Just thought I'd follow up on the short shifter install at Fremont today. They put it in in a couple of hours and gave me a full PCA 10% discount on parts and labor. The shifter is great and the price came in about $80 below what I've seen at other dealerships.
Another thing I found out was that I get a free 90 day service because I bought the car there. Nothing major, but they go over the car, top off fluids and run it through the computer to check for faults. I thought that was kind of nice. So far I've been nothing but happy with the service and the prices.

I just dug out my receipt from the Dealership where I purchased my car from and the total price for the shifter, labor and tax was $902.06 with no discount (date July 7, 2006). At the time I didn't know if you told them you were a PCA member you could get a discount and of course they didn't volunteer the info..

I didn't know about the PCA discount, but I was up at the dealership and the service guy was doing a tech session for a local PCA group and mentioned the 10% discount on parts and labor. My shifter installed came to $706.92. Without the discount it would have been $780.72. Was this a Bay Area dealer? I think the price at Carlsen installed was a little under $800.

I Felt I was being overcharged at Michael Stead, and this is why I thought I would try out Fremont Porsche. I guess I will be looking at Carlsen when I go to buy my wife a Cayenne. You would think the Dealers would try harder when their is competition. I guess they don't care, and if enough of us patron a single Dealer, they might see the light? Maybe if PCA Cayman Registry "Cayman Club Zone 7" should have a poll and each year award a "Certificate of Appreciation" to the most deserved Dealership towards service of Caymans???
Grrlsix what do you think?
Don't get me wrong I will be the first to pay extra for service. But I don't like being ripped off. It would be nice if they at least treated you good, like they did Grrlsix in above post.

__________________

I have talked to Gunter at Fremont and Brian at Carlsen about this specifically. They both said they and most other dealerships are very interested in competing for business. They will match or beat each other on price for any work you want done.

I think the bottom line is that it pays to develop a relationship with at least one Service Manager or Rep, maybe a couple; use your PCA membership or other discount connections (Sales rep, etc.) and you will get the best combination of service and price from whomever you select to service your car.

Although they are somewhat off of your radar in the Bay Area, I take my Cayenne Turbo to Niello Porsche in Rocklin, just west of Sacramento, where I bought the vehicle.

I had to leave the Cayenne with them for about two weeks in order to fix the keyless entry system. They provided me with a loaner standard Cayman...(I bought my S about a month later, and the rest is history! The car is amazing, but now in the body shop thanks to an idiot whose tires rubbed/dented the driver's fender/door seam, but I digress...)

The service at Niello was first-class all the way. I kept the loaner in Reno (110 miles away) for 2 weeks without any questions from them or additional costs. They even drove up to Reno to drop off the Cayenne and pick up the Cayman.

I absolutely refuse to go to Reno Porsche based on my experience there with the Cayenne on a routine TSB recall. They kept the car all day and would not give me a loaner (shuttle service doesn't come by at 6am when I go in to work). That is par for the course when it comes to their customer service, which I had to suffer through with my X5 4.6iS (they are also the BMW dealer)

Hope this helps those in our area.

__________________
Rocket
'06 CS Seal Gray/black/Sport Chrono
'04 Cayenne Turbo Basalt/Sand/Havana
'05 NSX Silverstone/Onyx

Rocket,

I have heard of mixed service from Bill Pearce Porsche (Reno). At least one of our members uses Niello for reasons similar to those you cited and another uses Niello due to service cost differences. For most of us Niello is almost two hours away and pretty inconvenient. Bill Pearce is a small Porsche dealership only having the franchise for @ 5 years (?) and I noted that they are less likely to "deal" on new cars compared to larger dealers in California. In my case I did buy out of area but it wasn't just a price issue. My service experience is limited with them - 0ne year oil change which I had to specify the precise service I wanted: oil & filter only, nothing else; and a track alignment (as far out on front and back camber as they could get). I checked in advance with several reputable local service centers known by members to service Porsches. In both cases the dealer was actually less and they honored my PCA discount (although I did have to raise it and mention the brand manager's name in one case to get it). I did not get a loaner in either case but was vanned to and from work and it was relatively convenient (although I would have loved a loaner). I'm not sure if they have loaners (probably must have bought from them) or if so whether you will be guaranteed a Porsche (as you mentioned hey are also a BMW and Volvo dealer). Finally,I will say that the dealer owners (John and Sandy) have been very supportive of the local PCA club (Sierra Nevada Region) as far as club events and the Zone Concours in September. Next time I'm in I'll see what the deal on getting a loaner is.

Craig