I bought a B&B Exhaust in January for my Boxster and had a very experienced shop install it. Last weekend I was driving on the freeway going about 100- 120 mph at 2 am on a Sunday evening with the top and windows down. Once I brought the windows up the whole cabin filled up with smoke and the speedometer light shut off. So I immediately exited the freeway, in the middle of the boon docks, and called Porsche roadside service to tow the car to my house. I opened the trunk and saw that everything inside had melted including the wires for the rear lights and the control unit of the car. When I looked underneath the car the left catt was glowing orangey-red and the u-joint that connects the catts to the muffler was off at the catt. Basically, the catts were shooting heat onto the bumper and up through the vents of the trunk. Needless to say there is a clip art image of my face at that time. .

The next morning I had it towed to the shop that installed the exhaust for me and they substituted the stock exhaust for the other exhaust. They also pointed out to me that the reason why this happened is the welds that connect the U joint to the muffler cracked due to poor design or product flaw, and that is what made the u joint rattle off of the catt. They showed me that the brackets that where holding the exhaust and the tips where not bent or abused and therefore this could not have been from poor treatment or, of course, bad installation. So we put it on a tow truck and towed it to Porsche service.

Anyone want to guess what happens next?


Porsche looked at it, and as you all could have imagined denied all responsibilities. As a favor they agreed to get it running so I can drive it until the Porsche of North America Rep comes down to inspect it.

Now I am waiting to hear back from them and in the meanwhile I know that I need to go after B&B for this stupid design flaw. I have not heard of anyone to my knowledge that has collected on their limited warranty or ever dealt with this kind of stuff.

Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions or stories of similar things happening to them

 

whoa, while i offer no insite, i can simply advise and remind you to prompt for a porsche loaner in the mean time. hope this all works out, good luck with finding this culprit and going after B&B.

 

I'm probably missing something here, but here goes -- since you car was damaged due to a "fire" incident, your auto insurance should cover it. The Insurance Co. (through their subrogation rights) will go after other parties for reimbursement, if they believe these other entities (B&B, the install shop, etc.) were responsible, in part or in whole, for the damage, and there is a reasonable likelihood of recovery.


I'm at a loss as to why you would even consider trying to invoke your car warranty for coverage of this unfortunate occurrence.

 

Not sure that the insurance policy would cover that type of fire(there or policy exculsions for the type/proximate cause of the fire)...If the car was in a parking garage or the house garage, you would definately get coverage, since I believe the Homeowner's policy specifically excludes vehicles as covered property. Since the fire was caused by the car itself, due to a product defect namely the exhaust...I do not believe that type of loss would fall under the fire coverage(comprehensive portion) on an auto policy..could be wrong. Check out the language in the coverage section under the auto policy...I believe that you will find that a fire loss of this type would be excluded. Sounds like you will need a lawyer to put in a notice of claim with B&B if they are unwilling to work out an equitable settlement with you.

 

jack,
he probably read ohkjoon's post about wanting to cheat the factory and figured that was normal.

B&B has gotten bad ju-ju reports for quite some time... a little research may have helped a better purschase decision

 

Chris -- you may be correct -- it clearly depends upon his specific auto insurance policy and its exclusions. Anecdotally, I do know of a situation where a friend had an electrical fire while driving which resulted in his car being totaled due to fire damage and his auto insurance covered the loss. Also, I'm aware of engine fire situations where the fire damage was covered by auto insurance.

 

Guys,

First of all I have been reading your posts here on 6speed for a long time and I love your intuitive insight. Most importantly I would like to thank you so much for your help. Secondly, I know you are gonna think it is stupid but due to a long story that is not worth telling I only have liability insurance on this car. I am gonna contact B&B today but i don't know how exactly to approach the situation.

 

what do you mean watt by "cheating the factory?"

 

I'm no lawyer but here is what I would do and unfortunately there is no cheap way around it:

Start building a case--
1. Bring the defective exhaust to an expert installer for 2nd and 3rd opinion. Get their response in writing.

2. Approach B&B and see if you can argue amicably. My gut feeling is B&B will not give you the time of day and hide behind the little sticker probably still on the exhaust which reads "Not For Street Use"...

3. Consult a lawyer.

Do not bring the car to the dealer. They will no cover it since it's not OEM. They may collect from you storage fees, small charge for inspection etc. etc. Do not ask them for a loaner (I doubt they will give you one since it wasn't a warranty issue.) Finally, is this car leased or purchased? If leased, just return it after it's fixed and rest easy. If owned. I'd try not to let Porsche get the VIN into their system. They may void whatever warranty not associated with the incident!

 

I have had two Porsche fires - one from an AC short which caught the carpet under the hood on fire and destroyed the paint on the hood - insurance covered it. Had the turn sign relay fail and the steering column caught on fire and destroyed the dash/instruments - covered that. I would hope your insurance would cover it

 

They can't because his insurance is only covering liability!

 

Man 'o man - liability only - wouldn't mind hearing that story. Wantone is right - approach B&B and explain - they should be willing to cover the cost (they'd probably use their insurance)

 

Sorry to hear about your incident, I hope in the end it all works out for you.