Once you have agreed to the sales price from a dealer, the real selling begins. Dealerships make lots of money on after-market add-ons and services. Which ones are worth considering and which are a waste of money? Here are one person’s opinions (I’ve only bought about 30 cars in my lifetime, but my opinions aren’t always right for you. So read this but make your own decisions.)
Obvious Choices
Paint Protection, Glazing, etc.
No. You can take your car to a detailing professional and they will apply the polish of your choice for maybe $150. A Boxster takes comparatively little time to polish yourself because it is so small and low. Easy to get at. The dealer wants how much?
Undercoating
No. All it does is clog drain holes. Modern cars are built at the factory with the equivalent of the old time Ziebart rust-coating. You just don’t need it.
Fabric Protection
No. For what? Your seats are leather. And you can (and should) apply leather cleaner and conditioner of your choice in about 15 minutes about twice a year. Cost around $20 the first time you buy the bottles you need, zero after that. The dealer wants what?
Glass Hardening or Glass Treatment
No. Rain-X costs $8. You can get something similar at Jiffy-Lube for maybe $20. What does the dealer want for his?
Floor Mats
No. You can buy after-market mats and use them in place of the OEM mats and keep the OEM mats for the next owner for when you sell. But why? It will be a used car. Porsche mats last reasonably well. If the new owner wants new mats, they can buy them then.
Tires
Almost never. The dealer doesn't buy in the same volumes as tire retail chains so will pay more for the tires he has. Plus the dealer's markup is liable to be more. The dealer carries tires for convenience, both his and yours. But do shop on the Internet and see what prices are and at least negotiate prices close to online (once mounting, balancing and any warranties are included). Dealers sometimes insist on an alignment too. Ask them why they want to align your car. If it is on the basis of the wear they see on your old tires, then it may make sense to have an alignment done so that the new tires start off their life wearing correctly. But too often the alignment is recommended for "sell more services" reasons that only benefit the dealer.
Alignment
Maybe. If there is a well recommended shop around that has lots of Porsche experience, then you may get a better deal there. If the dealer is the only game in town, then you are stuck.
And yes, you can align the wheels on the old worn-wrong tires before you get your new ones. So you can get your alignment and tires separate places. Be sure and ask for a printout of the old versus new alignment settings so you know what was wrong and what they did.
Alignment knowledge of Boxsters matters a great deal. A good mechanic will ask you how you drive (DE + AX + etc versus "I want mileage out of my rears") and know how to align to benefit you while still staying within factory specs.
Questionable Choices
Financing
Maybe. I've never seen a situation where I couldn't get better financing from a bank but there are times when the financing is part of a subsidy provided to the dealer to help sell cars by the manufacturer. So please do shop around. You could afford another option or some new tires on the $ you could save.
Extended Warranty
Maybe.
The cost of the warranty covers:
1. The expected costs of labor and parts for the expected repairs over the life of the warranty.
2. The cost of administering the claims.
3. The costs of selling the warranty.
4. The cost of administering the selling of the warranty.
5. The commission to the sellers (both salesperson, managers and company/dealer).
6. The profit to the warranty company.
By not buying the warranty, you save the costs associated with items 2 thru 6 above. You spare your mechanic the hassle of dealing with the insurance company. And you save yourself any anguish over what is and isn't covered. Nothing is.
By not buying an extended warranty, you accept the risk associated only with item 1 above and its associated cost. I've heard repeatedly that is around 20 to 30% of the total cost of the warranty. And that seems reasonable given the other costs.
So is the assured cost worth the 70% to 80% premium to the risk? Your answer and my answer may vary. We have different financial situations and different risk tolerances. (In retirement, I don't have my money in bonds or money market accounts. I accept risk and the potential reward premium it can bring over time.)
I then
consider if I can afford to (out of pocket or by borrowing) pay for the
worst case I'm insuring against. After all, I do carry house insurance
and auto insurance and personal liability insurance so I'm not against all insurances. If my engine had
a catastrophic failure, could I afford to replace it? In my case, the
answer is yes. My house burns down, no. So I carry insurance for one and not the other.
So I choose to save the costs of items 2 thru 6 and accept the risk myself. I do this for all appliances, electronics, etc. Over my long lifetime, I'm sure I am many many thousands ahead.
On my Boxster, over 36 months of ownership of the current car, I'm $2,600 ahead at the moment. $3,050 warranty cost versus $450 in potential claim expenses. Of course that could be wiped out with one major failure.
I would also point out the number of companies offering extended warranties that go out of business only to resume selling under another name in a week or so. Lots of fraud here. So if you do buy, buy only from a company you can trust and make sure of their financial structure and stability. Someone asked me about a company a few weeks ago and I found about 6 different corporate structures involved. Good luck figuring out who was really behind such a policy. To me just another reason to avoid these. Too many are sold by the same guy selling paint protection, rust protection, fabric protection and the like. All produce big profits for the sellers so they can't be very good bargains for the buyers.
If you do buy the warranty:.
- Read it three times before signing. The actual warranty contract, not the sales literature. If they won't give you the contract to read, walk away.
- Compare the list of problem areas on Boxsters with the list of covered items. Seals covered? Electronics? Suspension parts?
- Ask the dealer and at least one independent mechanic in your area their experience with the company. Some companies are low pay (low hourly rate resulting in the mechanic not wanting to do the work), slow pay and find excuses to call things uncovered. Same don't. Some will find ways to do the minimal amount of work instead of doing the repair the right way. Find out if your proposed company does it right.
- Compare the warranty you are offered with one from a big reputable company that markets direct and thus has lower selling costs. Buying from the dealer adds about 3 layers of additional selling expense (dealer, sales manager, salesperson) you can avoid by buying direct
- Know the deductible amounts (do you pay per visit or per problem, for example).
Repair Parts
For do it yourself parts, get access to the repair parts catalog and look on the web or buy from dealers who price their parts at “cost + 15%”. Some dealers change more than Porsche list price for parts. Try not to patronize those kinds of dealers.
Get a parts list (called the "PET") by going to
https://techinfo.porsche.com/
and select "Country-USA", select "Workshop Information", Select "Genuine Parts Catalog",
select "Catalog 20" "986 Boxster" and download. This will give you a
400 page .pdf file from which pages can be printed as needed.
You generally can’t bring in self-bought parts into a dealer for service. Some independents will allow it, some won’t. Part of the argument for doing your own service as much as possible is that you not only save on the labor costs but also save on the parts costs as well.
Example: I had an Oxygen Sensor in my exhaust/emission system giving a "lazy sensor" code that said it was slow in responding. No Check Engine Light but the mileage dropped and the idle was rough on starting. I asked the dealer and they said $440. The part cost $240 at the dealer. The same generic part (by the same manufacturer, just not with the Porsche part number stenciled on) was $140 delivered 2-day. My local muffler shop charged $49 to install it and it cured all symptoms. So by going generic on a part that was exactly the same and using a low-hourly-rate shop for work that didn't require any specialized Porsche knowledge, I saved 57%.
So don't assume you have to pay dealer prices. Especially if you are out of warranty.
But if you do need/want to buy parts from the dealer (in an emergency or for convenience), remember that many dealers will give discounts (up to 10% is what I've heard) to Porsche Club of America (PCA) members and it may be worth your while to become a member as the discount could more than pay for the membership.
Mike Focke's Porsche Boxster Home Page