PDK Failure - 2013 991
05-04-2019, 11:11 PM
#121
Rennlist Member
op sorry to read this story. curious what warranty the new pdk comes with and if you got the option to keep the old one or not. seems some indys might be interested in an old one. im onboard with the earlier comments that it is likely something small and electrical. someone needs to do a post mortum on one of these and find out what it is...
11-20-2020, 02:46 AM
#122
1st Gear
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just wanted to post another PDK casualty story 
Was on my way to work yesterday in my 2013 991 when all of a sudden the car went from 7th gear to 6th gear and the dreaded “Transm. fault Poss. no R gear” message came up - the car wouldn’t shift out of 6th. Fortunately a dealer was on my way to work right off the highway so I dropped it off.
Got a message from them today saying that the car doesn’t go into reverse or 7th gear and a replacement of the transmission is recommended which will cost about $16K
The dealer seems to actually be very honest and straightforward which is refreshing. However, $16K is a lot for me and I did inquire about submitting for a goodwill repair which the dealer is currently submitting the paperwork for.
I also got in touch with my independent Porsche mechanic friend (Aldo in San Francisco) who’s doing some research and making some calls for me - he is waiting to hear back from a shop around here who may know how to rebuild the transmission.
Anyway while I’m here in limbo I figured I’d share my story for your entertainment and provide another data point for the PDK failures. I bought my car used with 24K miles on it, have had it for 20 months, and have put about 700 miles on it per month (so it currently has 38K miles on it).
Any more advice you guys/gals could give me on how to handle this would be great! Thank you and I sincerely hope this doesn’t happen with your cars
It makes me kind of sad that I even bought this car even though the 911 has been a dream car of mine all my life - this car was a 30th birthday present to myself. My family has also had 3 other Porsches, and my mom even currently drives a Macan S based on my suggestion. Not sure I’ll be able to recommend them another Porsche, and I will definitely be telling them to get rid of the Macan as soon as it’s out of warranty 
Was on my way to work yesterday in my 2013 991 when all of a sudden the car went from 7th gear to 6th gear and the dreaded “Transm. fault Poss. no R gear” message came up - the car wouldn’t shift out of 6th. Fortunately a dealer was on my way to work right off the highway so I dropped it off.Got a message from them today saying that the car doesn’t go into reverse or 7th gear and a replacement of the transmission is recommended which will cost about $16K
The dealer seems to actually be very honest and straightforward which is refreshing. However, $16K is a lot for me and I did inquire about submitting for a goodwill repair which the dealer is currently submitting the paperwork for.
I also got in touch with my independent Porsche mechanic friend (Aldo in San Francisco) who’s doing some research and making some calls for me - he is waiting to hear back from a shop around here who may know how to rebuild the transmission.
Anyway while I’m here in limbo I figured I’d share my story for your entertainment and provide another data point for the PDK failures. I bought my car used with 24K miles on it, have had it for 20 months, and have put about 700 miles on it per month (so it currently has 38K miles on it).
Any more advice you guys/gals could give me on how to handle this would be great! Thank you and I sincerely hope this doesn’t happen with your cars
It makes me kind of sad that I even bought this car even though the 911 has been a dream car of mine all my life - this car was a 30th birthday present to myself. My family has also had 3 other Porsches, and my mom even currently drives a Macan S based on my suggestion. Not sure I’ll be able to recommend them another Porsche, and I will definitely be telling them to get rid of the Macan as soon as it’s out of warranty 
11-28-2020, 02:32 AM
#124
Rennlist Member
This has been a reason for not going with the PDK as wonderfull as it may be on paper and the working correctly. I'm in the process of purchasing a Porsche. One thing I will for sure avoid is the PDK. Having learned that there are no parts available from mfg to repairs them. So, no available parts to repair. I believe these units are sent back to Porsche to find out what has failed. I'll stick to replacing clutch. Good luck!
New PDK is ~$12k and a warranty is ~$5k, so a 7-10k spread with labor for someone who may be worried.
I've run mine from 50-80k miles and never even seen a single hiccup...
Manufacturers have all kinds of stuff these days that isn't serviceable, R&R is cheaper for a lot of it given the complexity.
Put a new voltage regulator in your alternator but leave the PDK rebuild for someone else...
The following users liked this post:
JlewGt3 (11-28-2020)
11-28-2020, 04:21 PM
#125
No way PDK AT 1/8 lifespan of 7SPD MT
A regular AT is built to fail at 120k. PDK's operate under explosive pressure. Failures are becoming more commonplace as cars reach that mark. My last MT lasted 26 years on my 964 and was perfect. Synchros have improved since 1990. Minus a rare sensor problem, i have heard of no non-track related MT failures.
I like 3 pedals better, but I'm guessing you'll have more issues with any manual vs. a PDK given long term usage.
New PDK is ~$12k and a warranty is ~$5k, so a 7-10k spread with labor for someone who may be worried.
I've run mine from 50-80k miles and never even seen a single hiccup...
Manufacturers have all kinds of stuff these days that isn't serviceable, R&R is cheaper for a lot of it given the complexity.
Put a new voltage regulator in your alternator but leave the PDK rebuild for someone else...
New PDK is ~$12k and a warranty is ~$5k, so a 7-10k spread with labor for someone who may be worried.
I've run mine from 50-80k miles and never even seen a single hiccup...
Manufacturers have all kinds of stuff these days that isn't serviceable, R&R is cheaper for a lot of it given the complexity.
Put a new voltage regulator in your alternator but leave the PDK rebuild for someone else...
11-29-2020, 01:24 PM
#127
Rennlist Member
Update!
I paid $13.5K to get everything replaced, and Jason Nelson from PCNA offered to cash reimburse me for a portion of an extended warranty should I buy one (think 20-40% depending on which plan I get).
Fidelity seems to be the best option by reading the boards, and I'm thinking the Gold plan should suffice as it covers basic powertrain plus some electrical stuff.
For those of you familiar, do you think it makes sense for me to get a Gold plan or just stick with the cheaper Powertrain plan? The latter should cover anything catastrophic (like what happened with my PDK), but I also know that this car has a ton of electrical nonsense that I would hope the Gold plan would cover just in case something goes wrong on that front.
Thanks for your help!
Abhi
I paid $13.5K to get everything replaced, and Jason Nelson from PCNA offered to cash reimburse me for a portion of an extended warranty should I buy one (think 20-40% depending on which plan I get).
Fidelity seems to be the best option by reading the boards, and I'm thinking the Gold plan should suffice as it covers basic powertrain plus some electrical stuff.
For those of you familiar, do you think it makes sense for me to get a Gold plan or just stick with the cheaper Powertrain plan? The latter should cover anything catastrophic (like what happened with my PDK), but I also know that this car has a ton of electrical nonsense that I would hope the Gold plan would cover just in case something goes wrong on that front.
Thanks for your help!
Abhi
PDK repair
As to the manual being less prone to repair I can't comment as we all know a Porsche clutch is good for what...35k miles? I had one start slipping at 25k. PDK addresses wear but with electronics that can fail. Here is a good article on just how the two boxes compare from Car and Driver Car and Driver article
11-29-2020, 01:39 PM
#128
Rennlist Member
Update!
I paid $13.5K to get everything replaced, and Jason Nelson from PCNA offered to cash reimburse me for a portion of an extended warranty should I buy one (think 20-40% depending on which plan I get).
Fidelity seems to be the best option by reading the boards, and I'm thinking the Gold plan should suffice as it covers basic powertrain plus some electrical stuff.
For those of you familiar, do you think it makes sense for me to get a Gold plan or just stick with the cheaper Powertrain plan? The latter should cover anything catastrophic (like what happened with my PDK), but I also know that this car has a ton of electrical nonsense that I would hope the Gold plan would cover just in case something goes wrong on that front.
Thanks for your help!
Abhi
I paid $13.5K to get everything replaced, and Jason Nelson from PCNA offered to cash reimburse me for a portion of an extended warranty should I buy one (think 20-40% depending on which plan I get).
Fidelity seems to be the best option by reading the boards, and I'm thinking the Gold plan should suffice as it covers basic powertrain plus some electrical stuff.
For those of you familiar, do you think it makes sense for me to get a Gold plan or just stick with the cheaper Powertrain plan? The latter should cover anything catastrophic (like what happened with my PDK), but I also know that this car has a ton of electrical nonsense that I would hope the Gold plan would cover just in case something goes wrong on that front.
Thanks for your help!
Abhi
The usual suspects here sell Fidelity at 45% off retail. If the dealer is really trying to "help" you, they should do better than that.
When my PDK failed under warranty the dealer made some mistakes that were ridiculous and I told them I was going to air their laundry on Google and Yelp. Not lie about the facts. Just tell the facts. They lied or better yet "misrepresented" to me three times. I said tell you what...sell me a Fidelity warranty at dealer cost. Not cost plus 10%. Not cost plus $500. Cost. They agreed, and the finance guy quoted me the price and I responded with "That is NOT cost and how dare you to lie to me again" and told them I knew cost from a dealer buddy (I didn't). It worked and suddenly the price dropped again. They just can't seem to be honest.
Your replacement trans should have a two year warranty if I'm not mistaken.
Besides Mike at Mossey you can check here http://fd-warranty.com/ That's Troy.
12-04-2020, 04:31 PM
#130
Im looking into Fidelity warranty as well. Platinum vs Gold vs Powertrain
Best to get before the 25K mile mark.
Has anyone on here actually had Fidelity cover their PDK ? If so, which level did you have?
Do we have to have the Platinum? Seems powertrain or Gold should cover it as well
thanks
Best to get before the 25K mile mark.
Has anyone on here actually had Fidelity cover their PDK ? If so, which level did you have?
Do we have to have the Platinum? Seems powertrain or Gold should cover it as well
thanks
12-04-2020, 10:05 PM
#131
Burning Brakes
Im looking into Fidelity warranty as well. Platinum vs Gold vs Powertrain
Best to get before the 25K mile mark.
Has anyone on here actually had Fidelity cover their PDK ? If so, which level did you have?
Do we have to have the Platinum? Seems powertrain or Gold should cover it as well
thanks
Best to get before the 25K mile mark.
Has anyone on here actually had Fidelity cover their PDK ? If so, which level did you have?
Do we have to have the Platinum? Seems powertrain or Gold should cover it as well
thanks
12-06-2020, 09:28 PM
#132
What on earth am I reading here?
12-06-2020, 09:43 PM
#133
Rennlist Member
some of the older gen 911 manual models had an issue where the reverse lights would stop working. I think there is some internal switch that would activate them. Somehow this thing is in a weird place in the transmission, that dealers would just swap out the transmission when this occurs. As far as I know, I don’t think this is an issue with the newer 911 manuals.
12-06-2020, 10:14 PM
#134
some of the older gen 911 manual models had an issue where the reverse lights would stop working. I think there is some internal switch that would activate them. Somehow this thing is in a weird place in the transmission, that dealers would just swap out the transmission when this occurs. As far as I know, I don’t think this is an issue with the newer 911 manuals.
12-06-2020, 11:18 PM
#135
Rennlist Member
Im looking into Fidelity warranty as well. Platinum vs Gold vs Powertrain
Best to get before the 25K mile mark.
Has anyone on here actually had Fidelity cover their PDK ? If so, which level did you have?
Do we have to have the Platinum? Seems powertrain or Gold should cover it as well
thanks
Best to get before the 25K mile mark.
Has anyone on here actually had Fidelity cover their PDK ? If so, which level did you have?
Do we have to have the Platinum? Seems powertrain or Gold should cover it as well
thanks
Here's the thread from the 997 forum. PDK Issue
Last edited by Upscale Audio; 12-07-2020 at 11:42 AM.