John Mclane

That's what I Endup doing. The GM "helped" buying my car minus cost to fix (they still have a decent overhead on that) and took over the issue. The long block replacement would maintain the warranty but it was quoted at 86k. Short block would not carryover the warranty and it would be 45k. They'll fix and dump in an auction by the looks of it. 4 months waiting for parts.
Take the money and run is not a bad exit. If an allocation is available is a plus, but it would not be my main concern. As mentioned above, there's little logic in buying these cars in the first place.

cooler2442

To be honest, I don't think it's Porsche's responsibility to provide proof to you on how your tuned Porsche engine failed. Even if you lawyer up and invoke the Magnuson Moss Warranty act then I'm sure they can claim that the boost went above the "stock" levels and then explain what that means to the engine. That's the risk you take buying a used tuned car unfortunately.

In my opinion, the Magnuson Moss Warranty act only really exists for say someone putting an exhaust on the car and then the engine fails so Porsche can't claim that caused engine damage.

John Mclane

I know, hence my car is gone and I Endup with the bill.
A lot of people mention "friendly dealer" will help etc. in my opinion there's no such thing. The dealer calls the regional tech for any major fix and that one says yes or no. No checking the data or investigating whatever happened in the past with that car.
PCNA won't care how many cars you bought or how loyal you are to the brand.


Back to the OP. It seems you got some good advice here. In my opinion, get paperwork and be prepared for a lemon. If not needed, that's great, but if you do it's much easier if you're prepared.
Money for your car at a proper valuation is a good way out. I think an allocation coming from PCNA will require some escalation, but it's not unheard with other models. Asking doesn't cost anything. The GM can help with his/her regional rep. An allocation floating around without owner is not common, for known reasons. It all starts with a 1800porsche phone call.

manifold danger

That really sucks about your situation. As enthusiasts we should all understand the thought process that goes into modifying a car, and the risk/reward assessment that takes place. The reality that a tune could detonate the engine is always there but let's be honest, how many of us truly anticipate that happening? There's too many instances of backwards-hat wearing vapelords boosting the everliving **** out of their stock WRXs with reckless abandon to worry about that- until it actually happens. And you're stuck with a $25k/$45k/86k build. OMG. I couldn't shrug that off... so I'll skip the tune.

It appears you at least could handle it without inducing financial ruin but unless you apparently play professional sports no one likes just forking over upwards of six figures to not net anything of value. I've also always wondered how some folks survive when things like this happen; I've seen folks put brand new cars into racetrack walls, rear differentials explode, pistons fly through hoods, etc. on cars they're still making payments on, and could barely afford in the first place... but I'm almost certain that conversation will veer sharply off-topic.

Back to the OP, I agree, this car has too much hair on it. I'm sure it's not unprecedented and seems the dealer is trying to work with you... I know allocations are few and far between and there's fears that they'll be completely drying up soon, but hopefully they can get you a new allocation and you can start from scratch.

John Mclane

The only reason things didn't get financially worse was the current market. My car was valued above MSRP and I bought it with a 4% discount. If it had happened with a normal market, I would be in deeper. I got a demo from the dealer fleet for near the same value of my car minus the cost to fix. In the end, it could have been a lot worse. I'm not driving what I would be, but gotta suck it up. Some dealers won't play ball at all fixing or taking your car in trade. I know they're not running a charity and they will profit in the end, but it was the best solution I could live with. Fixing the car was a big question, which brings it back to the OP.
The dealer could not get the ACC to work properly, the battery discharged if gets cold abruptly and you didn't drive for 3 days, the car dropped to neutral as I was driving. I'm not even bothering to list the electronic gizmos. So, add that and replace an engine. It would be a short block, meaning that everything attached to the engine comes from the original car, essentially the block and pistons are new (some other bits can't be reused eg, fuel lines). After that am I to believe the car would be better or much worse?
I believe that applies to the OP. There's a threshold where it's not worth keeping the car. Hard to tell as tolerances vary from individual, but the lemon law is likely the only effective tool you have.
BTW, the car had a tune but was stock for the last 18 months. I think the engine would fail regardless, but I'll never know. I also think that even without a tune they would have caused trouble honoring the warranty. Again, I'll never know.

Adrift

If you tune a car, it isn't reasonable to expect Porsche to foot the bill to investigate whether your tune caused a problem or not. That could be lengthy and expensive, and likely inconclusive / debatable; they have zero incentive to play that game. Once they admit your tune MIGHT not have caused the fail, then the whole thing becomes open to litigation.

No no and no

Dyim

I was involved in the conrod fiasco.

I rejected the conrod car and asked for a new allocation right off the bat in March 2021.

It was an uphill battle but I got a new car. Took a whole year. Original April 2021 delivery became April 2022.

You can always try to get a new allocation, but prepare it could be a long road. With allocation being so scarce, you have to prepare for possibly not getting a new allocation before production stops.

From my experience, Porsche Canada did NOT give me much priority on a new allocation. Otherwise, it shouldn’t take me a year for a replacement car.

How long do you plan on keeping the car? If this is not a forever car, maybe just keep this one and trade it in when you are done with it. Or ask for extended warranty as part of the compensation. Service vouchers, Porsche Experience vouchers….etc.

GL

Ken in San Diego

Im considering the DSC controller too, but it’s my understanding that once removed, the car is back to its stock condition.

devarenacn

Got a call from PCNA, the rep basically told me it’s not possible for them to handing out allocations to dealership. Talked with me about couple of solutions, either go through buy back (probably not gonna because of the process, and less net proceed after all the hoops I gotta jump through) or potential compensation (has to be determined after this current repair). Will keep you guys updated, but I think what is gonna end up happening is I take the compensation, then sell the car back to the dealership

Westcoast

This is true, however read this thread where there are discussions on how a mod 'could' be blamed for a seemingly non-related failure. Terrible Experience with Engine Replacement Under Warranty - Rennlist - Porsche Discussion Forums

Zhao

There is a big human element in everything. It would not so much as be a friendly dealer but a friendly individual that knows a lot about what to do to get stuff approved or denied. That could be the mechanic, advisor, service manager, or in house warranty person who deals with getting stuff approved by the manufacturer (not sure if Porsche daelers are big enough for one but Audi was).

I know with insurance (as well as warranty work for body/paint issues) which on a lot of levels is similar to mechanical warranty work I hold a ton of power on the shop level. I can pretty much push stuff very hard over in one direction or another for what will happen based on what benefits the shop iMO and if the customer is an *** or not. Almost everything gets pushed in the customer's favour because it aligns with what's in my favour, but occasionally I go out of my way to make sure something is denied.

I guarantee the same happens at dealerships, and not saying OP or exMB's link OP is an ***, it just depends what kind of person you're dealing with. Some will bend trees to make bridges for you, and others get off by snapping tree branches in your face, and others just are totally apathetic to what happens. Dealership service advisors can often be on commission and the warranty pay structure for them is potentially different then the owner pay pay structure. What benefits an independent dealer vs a corporate dealer is also very different when it comes to warranty.

Larry Cable

this is correct

Ken in San Diego

So, if you installed the stock controller before taking the car into service, the dealer would never know the DSC Controller was ever installed, correct? Like many folks, just don't want to give PCNA any excuse to wiggle out of a claim while under warranty.....

Larry Cable

I can't say with 100% confidence that the presence of the DSC is not logged, I do know that when it is installed it is detectable by the dealer... you'd have to confirm with @TPC Racing

Ken in San Diego

Thanks! I am seriously thinking about buying one. Is it a major hassle (lots of time) to swap one out with the stock controller prior to visiting a dealer?