Convinced Porsches are crap, and dealer service even worse.
 

On Monday August 13th I called Porsche Roadside Assistance for a tow after finding an oil puddle under my in-warranty 911 GTS. Porsche suggested towing it to Rusnak Porsche in Pasadena as the closest dealer. Many years ago I had another 911 serviced there, and while in for service it got scratched, leaving me uneasy that they don’t pay proper attention to customers’ cars.

My first problem was the tow. I scheduled it for 8am Tuesday. The driver showed up at my home at 12:45am, waking my wife and scaring her half to death as she was alone (I was out of town, returning that morning). I called Porsche again, and had the car picked up at 8am and let them know clearly they screwed up. Not a Rusnak problem. But still…

To make sure there was no misunderstanding about the condition of my car and the problems needing correction (I also have de-laminating headlights), I typed a letter and tipped the tow truck driver $20 to give it to the employee checking in my car. I wanted CLARITY that my car has NO damage when they took control of it.

I called Rusnaks service department Tuesday afternoon to confirm receipt of my car and its condition. No call back. I then called Wednesday. No call back. Then Thursday. No response. I called Friday, and FINALLY a woman named Chleo called me back and said they found my car. What???? At this point I’m pissed. Am I going to have a repeat of the last Rusnak disaster? My car has a ton of carbon fiber, and I know for fact that Porsche carbon will warp if left in direct sunlight. It happened with the last 911 I had. I called Chleo back, told her I was pissed, and told her CLEARLY to make sure my car is not left outside. She promised to take care of that.

On Saturday I began thinking “These people don’t give a sh*t about customer cars” and decided to make the 2 hour round trip drive to make sure it was parked inside in these near-record hot temperatures. There it was. Not only outside, it was parked in the only spot with no shade. My front window sunshade stored wasn’t even used. I asked for the General Manager and told him of my displeasure. He first apologized but then made the dumbest comment ever saying “Not to take the side of service but the tow truck driver just dropped it off.” WHAT???? Now you are blaming the tow truck driver? How about all my ignored phone calls? Doesn’t ANYBODY here take responsibility?

You want to take your car here? If so cover your ass and take pictures or a video of it, and be ready for lack of attention and poor communication. I own and have owned a lot of cars and you would THINK that Porsche being a premium brand would have premium service. No true at Rusnak.

UPDATE 1

My car was in service for 30 days for no reason except they could not order the correct parts. I’ll spare you the gory details of mistakes over and over and promises broken. During that time I was told TWICE my car was going to be delivered “this afternoon” and arranged to leave work early to receive it, only to be told they had gotten the wrong parts AGAIN. A month gone. Though they did park it inside for the last 3 weeks it was there, a bunch of junk got into the paint and I sure as hell was not going to let THEIR detailer touch it. I’ll pay mine $180 to do it right.

Update 2

When I got the car back, I noted the illuminated entry doorjam light was out. I was not about to take a chance and give it back to Rusnak, so decided to wait. Well I didn’t have to wait long. Drove the car a couple times, and on 10/31 I was greeted by another puddle of oil that caused all of this in the first place.

Update 3

It’s been a week. They changed the lower transmission pan and gasket I assume, and it still leaks. Found out today my transmission is “leaking internally” whatever that means. They want to replace the transmission with a factory rebuilt one. I say no. The car has 10K miles on it. Would YOU take one????

I’ve always known Porsches are problem cars. I’ve had several. But they are worse than ever. My Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio is a daily driver and I BEAT IT because it’s so fun to drive. The 911 gets babied truth be told. Like many, it’s a Garage Queen.

My Alfa had it’s first scheduled service done in less than 2 hours. Porsche? Slow service. No parts in the United States even for simple things like for headlight lenses.

Why people put up with this and give excuses to Porsche is unbelievable.

Sounds like a horrible experience. I had a similar terrible time with an Audi dealership service department a few years ago and I won't own an R8 from them again, for sure. But, I personally have had excellent experiences with two different Porsche dealerships here in DFW Texas. Four different 911's perfect from the factory. Sorry for your bad luck, there is no excuse for their terrible service.

I'm most concerned with the re-manufactured transmission when my car has 10k miles on it.

Call PCNA and complain.

Take your car somewhere else.

And somehow you think other manufacturers and dealers are any better than Porsche?

Uh...yea. Like every Japanese car and American car I've had... and in my case, Italian cars. Alfa Romeo: Perfect. Ferrari? Almost perfect. One warranty claim and I DROVE THEM. My BMW M cars were pretty dependable. Mercedes AMG super dependable engine and transmission-wise. But all the electronic gizmos would break.
And I've never had a car in for 30 days except my Porsche.

Most concerned about the rebuilt transmission they want me to accept.

Your car problem sounds unheard of and to be honest I've experienced the exact opposite. I understand you're upset and I would be too..... But you're overreacting a little bit by having the smallest things set you off.. "didn't use my sunshade" blah blah blah.

Sounds like they're bending you over and you're just taking it. Instead of doing something about it you're on here crying. Sorry for being harsh but it needs to be said.

Make it c-l-e-a-r you want a brand spanking new transmission. Micro manage everything. Constantly call, show up, and demand proof.

In before "hey there's two sides to every story" public defender bull****.

I don't think anyone gets a "new" transmission when it gets replaced, unfortunately. They should, but I'm guessing they are all rebuilt, even if the dealer calls it new. This is just one reason I would never own one of these cars without a warranty.

When I take my car to Champion I get calls updating progress and when its ready. Service guy is above and beyond nice. Some suck and others shine is all I can say.

Sounds like a ****ty dealer.

While both my Porsches have not been paragons of reliability, aside from a goofy oil leak in our Cayenne (which I would have left alone had it been out of warranty), nothing major has gone on. And when the car's been in the shop, my service adviser has done a decent job of keeping me up to speed. Sometimes I need to chase him a bit but I am high maintenance when it comes to comms. But moreover, they've never kept the car for longer than promised, and hustled some repairs when I've had deadlines. And nothing has taken unreasonably long. Hell, the entire "engine / trans out and front subframe drop" to fix the rear camshaft cover oil leak on my Cayenne only took 5 days. During that time I had a pretty nice new Panamera loaner.

So I don't think it's Porsches, it's your dealer.

Sorry to hear about this. You didn't mention it, but what year is your car, this may have a bearing on the part used. For your information, when a part is rebuilt, normally, the exterior shell is kept (the core) and the remainder of the parts are new. I for one have never been afraid of using a rebuilt part. On the other hand if the car is less than a year old, I too would be requesting a new part. I'd suggest you talk to the Service Mgr, he would be the expert in this area and would know what Porsche authorizes in this situation. The dealer must follow the instructions from Porsche and has little input on the part to be installed, but can go back to Porsche and "put in a good word" for you. Also, I've found that when a situation goes sour, it just seems to get worse and worse. The more they try to take special attention to someone the more that goes wrong.

Additionally, I was very surprised to hear that it was Rusnak in Pasadena. That's where I got my last car and was treated in an outstanding manner. They had the car I wanted so I flew down there, was picked up at the airport and the car was delivered in pristine condition. Of the three Porsche's I've had; they all were very reliable and my latest has been especially so - have yet needed to go to a dealer for any problem.

Hope things work out for you!!!

I can assure you I'm a business person and have made it clear in writing after they failed to return calls for 3 days, and then the entire 30 days where Rusnak ordered the wrong headlight lenses over and over. Everything I've stated is 100% factual.

As to the sunshade being a small thing, it's because it was OUTSIDE. My 997 carbon fiber turned into a twisted mass of cracks from California heat. Porsche carbon fiber is prone to problems, and service managers know it. We had record temperatures. My car had been "lost" for days while they ignored my phone messages, then after they "found it" and specifically promised to bring it in, and they didn't even park it in the shade. They scratched my 996 many moons ago, and I had hoped that was an isolated experience. The place is too busy. I'll go back to Walter's.

You live in southern California and have a car that you can't park outside? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯