Nashvegas

Are you taking videos when this happens? You should be -- with your iPhone / phone. That might be the evidence they need to prove the failure to PCNA.

I don't know if anything I am saying here could help, but ... I am sorry for the troubles with the warranty coverage. This month had a similar CPO coverage issue where they wouldn't replace components because they couldn't replicate the condition. The dealer told me CPO wouldn't be any different than the factory warranty in this regard, FWIW. So it's more a warranty issue than a CPO warranty issue.

Here's how I navigated. (In my case, the brake pedal was intermittently going to the floor on my low miles 2013 991 S. The fault never happened at the dealership, & no codes, making it nearly impossible for them to get the warranty to cover any component. But -- A very serious safety issue.

See if you can get the shop foreman or lead tech to go on a drive with you - solo - in the car and plead your case. That's what I did. Take the service writer and service manager out of the equation after they schedule a time for you to ride around with the shop foreman. I was in and out of the dealer 3x for my issue, they could never replicate. One drive with the shop foreman ... where he was quite literally trapped in my car with me captive audience while I was repeatedly jabbing the brakes and pulling out all my strong language while trying to get the failure to happen -- I think it made the point.

Shop foreman explained that they cannot replace components under warranty that are not showing as faulty or have a condition the tech can replicate. It's very difficult. I pressed him very hard on their process and what the workarounds might be. I said "You have to have a mechanism with warranty repairs to replace components when a car has been in multiple times for the same intermittent concern even if the tech cannot replicate the condition". And turns out -- they did. Note: Also he said that they can use customer videos to prove the condition when they can't replicate it. (I had no video as my brake pedal intermittently going to the floor with no warning lights was ... nigh impossible to video)

Shop foreman admitted they do have ability to escalate with PCNA to push repairs through - in rare instances in phantom situations where no codes or symptoms are occurring - and a week and a half later, they'd replaced master cylinder, covered under warranty.

FYI, I also considered selling mine. Glad I didn't.

Go for the jugular. I would argue yours is a serious safety issue as well. You've been stranded multiple times, right? On a highway? At night? With your loved ones? How is that not a critical safety issue. Your car loses drive and if you're murdered or run down on the side of the road while waiting for a tow... as someone here on Rennlist told me, they won't be able to replace the PDK gearbox when your car gets rear ended on the side of the interstate and you're dead.

sunspot2013

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have a feeling I am running up some of the same road blocks you experienced as well. I had not been taking videos when the faults appeared, but I was also thinking this morning that I absolutely will be ready to do that now if I am stuck with the car and have to get it to appear again. I was obviously way too naive and trusting of the notion that the fact the fault codes are stored in the car are enough to get resolution.

Highline-Autos.com

Hate to have to say it, but yes this is how warranty claims work, codes must be present and can not be cleared, or currently showing signs of a vehicle breakage/need for repair. Does not matter if it is CPO, factory warranty, or 3rd party warranty. No current fault codes and the vehicle running is running as it should? Any warranty company is going to tell you to come back when the vehicle is currently showing signs of problem. Even if there was an independent adjuster called, they would need to see the issue as well.

Trenton O. Gibson
tgibson@highline-autos.com
Highline Autos
Direct: 602.909.9216
Office: 480.348.0777

sunspot2013

Thank you for your reply. What is surprising to me about this is that the fault code history is there. The PDK has thrown these codes now in two instances in the past 5 weeks, and the dealer can pull all this history from the scan tool. Why does the fault code go away after the car has sat for a while? I have no idea, but I am surprised that having the history of these faults - especially their recurring nature - isn't enough. This isn't a case of "gee my car makes a noise sometimes can you please fix it" and the technician can't replicate the noise so there is literally nothing to go off of other than my word.

t-design

Can you post error codes? That will tell a lot about how it will progress

sunspot2013

In the first instance where the COV for the PDK cooler was replaced, the repair invoice says the codes were P1433 (vacuum system leaks - cooling system - fault (implausible signal) and P1733 (displ. sensor shift rod gears 1/3, implausible signal (signal error)).

In the second instance, Porsche Pittsburgh just told me that the same PDK code appeared again but they have not shown me the repair invoice with the codes listed yet. They are still trying to argue with the Porsche rep. to have the PDK approved but as of yesterday, the regional rep. is still firm that the faults must be showing while the car is in the service department. And the dealer cannot get the codes to reappear on test drives. I have opened a case with PCNA but don't expect anything to come of it. I also messaged several executives at PCNA on LinkedIn and two of them did come back to me and said they have forwarded my information and spoken to the responsible person but again, no promises or promise of resolution.

I'm just incredulous that I basically have a car that I can't even risk assess whether it will make it to its destination. Sort of like as if I bought a 20 year old Range Rover. Not what I expect from a CPO car. It is beyond belief that Porsche will not exercise some level of discretion, in light of the circumstances, to approve the PDK replacement. This totally changes my risk calculus on a CPO car. It was precisely something like this that I thought the CPO gives peace of mind for.

t-design

1733 is distance sensor. Once you've seen it - it will show up again, more and more until permanent. There is no chance that it will just go away on its own. So you will have a case there sooner or later.

sunspot2013

Thank you for that feedback, as it does give me some degree of certainty as to how this may end up playing out. I hope on the next failure (assuming Porsche doesn't have a change of heart and actually apply principles of customer service and approve the replacement now) the fault message will stay on or I can video it and that will be enough to get it approved.

t-design

Unfortunately, as you already described, you might get stranded again. I would advice to get a simple and cheap OBD reading device and erase the code after car cools down - than you'd be able to get home. But that would defy the CPO rules again