Anir

My car is in the final stages of its Road America shunt repair. The body shop, and my wife, have had trouble locating an arctic silver Turbo script for the rear wing. The shop keeps receiving a chrome script.

My wife contacted PCNA and Stoddard, and they confirmed that 996.559.237.034PU (the new part #) is a "silver insignia" and supposedly the only available option. Unfortunately, "silver" in this case apparently means "chrome", and my body shop does not feel that it is the best surface to accept the paint.

Any other options or suggestions? TIA!

kary993

Anir, I was looking up this for you through my business and it is hard to tell from the picture if it is silver or chrome. Is says it is "Turbo Silver". It does say it is for 95-98 turbos and 01 and forward turbos. It does look like chrome though now that I look at it more closely.

Anir

Kary,

Thank you for trying. It seems strange to me that Porsche would even offer the insignia in chrome, given that I have never seen any chrome part on a 993. Maybe, it's a Cayenne thing?

It's getting harder and harder to find some appropriate trim parts for our 993's, even though some of our cars are only 6-7 years old. Examples I've noticed: proper floormats (with floor fastening system), scripted doorsills, and just about any piece in my car's chestnut brown! The factory is having to custom-make my new four-spoke CF/leather steering wheel and airbag, with a wait of at least six months (could be a year).

I wonder if it's only going to get worse as time goes on. Frankly, I'm disappointed given how recently our cars were manufactured. I understand that the trend in business is to keep as little on the shelves as possible, since unsold inventory dilutes profits. However, there is some necessity to keep customers happy by supporting your products - especially ones that cost well over $100,000 just 6 years ago. IMO, adopting a "planned obsolescence" approach or allowing slow cosmetic decay due to a lack of trim parts does not engender long-term loyalty.

I have a friend who is a PCA club racer and Toyota employee who tells me that the company expects the average customer to only drive a Camry for five years, and that they take that into account in planning. I sure hope Porsche does not expect us to swap cars every few years. One of the main historical attractions of a Porsche (for me) has always been that you can drive them for decades, given proper TLC and maintenance.

Forgive me for the rant. Any other ideas where I can find the appropriate factory part?

bet

Anir,

I would suggest contacting Eric The Plug Guy (post a lot on the 996 and Boxster boards) and inquire about having the black script painted.

This is his company: http://www.geocities.com/esklut/plugs.html There is an email link to Eric on the site or just post a Hey Eric on the 996 board.

They can paint anything any color. Notice on of their products is painted bumpers for the rear of 996s. I have seen some of his work on the center consols and trim pieces for Boxsters and 996s. Very impressive looks exactly like the factory painted pieces. I have also read that they are very durable.

No affiliation, yada, yada, yada....

Anir

Thanks, Brian and Kim!