thread here in the Macan forum re a PDK failure and the nightmares the OP went through to fix it. Folks will tell you take to an indy who will repair for less, but that may not be an option if the indy can't get the parts from Porsche. With respect to routine service, dealers are quite expensive but having the extended service warranty will pay for itself if you own the car for more than a few years. I will no longer own any Porsche that is not covered by extended warranties. The financial risk is too high and you may get stuck with a car that costs more to repair than it's market value.
Local dealer quoted me $600 for an oil change. I told the service rep that $600 was a lot of money for an oil change. He said they would also do a full inspection and wash it.
PDK = Porsche Doppel Kupplung, a double clutch transmission. It is mechanically two transmissions in one, with gear changes automatically controlled between the two geartrains. In terms of the automotive industry, the PDK is made in rather small volumes, mainly for the Macan and Panamera in the north-south front engine configuration.
It is complex, and expensive if/when it fails. There are strong opinions on both sides of the argument as to whether or not the PDK is unreliable, or reliable.
Isn't the "PDK" in the Macan actually just and VW/AUDI DSG rebranded?
I'm sorry to hear that the dealer hit you with such a major bill. The service you described sounds like the "Intermediate Service" which is due every 40,000 miles on these cars. In my opinion it's a huge ripoff when performed by the dealer. I could debate the necessity of most of the items contained in this service. My view is that wear items like non-mechanical wiper blades only need to be replaced when they're visibly going bad and not performing well. But I won't get into specifics, because the important thing to note is that the service would have cost you less than $500 at a independent shop. Depending on the cost of the extended warranty, I'd definitely consider that route just based on ease. But, in my experience keeping a Macan running is not a very hard task. Keeping up with regular services like oil changes and the like goes a long way in longevity of the car. I have a 2016 Macan Turbo that recently tipped 100k miles and in the last 7 years it's only needed one major repair which was the PDK transmission's valve body recently. To me they're fairly reliable cars, with their weakest link being the transmission. A p-car is almost always going to be more expensive to own than a Toyota or Honda for example but it comes with the territory of owning a performance luxury car. I'd expect that you'll get quite a lot more miles out of yours, so if you love it I wouldn't be scared to hang onto her. My best advice would be to find a good independent shop and take the car there for services, the Macans are very automated so it'll tell you when it needs them.
These types of boards are helpful...Im also looking for advise. Im purchasing my, "Empty Nester" Car. Ive read here that the most expensive repairs come at about40+K miles, Im purchasing 18'Macon 33K miles. Should I make this purchase or get something with slightly higher mileage to possible avoid such a huge repair bill. Please assist
These types of boards are helpful...Im also looking for advise. Im purchasing my, "Empty Nester" Car. Ive read here that the most expensive repairs come at about40+K miles, Im purchasing 18'Macon 33K miles. Should I make this purchase or get something with slightly higher mileage to possible avoid such a huge repair bill. Please assist
Many of these services are done by year. Your six-year-old car probably has had the 40,000 service already done.
Minor expense in the overall bill you were given, but don’t rotate tires. Since Macan has staggered wheels the only rotation is moving right tires to left side and left’s to right which provide no benefit and actually can give you a bad ride. Tires tend to set in a direction and when you turn them around the tire is “going against the grain” or not in the direction of the set. Don’t waste your $$$ doing rotations.
Minor expense in the overall bill you were given, but don’t rotate tires. Since Macan has staggered wheels the only rotation is moving right tires to left side and left’s to right which provide no benefit and actually can give you a bad ride. Tires tend to set in a direction and when you turn them around the tire is “going against the grain” or not in the direction of the set. Don’t waste your $$$ doing rotations.
I was about to say the same: Never heard any Porsche getting tire rotation. Those guys must be the biggest scammers.
Replace the filters yourself, it is super easy. Once you have done 981 Boxster air filters, any air filter afterwards will look like a mickey mouse job. Same with the spark plugs but as long as my car is under warranty, I will havethe spark plugs done by my indy. When my brakes are due, I will do them myself as well but leave the brake fluid (and all the other juices of the car) to my indy.
I think the dealer prices are getting out of hand. I just ordered rear rotors, pads and sensors for my 2018 GTS and with shipping and tax was $298 from Pelican. I think I was quoted $1600 for rear pads/rotors from my dealership.
These cars are super easy to maintain. I am going down the path of DIY.
I think the dealer prices are getting out of hand. I just ordered rear rotors, pads and sensors for my 2018 GTS and with shipping and tax was $298 from Pelican. I think I was quoted $1600 for rear pads/rotors from my dealership.
These cars are super easy to maintain. I am going down the path of DIY.
What brand rotors and pads did you go with at that price?
Local dealer quoted me $600 for an oil change. I told the service rep that $600 was a lot of money for an oil change. He said they would also do a full inspection and wash it.
Indi did it $149.
I paid the local Porsche dealer $350 over 20 years ago for an oil change. My wife said "Couldn't you do that yourself?" After that, I got some instructions from Renntech and started doing it myself. Now, I buy the Mobil 1 oil delivered for free from Walmart and the oil filter from Rock Auto, and my indie provides the labor while I provide the parts. Over the last 30 years, we've owned nothing but BMWs, Mercedes', Jaguars and Porsches and have avoided the dealer except for warranty work or when they had a service special. After paying $500+ for a glorified oil change at the Jaguar dealer (about 20 years ago), I learned never to take the car in for a "20,000 mile service" or something like that. Those services have a lot of "check" items that make the dealer look like its doing a lot, but in the end are nothing more than an oil change. I learned to just ask for an oil change and check the other things (like condition of wiper blades) myself. Maintaining a high-end European car can be reasonable if you're careful.
I get a good chuckle every time I read about maintenance costs of “high end” cars. Folks, it’s just a machine and in this case, an automobile. Stealerships convince people that they have some special /magical procedure for these fine machines. It’s called the “Porsche Tax”. Every “high end” manufacturer impose it. Heck, other businesses pull this crap based on zip codes! There’s turning a profit and then there’s price gouging. May I suggest that you either learn to DIY (preferred) or find a good Indy shop. With the likes of YouTube and wealth of information on the web, even a caveman can perform these routine maintenance procedures and even many major repairs. Oil change, brake flush, brake pad & rotor replacement, cabin filter replacement, and even spark plug changes (yes, even on a Porsche) are simple DIYs. With modern cars, computers and electronics can get tricky and I’d take my cars to the professionals but routine maintenance…..ok, I beat this dead horse.
It’s your hard earned money and we’re all adults here. At the end of the day, do as you please. One more thing-the Macan is not a complex machine, especially the base model. Even my ‘20 R8 is not “complex” although Audi will have you believe otherwise. No car is really as complex as they have you believe. Stealerships will charge $500-$1k for an oil change on the R8. It has 5 drain plugs vs. one. That’s complex!?!? It takes longer to remove the protective plastic panel than draining the oil from the 5 plugs. On the 911, it’s even easier. I digress.
Don’t let the stealerships rip you off. As my old man used to say, “if you want it done right, do it yourself!”. Rant over.
Here's a data point. Purchased new in 2014; it was one of the launch cars. First batch to the dealership. It's more expensive to maintain then my 17 911 or 18 GT3 on a per year basis (Maintenance only). Starting 9/20 I took the car to an Indy for most work. Dealers in Orlando were 2 or 3x the Indy.
08-31-2023, 10:39 PM
