John Mclane

So, the lever that releases the seat to flip forward broke on the driver's side. $45 to replace it. Last year the contralateral broke and it was (not so promptly) replaced under warranty. Now this one apparently won't (at least not without some discussion).

Besides the ridicule of a piece this price being a matter of discussion on a $120k car, the SA started explaining to me that CPO car warranty is more stringent (not that my MY17 single owner is). That is not supposed to be true, but it seems to be in their arsenal for refusal. Of course I stopped him right there, my car is not CPO (not that it should matter) and this should be replaced under warranty.

Apparently because it broke, they are trying to refuse to pay for it. To the exception of an accident, that's exactly why we have warranty. To cover stuff that fails and is not wear and tear.

That's not the first time they pull this crap. The car came with awful wipers and they refused to replace it, saying it was dirt. They cleaned (which they are not supposed to do, due to graphite lub in the wipers) which didn't help. Once I proved it wasn't, 6 months had passed and then that particular part was no longer covered. Proving I complained about it on emails was to no avail. I bough better wipers and installed myself.

The point here is not this crappy plastic piece (by the way, plastic lever against a metal plate, yes it will break) but the aggravating penny-pincher behavior. What's the point in buying cars under warranty or service them at the stealership? I bought 2 new cars from them, not that I want preferred treatment, just what the warranty covers without back and forth to the stealership for something this simple. Gives me the chills to think of something actually expensive breaks.

As a matter of principle, if this is not replaced, I'll let the salesperson know I'll be taking my future business elsewhere, out of a matter of $45...

Pointbye

the_buch

Time for a new dealer?

John Mclane

Indeed. This one is really close to me. Gotta balance pros and cons
I don't feel the love there . Any service is at least 5 day wait, with a loaner, 3 weeks... I don't know if this is the usual norm around, but they always seem to have loaners sitting there.

John Mclane

My 5 yo uses it... one would imagine the part is supposed to last some use.

STG

You have to pick your battles, and this isn't one of them.

John Mclane

I agree to a point, but there's the matter of abuse. Let them slide with this crap and it only gets worse. The wiper thing I didn't push, but a part that comes out in my hand and it's clearly poorly designed, that's too much.
I'm still trying to believe it's a clerical error and they will fix it wo the need to escalate.

Porsche_nuts

Absolute BS. What do they think, you broke it on purpose to get a new one? What kind of customer service is this anyway - for a $45 part? Will probably take all of 15 minutes or less to replace. Crazy.

John Mclane

They're not good. I remember trying to convince the manager about the PDK stumble in my 991. The guy in the car with me and he had the nerve to say he felt nothing different. At that time, I had a loaner just a year newer (15 vs mine that was a 14) and the guy had the nerve to say that the PDK was completely different in that model, so I couldn't compare (no stumble in their loaner).

afk

where are you located ? ie dealer name would be helpful so we can all avoid.

John Mclane

I'm in the Chicago area. I'll be glad to reply PM if asked. If it was something more serious, I would have started with the name.

Somehow I doubt the behavior is unique. Ultimately, it's PCNA policy that trickles down to the dealers, according to the dealer at least. Not long ago, the same dealer used to pass credit (customer satisfaction program, from PCNA) in case of a warranty claim, to be spent with tequipment. Something changed in the last 12-18 months (or maybe it's my perception) and they became more of a pain.

Would be interesting to hear from others around the country if that perception is the same.

hbear

bkrantz

John, no disrespect, but a 5 year old could create some damage that designers cannot prepare for (like the stalks on the steering column).

And others have complained about broken seat latches before. I see a potential problem if people use the latch not only to unlock the seat back (lifting up) but also to pull the seat back forward. As your photos show, the design is perhaps too weak to use that way.

Bob Z.

How far are you into your factory warranty? Mileage?

The P Dealers I have dealt with here in FL are great and I would never get the hassles you have...time to try and another one and tell the new one exactly why you are changing dealers.

John Mclane

After the contralateral one broke, I "coached" them to always use two hands. Most of the time I open it, and Hold the seat to move it, not the latch.
The plastic piece has a poor design. The metal core from the seat only runs in the groove outside the plastic piece. It should go further in to improve levering. Should be made of metal, not plastic.
Regardless, it broke doing its intended job. Warranty is for exactly that. Trying to pin on CPO warranty being different shows intent, imho