LiveNupe

Anyone know of a warranty claim that was denied based on the car being driven on a track? Anyone know of a claim that was initially denied but later reversed? If so, how? Go to another dealer? Go up the ladder from the dealer to PCNA???

NAvyC4S

here's an idea...Don't tell your dealer you track your car

LiveNupe

Yeah, but I have a buddy who's car had a lot of evidence that it had been tracked when it went to the dealer. My buddy never brought it up, but the dealer quickly concluded that the car had been tracked.

JC3D

yes Reggie, Remember last November when my engine went? It took a month of my mechanic arguing with the warranty company before they bought me a new engine. They claimed since I didn't have a plate on it and the tires showed wear that would take place on a track, that it had been on a track. It was a third party warranty though so I have no clue with PCNA. I try to stay far away from dealerships.

I like your new picture. Is this the car that went up in smoke right in front of me on the front straight?

JasonAndreas

I've heard of it happening several many times.


What is "your buddy" hoping to have covered under warranty?

Pettit

sorry, I'm a bit slow but...always go to independent shops? Trying to get a good system down for the 3rd party warranty

JC3D

I went to the dealership once after I bought my car, they tried pulling the whole, you need new brakes thing, which most people fall for. I found a better mechanic that is a few blocks away and has taken care of me ever since, no I see no point of going to a dealership. As far as one being better for your warranty? That really depends on the situation I guess.

Pugnacious P

you know its funny you say they deny it based on the idea that the car was tracked, when I was buying my Boxster the salesguy was so adamant about how much the cars should be driven at the track, etc. etc. Sounds like dealer/manufacturer BS. They should not market their cars as being so close to their racing brethren...

I think if it were me, I would push them to prove definitively that the car was tracked, ie evidence... video, etc, otherwise perhaps driver is safety conscious, or a modaholic that wants to look sporty. That is all depending on the nature of the work that needs to be done.

Pugnacious P

I bet if they told potential buyers that driving the car on the track would void many parts of the warranty they may not make their quotas so easily...

fast1

you know its funny you say they deny it based on the idea that the car was tracked, when I was buying my Boxster the salesguy was so adamant about how much the cars should be driven at the track, etc. etc. Sounds like dealer/manufacturer BS.

Keep in mind that the Dealership doesn't have to pay for the repair, so the sales guy will say anything that he feels will help seal the deal. Racing puts severe stress on an engine, brakes, and suspension. So it's not unreasonable to expect that these parts will fail long before the warranty expires.

As I understand it however, from a legal perspetive the burden of proof is on the warranty company to prove that you were actually participating in track events. So the average Joe participating in DE events should be a tough challenge for any warranty company denying coverage, absent pictures or other hard evidence supporting their position.

Of course another related issue is Insurance coverage for these events. I'm insured with GEICO and a couple of days ago, my son bought his own car so I removed him from my coverage. For some reason during my conversation with the GEICO rep, the subject of racing came up, which was bizarre since my son bought a Toyota Corolla. The agent warned me that my son's Insurance coverage would be invalidated if he damaged his car while racing at a dragstrip or any other form of racing at a track. Since my son isn't about to race his Corolla, I didn't pursue the definition of "any other form of racing at a track", but of course DE flashed through my mind.

Curiously enough this subject was never broached when I bought my Porsche a little over a month ago. Maybe my age had something to do with it.

HHPorscheTech

Keep in mind some of the piddly crap that happens to the car is usually not related to tracking the vehicles. That being said, transmission damage, engine damage, ANY over revs in the upper ranges...Porsche will deny the warranty claim. Burden of proof is shown enough in the condition of the part in question. If the dealership covers, lets say, a transmission rebuild or replace under warranty.. we have essentially paid for your repair until repair information is submitted and approved. So, in the transmission, if we work on it and you are a gear grinder, we return the warranty parts and Porsche determines that Johnny racecar driver isn't shifting properly...then we get stuck with the bill...and money is lost, and thus begins the trickle down of why we covered something under warranty that was clearly unrelated. If you dealer is being an a-hole because you went racing and now your sunroof doesn't work, then it is time to find a new dealer...
Also, don't count out dealership personnel for working on your car when out of warranty. I have fixed plenty of mom and pops repairs because they are not as knowledgeable as some factory trained personnel. The best thing to do with something like that is meet the tech working on the car ask him/her some questions and be your own judge....

fast1

Burden of proof is shown enough in the condition of the part in question

I'm far from an expert on this matter and I'm not a lawyer, but I do have one experience to relate. A friend of mine who is a lawyer had a warranty claim denied by Audi. The claim was denied by Audi because they alleged that the failed part was caused by "driver abuse", and most likely by racing. My friend sued Audi and the Delership and eventually prevailed, although it was a long process that took almost a year to resolve. Because of this experience the Dealer in question will honor all warranty claims, at least that was their policy three years ago when this matter was resolved. Apparently the time and cost of fighting this warranty denial was far in excess of what the repair cost was.

My suspicion is that most automobile manufacturers believe that the vast majority of denied warranty claims will not be challenged by the average guy, since the time and expense of the challenge far exceeds that of the repair, and the risk is that you could lose your case and be saddled with not only the costs of the repair but also the costs of hiring a lawyer and of course the amount of time all of this takes to get resolved.

Fortunately my warranty experiences have all been positive, I believe in no small part due to the great relationship that I have with a local Porsche Dealer. I would suspect that owners like me that have all of their maintenanvce work performed by the Dealer are treated differently than those who just show up when there is a warranty issue.

MikeRosen

It is very difficult to determine whether the dealer acted appropriately without knowing the nature of the damage and warranty work requested.

Stefan Richter

When I had my new engine installed, I specifically asked whether tracking the car would void the warranty. I was "told", that the only exclusions are damage caused by overrevs or overheating.

Stefan

MechanicalEng

My region PCA encourages people to take their cars to DEs and AutoX events.. actually our local Porsche dealer brings Brand new cars to these events to show and capture new buyers... so my question is how can they void warranty if they encourage people to do these events?..there is a big diference between "racing the car" and doing a couple of DEs or AutoXs a year.. they shouldn't deny warranty unless the car was obviously abused....