SPT

Please check out my new website. Porsche is the worst company I have ever delt with from a customer service standpoint. This is my third Porsche since 1999 and my last! I have had 44 cars to date. Mercedes, Audi and BMW treat you like you are a valued customer. PORSCHE could care less if you ever buy another one of their cars. This is a heck of a way to run a business! If you have a horror story about your Porsche please send it to me and I will post it on my website.

Regards,
Scott

http://porsche.tosti.net

GreggT

Your third Porsche since 99.....and this car was a used 99 996 .........I'm curious what your other Porsche's were.

SPT

97 C4S

01 C4

ben in lj

"BMW treat you like you are a valued customer"

?????

"If you have a horror story about your Porsche please send it to me and I will post it on my website."

are you accepting BMW ones instead as a have several?

Sanjeevan

SPT, that's a long list of things to go wrong in an 02 C4, I am sad to hear it. But, how did you determine that "the car was in great condition" when you bought it, and then all of a sudden get all of these problems. It is more likely IMHO that the car was majorly abused by the "private party". Actually it sounds more like it went through an amature 'take the car apart and put it back together' project.
Also, I hope YOU didn't pay $100k for it . Thankfully the only recurrent problems that has been noted with the 996's is the RMS leak and the glove box rattles, and actually last year porsche beat lexus and acura for it's reliability.
Also, i am pretty sure you are aware that the lemon law only applies for new cars, but, I am also fairly certain that with private party sales, if you can prove that these problems were known and withheld by the seller, he may be liable to some of the repair costs. Good luck

TurboMark

Not sure of the value of the web site other than it is entertaining.

SPT

This is just the beginning... It's going to grow until Porsche does what they are contractually obligated to do! FIX MY CAR! I am sending the story and the link to every newspaper in the USA. My second goal is to make future buyers aware of PCNA practices...

Stay Tuned!

Regards!

Eric - Plug Guy

It's a real shame that it came to this. I remember having some dialogue with you about this, and still cannot believe the DSM did not intervene.

In any event, I highly doubt the tone of the website will do anything other than destroy any effort Porsche might undertake. But you have to do what you feel best at this point.

A 'tuned in' dealership GM should be involved here, so you don't have to chase these folks down.

Also, if you can determine the lemon law applies in your case, get an attorney and file the paperwork.

As for repairs at 60k miles, I had an interesting interaction with my DSM last year when my '99, 6 months out of warranty and at a mere 36k miles had the plastic rear window separate from the canvas, costing me a top replacement (broken zipper) and window replacement, to the tune of around $3500, right after a 30k mile service required an MAF sensor replacement too.

When I asked the DSM about any 'help' since the car was so close to the warranty period and in factory/showroom condition otherwise, the comment was "Porsches are expensive cars to maintain"...basically told me to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, and take my lumps. What a guy.

You are correct - Porsche Customer Commitment is NOTHING like it was 5 years ago - and I had plenty of interaction with them then, and it resulted in positive feelings in the end. Not any more.

Best of luck in some resolution.

One other thing - I have a C4S ('04) and never hear any sort of 'engagement' of the forward drive train, nor would I expect to hear anything other than the wonderful rumble from the PSE when I let the clutch out. Not sure if any Porsche would provide that particular 'noise' you refer to when the C4 is working properly - it should sound like any other Porsche.

kevin930s

BMW and Audi have lots of customer service problems too read the forums. Sorry to here about ur problems..

Graygoose997

sounds like you'll finally get their attention.
their lawyers will be in contact regarding the use of the porsche name in the web adress.
Perry

Moogle

LOLOLOLOL ah too true, and thats probably all they will care about

Doug H

Sorry to hear of your frusteration, but alot of this seem minor and more annnoying than anything. Things go wrong with used cars. An extended warranty may have covered some of this and I had a dash lights issue once resolved by a new instrument cluster. Are you just upset because Porsche is not paying for this stuff out of warranty. If you are looking for free out of warranty fixes, you may meet some resistence when trying to get a dealer to start pulling and replacing parts when the problems don't duplicate or codes don't show. Maybe try another dealer or an independent shop and be willing to pay the $$$ it takes to trouble shoot if you have not already tried that route.

Porsches are expensive. To me they are worth it. You got to pay to play, I guess. If your wallet cannot handle $1k to $ 2K a year to keep a used and out of warranty Porsche maintained, then you may be better off with another brand and make sure you have a new one or buy an extended warranty. If you really had problems during the warranty period, why not check on an extended warranty. They are not that expensive for the peace of mind they offer and could have potentially covered your AWD system which seems to be the catalyst here.

2. Automatic door opener works intermittently (36k). Burlington Porsche had me buy a new key at a cost to me of 279.00 dollars! It did not fix the problem. Porsche of Nashua had me change the battery at a cost of 40.00 dollars. This did not fix the problem either. Never Resolved...

Porsche keys can be eratic, especially on the Cayenne. Annoying, but not worth losing sleep over.

3. Engine skips at idle (36k). It has never been fixed because Burlington Porsche service could not find figure out what was causing the problem… They told me to wait until it got bad enough to set off the check engine light. This way there would be a code that would help the tech to diagnose the problem. Never Resolved...

I get a little wobble/fluctation in my cars idle, but does not affect performance and 2 are chipped. Not sure how this is bad unless the car is stalling and etc.

4. Check Engine Light goes on every 3 to 5 thousand miles for no reason (36k). The latest fix was applied by Porsche of Nashua at 60k. It now comes on and shuts off by its self after a few days. Never Resolved...

Does it ever blink while it is on? Maybe a new instrument cluster would help.

5. Airbag Failure Light goes on every 5 to 7 thousand miles (40k). A ground was blamed but it has not been resolved. Never Resolved...

Maybe a new instrument cluster would resolve this too.

6. Radio shuts off, changes stations, switches between CD and radio intermittently (40k). Porsche of Nashua replaced the radio. It did not fix the problem. Never Resolved...

Try an aftermarket head unit. May be better for less money.

7. Speakers vibrate (40k). Never Resolved...

Maybe speaker is blown. Don't turn up to loud and replace speaker with a higher quality driver. Also, watch bass level.

8. Dash, passenger door and back seat rattle (40k). Never Resolved...

Some Porsches rattle especially with aftermarket suspensions. I don't think I have ever had a car that did not have a rattle somewhere. BTW, my cars with carbon fibre also seem to have a little more rattle than those that don't. Still like the carbon because it looks good, but might be a bit of a trade off here.

9. Drivers door wind noise (40k). Never Resolved...

Happens when I go fast.

10. Temperature gauge over heat light blinks intermittently (40k). Never Resolved...

Sounds annoying. Does your temp needle actually go to the red zone or is it staying where it should be. Ask them if instrument cluster could help. May or may not, but worth a try with the other lights and if the temp is not really going high.

11. Gas Gauge is erratic (40k). Never Resolved...

Annoying, but not the end of the world. My 90 gas guage is erratic, but the low fuel light or somputer is a good way to guage if you are really low on fuel. Maybe this and the airbag and other lights could be solved with a new instrument cluster.

12. Left Front suspension bangs in extreme cold (60k). Never Resolved...

Does it affect the cars handling? Suspension parts can get worn after time and use.

13. All Wheel Drive seems to no longer works (60k). $1800.00 dollars to repair at Porsche of Nashua. Note, I discovered this at 60k. Who is to say when it became nonfunctional? There is no reason to believe that the all wheel drive was ever working in the car. Both winters I drove the car were interesting. I was never able to “hear” the all wheel drive engage as I was able to in my last two cars. Never Resolved...

That sucks, but again, this is what extended warranties are for and you run the risk of having things break and costing money when you buy a used car. If you had a PPI when you bought the car, it seemed like this should have been checked. I, however, think it is a completely unreasonable expectation to believe that Porsche should good will this as far as you are outside your warranty. In response to your logic, it would seem to me that you have the duty of reporting the problem within the warranty period. If you never heard the all wheel drive engage, you should have reported it sooner. I would think it doesn't matter when it became non-functional if you don't report it during the warranty period.

14. Carbon Fiber Package “shattered” one morning in January 2004 when the outside temperature hit -12 degrees F (60k). This is unacceptable!!!

Carbon Fibre pieces have to be replaced everyone and while. Covered under warranty and extended warranty.

Boy have I got some BMW and Audi stories that deal with big items that takes a car under warranty out of service. I wont bore you with the details.

BTW, I hope you didn't pay $ 100,000 for your 99 C4 in the summer of 2002 per your web page. Didn't you say you had purchased the car in 2001 when you first started complaining about the AWD system and you say you had an 01, but a while back you indicated that you wanted to buy an 01 and did not even know how much hp it had or if it was different from the 99. Not really picking on you, but if I had a web page like you have, I would make absolutely sure I had all my facts straight so I didn't open any doors for someone to try and say I committed slander or libel.

PogueMoHone

PCNA does a good job of trying to satisfy their customers, and I have received the goodwill "benefit" on occasion.

Doug H

Me too. It really depends a whole lot on you relatioship with your dealer because they certainly can go to bat for you and help things out. If you stay in pissing matches with your dealer, the reality is they won't go to bat for you and that will not help your cause. Though the dealer does not have the final say so, they are usually buddies with the regional warranty rep and the regional warranty reps will do them favors or listen to the dealers. Sometimes, the dealer will actually eat some or all of the labor on goodwill items as part of a deal just to keep a customer with whom they have a relationship happy.

SPT

Doug,

I must have done a bad job explaining what is wrong here. The car WAS under warrantee when 99% of the stuff broke. NO extended warrantee necessary... It WAS covered by Porsche!

Thanks for the diag of the issues. If Porsche were as helpful I would be driving Porsche number 4 today!

FYI, They sent there number one mechanic from Atlanta to work on my car. He was fantastic! We worked our a very satisfactory deal on the car. When he flew home to PCNA and asked for aproval the legal people said no! They did not think they needed to help even though 99% of the failures surfaced under warrantee! They are trying to outlast me here. THEY WILL NOT!

Scott