Sometimes Porsche makes me very angry
02-26-2008, 12:51 PM
#1
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Sometimes Porsche makes me very angry
I mean I know it is a Porsche, and I am sure Ferrari owners have it worse, but every now and then I get to feeling completely ripped off.
A rear axel plate in my Targa roof broke the other day, causing the top to get jammed. The part is about a two inches long and maybe 3/4 inch wide–
(I drew a little picture of it below.)
It is made out of Pot metal and there is a steel insert in the cylinder part.
it cracked on the thin part by the hole nearest the cylinder part.
This part, if it was on a Ford would be $22, on a Honda maybe $65, on VW I figure maybe $95, so I was figuring Porsche, probably $150 to $180.
It was three hundred freakin dollars! Now I know it is a Porsche, but even that seems out of line.
I went to a machinist and he said he could make it for close to that but the ribbed back would take him a bit of time to set up and match exactly so I was probably better off just biting the bullet, unless I wanted multiple parts. Im sure outside of Los Angeles it would have been way cheaper to have one made.
Sometimes when it is so blatantly obvious that the profit margin on parts is designed to make one buy a new car it begins to irritate.
Like I said, I understand parts for the car are expensive, I didn't grumble when I paid $85 dollars for the 1 x 3 inch piece of leather with the snap on it to hold up the rear seat on my 84 Carrera, but three hundred bucks for pot metal?!
rrrrrr
A rear axel plate in my Targa roof broke the other day, causing the top to get jammed. The part is about a two inches long and maybe 3/4 inch wide–
(I drew a little picture of it below.)
It is made out of Pot metal and there is a steel insert in the cylinder part.
it cracked on the thin part by the hole nearest the cylinder part.
This part, if it was on a Ford would be $22, on a Honda maybe $65, on VW I figure maybe $95, so I was figuring Porsche, probably $150 to $180.
It was three hundred freakin dollars! Now I know it is a Porsche, but even that seems out of line.
I went to a machinist and he said he could make it for close to that but the ribbed back would take him a bit of time to set up and match exactly so I was probably better off just biting the bullet, unless I wanted multiple parts. Im sure outside of Los Angeles it would have been way cheaper to have one made.
Sometimes when it is so blatantly obvious that the profit margin on parts is designed to make one buy a new car it begins to irritate.
Like I said, I understand parts for the car are expensive, I didn't grumble when I paid $85 dollars for the 1 x 3 inch piece of leather with the snap on it to hold up the rear seat on my 84 Carrera, but three hundred bucks for pot metal?!
rrrrrr
02-26-2008, 01:04 PM
#2
Race Car
It's not just Porsche. On a Toyota Land Criuser/Lexus LX, if the power seat stops working, it's a nylon bushing the size of a quarter. You have to replace the seat motor to fix it. $1000
02-26-2008, 01:24 PM
#3
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When I bought my first Porsche my friend, and fellow Porsche owner said "You're not a real Porsche
owner until you're complaining about how much the parts cost." Boy, was he ever right.
Since there were not huge numbers of Targas built probably explains at least a little for this part's
high cost.
Fewer cars = fewer parts = higher cost
owner until you're complaining about how much the parts cost." Boy, was he ever right.
Since there were not huge numbers of Targas built probably explains at least a little for this part's
high cost.
Fewer cars = fewer parts = higher cost
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02-26-2008, 02:00 PM
#9
Nordschleife Master
For my SC, I made a few of them straps for <$10 using some 1" webbing and some snaps I bought at Michaels, sure they wouldn't have passed a concourse inspection, but functionally they worked great. I used a staple gun to attach them to the seats, and re-covered them with the carpeting.
02-26-2008, 02:06 PM
#10
Seared
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It is perplexing how some parts are very inexpensive, while others simply defy logic.
Have you tried DC Automotive in NC? The part you get may be somewhat dusty, but should not hinder its performance.
Andreas
02-26-2008, 03:25 PM
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I actually had to buy the part at a local dealer because the PET lists 2 separate parts yet doesn't have a detailed enough picture to allow one to discern which is which, nor any explanation of why there are two differing parts listed. Sunset didn't know anything about it, and my dealer didn't either so I had to buy locally so I could return it. DC automotive I avoid because of a hassle I had with them last year.
It seems there are a lot of different parts in the mechanism depending on the year of the the Targa. I discovered this when I replaced the cables. The cables and cradles that arrived from Sunset were different from what was in my car and they would not work with the existing parts in my car. There was no information available via the dealers or anyone on the subject as only one cable repair kit was listed in the PET. I eventually, after removing the roof twice, figured out how they had updated it and how it was supposed to work, but there is no data on the upgraded parts, no TSBs nothing noted in the PET. I now know more about the mechanism than anyone in the whole U.S. it seems. Its made by Webasto as a unit, so that may explain Porsche's lack of information on the matter. Someday Ill get around to finishing the DIY of Targa cable replacement.
As for a dismantler, I contacted two with Targas, including LAPD and they both didn't want to sell off small parts because they can get more selling the roof as a unit.
Brewmeister and Academictech, I understand what you are saying, and I understand manufacturing and the economics of such to a degree, but a part like this that I could have made by hand, in Los Angeles, for roughly the same price, out of steel or a high grade aluminum should not be anything near that price if cast in pot metal in quantities over 10,000. This is a huge mark up, regardless of exchange rates.
Automotive manufacturers–not just Porsche–are doing this on purpose, moving toward this strategy of making parts extremely expensive to make moving to a newer model more attractive. Actually this is occurring with many products these days.
I have to pay it, its just sometimes when its such an egregious example of this philosophy it really bugs me.
Oh, yeah, there is also the fact that I am of Scottish ancestry.
It seems there are a lot of different parts in the mechanism depending on the year of the the Targa. I discovered this when I replaced the cables. The cables and cradles that arrived from Sunset were different from what was in my car and they would not work with the existing parts in my car. There was no information available via the dealers or anyone on the subject as only one cable repair kit was listed in the PET. I eventually, after removing the roof twice, figured out how they had updated it and how it was supposed to work, but there is no data on the upgraded parts, no TSBs nothing noted in the PET. I now know more about the mechanism than anyone in the whole U.S. it seems. Its made by Webasto as a unit, so that may explain Porsche's lack of information on the matter. Someday Ill get around to finishing the DIY of Targa cable replacement.
As for a dismantler, I contacted two with Targas, including LAPD and they both didn't want to sell off small parts because they can get more selling the roof as a unit.
Brewmeister and Academictech, I understand what you are saying, and I understand manufacturing and the economics of such to a degree, but a part like this that I could have made by hand, in Los Angeles, for roughly the same price, out of steel or a high grade aluminum should not be anything near that price if cast in pot metal in quantities over 10,000. This is a huge mark up, regardless of exchange rates.
Automotive manufacturers–not just Porsche–are doing this on purpose, moving toward this strategy of making parts extremely expensive to make moving to a newer model more attractive. Actually this is occurring with many products these days.
I have to pay it, its just sometimes when its such an egregious example of this philosophy it really bugs me.
Oh, yeah, there is also the fact that I am of Scottish ancestry.