Leon993

I just got an apology phone call from David Baker, Mercedes-Audi-Porsche of Albuquerque General Manager, for the despicably substandard experience I had there last week. Here's what happened: My insurance referred me to the dealer for a windshield replacement for my 911, I would think this would be a fairly easy process, but it wasn't. As most of you know, shortly after the 993 model came out, there were corrosion issues from water deposits under the windshield gasket and Porsche corrected this with a revision of their manual. Essentially, the gap between the windshield and the car needs to be filled, but Porsche of Albuquerque HAD NO IDEA what I was talking about! In fact, Parts Manager Chris Baumann informed me that his technicians don't have access to the shop manual. As usual, it was amateur hour at the Porsche of Albuquerque dealer.

So, after we managed to get the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) under control and convinced them about the revised procedure clearly stated in the shop manual, when they finished the installation they delivered my car with swirls and scratches in the pain all around the windshield. The techs where careless enough to use a dirty rag to wipe their greasy hands off my car. The damage was clear, and the dealer refused to take responsibility for this, until I called the general manager and complained.

David Baker, the GM, tried to fix the problem, but refuse to take my car in there ever again! I don't trust the dealer with my car anymore. Im having my paint professionally buffed and will pass along the costs to Porsche of Albuquerque for their stupidity and negligence.

95 NC 993

What an awful experience for something so simple.That's brutal! Almost as brutal as reading the type in your post. My poor eyes...

Ed Burdell

I'd be insanely pissed too if this had happened to me. You were correct to point out the error of their ways and to pass along your experience to the RL community. Hope your car does not suffer any long term problems as a result of their hamfistedness. Are you able to confirm that they followed correct procedure in filling the gap, at least?

Leon993

Ed,

Absolutely, I even printed the procedure straight out of the shop manual. Even after I gave it to them they were skeptical. They are unbelievable! I've never seen anything of the sort in any dealership in all my life. It's pathetic. I posted this same entry on our Facebook local PCA and the similar stories started pouring in. I'm letting people know to beware of this place.

matt777

I really wouldn't expect the dealer to be current with any air-cooled car. Its over 15 years old now and they are generally focused on much newer cars. Sometimes a dealer will still have a mechanic or two who worked on the older cars but I wouldn't count on that. IMHO you are better off holding their hand or finding someone who does work on 993's on a much more regular basis.

Cactus

I'm convinced the only places left to take our cars are Steve Weiner, FDM, and 9M

blake

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I find that Porsche dealers know less than I would expect about Porsches in general. And in the small markets, it is much worse...

It seems like the true "mechanic" has given way to a "tech" that really isn't asked to trouble-shoot anything. Rather than isolate the problem, it is much easier to "replace the whole system". Clearly, that drives profits...

My own Porsche experiences:

1997 - Maryland Porsche Dealer - installed the rear black stone guards incorrectly on my 79 SC. They thought overlapping it with the rocker panel made sense, and charged me $120 for labor to boot... (I took it to them because I figured they would have proper measurements)

2000 - New Jersye Porsche Dealer - tells me the 964 Speedster that I am looking to buy has been repainted. Seller vehemently disagrees, so I fly in and get local Porsche expert (via PCA) to look at paint. Turns out dealer's mechanic doesn't know how to read paint meter.

2002 - Utah Porsche Dealer - tech forgets to relieve back pressure in the oil filter when doing a routine 964 oil change in my Speedster - and drips oil all over my immaculate engine bay, then proceeds not to tell me. It took me many, many hours to get that crap off.

2002 - Utah Porsche Dealer - tech decides to THROW DOWN the hood on my mint Speedster to close it, chipping the paint around the latch mechanism and bending the latch itself. The hood would not open, to which he asked when I brought it back in: "what did you do?". He told me that Porsche mechanics were taught to close hoods that way... I used to put a Colgan bra on the car and needed to alter the latch mechanism a hair to offer clearance. As the tech threw down the hood (literally), it bent the latch. After countless calls to the GM, they finally agreed to replace the plastic insert that they also had broken.

2007 - Utah Porsche Dealer - I take my GT3 in to change the camber and toe-in for the track, assuming the dealer will be aware of the Kussumaul settings (Porsche factory driver). I tell them to rotate the struts to get the required -3 degrees camber. They tell me that this can't be done, and actually laugh at my request. I have to come on Rennlist and print out the Porsche alert that shows them how to do this.

2011 - Utah Porsche Dealer - A few weeks back, I asked the local dealer for the Porsche Approved Oil list. I was debating changing from 0W40 to 5W40 due to the hot desert climate in the summer. The service manager told me that he did not know that Porsche published an oil list. And on that same visit, for the 2nd time, the parts department sold me the wrong oil filters for my cars.

With all that said, the Mini Cooper dealerships have given me even more angst. I could tell stories....

-B

Howdy993

2010 The Fort Worth dealer parts department doesn't have OEM 993 alternator belt in stock due to "lack of demand."

ilko

Windshield repair on these cars is not easy. Even shops that have experience with these cars can't get it right most of the time. If you have a chip try the syringe filler method first. Don't replace the windshield unless absolutely necessary.

Quadcammer

I can absolutely believe that. I bet no dealers in my area carry v-belts in stock. I don't think there is anything wrong with that either

AOW162435

Leon,
I don't mean to discount the aggravation you experienced, but I must ask - when you first realized their outright lack of early-911 knowledge, compunded by their refusal to heed your requests - why did you simply not turn around and leave?

I certainly would have ended the conversation immediately.


Andreas

Andre'

I'm not taking my car to our local Porsche dealer anymore either - Tom Williams in Birmingham. It is all about aptidude and attitude. Here's my story:

Took my car to the dealership to have the top realigned - they returned it with oil and grease all over the interior (leather seats, carpet), and a scratched up the aluminum hand brake lever. In addition to that they took the car out for a ~ 20 mile joy ride, and got really arrogant after I told them how I feel about this...

However, they settled the case, and I got my new brake lever. Clean up was up to me. Would I still go back? Noop - once the confidence is gone it's gone...

There's a car shop in close proximity that all the local PCA club members use; they do a great job and the owner is very active himself in participating in club activities. Can't beat that, and it doesn't always has to be a true Porsche dealership!

JDHertz11

Guys, we all have to understand that we are dealing with cars from a different era here. The last air cooled car rolled out of the average Porsche dealer approximately 14 years ago. In that time a lot has changed. I own a few Porsche's and have never stepped foot in a dealer's service department. My cars are maintained by a local specialty Porsche shop that may be on the semi expensive side but they know "our" cars. We work on tens of thousands of cars yearly in my business and the majority of my techs have no experience working on anything more than 5-10 years old. I would never expect a dealer or its parts department to want anything to do with us. It just doesn't make financial sense. I'd love to pull into the VW dealers service department with one of my old VW's. I guarantee that no one would even come out to greet me!

NP993

This is exactly right. Expecting a dealership service department to know its way around a 993 is unrealistic and you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Selo

Have you ever used Mickey at Jim's Fine cars? None of that BS there.