This is the reason I won't let anyone work on my car..
 

Hi guys just wanted to share an experience I've had lately with a local Porsche specialist, this has resulted in me doing all the work myself in the future and made me lose all faith in anyones work but my own.

After purchasing my car I was advised to introduce myself to this company as they are the local shop of choice for people in my area.
After a brief conversation I discovered they had a whale tail in stock and a deal was done. They were to repair (as was second hand off an old race car), paint and install.
I'm quite capable with cars and all things mechanical but I figured being new to Porsches the "specialists" would have a very high standard of workmanship.

I dropped it in on a Monday in November and they said it would be ready by the end of the day. So I finished work early, arranged a lift to pick up car, lost a few hours of pay only to find it wasn't ready..
Same thing happened on Wednesday, car was finally ready to pick up on Thursday. Upon pick up I discovered the rear fenders were covered in scratches from where they had been leaning on it which I pointed out to the apprentice who proceeded to try and polish in the hot sun (obviously polish dried instantly on the car and probably made it worse). I figured the scratches aren't deep so I'd polish them out myself which I did.

I drove it home and put it straight in the shed without inspecting the new tail as I was far too busy and had expected it to be of a high standard considering they're a "specialist".

Fast forward to Christmas holidays when I had time to drive, detail and work on the car I had started to notice the quality of work was very poor.



After first fitting

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...93a10f2c1d.jpg

As you can see the tail/boot didn't line up.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...a8e7694d7c.jpg

Poor repair on corner of tail or not repaired at all.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...bcd3c91836.jpg

Obviously couldn't fit the buffer in here so was left faced back.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...61daaa1ebc.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...2801de0b68.jpg

As you can see in these two photos they opted to put rivnuts straight into fibreglass rather than using proper mounting points via L bracket as I requested.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3c082c15a8.jpg

First time I opened the boot one of the rivnuts pulled out.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...302e53efbd.jpg

Damage to paint from where tail has rubbed on the body due to misalignment.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ed2c4d057c.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...a623147ed2.jpg

As shown in these two photos the tail was rubbing on drivers side and had a 1" gap on passengers side.

I contacted them in the first week of Janurary and they offered to fix it. They offered no apology, took no responsibility. They said the paint and fixings had failed (fixing had failed due to the way they were fixed)

When I collected the car once again both rear fenders are covered in scratches and the car keys/metal key ring were left on the roof.
Upon first inspection the quality seemed much better than the initial fitting. However after a few drives and a more detailed inspection I found the standard of work to be nearly as bad as the initial fitting.


Condition of car after 1st attempt at repair

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...11cf20bc65.jpg

Passengers side of tail is now rubbing on body.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...1d233bea07.jpg

Underside of tail is now rubbing on body near hinge.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...0e0d6c5907.jpg

Damage to tail when grill was reinstalled.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...48807de176.jpg

Once again after I had repeatedly told them about the damage from leaning on the side of the car (possibly from belt buckle) the car is scratched worse than the first time.

Thanks for reading.
Obviously I'm not going to give them a third chance.
What do you guys think? Any similar experiences?

Have you contacted them about these issues?
if so, what did they have to say?

Painful to look at. In my opinion, that's a piss-poor effort by complete and utter careless hacks. I'd diplomatically discuss a full refund.




Andreas

sorry to hear,
try to ask a refund,
I had similar issue, In my case they were doing things well and damaging others, they refund me but it will not cover what needs fixing... sometimes its so difficult to do everything, space, tools and time could be an issue...

Man I swear I have been screwed more times by Porsche fixit shops than not. I took my 968 to a "super duper amazing reputable Porsche shop" in Dallas who regularly advertises in Excellence. They did the same thing, scratched up my fenders leaning over the engine. Then they never even fixed the problem that I had.
This is what I have learned........"I TYPICALLY KNOW MORE ABOUT MY CAR THAN THEY DO".
I only let others work on my car when I do not have time to do it myself.

Probably a poor quality wing and that is why it was removed from the previous car before You bought it!

^^^ This
Perhaps but that does not excuse the hack job, especially since they supplied the wing and lid. Any competent shop would have handled it differently.

That work is plainly unacceptable. Thankfully the work was largely confined to the aftermarket wing, and they didn't do any permanent damage to your car (except perhaps some rubbed paint). A full refund is in order, and I wouldn't let that shop ever touch my car again.

So we naming names here or what?

Hi marine blue! Definately frustrating and definately won't be using them again. Haha I'd love to start my own shop! Mind you I wouldn't be too efficient! Took me 50 hours to install carpet!

Hi Jesus, havnt contacted them yes as I only noticed it really on the weekend (obviously they are closed) and wanted opinions of what to do next as I don' think it should take 3 goes to get it right. I will contact them today.

Hi Andreas, yes it's definately hard to go in the shed and look at, considering 90% of the car is pretty much top condition and there' this ugly job on the back.
And yes I agree just careless, I can' walk away from a job unless I'm 100% happy wit it, I can't imagine they would be happy with the job they have done.
I'l contact them today and see what they say.

Hi kos, it's just crazy isn't it! I just can' even start to imagine what people who do a bad job think as I take pride in my work and stand by it 100%
Never again!

Hi boeing! Man that's terrible, like I just said, i really cannot imagine what goes through these people's heads. Surely they notice the damage, so obviously they just think oh well the customer won't notice!
And I also agree, in the 1 year i have studied about my car I would say I definately know more about it than them... when I first purchased the car the windshield washer light was on so I asked what the filler was next to the fuel filler.... they said it was the headlight washers and they usually take the globe out of the warning light as it's quite common :banghead: I then went and purchased adrians book and joined reenlist!