My dissatisfaction thus far with the manner in which Porsche Cars North America and the local dealership from which I purchased the car (and two others) are handling my case is hard to comprehend. The cause of the fire that destroyed my as new 996TT is apparently not of much interest to any of the above parties. The event occurred almost one month ago, yet it took them until last week to have their District Service Rep ‘inspect’ the car. My insurance company arranged for an expert fire investigator to examine it with the PCNA Rep, as is protocol, and the dealer sheepishly agreed to facilitate this meeting. The day of the examination came, and my fire investigator who made a special trip to the area was stonewalled by the dealership all day and thus prevented from viewing the car on a lift, etc with the Rep. I'll leave the motives that prompted this to your imagination. I found this deeply disturbing, as the fire investigator explained to me that it was very common for him to view the car with an agent of the Manufacturer, and mentioned how much more difficult Porsche/the local dealer are being than other MFG's! (He mentioned, as an example, that he has had a 1000x better experience dealing with Nissan about a fire in a used Sentra!)

To add insult to injury, my insurance company placed a call to Porsche last week, and we were told that the Rep who viewed my car ‘only took pictures’ and that they ‘might need to send another engineer up to take it apart.’ What the hell? When are you planning on doing this? Again, the investigator points to other auto mfg’s getting ‘right on top of such issues.’

I am at a loss for words, honestly. Today I went to the dealer to look at the car, and found the paint on every single panel was deeply scratched and scuffed beyond repair by a blue tarp they used to cover it…. unbelievable. When we questioned the service manager about this new damage, he was sketchy about acknowledging it…par for course. My adjustor is also shocked and appalled by Porsche/the dealer’s actions and compares his experience as a Subaru owner as ‘far superior.’

Worthy of pointing out is that neither Porsche nor my dealership feels any responsibility to provide alternate transportation during this period of indecision re the fire’s cause, even though we are talking about a virtually new, $136,000 Porsche (which shouldn’t spontaneously combust). As for the cause, it goes without saying the matter is 'still under investigation,' but check out this link on Rennlist "Recall Alert- 2003 Turbo" . Keep in mind that my VIN falls within the recall, and my car has been serviced for a leaking ‘connector at power steering line’....

 

Ouch. Is (or was) it completely stock, or did you have any aftermarket performance mods they are trying to pin the damage on?

 

That blows. Have you called Peter, the PCNA president yet? You might document all this and send a letter to Stuttgart, to the CEO's office instead, and copy PCNA. That might get things moving.

 

The car is (luckily) stock performance wise!

 

What dealer?

 

Sorry to hear that Ray...Hang in there man!! Im sure they will do the right thing in the end (a very relative term)

 

I would send a very strong, but objective, certified letter to the President of PCNA asking for a response within 7 days. After that inform him that all matters will be handled through an attorney. PCNA needs to have a fire (no pun intended) lit under them.

 

Hang in there Ray, as you saw MY post on that Rennlist thread nearly a year ago ,detailing my experience with this exact same problem which was probably an extra drop or two of leaking power steering fluid from combusting like your car .

 

Sorry to hear that Ray. I hope everything works out

 

I am so sorry to hear this, I am sure you are devistated at your dealers actions... I am glad you were not hurt.

 

Ray,

You are lucky to have a "stock" car. I bet even a K&N air filter would have been enough of a reason for Porsche to screw you.

 

Ray:

This is such BS, but I am sure things will work out in the end (even if you do need to force the issue). Best of luck with the awful situation and please keep us updated.

 

wow, that really is terrible, best of luck to you

 

I feel your pain. I hope it all works out for the best!

Roy

 

Guy, thanks for your well wishes.

It's tough to mantain enthusiasm about a luxury item such as a Porsche when you have to go through something like this, and are treated in such a poor manner. No one needs to own a Porsche, that is for sure.

I'm a young guy with a passion for cars, and could have potentially been buying Porsches for the next 40 or 50 years....the way this is being handled is enough to drive me away from the marque.

For the sake of all Porsche owners who encounter serious problems with their car, I'm hoping Porsche steps up to the plate.....