Independent Repair Shops For Porsche – Do you just so happen to own a Porsche? Then you should have plenty of first-hand experiences behind how it is owning a Porsche. Despite Porsche’s increasingly broad and eclectic range of models, from the ‘everyman’s Porsche’, the Macan, all the way to the $300,000 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, one thing remains common amongst Porsches, and that’s their emphasis on performance. Even in a Macan, you will find sporting ambitions tucked within.
And because of these sporting character, Porsche owners are also expected to be able to maintain the upkeep that comes associated with performance. Of course, if you have a brand new Porsche 911, you’ll likely want to stick to the dealer workshops purely to avert any qualms with preserving your warranty status. That said, larger independent workshops might be able to carry out warranty work as well. But sticking to dealers give you big leverage when it comes to oddball cases without going out of pocket.
However, if you’re dipping your feet into old Porsche or out-of-warranty second-hand Porsche, then maybe independent Porsche workshops are the better way to go. So, why choose independent repair shops for Porsche over the dealer?
Costs and Efficiency
Of course, the most obvious reason, and the primary motivation for folks to look to a third-party shop is cost. Since dealer workshops have something that’s colloquially referred to as ‘dealer tax’, they often demand a higher premium on labor costs and often part costs too.
There’s valid reasoning behind dealer tax, of course. Ideally, you’re dealing with a very involved and lengthy standard of procedure where everything has to be tediously and meticulously documented in depth. Of course, the people working on your car has to also be trained specially to work on Porsche’s, and all the parts come from sanctioned sources. This is where all your money is going towards.
However, it’s not a stretch to say that specialist independent repair shops for Porsche will be able to offer similar levels of professionalism, with less stringent standards they need to match. This means lower costs and less time for your car to spend just sitting around, waiting for processing. If you choose wisely, the quality control of an independent shop might even be better, while there will still be workshop-specific customer documentation.
Experienced Technicians
Of course, while dealers and Porsche are the ones to train up techs to work on their cars, it’s common for experienced technicians to leave and branch off on their own after a few years to independent shops. This is particularly veracious when it comes to older, classic Porsche’s. You’re going to want a real specialist to restore your classic 911 here, and that’s not a job that dealers can do, at least not for reasonable prices.
Typically, smaller independent shops with a bunch of close-knitted technicians are also friendlier, and typically more customer-oriented than a large, chaotic dealer service centre. This means that they might pay more attention to the little details, which is what you want when it comes to a Porsche.
Relations
Another big advantage to independent repair shops, for me, is the fact that you can generally build a more amicable relationship with the technician. They’re the ones that are actually working on the car after all. In a dealership, it’s likely that you’re dealing with service advisers. In fact, you can essentially never see the person working on your car throughout your entire experience servicing your car at a dealer.
In an independent workshop though it’s quite different, where everything is more down to Earth, and you can talk to the one working on your car in person. It’s also likelier that you’ll know each other by name, and a good chance that you’ll end up with the same tech every time once you’ve built a solid owner-technician relationship. After all, who knows the mechanical bits of your car better than the one who wrenches on it?
Verdict
Those are the few reasons why I recommend you stick to specialist independent repair shops for Porsche, rather than the dealer. Of course, if you have something like a brand new 911 Turbo, the dealer makes more sense. But, if you’re starting out with your first Porsche, say a 986 Boxster, it’s best that you find a venerated Porsche specialist nearby, and stick to it.