Scouser

Re new car purchase:

In the UK, we only get 2 years warranty "OR" 50k miles whichever comes first.

As I understand it in the US you get 4 years warranty "OR" 50k mls. But does the 50k miles warranty still stand if the car is more than 4 years old?

So, if I am in the US and I buy a used 99 996 with 10k miles would it still be in warranty?

TAI,

JasonF

I believe that the warranty covers the lesser of 4 years or 50k miles. Therefore, if you purchase a 1999, it will be out of the original warranty period. Many dealers do offer such cars as "certified" and extend the original warranty.

programmatore

Hi Scouser,

It is indeed "OR" and whichever comes first. The clock starts when the car rolls off the lot for the first time (i.e. purchased by the first owner).

The warranty on my car (purchased new back in summer of 2000) actually ran out when it turned 4 years old with about 45,000 miles on the odometer. A lot of low-mileage 2000 996's will be out of warranty soon, if they're not out already, since these cars would've been originally purchased about 4 years ago.

A previously owned car's warranty is transferrable to the new owner provided the car is under 50,000 miles and less than 4 years old.

Cheers,

Scouser

Thanks guys.

On the same subject......

How much does it cost for extended warranty and how long do you get on that warranty......oh yes and is the RMS covered on extended warranty....from PNA that is?

Thanks again.

mrpc12

Porsche does not sell an extended warranty unless you buy a certified car from an authorized dealer. So if you buy your car new you cannot get an extended warranty through Porsche unless you sell your car to the dealer and then buy it back as a certified car. I wish they would offer to sell an extended warranty without having to buy a certified car. If they don't offer this within a couple of years then I'm selling mine before the warranty expires.

programmatore

PCNA does not offer extended warranties but there are several third parties that do. I was quoted a price of $3,000 for 3 years or 100,000 miles (so basically another 55,000 miles since my car already had 45,000 miles). I still have the brochure at home and I can dig it up for you if you'd like.

mrpc12

You need to be careful with 3rd party warranty companies. I've heard of many going out of business and some are not covering 996's any longer. If you are planning to go that route I would suggest speaking with the local Porsche service manager and find out which warranty co's. they have worked with for other customers and if they would recommend one.

programmatore

Yeah, I wasn't 100% sure about the third party warranty so I didn't get one.

FYI, I talked to my service advisor at the dealership and to the independent mechanic and they both recommended Warrantech.

http://www.warrantech.com/auto/overview.asp

Scouser

Again thanks guys.
Interesting. Here in the UK we can purchase an extended warranty for a privately bought car but it has to go through a fairly rigorous cheklist that has to be approved back in Germany. If your lucky enough to pass the check they will sell you extended warranty on a yearly basis for about £780.

I am asking these questions because one of the issues raised in the PCGB group who are acting on our behalf (for its members), and taking the issue up with PUK, is the unfair comparison of warranty schemes. But I think I have a hunch on a hole in the system but I want to ask a few more questions first before I tell you what it is just so I have my facts right.

All Porsches are imported since they are manufactured in Germany. But technically speaking, they are not imported into the UK because we fall under the same state as Germany via the EEC (can I beleive I am actually saying that as a Brit!). Anyway, we are all part of the European Economic Comunity. Porsche gives 2 years warranty to its German Porsche owners and I think this is the reason why we get it. But in your case the Porsche is imported by PNA. Now what happens in the case of warranty if you import a Porsche yourself? So, let's say you're on vacation in Germany and you walk into a Porsche dealer and you end up buying a new 997 and have it shipped to the US. Germany would give you 2 years warranty. But would PNA honour any warranty on the car at all 2 or 4 years? How does this stand legally there in the US. I mean they both are imported from the same exact place and since PNA are a wholly owned subsiduary of PAG I would imagine they would have to honour you with the warranty for at least 2 years but maybe 4. Am I right?

Fred R. C4S

Scouser,

I can't speak regarding EU law, but let me give you my perspective of warranty from that as a manufacturer. I work in product support for that company that makes all those big yellow diesel powered things.

Most international companies have separate wholely owned subsidiaries in the countries in which they do business. This is mainly for tax purposes. As such, items like warranty coverage can vary from sub to sub depending upon market conditions and local laws. I believe that this is the primary reason why we currently enjoy a longer warranty in the US than you do in the UK - competitive pressure.

Now to your question........If I buy a car in Germany I expect that my warranty is with Porsche Germany (if such an entity exist) or with PAG the parent company. At the time of purchase my warranty would be explained and any claims I might have would be filed against and paid by the sub company from whom I purchased the car. Now if I take the car to the US, PCNA really has little if any obligation to honor my warranty. They might at best submit my claims back the the sub from which I purchased it. Most likely they would tell me that this is my problem and I'd have to handle it on my own. This is what happened during those bygone days of the high $ when grey market cars were brought into the US. The dealers would tell you to petition the manufacturer for your warranty money. Although the warranty was "worldwide", PCNA was not the group that had to pay the claim. After all, they made no money on the sale. A lot of folks got stung on grey market cars for this very reason.

I know that this seems odd from the customer's perspective, but you have to understand how the money flows in an international corporation selling through independent dealers. In my company, we have the same warranty worldwide. That simplifies a lot. However, commercial decisions to support a customer through what we refer to as "goodwill" are cost borne by the sub companies. This only becomes a problem when a global customer does not get equal treatment everywhere in the world. My group exists to keep this from happening.

Warranty.........a simple concept that can get complicated in global business.

Cheers,

Scouser

Thanks for that Fred. Very enlightening information.
But I just wonder then how this would stand in court. If a company sells a product with a so called "worldwide" warranty but then when he/she makes a claim he/she ends up in a wrangle
between the sub companies and parent company who would win. I can see into and understand
the reasoning behind what you say but its not made entirely clear to the consumer and I think
this vagueness may hold up in court.

Take this example: I tracel to and from the US in a regular basis almost exclusively to Silicon Valley.
While there I often pay a vist to Fry's (electronics shop). Now let's say I buy a Radio, let's say a Panasonic radio. Then I get home to the UK and 3 montsh later it fails. I take it to Panasonic in the UK
and they say it's not under warranty. As far as I am concerned it says it has a worldwide warranty for 1 year after purchase. I have the reciept and the warranty papers. But they still refuse to fix it under warranty. I feel certain that in the small claims court they would give to the claimant based on the vagueness of the wording "worldwide warranty"........but then again I could be wrong.....I usually am

Fred R. C4S

Scouser,

I didn't say you would like my explanation......I certainly don't. But this is precisely what happened with grey market cars in the US. Customers had to go through hoops to get their money from the "warranter". This was also a way for the "servicing" dealer/company to stick it to the customer who went outside the system to purchase a product. This naturally varies with how a company wants to be seen by their customers. Frankly, I don't think PAG cares much anymore. A company looking further than the end of their nose would say, "Let us take care of that. You purchased your product in good faith, so we will treat you the same".

In my company, a customer is free to purchase a product anywhere he wants, and at any price he can get. However, if one dealer lowballs the sale knowing that the product is going to be used in another dealer's territory, he is obligated to pay a % of the selling price to the dealer who will be doing the warranty repairs to cover his labor for the repairs. In my business, we provide the parts to dealer for warranty at no cost, but he has to supply the labor to make the repair. It's part of our agreement with the dealer. A different approach, no?

There are lots of ways to structure warranty and cost sharing. However, in a good system it's all transparent to the customer. What goes on behind the curtain shouldn't matter to him as long as he is taken care of fairly.

Care to order $3.5 million mining truck? If I had any left to sell, I can assure you you would get world class support from my company. We're a lot easier to deal with than PAG.

Cheers,

Scouser

Hey Fred I seriously hope I didn't offend you. It sounds like I spooked you. As it happened I thought your explanation was exemplory just the content that's worrying Seriously though no offence meant.

I am no expert in EU law or for that matter any law including UK law. But I do know that the European law is that manufacturers must not have two different warranty systems. If I manufacture plastic buckets (don't know why that came to mind ) I would have to supply the same warranty worldwide no matter what and my distributors must abide by this under some form of written contract. This happened here in the UK with Toyota, they had to move from a 1 year warranty system to a 4 year warranty system because they broke the EU rule.

Scouser

Here's were I am going with this. These pages taken directly out of my car's documentation.

The Guarantee and Maintenance manual that comes with my car is the one with the arrow on it. The other image is taken from the Service Dealer Directory which lists all the dealers where I can get my car fixed under warranty. The US is covered too!

Based on this document, if my car is under 4 years old I should be able to ship to the US, have it fixed under warranty then ship it back. It's a costly way of doing things but a lot cheaper than paying out for a new engine and gearbox as in my case.

Just so your aware, my car is now out of the 4 year warranty but the problems were reported well within the 4 year span of the US warranty.

I am not suggesting that this is the thing to actually carry through but I wonder if in court this could stand up if they refuse to carry out warrnty repair. In fact I wonder if it breaks their 2 year warrnty scheme altogether.....this is the hole

winovin

Scouser,

Maybe I am missing something, but what seems logical to me (notwithstanding cross border warranty coverage issues) is:

1. Buy a car in UK with 2yr/50K warranty - that term attaches to the car, and is the same limitation regardless of where the warranty work is to be done. If you take it to the US, you are still only covered for 2yrs.

2. Buy a car in US with 4yr/50K warranty - same again - 4yr term attaches. Take it to the UK, and you are covered for 4yrs.

It is reasonable to assume that the additional cost of the warranty in the US is factored into the cars price (other things being equal).

So, I think it is absurd to think this is a loophole that Porsche has not considered. Also, don't forget that cross-border pricing issues are something that companies have had to grapple with extensively, with some pain forced by the introduction of the Euro. IIRC, Porsche was one of the first with pan-European pricing (UK excluded )

I have lived in the UK as well as the US (& other places), so I am well aware that the British consumer generally gets the short end of the stick compared to their international peers in just about every category. But they seem to take it with a stiff upper lip.

I think the only things I could come up with that were cheaper in the UK than US (2000-01) were Evian, personal care (e.g. massages), quality produce & foodstuffs, chicken (1/2 off at Waitrose after 730pm if they have any left!)