champignon

I'm in the process of purchasing a 2006 Cayman S with relatively low mileage. It was not listed for sale here, however was owned by an enthusiast, and well taken care of by him and the 2 former owners. I will be picking the car up in about a week, in a city 8 hours drive away. The car has never been in my state, as far as I can tell, and never been seen by any shop or dealer here. The seller is cognizant of such things as IMS issues, and has had a magnetic oil drain plug installed.

From what I can tell, and I'm reasonably sure of this, everything maintenance-wise is up to date, for now. The only question I have is whether or not to change the plugs, and that will be sorted and acted upon before picking the car up and driving it home.

I have no relationship with my local Porsche dealer, other than going there once and test driving a used 911, which I did not buy. I did chat up some of the service advisors, but that was months ago. I have never discussed the vehicle I am going to buy with them. The dealer has a reasonably good reputation, but (not surprisingly) are regarded to be expensive.

There are reputed to be a couple of good independent garages specializing in Porsches in the area.

I can't think of any good reason to strike up a relationship with the Porsche dealer, as I think all the work on the car can be done competently, at less cost, by the independents available.

Am I missing something? Is there any reason to work with the local brand representative on this car?

Thanks.

mrmandmman

Once you are out of warranty, a good independent shop is what you want.

extanker

good luck

HoBoJoe

Contact your local PCA and see who they recommend. The only thing I went to the dealer for was my GT3 brake ducts, much cheaper than some of the online vendors.

Spokayman

I would vote to try out the independent mechanics too.
Also, IMO there is no particular reason to have the plugs changed before your drive home. If the plugs have not been changed yet in the car (regardless of miles) they do need to be done, but why not wait until the car is home?

champignon

Thanks very much!

ken

Jack-Porsche

I'll share a different point of view here. While I support the independent guys, I think dealers in general have gotten a reputation unfairly in some cases.
I have some good independent guys in my area, but they aren't always "cheaper". Also, there is something to be said for dealer service. They are working with the latest and greatest of equipment, and have frequent continuing education for the techs.
Some of my local dealer guys are absolute enthusiasts who own Porsche's and track them....no reason not to trust your car with them, and you have a large dealership standing behind their work.
Again , I like the independents but I feel that sometimes people are too quick to rule out a Porsche dealer for after warranty service.
Another point to remember is that if resale is any concern at all, people like seeing dealer service records. Even if your independent guy is good, if the person purchasing the car has never heard of them, it may not be a positive thing.

Terry T.

I agree with Jack, if you find a good dealer. They do have the latest an greatest tools, and the dealer service records are valuable on resale. That said, the ones around here are pretty crummy, and there are a couple very good (but expensive) independents. So I use the indys.

I would not bother changing the plugs for an 8-hour drive. I drove my 09 S home from Phoenix to Seattle on the originals, then changed them once home. At cruising speeds, they should be fine. That said, I would change them when you got home. With modern ignitions, plugs last longer than back in the day, but when they start to taper off in performance, they tend to damage the individual coils. Changing the plugs can be easily done by you, but it's a bit of a pain.

Good luck, relax, and enjoy the trip.

Terry T.

PS--I laughed when you said "The car has never been in my state, as far as I can tell"

. . . No Cayman has ever been in Idaho! (A little Washington state humor.)

dgrobs

I laughed....

champignon

Thanks for all of the comments.

I can certify without a doubt that there are Porsches in Idaho, in fact I have test-driven a number of them :-)

The local dealer in my part of the state actually has a pretty good reputation. I have had contact with a few others, in other surrounding states, who leave me cold. All of that having been said, when the relationship is not made with a dealer during the period that a car is still in warranty, the motivation to make that connection later is not great. This will depend ultimately on the quality of the competing independent garages and the difference in cost for service among the independent and the dealer garages.

User 52121

Definitely fair point though my personal experience says that "factory trained technician" doesn't mean much these days... at least with respect to Audi and Porsche.

The dealer does have the latest-n-greatest tools, and a direct line to Germany for when they get stuck. But I've also witnessed a lot of these guys completely incapable of actually diagnosing any kind of problem. They follow the flowcharted procedure prescribed by the factory, and can change out parts... but can't necessarily tell you WHY.

Independents, I've found, on the other hand seem to be more of the troubleshooters. Guys who will see a problem, stop and think about it first, maybe test a few things, then go with what makes sense. Downside of course is that some of their tools may be outdated, etc.

All the *really* good factory guys I know? They've all left dealership life and landed either on their own, or at an indy.

FactoryMatt

Only to get keys cut.

sugarwood

When you feel your neglected sphincter needs a workout