Shivjeet

I wanted to buy the 991.1 GT3 back in 2014, but I was too late in the game to get hold of one. Thanks to all the information shared by members on Rennlist, I made a timely deposit (according to Indian market) of about 10,000 USD for the 991.2 GT3 in July 2016. I was the first and only person on the list for the car, since India is a negligible market for Porsche GT cars.

I was probably the happiest man in India, when I was finally informed about my allocation in May 2017 for a July production slot and at this point I had paid about 60,000 USD more (70K in total) to confirm my build slot. I'm sure all of you would know the kind of excitement one would feel with such good news. Consequently, my car was built and I was tracking each stage through the dealer. Once it was on the ship to India, I was tracking the ship's movement everyday, even though I knew the date of arrival, but I just couldn't control myself. That feeling of knowing that your dream car is getting closer to your homeland, is amazing! Now in normal routine what would've happened is, that once the ship would've docked, the car would've been offloaded and parked in the VW India warehouse for customs clearance. After customs clearance, Porsche India (HQ in Mumbai itself) employees would do their routine documentation work and put the car on a truck to Gurgaon which is another 3-4 days journey from Mumbai (my dealer is Porsche Centre Gurgaon). I was constantly in touch with my sales consultant and the dealer principle himself, and due to my OCD I told them about how I wanted my car to be handled from the time of customs clearance till the time of delivery. I wanted to be present at the time of unloading the car at my dealer, from the truck, and didn't want any protective films / stickers etc. to be removed without me being present there to see. I had informed them about my likes and dislikes, and instructed them about how I wanted to be washing process to be done, and the PDI to be done in my presence. Since the dealer is very professional and a true gentleman, he had no issues with my preferences. I must say that my experience with the dealership itself, has been top notch

So finally the ship docked at the Mumbai Port on the 21st of September 2017, and my GT3 was offloaded within a day and parked in the VW India warehouse for customs clearance which is at the port itself. Now as precedent has shown, and from what I had been told by my family and friends with Porsche vehicles, I should've received pictures of my GT3 from the warehouse. I did get the pictures, but after repeated requests and after about a week on 27th of September 2017. I kept asking my sales consultant and the GM sales as to why there was such a delay with the first step itself, but they themselves had no clue and were kept in dark by Porsche India. We were completely unaware about what was being planned by Mr. Pavan Shetty (Head of Porsche India). This man is known to be a very un-professional person, and I say this as a lot of buyers/enthusiasts are unhappy with his disgustingly biased dealings.

The plan was to use my car (forcefully, without my consent) for an official press launch in Mumbai, which was scheduled for 9th October 2017 at Porsche Centre Mumbai. I got to know about this through a friend on 3rd October 2017, as he read a news article stating the same which took me by shock! I immediately contacted my dealership people, and after they checked with Porsche India, I was informed that it was true in-fact. I told the dealer principle that Porsche India (PI) cannot use my car for launch and demanded that my car be delivered to me immediately. He tried his level best, but PI blatantly refused to do so. What was even more shocking is the fact that the media invites were sent out on 28th September 2017 itself, and PI did not bother taking my consent for the same. I then told my friends and family about the situation, and asked them for possible actions I could take against PI. But everyone told me that the smartest thing to do was to stay mum if I wanted my car, as Mr. Shetty is very much capable of declining the sale to me and selling the car to someone else, as he has done before with a GT car allocation. Such are this man's dealings!!! Imagine PCNA itself dealing like a Porsche dealer does with the allocations. But in India, its the opposite! the dealer is nice and PI is the flipper because its headed by a person who doesn't deserve to be there.

So as a smart man would've done, I stayed mum about it and did not take any strong action as I did not want to risk losing my car to someone else. The laws in India are good, but the court cases take like 10 years to come to conclusion and my car might have been rotting somewhere for those 10 years, or would've been sold to someone else in the meanwhile. Yes, this was very much possible. Had the GT3 been an easier car to get, I would've refused to take it and taught this man the lesson of his life. Because of him I had sleepless nights and was depressed at the thought of how my car is being whor*d out for PI's marketing and monetary gains at my cost. My request to keep the car locked at the launch event was refused too. The launch did happen and a 100 people sat in my car, with media guys using their huge cameras inside the car (probably hitting the camera everywhere in the interior) and other people fiddling with the interior. Cleaners constantly rubbing the interior and paint work to remove finger prints, swirling and scratching everything . I did not even go to see the launch event as it was happening against my will and I couldn't see that happen to my car. I just had to be strong and get through the phase, due to my love for the GT3. I finally got delivery on 16th October 2017, and I couldn't be happier. I decided not to take any action action against PI, because they are smart as*es and would blame the dealer for being responsible to take consent from customer or something of that sort, and I did not want the dealer principle his dealership to suffer as they're all professional guys doing their job. They're helpless, so its not their fault at all.

But now I've just had enough of this bullsh*it from PI. Why? Because at the time of my build, I had specced the 18 ways seats which showed memory function on the configurator. I did know that there was an error in the configurator for the 991.1 GT3, due to which a lot of owners in the US got refunded by PCNA as the memory function didn't come in the GT3 and the error was on Porsche's part. So I got a confirmation about the memory function being present or not in the .2 GT3 from Porsche India, before I finalised my build. I have an email from them stating that memory function would be present, which I believed as there's literally no chance Porsche's configurator would make a mistake again for a newer model. I was upset when the memory function was missing, as the only reason I paid 10,000 USD for this option was for memory, because my father and I both drive the GT3 and the extra adjustments in the seat add not much value to me. It's been 4 months now and my dealer can only tell me that PI is still investigating the matter and I'm just fed up now. Also, while PI were busy marketing themselves using my car, they did not bother getting my model approved in the local vehicle registration authority. I had to get the model approval process done myself to be able to drive my car on the roads legally.

Just to add, every car manufacturer other than Porsche, air freights their own car for launch to India, and sends it back after launch to the country of origin or keeps it as a media car at their own cost. For example, Mercedes flew down a left hand drive AMG GT R only for official press launch and then sent it back to Germany, as India has right hand drive cars only. But in Porsche India's case, they don't want to spend their own funds, and choose to harass the customer and use his car forcefully. Btw, I have paid about half a million USD for my GT3, as the taxes are really high and I just don't know what to say now. Fellow rennlisters, please help me out with email ID's at PAG, so that I can bring this man's practices to black and white. I'm attaching a few pictures and links for all to see in the next post. Though I have like a million pictures and complete launch videos as evidence, but only posting the first few as seeing them again while sorting only makes me feel worse.

Shivjeet

shapiroeric

Gorgeous car.....I'm sorry for your troubles....I would enjoy your car and not worry about what happened......will likely be a lot of hassle for nothing.....

FRP||

...wow.

Shivjeet

Thanks! You're right, but I need PAG to know what's going on here. I wasn't going to do anything about it, but I'm getting impatient now.

shapiroeric

I know you feel you need resolution but what exactly are you looking for?

Shivjeet

Three things. One, that I should get a refund for the 18 ways option. Second, PAG should make sure that customer cars aren't used for anything, without consent. Third, PAG should ask un-professional heads of their subsidiaries to mend their ways or fire them if they continue to be so. It just spoils their brand image and leaves customers like me upset.

Suggestions on how to put this across to PAG would be great!

NateOZ

Cars get used by dealers all the time for various functions. I have lent my cars out to charity events form time to time, people sit in them, touch them etc. I've never had any real damage done, just send it to a good detailer if you're worried about swirls. You should understand that 90% of cars need paint correction from the factory with swirls, sanding marks and blemishes. If you have real damage, you could seek compensation and document it appropriately.

Missing/mistaken options happen pretty often, decide if the small amount of money is worth your time or if you can make more money elsewhere. If you're really unhappy, sell the car and buy something else you'll enjoy more.

But be realistic, that you have zero control over the car until you have title of it. Also that you have zero control over it every time you drop it off for service, detail etc.

Shivjeet

I tend to disagree here. How you feel about your cars, and the way I feel about my cars is a completely personal choice as I'm not comfortable with lending my car or having random people sit in it. Even though what you suggest "selling the car" can be done, but not everyone wants to go through that. You don't expect to buy a car and then sell it just because the brand used your car for launch. I would agree with you if it was a lemon

shapiroeric

Well I think it would be cool to say my car was used in my country's launch.....

theporscheguy

Very nice GT3. Enjoy it. Hopefully your dealer can resolve the 18 way option refund. Take your car to the Buddh Circuit and have some fun. The highway to the circuit is very nice as well.

991carreradriver

I think you just have!

Shivjeet

Sure. But taking consent would've been the ethical thing to do. I wouldn't have said no, but surely would've asked them not to keep the car open for everyone to sit in and see with some more terms, as its not a display car that I am buying. I think quite a few of us don't buy cars that are parked on showroom floor as display car due to personal preferences. A media car should've been flown down if they were so keen on launching it and showing it to the media

Shivjeet

Thanks! I hope so too, but doesn't look like its in his hands. Yes, Yamuna Expressway is currently the best highway in India, and BIC is an amazing track too. Have you visited BIC before?

Thats great! I was thinking some email id's would be required.

GeoJoe

I agree! But I would also have wanted to be part of the party. That's like seeing your new hot girlfriend on a big stage but not being able to tell anyone that she's with you.

In cases like this, I find that it helps to be very specific on your "ask" for what you want to be considered to make things right. Don't expect Porsche to come up with the resolution for you. You should be the one to propose (in writing) what steps you want to happen so that you feel satisfied. List options and alternatives if needed. It sounds like you want the right seats (or a refund) some interior detailing and paint correction? If so, tell them.

Have you filled out your dealer survey yet? That's another method to state your issues and requests.