Like many of you I am a Porsche enthusiast and have owned 3 911s in the past few years.

Ifrequently browse through the forums but have never really posted but after my recent issues with my newly purchased 991S....I wanted to share myexperiences with my local Porsche service centers..

First here is my first of 3 911s since 2006:

2006 997s

http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/997-carrera-carrera-s-c4-c4s/60-2005-997s-stage-ii-with-techart-formula-wheels-and-lowering-springs.html

Second 911 2008 GT3

http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/997-gt3-gt3-rs/54-2008-997-gt3-rs430-with-rs-clutch-conversion-and-19-inch-hre-p43-wheels.html

Finally my current: 2012 991S w full Tech Art

http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/991-carrera-and-991-s/441-2012-991-carrera-s-techart-aerokit-conversion-and-type-iii-wheels.html

To keep it short - my 991s seemed to be experiencing some sort ofcommunication error. Several warning would consistently come up and sport modewould not be available. Basically 2 dealerships looked at the car for over 1week and could not figure out what was wrong. Which was very annoying.

Finally last week I took it to a new dealer - and the good news is theyseemed like they knew what they were doing and were able to fix the issues(from what it seems so far). BUT....in the process of fixing the issue theydropped some test equipment on the car which caused a dent and scratch. To givethem credit they did call me and offer to repair - but regardless, I would haveexpected more from Porsche. I have owned several European cars (mercedes, bmws,porsches, etc) and I've never had this happen. While they were up front andnotified me they did exaggerate how small the damage was as I did go to see itin person.

As pissed as I was - I had no choice but to have them fix it. Through theprocess the dealer never called me to tell me what was going on nor did anyonefrom the dealership even call to really apologize. I had to call the dealershipto even know where the car was.

So - here is the best part of the story....the car was completed this pastFriday. I asked the car to be delivered directly to Sharkwerks since I wasntable to pick up the car. Today - I couldn’t believe the horrible job they did.They basically painted the scratch but didn’t fix the dent. Also when driving home – I tried to adjust myrear view mirror and it basically fell off because they didn’t re-install itproperly when they had my car in pieces to fix the electronics problem! Poor Bob from Auto Concierge was trying totape the damn thing back together!

I don't know how **** some of you are about your cars but I am extremely ****...Ionly let Bob from Auto Concierge detail my car ---- and I was shocked theywould even tell me the car was done.

At this point I am so sick of dealing with Porsche...I am not sure what todo...

One valuable lesson I learned - I will never take my car to any dealership again. Just Sharkwers and Auto Concierges...where people understand these are just cars.....

 

I think you are overreacting a bit. Sh_t happens. I agree they could have handled it better but to swear off all dealers is a bit extreme.

 

richleong:
Sorry to hear about your car and experiences. It would disturb be greatly if that happened to me which is why I go to people I have gained confidence in. That said, I take a pure business approach. I would have made sure that both attempts to fix it were documented by work order requests- and the results to support lemon law action. And since the repair of the dent scratch was not done correctly, I would take the matter to Porsche Cars of North America to give them a chance to excel.

Sorry again for your problems.

ChuckJ

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. Good news is, you have two very capable and caring shops you work with. Thing to remember is, stuff like this can always be fixed. Don't fret over it and simply take it to the right people, fix it, and enjoy your P-Car.

 

Agree that the repair was very poorly handled. Both in terms of quality and customer communications.

But are you blaming Porsche? Or the independently-owned dealership? You realize they are different, right?


Although it seems that most of your upgrades are aerodynamic and cosmetic, you did change the springs and lighten up the unsprung weight with the TechArt wheels. The mods maybe changed the CoD and the readings of the steering input & the lateral loads on the wheels.

The fact that two official Porsche dealerships couldn't fix the problem (no sport mode and they just shrug & give up??!!!) it would be an overwhelming coincidence that these issues arose immediately following the mods and are unrelated. The dealers have very sophisticated factory electronics to test the car's software. They can even completely reload the current programs and override any bugs. Did they do that? Maybe that's why it seems to be working so far after the 3rd dealer; maybe they cleared the conflicts that were throwing the fault codes?

Life has few coincidences. There is a high probability that something changed outside of the parameters of the software maps and reloading them was probably the fix.

 

I have to agree. In 25 years of owning several Porsches, I must say that Porsche dealers s*ck. I have had so many problems with them over the years, I just don't patronize them anymore unless I absolutely have to.

I remember many years ago Porsche tried to get rid of all their dealers in the U.S., but the dealers unleashed a torrent of lawsuits which made Porsche capitulate pretty quickly. If Porsche had succeeded, it would have been the best thing that could have happened to Porsche and Porsche enthusiasts. Shame, shame……..

 

So you have a new 991 and all of the warranty items that may come up over the next 3-4 years are going to done at non authorized Porsche shop? Don't get wrong Sharkwerks does a top notch job but they are not a place for warranty work IMO. I agree s-it happens at all dealers. If you can't resolve this with a authorized Porsche dealer I would be very surprised. Plus all dealers are not equal. I live in the Bay Area as well. I take my Porsche and Audi to Stevens Creek Car Group. They are a Penske owned dealership. I bought my wife's Audi Q7 from their Audi store down the road 5+ years ago. The Audi has been serviced religious at that dealer exclusively for the entire 95K+ miles it's logged in. No problem whatsoever. Some people like Carlson in Menlo Park which is much closer to me but my personal experience with them has been horrible. So I drive the extra 20 miles to Santa Clara/San Jose. Some people swear by Carlson. Not me. So just find the right dealer for you and you should be good.

 

Not blaming Porsche for the technical issues - but blaming Porsche for not having better quality control on their dealerships....and how they handle situations like this.

 

Same issue has been reported on stock cars....and it seems they found a communication error between modules on the car. So it didnt have anything to do with mods.

 

It's a known issue and yet 2 different Porsche dealers couldn't fix them on your early 991?

Very odd. How many miles on your car? At what mileage did these issues start?

 

I had a series of dings along my door panel on my Panemera after bringing my car in for service. It resembled a tire being leaned on the door skin with tire residue on the dings. No one told me, the dealer tried to pull a fast one one me. The tech admitted that the car was inspect for damage when I brought it in and there wasn't anything there. And he noticed it when hand drying the car.... Yet he said it didn't happen under their watch. After an argument they had a dingman repair it.
At least your dealer confessed and offered to make it right. Hopefully you can express your un-satisfaction and they repair it. I also think Porsche can do a better job in opening lines of communication to the customer. 1-800-Porsche is crap when you have a conflict with the local dealership. Your only course of action is giving an honest but bad survey.

 

I didn't catch the name of the dealership?

 

I won't take mine back to the local dealership. I have had so many problems with the service manager that it just isn't worth my time. I gave a terrible review when I received the Porsche customer satisfaction survey but the only person who mustve read the review was the manager in question. He called me up and was pissed I gave negative feedback! I figured it went above him. I have spoken to other P car owners and they have reported similar situations at this dealership. It sucks that one manager is killing the Porsche experience for so many.

 

He was pissed probably because he got in trouble over it. I also think negative reviews can hurt allotment. You are allowed to submit reviews with or without the local dealer knowing who submitted it.

 

Sorry for the issues. When I lived in the bay area I actually moved to another brand because I had so many issues like yours with the closest dealer...

On the other hand, beautiful car and great upgrades!! How do you like the springs? I purchased a set, have not put them on, and would love to hear any feedback about the ride post-install.

Thanks!
Roy