oliver991

So I briefly posted about this before but took it down as I was in discussions with PCNA. Those discussion have gone nowhere...

My 991.2 GT3RS engine suffered a catastrophic failure at approx 5800mi and the complete engine was replaced. Car is immaculately maintained with frequent oil changes at the dealer, etc. Here's the story:

I floored the gas while driving up a steep hill (as one should do in a GT car) and I received a low engine pressure oil warning message- driving permitted. I lost all power. I immediately pulled over as I didn't want do drift down the hill. I called for roadside assistance and turned the ignition off. That car would not restart. It was towed the to local P dealer (after a 4 hour adventure waiting for the tow thanks to a tow truck being dispatched without ramps). Car never restarted.

Dealer was instructed to send oil samples to PCNA and start looking for failures. Metallic fragments were found in the oil pan. PCNA and dealer were going back and forth for 3 weeks while I waited and waited and waited. I finally started making a lot of noise and PCNA authorized an entire engine replacement. It arrived within 2 days. Car was in a the shop for a bit over 4 weeks.

I know of at least 5 other GT3RS's that have had catastrophic engine failures in the US. There are likely many more. After speaking with some fellow Rennlisters, it seems that there may be an issue with the valve lash adjusters. The theory is that the PDK shifts so quickly that in some cases the lash adjuster (which is not fixed) breaks loose under certain conditions due to high loads and sends metallic fragments through the engine leading to catastrophic failure. Catastrophic engine failure while driving is of course a serious safety issue.

How has PCNA responded? Poorly in my opinion...

For a car out of service for 1 month, they offered me 1 month's payment- which was like a joke as I paid cash. They equate 1 month's payment to $3,500. What a joke. They also offered to provide a 2 year warranty extension. It's an insult on a car that paid $200k plus on brand new. This is also to someone who leased a 2017 991.2 new and also leased a new 2019 Cayenne. PCNA looks at the enterprise value of each customer when making these decisions. I may have my attorney pursue a Magnuson Moss warranty claim but I would much rather PCNA just do the right thing. I'm someone who does dozens of PCA DE events, attended PSDS at Barber, etc.

PCNA is polite and responsive but their offer, at least in my humble opinion, it totally insufficient. To all the people who think well they replaced the engine under warranty, that ends this, I disagree. I now own a car that I have lost confidence in. I also believe it leads to diminished value. To anyone who wants to argue that- there is literally no upside to having a car with a replaced engine (it's not like I had a lot of miles or use on the prior engine). Replacing the motor is the bare minimum and the start of where service should start (and btw PCNA shouldn't have customers wait weeks before deciding on an engine replacement).

I've been frankly very disappointed in PCNA.

For everyone else who has had a 991.2 GT3 or RS engine failure, please PM me or reply here. I strongly feel that if there is a defect in this engine, PCNA should extend the warranty to 10 years/120k mi as they did for 991.1 GT3 owners. For anyone else, just FYI- there's an issue here and I think it will become increasingly apparent as others report likewise.

Oliver

shapiroeric

Oliver...How do you pursue a civil claim against them as they provided a fix?....do you want them to lemon law the car?.....no way that will happen....I understand you are upset and I've been in the same shoe....My Lusso was a the dealer for almost 8 weeks and my Raptor was at the dealer for over 6 weeks.....got an extra year warranty on the Lusso and extended on the Ford.....not a cent otherwise.....

You and others may disagree but I think the offer of $3500 and 2 years extended warranty was sufficient.....what else do you want?

Seth Thomas

Sorry about your issue with the motor and the PCNA.

One question fr you though. You listed what PCNA's offer to you was and that it was not enough. What would have been enough to make you feel well treated?

oliver991

Thanks- Eric.

Knowing what happened to me and others, I just don't want to own a .2 GT3RS or .2 GT3 with PDK outside a warranty period. If there is a design defect, they should extend the warranty much further. A 2 year warranty extension doesn't suffice. They should offer a longer warranty extension. All cars have problems. The real issue is where there's a trend due to potential design issue, etc. I believe that's the case here!

RE Magnusson-Moss, it's basically a federal back to local lemon laws. It basically provides a civil option for a consumer to seek a replacement or repurchase using federal law. It's a bit more generous that most state lemon laws. Most state lemon lows allow demand of repurchase if a car is out of service in excess of a certain number of days or XYZ number of repair attempts. Magnusson Moss usually comes into play if someone puts in non-oem parts and the mfr tries to deny a warranty claim. No car company wants to go to court. These things almost always get settled. In my case, I purchased the car in PA but registered in FL so state lemon law is tricky.

oliver991

Thanks Seth. I wanted a longer extended warranty as I've lost confidence in the car. I also asked for them to reimburse me for a course at PSDS in Birmingham as a gesture of good will (a non-brainer).

What concerns me is I think there's a widespread design issue with the engine in PDK cars. I'm concerned that the replacement engine will also fail. It's exactly the same. There are too many of these stories for this to be a random manufacturing defect.

catdog2

I think you are being unreasonable; they replaced the engine and gave you $3.5K to cover for car being out of circulation, what else do you want?
Can you prove that you allowed the engine to warm up over 150F oil before going over 3-4rpm routinelly?
They're supposed to take your word that the car wasn't abused somehow?
2-year warranty extension is not enough?
If you lost confidence then sell car and move on...
I think you are being a bit unreasonable, they've taken care of you nicely in my humble opinion...

rcg412

Totally disagree. The fact they offered to pay you 1 month of payment and +2y engine warranty is pretty stand up to me.

GrantG

I can understand your frustration, but imagine if Porsche had denied the warranty entirely if the car was used on track (as they're legally entitled to do)? Since the failure occurred on the road, you likely would have received coverage eventually (but could be an unpleasant process)...

Some other manufacturers might have handled this in a much more frustrating manner.

richk

Sorry to hear about your issue. I’m not sure how the longer extended warranty eases your concerns. I put over 20k miles on my 991rs and I beat on that car. Zero issues.

I do agree the compensation should have been higher.

Tompoodie

I think the offer is fairly reasonable. At the same time I would share your concern about a recurrence of the same catastrophic engine failure out of warranty, which could occur again if there is in fact an engineering defect as you described.

I would ask for an additional 5 years warranty for engine only. That really gets to the heart of the matter which is recurrence of the same engine failure.
I don't think they will, because it opens the door for others to ask the same if similar failures occur, which seems likely given others with your experience as you cited.
If I were on the manufacturer's side of the fence, I would be worried about this issue snowballing.

That said can anyone corroborate the valve lash-PDK problem?

On the face of it, if true, seems to be an argument in favor of a manual transmission.

djcxxx

You need to sell the car and move on. The bitter taste of this ownership isn’t going to get sweeter. Porsche isn’t going to do more than they did.

oliver991

Abuse the car? Ridiculous. Yes the car was completely warmed up. You are missing the point here. The point is there are a number of 991.2 GT3RS engine failures being reported and there is a larger issue. Larger issue requires different response.

oliver991

The theory is that the PDK shifts so much faster than a manual that valve lash adjusters become prone to fail and break off.

My point in sharing this is to find other who've had the same experience.

I'm not writing to complain about the comp- more to educate other enthusiasts on what they offered me.

can84

IMO this thread should titled as how PCNA handled my problem professionally.

4 week sounds like a very decent time for vehicle company to understand and come to conclusion on a problem, in the end they are not fixing a little Iphone.

I remember i waited 2 months for a 458 gearbox just to ship from Italy, i was very happy that it all fixed under warranty.

oliver991

Well said about the bitter taste of ownership