Drew46

A good friend of mine bought a 2018 718 Boxster S with 16,700 miles on it about 6 months ago. He bought it in FLA from a non-Porsche dealership. The car still has under 18K miles. He got a transmission fault warning that said he could still drive the car, but the PDK would not engage any gears. He just heard from the Porsche dealership where he brought the car for services that the transmission needs to be replaced, that they went to Porsche to see if they would cover it and Porsche declined. They have suggested that he reach out to PNA to appeal, which we will do. The quoted cost for the replacement is over $21K (actually over $23K when you add in the charges for the diagnostics and the alignment they say will be necessary)! Needless to say, he is not a happy camper.

Has anyone had any experience/success with getting PNA to cover an out of warranty claim on a goodwill basis? Other than 1-800-Porsche (as suggested by the dealer), does anyone have any suggestions as the best place(s) to start this campaign? Any other suggestions or ideas. I feel a bit responsible because he got the bug to buy the car after I took him for a ride in my car. A $23K expense on a car he spent under $80K on is a big hit in the first 6 months. And, in fairness, even though the car is over 4 years old, I think that he has a right to be pissed that the PDK would go with less than 20K miles. He had the dealership look for faults and codes to see if there was any sign of abuse by the previous owner and nothing shows.

audi4t

Give ATLSpeedwerks in Gainesville Ga a call they are one of very few shops that rebuild PDK transmissions

toma nova

I had my PDK repaired by Atlanta Speedwerks, highly recommended. There are two big threads about PDK faults and repairs, one in the 981 forum and the master thread in the 997 forum.

Bottom line is that dealers are useless as they’ll only replace, he’ll need an Indy to actually get inside to repair.

tmslc

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detansinn

As noted above, Porsche dealers will not repair PDK transmissions. They will only replace them. Fortunately, there's a growing number of third parties that will do the work -- ATL Speedwerks being one of the better known shops experienced with doing this.

PDK transmissions are very reliable. Most of the issues appear to be related to sensor failures/issues, ie. not spectacular mechanical failures. With these issues starting to crop up in 997.2 and 991s, it's a growing addressable market for independent shops.

Radiationman

While stranger things have happened - I would be stunned if PNA reversed course on this.

There's a few things working against your friend-

• The car is out of warranty
• Your friend is not the original owner
• The car was purchased used from a non-Porsche dealer

PNA's instant reaction to a PDK failing with the milage that low is that the car was abused - that will be without even looking at the car or getting any more information beyond the mileage of the car. If the car was under warranty it would likely be on the owner to prove that the car hadn't been abused before PNA approved the warranty work - they've treated owners this way who've had engines grenade on them with less than 200 miles on them and less than 24 hours after pickup. That's for cars under warranty, for cars out of warranty - they're even less likely to even entertain the idea that the car hadn't been abused no matter what the diagnostics on the car report.

If your friend was the first owner of the car, and they were a loyal new car Porsche customer, AND they bought from a high volume Porsche dealer they might have a fighting chance for PNA to do something. But for a used car, one that isn't even a Porsche CPO, I wouldn't expect that Porsche's going to do much more than send your friend an e-mail that says "We're sorry your PDK failed"

ipse dixit

Just to be clear.

It's not that Porsche dealers will not repair a PDK; rather it's that PAG will only replace the entire transmission unit when a PDK breaks.

malba2366

Is there a list anywhere on here with Indys who are able to repair PDK transmissions? I have a friend who lives near NYC and he can't find a local shop who will repair a PDK.

audi4t

I recently attended a PCA tech session at ATLSpeedwerks.
It was mentioned that that there are only 2 independent shops that are equipped to fully repair PDK’s because they have access to proprietary components (not OEM).

ATLSpeedwerks had Porsches from across the US in for repair.

I don’t know who the other shop is.

drcollie

I would not waste the energy on trying to obtain an goodwill repair from a manufacturer on a 5 year old car that was not even purchased from a Porsche dealer. That dog won't hunt. Instead, go for the repair OR a salvage unit.

toma nova

The other shop is Beck’s in Scottsdale. I’ve recently heard of a third shop but don’t know enough about them to give a name.

Atlanta Speedwerks’ PDK guru worked for ZF and owned his own shop for decades, he now rebuilds a couple of PDKs a month in retirement. Brian can repair distance sensors in house but the big rebuilds go to the specialist.

Spyerx

Isn't the most common component on these the gear/selector location sensor?

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BigRed911

Porsche has declined significantly in the customer service department over the years. They are at the same level as Dodge, Ford and Chevy.

John Mclane

PCNA is terrible. They will say the dealer has the last word. They deny fix under warranty, even worse out,
Based on my intersections with them I would never buy a Porsche again.

Stoney901

I’m confused. Car is out of warranty. You really expect Porsche to pay for a new PDK? Would your business pay for something out of contract or warranty? Feel bad for the owner but maybe the previous owner dumped it because there was an issue.