This is the update I’ve been looking forward to doing. In December, the 911 was due for its first (for me) annual service, and I was eager to see how the process is with Porsche, especially the most interesting (to you) part: cost. After having owned two cars from mainstream brands previously, it’s time to see what premium brands like Porsche has to offer, and how much more expensive it is comparatively.
Being in San Francisco, there are plenty of Porsche dealerships in the area to choose from, though there was ever only one possible in my mind: Porsche Fremont. Indeed it’s the same dealership I bought the car from, and the place where the previous owner also took the car to for maintenance, so the people there ought to know my GT3 quite well. Even though it’s a bit of a schlep to drive to Fremont, it’s alright because service is a once-a-year thing. Besides, Fletcher Jones – the automotive group who owns Porsche Fremont – has a sterling reputation.
That fact was evident throughout the whole process.
Scheduling a time to bring the GT3 in could not be easier, needing only a few clicks on the dealer website (I’m not the biggest fan of calling). The scheduler offered exactly the type of service the car needed after inputting the VIN and mileage. I opted for a loaner vehicle right there on the form, too, which is a new thing for me because the mainstream brands I dealt with in the pass aren’t keen to provide courtesy cars unless you’re getting extensive warranty work done. With premium brands you come to expect a loaner car no matter how small the service is.
Of course, you certainly pay for that privilege.
Lucky for me, the financial outlay this year for servicing the 911 is relatively small, as the maintenance schedule called for just an oil change. The following years won’t be so charitable as both the ‘intermediate’ and ‘major’ services are well into the four-figure of sums. I’m wholly prepared for this, obviously: owning the type of car in the league of a 911 GT3, you really ought to have a couple of thousand dollars in reserve every year going towards maintenance. Failing that, I hate to say it: you can’t afford the car. Please don’t be the type of car enthusiast who stretches himself thin for an expensive vehicle but then don’t have money left over for servicing.
An oil change may be simple in a typical car, but not quite for a GT3. Never mind the fact the engine is situated at the rear of the car: further compounding the complexity is the 9A1 motor has dry-sump oiling, with an external reservoir and two drain holes on the underside. The car is particularly finicky about oil levels, too, and it will warn you on the dash endlessly if the level is either too far over or down from optimal. All this is to say I lack the skill and the tools to tackle this job myself, even if I have the space, which I definitely do not.
The privilege of having a clean and modern Porsche dealership to perform the oil change is 450 dollars, which needless to say is a significant jump from the $75 to $100 I was used to. That said, there’s considerable comfort in knowing the work will be done correctly, and that price does include an intensive multi-point inspection, part of the annual checkup procedure to make sure the car is fit for another calendar year of motoring.
In addition to the oil service, I opted for a four-wheel alignment as well, as lately I’ve been getting the sensation the GT3 is not tracking as true as possible. The two past owners of the car took it to the track extensively, so who knows what sort of wild alignment settings they used to extract the maximum pace. Furthermore, Porsche Fremont did not perform an alignment as a part of the sales certification, therefore I have no idea if my GT3 is even within factory specs. It’s long overdue to find out, and it costs me 250 dollars to do so, though from what I gather, it’s roughly the same price at specialty alignment shops.
I made the one-hour drive to Fremont on a Thursday, purposely selecting a noon appointment time so I wouldn’t have to compete with the notorious Bay Area traffic. To my surprise, rather than the typical service counter setup, Porsche Fremont equipped the service advisors with the same table and chairs configuration that the salespeople use. Those waiting were in a separate room entirely. The setup allows customers to sit down and have a detailed conversation with the advisor on the specifics of the car, both during drop-off and pick-up. Coming from past experiences at other dealerships of being sped through the process like cattle, this high attention to each individual customer is very nice indeed.
My appointment was ready and present on the service advisor’s computer with my requests intact (a simple thing some dealerships can’t even manage; true story), and we then started going over the finer aspects of what is to be done to the GT3. It’s immediately apparent my advisor is quite knowledgeable and familiar with the ownership quirks of Porsche sports cars: he knew to look up specifics based on months, rather than mileage. Like most owners of 911 GT cars, I don’t accrue the typical amount of miles, and therefore service is due based on the date, rather than mileage count.
I can remember with the Subaru WRX STI I had to convince the manager myself that the car needed maintenance because of the date, not the odometer display. It’s so refreshing to not have to do this anymore.
The advisor referenced past service history and found the GT3 is due for a drive belt change. It was supposed to be done during the major service performed last December, but for whatever reason, the belt was skipped (should I have made a fuss about this? Probably). To get the car back aligned with the prescribed maintenance schedule, the drive belt had to be replaced. It costs a substantial 600 dollars, about 400 of which is labor because the entire rear bumper structure needed to be removed. The rest is the price of the belt itself, which is the only part of this whole service that I felt was a bit of a rip-off. Fremont Porsche sells the belt – a stamped Porsche Genuine part – for $120; meanwhile, the same exact belt made by the same exact supplier – Continental – can be bought online for around $20.
That my friends is the infamous Porsche tax.
With the belt service added to the alignment and oil change, the preliminary bill quickly swelled to $1,300. Remember when I said you should have a few thousand dollars saved up annually for maintenance? I was completely prepared for this, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed in having to pay this much for what is supposed to be the year of a simple oil change.
Nevertheless, that’s the financial commitment I made when I purchase the 911 initially; there’s nothing to cry about. At least the money is going towards excellent service, which I’m definitely receiving from Porsche Fremont. Instead of me needing to caution the advisor to not wash the car during service, he instead asked me on what I’d like to have done from the detailing department (a quick vacuum of the interior). The advisor even inquired if I wanted to use different tire pressures and alignment specs from the factory standard, which is the sort of attention to detail I greatly value – and gladly pay for.
I told him the factory spec is fine, and after few signatures I was on my way out with the keys to a 2018 Porsche Macan. Due to my lack of proximity to the dealership and my peculiar work schedule, I asked if it would be okay for me pick up the GT3 – barring unforeseen setbacks – two days later on Saturday. To my relief, that arrangement was fine, and the advisor said it’s a rather common request: they know and try to accommodate owners’ busy schedules as much as possible.
Quick sidebar review on the base Porsche Macan: competent, exploitable chassis (for an SUV) with a characterless engine, though it’s got enough punch for quick passing maneuvers on freeways. It feels like a solid, well-built machine, a good choice if I were in the market for this type of vehicle.
Four hours after I left the dealership, the service advisor texts me with bad news: during the inspection, the tech found the rear tires were worn down to the cords on the inside edge. Needless to say, immediate replacement was practically required, especially considering we are right in the middle of the rainy season. Honestly, I thought the tires had more life in them yet (the fronts are fine), but I guess it’s not mileage that killed those Cup 2 tires. Judging from how it’s the inside that’s worn down, it must be caused by a faulty camber alignment.
Somewhat fortuitous, then, that I had requested an alignment service. What’s definitely fortuitous is the price for a new pair of 305-section Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires that I now have to fork over: $1,200 installed. Granted, this isn’t a matter of Porsche Fremont overcharging: those Michelin tires really do cost that much. The Michelin tax, if you will.
I’d expected to get new tires sometime next year, though it never entered my mind I’d need replacements right now. After the initial sticker shock wore off, I thought let’s take the opportunity to replace all four tires with a set Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, a far less extreme summer tire compared to the Cup 2s, with better wet traction and longer life. It’s a tire that I’ve been wanting to switch over to anyways, and this seemed the perfect timing to do so. Sadly, my advisor replied to that with more bad news: the dealership is forbidden to put on tires that isn’t prescribed by Porsche from the factory. For the GT3, there’s but two options: the aforementioned Cup 2s, and a set of Dunlop tires that’s even more aggressive and fickle. It doesn’t matter the Pilot Sport 4S tires comes in ‘N0’ versions that’s approved for use in Porsche cars: Porsche Fremont’s hands are tied.
Resigned, I elected to replace the rears with new Cup 2 tires. Looks like I’ll be replacing tires in pairs for the foreseeable future.
The bad news parade didn’t end there, however: post inspection, the tech recommended replacing the front rotors because there’s hair-line cracks on a few of the cross-drilled holes. Porsche officially dictates that if any crack is longer than 7mm, new rotors are required. With a shallow understanding of how enormously expensive brake discs are for the GT3 – and any brake-related service for that matter, I quickly declined the replacement, and went online to research further.
It turns out, cracking at the holes is innate to cross-drilled rotors, and something unavoidable if your car is outfitted with that type of discs. Most of the guys who track their GT3s heavily have replaced the stock units with slotted discs to avoid the problem reoccurring. They do advise that a few cracks here and there is not detrimental, and it’s absolutely fine for continued track use. For a person like me who doesn’t take to the track at all, there should be nothing to worry about. It’s when the cracks connect two drilled holes, or extend out to an edge, then a replacement rotor necessary.
Good thing I declined the recommendation and took the time to check, because a set of front GT3 rotors from Porsche is around $1,800, and surely at least few hundred dollars more on top for installation. Staring at a combined $2,600 service bill already, I was relieved that it’s not something I have to deal with right now. Further down the road I will emulate the track guys and switch to slotted discs made by AP Racing. I might even do the job myself, which seems easy enough to do if this video is to reference by.
I do appreciate how thorough and comprehensive the Porsche techs are with the car during service, and in that regard, you truly do get what you pay for. More than the courtesy vehicle and the fancy coffee machine in the waiting room (free cans of La Croix, too), it’s making sure the GT3 is mechanically sound and prepped for another year on the road that’s worth the cost of servicing at a dealership. For such a high-strung sports car, it’s in the best interest to not half-ass or cheap out on maintenance.
This experience reminds me of what I saw back in July during my travel to Japan, particularly when we visited the NISMO Omori Factory in Yokohama. Staring into the many service bays and seeing how utterly meticulous the mechanics are with the cars, it was the level of service I wanted for the 911 back here in the States. From what I’ve seen thus far at Fremont Porsche, I think I’ve found a convincing facsimile of the NISMO factory. Expensive as it may be to service the GT3 at a proper dealership, I have no regrets in paying for the competence and the task well done.
Besides, I don’t think independent Porsche shops are that much cheaper when it comes to the class of cars like a 911 GT3. The complex oil change service isn’t suddenly going to cost in the $100s with those shops.
Right on schedule, I returned the loaner Macan and picked up the 911 on a late Saturday morning. The service advisor sat down to go over the work details one last time, and I paid the final $2,600 invoice – no additional surprises, thankfully, after the worn tire and tiny crack on the rotor. That’s the price to keep me and the car safely on the road for 2020, and when I amortized it out like that, that number doesn’t seem quite that excessive. That said, I need to start replenishing the coffers for the next service in a year’s time. Who knows what costly items the appreciatively obsessive Porsche tech will find then?
The GT3 will be in semi hibernation next month, as the cold weather means the Cup 2 tires are effectively non-functional. I will be gone for travel during the first half of January, so that’s just as well. There will be periodic drives to get the internals warmed up, but that’s probably it. Late January marks the full one year anniversary of owning the 911, so next month’s update will largely center around that perspective. Until next time.
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Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 29,024
Mileage this month: 343
Costs this month: $3,021.65
MPG this month: 17.35 mpg