John, such seems to be the cost of running a modern ICE..?
Should one have a fault indication showing up on the dash my OPC (Official Porsche Centre) automatically charges £200 for a diagnostic session, to determine the likely cause of the fault.. My 991 is covered by the Porsche extended warranty scheme, which reads as comforting, but is an insurance policy with an annual premium, that only covers mechanical failure relative to manufacturing defect, and not wear and tear, which seems understandable up to a point..? However when I first bought my 991 I had read of a possible issue relative to the drive belt tensioning system that could show up on occasion, the drive belt driving alternator, water pump, and air con. Thus when I had my 991 in for the required 111 point inspection, for it to be accepted on to Porsches extended warranty, I had them also replace the drive belt tensioner as a preventative maintenance exercise...
The tensioner is no more than a bolt on sealed unit spring loaded piston that is oil damped and acts on a pivoting arm which has an idler whell that puts pressure on the drive belt to maintain the appropriate tension.. simple enough..?
The replacement tensioner was perhaps £200. The next service came due on a time and not mileage basis, as I had only covered circa 5 or 6k miles in that time, it was pointed out to me that the drive belt tensioner required replacement.. Hmm..? I wrote to Porsche cars GB explained the situation and it seemed that the tensioner was not covered under their extended warranty, though they suggested that they could arrange a good will payment for me.... I declined any idea of good will as I had paid a premium to have mechanical failures covered.... End of story..!
Other than I suspect the service advisor at my OPC likes to have 10 out of 10 feedback, and in this case got no points, as the feedback window ran out of time waiting for PCGB to deal with the issue, thus I suspect my service advisor is likely to be somewhat miffed as points make prizes in this modern world...? So what kind of service am I left to expect at my OPC...Hmm..?
Seems to me that it is all a bit of a lottery these days. I have spent more on my 991`s maintenance and repairs in five years and circa 10k miles, than I have on my old Mog in circa 24 years and 30k miles, all be it I have done all the work on my Mog myself.....BUT..?
JLR performance on my good lady`s Evoque circa 4 years back, was no better..Hmm..?
