987.2 Boxster... OPC Warranty?

crinkleshoes · 10 Jul 2015 at 23:37

I've gone and bought a car to match my hair style

I was going to get a 997.2 C4S but was struggling to find the extra £10-15k for the spec I wanted. Then I was going to get a Cayman... but again, ticking the right boxes was awkward. Then this Boxster came up for grabs... and I've been craving topless driving for a while (almost bought a Z4 35is) and given its similarity to the cayman & ticking some good option boxes, especially for the mileage and price... it was hard to resist.

Picking her up next weekend.

Looking into warranty options.

OPC warranty has expired since the last owner.

I think I already know the answer to this before I ask... but I'm asking anyway.

Are there any warranties other than OPC worth having?

I quite like the idea of fitting a Limited Slip Diff... but know that will instantly void Porsche warranty.

I'm not so fond of paying dealer rates on work as I can do most of it myself happily... although it may well be worth it for the re-sale value. Again, that seems to be a no-no with Porsche Warranty.

Only other thing I might consider changing over ownership would be the exhaust... but that's unlikely as it's already sports exhaust. Other power options might be nice... but I think I'll put a hold on that until I decide if I'll be using it as a part-ex in a few years or not.

Dealership offer autoprotect warranty extensions (hiss like a cat & run away screaming)... warranty that is only worth the paper it's written on if you take them to court and force them to honour it... so 6 month+ disparity between fix and payout and a heck of a lot of extra hassle along the way.

From my own searching... Warranty Direct appear to have a viable reputation... but I don't think they're that much cheaper than OPC.

I'm still waiting on the quote back from Porsche... I'm expecting £200ish for the inspection and £800-1000/year for the warranty itself.

WD are £867.

Not sure of OPC LSD aftermarket fitment cost... yet.

Car is Oct 2009 3.4S PDK with a bunch of decent options as it spent its first sub-700 miles as a Porsche Demo car and now has only 23k on the clock.

£24k with:
- FPSH
- Sport Chassis (i know on 911s this option includes the LSD - but don't think it does on Boxster)
- Sport Exhaust
- Sport Wheel
- Sport Chrono Plus
- Sound Package Plus
- Cornering Xenons
- PCM 3
- Various other boxes ticked

Only went for a grand knocked off the advertised price... given the speed of acceptance of the salesman, I'm sure I could have gone for more... but I was keen and happy with the price I offered anyway.

Planning to keep her for 4-5 years before moving up to 991 997 C2S.

Excited to pick her up... been craving a DFI flat 6 since I first drove a 2009 C4s

Thanks

pepsilol · 11 Jul 2015 at 00:45

crinkleshoes said:
I'm not so fond of paying dealer rates on work as I can do most of it myself happily... although it may well be worth it for the re-sale value. Again, that seems to be a no-no with Porsche Warranty.

If that's the case then porsche parts are easy to get hold of and not expensive. I'd ditch the warranty and pocket it.

They're also ridiculously easy to work on.

Dr House · 11 Jul 2015 at 00:45

Having owned a 997.1, 997.2 x2 and a 991 I would never have anything other then a OPC warranty.

Also if you are looking at a 997 the C2s is a better drivers car

crinkleshoes · 11 Jul 2015 at 02:09

Of the 997.2... I preferred the C4S over C2s

991... I like the C2S

Buuuut... I better not get too ahead of myself and enjoy the Boxster

Scania · 11 Jul 2015 at 20:48

pepsilol said:
If that's the case then porsche parts are easy to get hold of and not expensive. I'd ditch the warranty and pocket it.

They're also ridiculously easy to work on.

Agreed, if the OP is competent with doing the work himself then he could well save a small fortune on garage labour rates, especially OPC rates.

However, when I was recently looking to buy my 530i - which is hardly as specialist a car as a Porsche - I disregarded a few that had been serviced by the owner in his garage, I'd be particularly wary and put off by a home serviced Porsche and he must bear this in mind once the time comes to move it on, he will have to take a hit there which arguably could be bigger than the saving gained from servicing/ repairing it himself in the first place!

I'd think hard about it.

MissChief · 11 Jul 2015 at 21:20

Really depends how long he's going to keep it. If he's talking many years, maybe even a decade or more then will there really be an issue with a home serviced Boxster that my be worth less than £10k?

rodenal · 11 Jul 2015 at 21:30

I wouldn't confuse home repairing with home servicing.

Most buyers wouldn't think twice about checking who done most of the anodyne, random bits and pieces to a car so long as it had a manufacturer stamped book

Scania · 11 Jul 2015 at 21:32

MissChief said:
Really depends how long he's going to keep it. If he's talking many years, maybe even a decade or more then will there really be an issue with a home serviced Boxster that my be worth less than £10k?

I agree, but, he mentioned 4-5years in the OP, hence my post.

crinkleshoes · 11 Jul 2015 at 21:44

Yeah... thinking about 4-5 years before moving up to a 991 C2S

I was taking a look into the fine print of even the Warranty Direct warranty...

They specify that they won't cover the LSD, but they will cover anything connected to the LSD even if the LSD were to cause the problem (however unlikely)... which is a plus. They'll also give 80% towards parts and 100% toward labour for any "wear and tear" connected items that even Porsche won't cover...

I missed the call back from Porsche Centre this morning and they didn't leave a message... so I'll chase again on monday to check OPC rates and also OPC LSD installation.

But... with WD, if you want the work carried out at a Franchised Dealer... then you also must have it serviced etc at a franchised dealer... so that puts my idea out of the window. Want to do the servicing yourself? You can... but then you can only use an Indi and the maximum labour rate shoots down from £200/hr to £60/hour ex VAT.

I'm leaning towards OPC warranty.

I can "minimise" costs by supplying OEM parts for the services etc.

I'm still wondering whether it'll be worth it.

I expect the OPC warranty to be £800-1000/year...

My primary concern is engine failure... Porsche have a really rather good reliability rate, although I can be quite hard on my cars (even thought treating them well re:servicing and work... for example next month I'm doing quite a bit of unnecessary work on my 320d to keep that happy for the next half a decade). But this is a sports car and I expect to drive it hard and do a couple of track days a year... so I may be closer to the failure range than most Porsche owners thanks to my usage.

But then... these DFI engines are showing really good reliability figures... even for people who like to drive them properly.

It's a gamble... sure... I've still got a bit of time to decide as the dealer will be covering the first 6 months should anything show up. Maybe I'll see how I get on over the first 3 months and then consider taking it forward.

I've done quite a bit of maintenance work myself in the past... including a full engine swap on an mx5 (much easier to work on than a Boxster of course)... only thing I haven't really delved into are engine rebuilds... but I was thinking about getting another 2 stroke gearbox kart, and so that's also something I've been considering tinkering with myself. I already have most tools, even air tools... just a couple of specialist bits I know I'd need to get for a Boxster.

I don't want to kill the re-sale... but then I may end up doing what I've done with my 320d & decided to maintain it myself and run it til it won't run any more...

Dr House · 11 Jul 2015 at 22:50

crinkleshoes said:
Of the 997.2... I preferred the C4S over C2s

991... I like the C2S

Buuuut... I better not get too ahead of myself and enjoy the Boxster

Sorry you have I the wrong way around 997 c2s and 991 c4s.

crinkleshoes · 11 Jul 2015 at 23:26

Dr House said:
Sorry you have I the wrong way around 997 c2s and 991 c4s.

Not in my personal experience.

I don't like the way the 997.2 C2S likes to understeer until you force it past it by over-egging the throttle.

The 997.2 C4S dials that out by engaging the front wheels to pull the car round... yet it still has the feel of a RWD car and is very much enjoyable to drive. I normally strongly dislike 4WD cars.

The 991 C2S has done incredibly well at dialing out the understeer unpleasantness of the 997.2 while improving on the drive train and balance and still maintaining the enjoyability of the pendulum effect caused by hanging the engine out over the rear wheels.

You're welcome to have a different opinion... but I've driven them to make my mind up & this is what I favour.

You're talking to a diehard FR fan who's interested in RR cars... (and MR)