We didn't buy our Porsche from a dealership, the model we bought simply doesn't seem that popular with them, focus seems to be on the 911 and Boxster models. But I've found Porsche dealerships to be amongst the most helpfull and downright enjoyable companies to deal with.
In the time we've owned our car I've naturally needed a few parts which weren't available elsewhere, as you'd expect any part which comes from a dealership had a worrying price tag on it - a simple fuel pump relay switch for the fuse box was almost £30, when looking at it you'd think £10 would be overpriced! On entering our local dealership you are greeted with all the glitz and glamour you would expect from a top class sports carmanufacturer, every little item has the Porsche logo on it from the glass in the windows to the carpet and even the pen you use to sign the bills.
Unfortunately this is the point where you realise things are going to get expensive, all this luxury comes at a high premium. Not only are the parts heavily priced, but the service charges are too - when we bought our car there was no rear seatbelts fitted (it's a 1978 model) so I enquired as to the "rough" cost of this... I was horrified at the approximate quote given, it was in the region of £700! Granted this was to fit belts with the nice little logo on, which in themselves were expensive, but the labour charges are what shocked me most - £70 per hour + VAT! My local garage does a sterling job yet manages to make a good living charging only £20 per hour. I ended up buying aftermarket universal belts and fitting them myself, the job took barely half an hour once I got into it and cost me less than £40.
For anyone owning a Porsche I would seriously advise learning to do your own mechanics, of course for many owners they are in a position where running costs are nothing to them, but those of us who have bought on a budget really need to avoid the dealerships.
I really can't stress enough that the staff and the environments of the dealerships are par-excelence, they know everything about the cars they are dealing with and every customer is made to feel like they are spending a million pound regardless of they are buying from them. They really do need to get a more realistic pricing policy though!
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