Hey everyone, I bought an 2011 Panamera 4S back in January and since then I cant seem to buy a break. It first started a week afyer I got it when the place doing the tinting on it dropped his knife and scratched the drivers door. Had to have the door repainted. The first time I put the windows down a week later after the tint all of the tint scratched, due to no felt strips inside the windows and debris in the rubber seals. Now comes to the part with the Porsche dealership that I bought it from, andf had the body work done. I took it to them to repaint the door. There was a fish eye (air bubble) in there abnd had to bring it back, and they had to repaint it again. They also had to replace the whole door panel becasue the idiots tried prying off the speaker grill and cut through the leather under the grill in about 10 places. A few months later the rear bumper and rear quater panel got scratched. I brought it back to them for the body work again, and what a nightmare since. Went to pick up the car and upon inspection this is what I found:
1. They didn't final buff 1/5th of the bumper
2. Put a 3" scratch in the rear lower diffuser
3. Scratched the passenger chrome window trim
4. 2 sq ft section of cleear overspray on the door, overspray on the roof(globs), and overspray all over the front/back of the rear wing.
5. Rear bumper had 15 - 20 pieces of dirt/sand under the clearcoat.
6. They didn't get all of the adhesive off of the bottom rear corner of the bumber from the vinyl stone guard, and clear coated over it. Thge adhesive then rubbed off and off with it the clearcoat. Bodyshop manager tells me when the new vinyl goes over it it will hide it... wtf?
7. The top trim filler piece between the door on the roof, they broke the clips when putting it back on and it was loose.
8. on the corner of the rear panel near the rear door they had a run in the clearcoat.
9. The rear bumper had what looked like a smear in the paint/clearcoat.

I took it back to them because insurance had already paid them and went on vacation for a week. Went to pick it up today.
1. At a quick glance I noticed about 8 pieces of dirt under the clear, all in new places. Shop manager tries to tell me "its not a factory paint job, there is going to be debris in it".
2. Paint overspray still on the back plastic part of wing.

I was furious today but kept my cool, had to leave without the car, again. Several hours of my day wasted again, and ownng my own business time is $$. They told me they will need it for another hour and will trailer it to my house tomorrow. I swear to god if the car is not perfect. I specifically took it to them against my insurances wished becasue I thought they were going to do the most professional job, god was I wrong.
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For your own peace of mind. After you get it back have the exterior detailed and use some SwissVax. It is what it is at this point. Sorry for your pain.

 

wow, this should neve happened to anyone, wish everything works out for you at the end.

 

I saw this thread, and your other thread about poor alignment of your door and interior panels. It sounds like your window tinter was sloppy and he might have botched up your door trim and fit while doing so. Is your dealer blaming the tinter?

The issues about tint and tight window tolerances have been discussed here and other places.. If folks want to get their windows tinted they need to use a real pro shop with experience on Panameras ...and they need to use spacers.

If the body shop is part of the dealer's operation you should continue to hammer them... There is no excuse for sloppy work, especially on a high end car like a Porsche.

 

This was my first question as well, is the body shop you're dealing with actually part of a dealership? - If so the responses you've been given are unacceptable.

 

The tint shop and the dealer are 2 seperate places. To be clear the door panel issue was like that from the factory the day I got the car, the tint place did not remove the door panels. The dealer realizes this but says it looks like a fabrication problem, door panel mounting points, etc. As far as the tint shop, they are a reputable place that I have been going to for years, they actually do tint and clear bras for a bunch of high end dealers. I have read threads online about tint problems, but its funny that every Porsche dealer I have asked about this tint scratching issue all tell me they tint every Panamera with no problems. I have not yet had time to bring it back to be retinted, but have picked up moleskin felt strips before I do it again.

 

I had scratches on my tint job also. This was resolved after the installer placed felt pads when he replaced the tint on all the windows. I've had no further issues since.

 

Have you considered starting over ? I'll explain .

So far you have 5 months and 3 unsatisfactory repair items (the door , the bumper , the tint) . A new car is supposed to be fun and when some speak of "saving for the rainy day" your example comes close .

If you get the car back tomorrow and all is well .. great !!!!

If not .. you have choices :

1) You can continue to pursue the drama of trying to get it fixed and by the time you have given up the car will be older and worth less .

2) You can go the attorney route and spend more time and money while driving a car that you are not happy with .

3) You can cut your loss right here and and turn this negative into a positive. Your problematic car (as bad as it sounds) does offer some negotiation levearage on a new car.
My guess is that by now the folks at the body shop , dealership , and tint place want this problem resolved as much as you do . If that dealership really values you as a customer then they ought to give you a high trade in value combined with a new car at cost .. just to retain you . As for the current car .. they can either fix it on their time or auction it out where the next buyer will pay less than a new car . In fact a used lot might even be able to fix what your guys can't seem to get right . Because it doesn't sound major .. but it does sound time consuming and frustrating for you .

 

Sorry to hear of all the cosmetic damage to a your brand new car. It sounds like your dealer subcontracted the paint work to Earl Schieb ("I'll paint any car for $29.95") Completely inexcusable. Your tint shop should know to put felt on the inside rubber edge. This is like tinting 101 from 15 years ago. I had an issue with a MBZ dealer that owned its own body shop that once I ran into problems with, MBZ factory disavowed all relationship with the dealer owned body shop. Needless to say I had to have a hood resprayed 4 times. Just keep complaining until it's right. They hoping to wear you down and you just live with it. You worked too hard and paid to much for that car to settle for such poor service and repairs.

 

They delivered the car today, have not had a chance to go over it yet becasue of a hectic work schedule. I'll try to do it tomorrow. Hopefully the paint should be ok this time... at least i hope so. The biggest thing that pisses me off is the excuses that come from the body shop service writer for the poor service. As far as the door, I will take it to another dealer and see what they say. If they say they cannot fix it then I will have Porsche North America get involved. This is the process I was told I have to follow, and is ok with me, as I under stand processes have to be followed. I have yet to do my customer satisfaction survey that Porsche Corporate sent to me, becasue I am at a catch 22 right now. With my business I have bid on some work that the dealership needs to have done and don't want to burn any bridges right now.

 

This is an all-too-common scenario in the car industry in the US. With all these dealerships being owned by big groups that are only focused on revenue and profit, they chose to sacrifice the quality of their work. The people that they hire do not have your interest in their mind when they work on your car. The companies are no longer interested in long term business relationships because there is always another fool behind the line to give away their hard earned cash on sub-par services / products. At this point, I would recommend doing a charge back on your credit card and find a reputable independent body shop that is family owned to do your work all over again.

 

Wow. Sorry for your headaches. If I read it correctly you went back to them twice for 2 different issues. Why go back. Demand your money back or demand they. Have the work done by a reputable certified shop. There is no excuse for shoddy work and no reason to accept it as there are many fine shops out there that want the business of a good paying Porsche customer. Stay away from that shop each time the effect on your car is worse.

JS

 

Appeal to them that they owe you and should hire you for the work. This may pay off many times over if this is the start of a good relationship. I understand that the car is not perfect, but if they work out a deal with you and you can barter a little bit, the slight imperfections in your car won't bother you so much and you can enjoy driving it again. After all, from a few feet away, these blemishes are relatively minor and in no way affect the true driving experience.