The Difference Between Average and Amazing Dealer Service
07-15-2015, 10:44 PM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
The Difference Between Average and Amazing Dealer Service
I live about equidistant between the dealer where I bought my '08 CPO 997.1S Cab and another dealer. My CPO is set to expire at the end of this month, and I wanted to get as much accomplished as possible as I intend to keep the car and do not intend to bend over for an extended warranty (the car has clocked just over 58,000 miles).
First I called the dealer where I bought the car and asked for the service advisor who I've dealt with before, even though I have in the past found him to be friendly enough but, shall we say, inaccurate when imparting what service the car needed. Oh, he was away at school, they said (reform school, I imagine). Would I like to speak to another advisor? Sure. Except all the other advisors were otherwise occupied. So I called back. Three times. And never got to speak to an advisor -- voice mail every time.
I then called the other dealer and got right through to an advisor. He told me to bring the car in and they would go through it stem to stern and let me know if there was any warranty or other work to be done. At no cost to me for the inspection. I knew that there wasn't any "other" work as I'm a bit fanatical about keeping up with regular maintenance. Oh, and I should mention that this dealer had replaced all four TPMS units under warranty a year ago.
When I got there, the advisor asked if I had any specific concerns. I told him I'd heard about water pump failures and charge cable failures. He called a mechanic to come over and join the discussion. Long story short, they replaced both the water pump and the charge cables under the CPO.
But wait, there's more.
When I went to pick up the car they said they thought there might be a bit of seepage coming from the rear struts, and they intended to replace them. Which they did, including a 4-wheel alignment afterward. Under CPO.
But wait, there's more.
In addition to the approximately $8000 worth of work they did under CPO, they gave me as a "loaner" a brand new (500 miles) Cayenne to drive, and said they were sorry but they were out of Panameras. The other dealer had given me a clapped out Nissan Sentra that had been smoked in from National Rentacar (seriously), with the explanation that they only give Porsches to new-Porsche clients, not CPO clients.
The dealer who did the work is a fantastic dealer, and treated me like family. It was a total win-win. They get paid by Porsche for the work, and I get a (relatively) worry-free 911 coming off the CPO. I also know where I'll be buying my next Porsche.
It is not generally on to discuss dealers by name on the forum, but if anyone would like to know the names of the service advisor and mechanic I dealt with at the great dealership feel free to PM for the information. (I'm in SoCal, in the greater L.A. area.)
First I called the dealer where I bought the car and asked for the service advisor who I've dealt with before, even though I have in the past found him to be friendly enough but, shall we say, inaccurate when imparting what service the car needed. Oh, he was away at school, they said (reform school, I imagine). Would I like to speak to another advisor? Sure. Except all the other advisors were otherwise occupied. So I called back. Three times. And never got to speak to an advisor -- voice mail every time.
I then called the other dealer and got right through to an advisor. He told me to bring the car in and they would go through it stem to stern and let me know if there was any warranty or other work to be done. At no cost to me for the inspection. I knew that there wasn't any "other" work as I'm a bit fanatical about keeping up with regular maintenance. Oh, and I should mention that this dealer had replaced all four TPMS units under warranty a year ago.
When I got there, the advisor asked if I had any specific concerns. I told him I'd heard about water pump failures and charge cable failures. He called a mechanic to come over and join the discussion. Long story short, they replaced both the water pump and the charge cables under the CPO.
But wait, there's more.
When I went to pick up the car they said they thought there might be a bit of seepage coming from the rear struts, and they intended to replace them. Which they did, including a 4-wheel alignment afterward. Under CPO.
But wait, there's more.
In addition to the approximately $8000 worth of work they did under CPO, they gave me as a "loaner" a brand new (500 miles) Cayenne to drive, and said they were sorry but they were out of Panameras. The other dealer had given me a clapped out Nissan Sentra that had been smoked in from National Rentacar (seriously), with the explanation that they only give Porsches to new-Porsche clients, not CPO clients.
The dealer who did the work is a fantastic dealer, and treated me like family. It was a total win-win. They get paid by Porsche for the work, and I get a (relatively) worry-free 911 coming off the CPO. I also know where I'll be buying my next Porsche.
It is not generally on to discuss dealers by name on the forum, but if anyone would like to know the names of the service advisor and mechanic I dealt with at the great dealership feel free to PM for the information. (I'm in SoCal, in the greater L.A. area.)
Last edited by OldBoldPilot; 07-16-2015 at 01:22 AM.
07-15-2015, 11:33 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
I'm not surprised. Many years ago I worked for a new car dealer in SF where there were actually three of us. The other two dealers avoided any warranty work, where possible, as the warranty labor rate paid less than retail. So we took in all the work they wouldn't do and got audited by the mfgr. on a regular basis for "above average" warranty expense vs.cars sold. So guess who got all the repeat work for service….we did!
Treat the customer with respect, solve their problem and they'll be back for regular service and repair!
Treat the customer with respect, solve their problem and they'll be back for regular service and repair!
07-16-2015, 02:43 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
I will say Porsche Exchange in Chicagoland is pretty much like the latter (good) dealer in your story. Those guys are awesome over there.
07-16-2015, 05:45 AM
#6
In Dallas I've had EXCELLENT service from Park Place Porsche. Similar story, I had trouble getting my car into gear. Popped in unannounced and they immediately took it in and provided me with a new Macan S to use while my car was in for service.
Turns out the spring in my transmission was broken. They ended up replacing the spring, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and clutch assembly as well as the external lever assembly on the outside of the transmission all under CPO. Saved me nearly $4000 and I have a brand new clutch.
I have other similar stories as well in which they treated me exactly the same for both minor repairs and routine maintenance. I will definitely be purchasing my next Porsche from them.
997GTS I can let you know who my SA is but at Park Place they will all treat you like royalty. They run a tight ship over there.
Turns out the spring in my transmission was broken. They ended up replacing the spring, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and clutch assembly as well as the external lever assembly on the outside of the transmission all under CPO. Saved me nearly $4000 and I have a brand new clutch.
I have other similar stories as well in which they treated me exactly the same for both minor repairs and routine maintenance. I will definitely be purchasing my next Porsche from them.
997GTS I can let you know who my SA is but at Park Place they will all treat you like royalty. They run a tight ship over there.
07-16-2015, 11:26 AM
#7
All I can say is WOW. That's some amazing service.
My CPO will expire sometime in September, and I just recently paid out of pocket for an inspection at the dealer (near $200) to see if there were any issues that could be addressed under warranty. Turned out nothing. I also told them about some rattles in the car, and having trouble from time to time shifting into 1st gear, dealer told me they couldn't reproduce any of these problems. Also mentioned my concern about the water pump, they said no leakage of any kind so they can't do anything unless it's broken.
Not complaining about my dealer, as I don't think service was bad in any way, they were just telling me the facts. But this only gets to show what kind of amazing service you received from yours!
My CPO will expire sometime in September, and I just recently paid out of pocket for an inspection at the dealer (near $200) to see if there were any issues that could be addressed under warranty. Turned out nothing. I also told them about some rattles in the car, and having trouble from time to time shifting into 1st gear, dealer told me they couldn't reproduce any of these problems. Also mentioned my concern about the water pump, they said no leakage of any kind so they can't do anything unless it's broken.
Not complaining about my dealer, as I don't think service was bad in any way, they were just telling me the facts. But this only gets to show what kind of amazing service you received from yours!
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07-16-2015, 12:41 PM
#10
Racer
Wow! That kind of service would make my ownership experience so much more pleasant.
Dealers for me are a couple hours away and I have settled on one. Though right now the car has been there for over 9 days for an annual service (oil), loose carpet, and nav map update! This is the last service before the warranty runs out so I wanted them to check it out. I am now playing the game of refusing to call them....shouldn't they call me?
I didn't need a loaner, maybe I should get one next time so they at least check in with me to make sure I didn't leave the country with their car!
Dealers for me are a couple hours away and I have settled on one. Though right now the car has been there for over 9 days for an annual service (oil), loose carpet, and nav map update! This is the last service before the warranty runs out so I wanted them to check it out. I am now playing the game of refusing to call them....shouldn't they call me?
I didn't need a loaner, maybe I should get one next time so they at least check in with me to make sure I didn't leave the country with their car!
07-17-2015, 01:46 AM
#11
I live about equidistant between the dealer where I bought my '08 CPO 997.1S Cab and another dealer. My CPO is set to expire at the end of this month, and I wanted to get as much accomplished as possible as I intend to keep the car and do not intend to bend over for an extended warranty (the car has clocked just over 58,000 miles).
First I called the dealer where I bought the car and asked for the service advisor who I've dealt with before, even though I have in the past found him to be friendly enough but, shall we say, inaccurate when imparting what service the car needed. Oh, he was away at school, they said (reform school, I imagine). Would I like to speak to another advisor? Sure. Except all the other advisors were otherwise occupied. So I called back. Three times. And never got to speak to an advisor -- voice mail every time.
I then called the other dealer and got right through to an advisor. He told me to bring the car in and they would go through it stem to stern and let me know if there was any warranty or other work to be done. At no cost to me for the inspection. I knew that there wasn't any "other" work as I'm a bit fanatical about keeping up with regular maintenance. Oh, and I should mention that this dealer had replaced all four TPMS units under warranty a year ago.
When I got there, the advisor asked if I had any specific concerns. I told him I'd heard about water pump failures and charge cable failures. He called a mechanic to come over and join the discussion. Long story short, they replaced both the water pump and the charge cables under the CPO.
But wait, there's more.
When I went to pick up the car they said they thought there might be a bit of seepage coming from the rear struts, and they intended to replace them. Which they did, including a 4-wheel alignment afterward. Under CPO.
But wait, there's more.
In addition to the approximately $8000 worth of work they did under CPO, they gave me as a "loaner" a brand new (500 miles) Cayenne to drive, and said they were sorry but they were out of Panameras. The other dealer had given me a clapped out Nissan Sentra that had been smoked in from National Rentacar (seriously), with the explanation that they only give Porsches to new-Porsche clients, not CPO clients.
The dealer who did the work is a fantastic dealer, and treated me like family. It was a total win-win. They get paid by Porsche for the work, and I get a (relatively) worry-free 911 coming off the CPO. I also know where I'll be buying my next Porsche.
It is not generally on to discuss dealers by name on the forum, but if anyone would like to know the names of the service advisor and mechanic I dealt with at the great dealership feel free to PM for the information. (I'm in SoCal, in the greater L.A. area.)
First I called the dealer where I bought the car and asked for the service advisor who I've dealt with before, even though I have in the past found him to be friendly enough but, shall we say, inaccurate when imparting what service the car needed. Oh, he was away at school, they said (reform school, I imagine). Would I like to speak to another advisor? Sure. Except all the other advisors were otherwise occupied. So I called back. Three times. And never got to speak to an advisor -- voice mail every time.
I then called the other dealer and got right through to an advisor. He told me to bring the car in and they would go through it stem to stern and let me know if there was any warranty or other work to be done. At no cost to me for the inspection. I knew that there wasn't any "other" work as I'm a bit fanatical about keeping up with regular maintenance. Oh, and I should mention that this dealer had replaced all four TPMS units under warranty a year ago.
When I got there, the advisor asked if I had any specific concerns. I told him I'd heard about water pump failures and charge cable failures. He called a mechanic to come over and join the discussion. Long story short, they replaced both the water pump and the charge cables under the CPO.
But wait, there's more.
When I went to pick up the car they said they thought there might be a bit of seepage coming from the rear struts, and they intended to replace them. Which they did, including a 4-wheel alignment afterward. Under CPO.
But wait, there's more.
In addition to the approximately $8000 worth of work they did under CPO, they gave me as a "loaner" a brand new (500 miles) Cayenne to drive, and said they were sorry but they were out of Panameras. The other dealer had given me a clapped out Nissan Sentra that had been smoked in from National Rentacar (seriously), with the explanation that they only give Porsches to new-Porsche clients, not CPO clients.
The dealer who did the work is a fantastic dealer, and treated me like family. It was a total win-win. They get paid by Porsche for the work, and I get a (relatively) worry-free 911 coming off the CPO. I also know where I'll be buying my next Porsche.
It is not generally on to discuss dealers by name on the forum, but if anyone would like to know the names of the service advisor and mechanic I dealt with at the great dealership feel free to PM for the information. (I'm in SoCal, in the greater L.A. area.)
07-17-2015, 12:11 PM
#12
Track Day
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07-17-2015, 11:20 PM
#13
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I've been to the first dealer, sure the second wasn't a dream��
07-18-2015, 01:49 PM
#15
I have had the same great experience with porsche of south shore in NY under their new management. I have both a 911 not purchased from them and a ceyanne that was. Comparable or better loaner cars and full effort to identify any warrantee work they can get their hands on and repair.