Zonian

Just back from the service department at the dealership where I purchased my car new a year ago. I brought it in to have some minor issues addressed and have the Change Oil warning turned off. I changed oil & filter last week for the second time at 3500 mi. w/OEM filter, Mobil 1 etc. According to the service department, Porsche policy only authorizes the service department to turn the warning off if they perform the oil change service. Anyone know if this is in fact the manufacturer's policy and standard practice at Porsche dealers?

LexVan

Buy the Durametric and turn off yourself. Some here pay a small fee and the dealer turns off.

freeman

It's worse. I sold my 2013 991 PDK at 15,000 miles with the oil changed by the dealer at 2000, 5000 and 10000 miles. Yet the change oil signal had been flashing from 12000 miles. The oil was changed by my dealer as a condition of sale at 15500 miles.

9914s

My dealer charges 100.00 to reset the light and they also do an inspection.

plenum

I think others have also chimed-in on this in the past, but thought I'd share my own "positive" experience on this topic....

Over the years, and not just with Porsche, I've found that if you establish a good relationship with your service agent, you can generally get things like message resets done for no additional charge. But if you go in to the dealer for that purpose alone, I feel that they have every right to charge you for the time.

I do my own service whenever I can, and will typically ask for a reset when I bring the car in for something else, especially if it is something that I am paying to have done. And in every case the dealer has been happy to do the reset no charge. But maybe it is just me....

HotLap

Hey LexVan, do tell? Now that I'm almost out of warranty, it's ridiculous to pay $399 for an oil change so I'll be doing my self. Filter kit just arrived from SunQuest and would like to purchase the Durametric unit if not too costly...

Zonian

Thanks for the replies. I was curious about the experiences of other owners with this.

I suspect that turning the warning off is strictly at the discretion of the service department if the oil change wasn't performed by the service department. Charging a nominal fee to turn the warning off seems reasonable since free scheduled maintenance is not part of the deal and the service department incurs some costs any time a customer brings a car in. Alternatively, turning the warning off at no charge might build goodwill and benefit both the business and the customer. Leaving the warning active because the work was DIY has a nickel and dime aspect to it that would seem to benefit no one except maybe Durametric.

fast1

As you can imagine a dealership is very expensive to run, given the expense of the land, the building, maintenance, salaries, etc. Since dealerships generate most of their profit from servicing cars, you can understand that they aren't exactly delighted with those who perform their own servicing.

In my case I've always had my Porsches serviced by dealerships, but I do shop around for the best price and they do vary significantly. For example for the intermediate service one dealer wanted over $900, but another charged only $645 for the identical service.

Powereng

If you are going to have a dealer do all the work, then a Durametric is a waste of money, but if you are going to do any maintenance, then the Durametric is well worth the money. It does more than just reset the maintenance timer.. Great little tool.

solomonschris

Starting conversations about oil is daunting. My car has 6000 miles since its last oil change. The change oil light came on based on time interval, not mileage. I called the dealer and the service adviser told me that the oil degrades over time. The additive package can degrade for many reasons, but time is not one of them. I suspect that Porsche has to stand behind the engine no matter if we just run the crap out of it. They just want to be sure that it gets proper service once a year. This seems like a rip off for those of us that don't do track days and run up to the reline all the time. We bought a high performance car, so we must pay the price...still a pretty good deal compared to a Ferrari!

Chiboy

I have had a very good experience with my dealer. I bought the car (new, leftover) on the east coast, but had the first oil change done by the local dealer here is the suburbs of Chicago, as well as several "Safety Advisory" recalls.

One of them was done right after I did my second oil change myself. I did buy the filter and o-ring from the dealer. I asked if they wouldn't mind turning off the light since I just serviced it myself. They did, and I gave them a special shout out in my PCNA survey. I think they appreciated it.

I just got another Safety Advisory email and the dealer said it was for some radio reprogramming. I thought perhaps I'd wait until next spring when I do my annual oil change and have them turn off the light again. But then my Service Interval 1 light came on (30 days or 15,000 miles until service...). So I set up my Safety Advisory appointment and again asked if they would turn off the light. My car has 4600 miles on it and it seems early for a brake fluid change, etc. They started to say, "Oh, this probably isn't the oil change light, it's the SI1 light, but then said, "Sure we will do that." And they did.

I'm waiting for my survey so I can again thank them.

I will continue to get oil filters from them (pretty overpriced -- I think the o-ring was $8). Hopefully PCNA will continue to have well timed minor recalls.

One hand washes the other...

Zonian

"One hand washes the other..." Agree that's the way it should work Chiboy. And buying the parts from the dealer should help as it apparently did in your case. I ordered my OEM filter kits on-line since I live almost an hour from the dealer. But I did schedule my appointment well in advance telling them that I was flexible and they could fit me into any time that was the least busy for them. Also opted out of a loaner, told them not to bother washing the car and went easy on the snacks in the customer waiting area. All to no avail. Boo hoo, poor me etc.

I inherited a bad DIY gene from my dad so I've just always done any routine maintenance that I'm able to on our cars including two previous 911s. But I get where the dealer service department is coming from on this, just don't agree with it.
To their credit, they updated my software and the experience was good except for the oil reminder issue.
By the way, I haven't received any advisories re my car. Maybe none are applicable. Who sends them?

Chiboy

I get an email from the dealer "Open Recall on Your Porsche..."