Justin N

Last weekend I was driving my 2013 C2, all of a sudden I get an alert message on the display that says "sport mode not available". The car is in 5th, and won't up shift or downshift. I decide to pull over and put it in neutral. I turn off the car and restart, hoping it's just an electronic fluke. Now I get three messages, one being something like " transmission failure, possible to drive on". Well, it wasn't possible to drive n, it just blinked "2" on the gear display.

Luckily, I was only a few miles from the dealership. Porsche roadside got me a tow, and even got me an Uber home! The must have called me 4 times during the whole process to make sure everything was going ok. Stellar service.

So, the car has been at the dealer for the entire week, and still no clear diagnosis. They said they have been back and forth with the engineering team at Porsche, but I don't have specifics on what they have tried.

I have never had a major issue like this on any of my cars, does it usually take this long to figure out what is wrong? This whole thing is a bit concerning because my warranty is up in a few months and I was planning on keeping the car for a few more years. I know the 991's are generally solid but this has me second guess keeping it past warranty.

Edit: there are approx 26k miles on the car.

DerekS

Lightning won't strike twice. They'll fix it, probably with a new PDK, and you'll live happily ever after.

neanicu

Sorry to hear. But on the bright side,it's good it happened before your warranty expired. Even though I am very sure Porsche would've taken care of you anyway in this case...

As a side note,please consider a manual transmission in your next Porsche.

Porscheforever

I went through almost the same problem twice (though with 986) before I upgraded to 991. It's a dirty or failed switch in the transmission. Error code was 0740 with OBD reader for 986 with tiptronic.

oalvarez

i'm betting that it will be a $11k ticket to fix (a new tranny/module), and one that PNA will pay for. if it's not, you might hope that it was. been there, done that.

do a search on the topic.

best,

c_Gio

When I saw the PDK failure thread title, I assumed a PDK owner had come to their senses and wanted a MT.

Sorry for the stress. No fun.

Pmorritt

My last 5 cars were MT,s and wanted my new Porsche to also be a MT. But now that I'm down to just his and hers, no extras, my decision was clear. PDK or having to hear " I don't like shifting" Married life is all about compromises. Happy wife- happy life. Do I miss rowing the gears,Yes, do I like PDK Yes.

997s07

Be careful. You don't want to come off as 'macho.'

Selo

Why not macho? Good enough for presidential candidates, good enough for me!

fester

My 4 yrs expire in Jan'17...I know I'm getting an extended warranty !

Btw, I learned on manual when I was 16 and driven 991S with manual...the shifts are long ...didn't quite enjoy it ...but it's just me I guess..

Justin N

I was under the impression you can't purchase an extended warranty from Porsche, I thought you can only get a CPO if the dealer does it before purchase.

I have actually never owned an automatic vehicle before this, but the PDK is a really great tranny from a driving perspective( electronic gremlins not withstanding). Besides, it has two clutches, and what is more "manly" than having more of something!

997s07

Trying to not offend any Georgians or Ontarians vis-à-vis the recent thread counting how many manual 991 owners are around.

Justin N

Just got an update from the dealer - transmission is getting replaced. They swapped out the whole PDK unit but still need to do some software updates and testing tomorrow. Service advisor said the cost would have been 10k in parts alone, although I swear I read the PDK on this car costs more. They said they have never replaced a trans on a 991, I find the service techs at this dealer very capable but we'll see....

reuben991

Stop it Gio, even your wife says that PDK is better

plenum

At a Tech session earlier this year, there was a chance to talk PDK with few of the Training Center Techs with a PDK out on the "bench." Basically the PDK is a "disposable" unit, meaning that when there are problems that aren't correctable via external means, the entire PDK unit is to be replaced and "bad" unit sent back to Porsche. No transmission tear-downs or rebuilds which may result in chance problems are not permanently corrected. Could someone take a PDK apart and "fix?" Possibly. But going-over the insides of one of these things I certainly wouldn't want even the best-trained dealer tech to bother.....

Here's a couple of pics: