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Went to the local dealership to get an alignment done and since I was coming up on two years since my last brake flush asked how much. They gave me a quote, which I thought was reasonable so I got the brakes flush along with the alignment. I get the car back and all seems well.
Skip ahead about a month and I’ve finally found time to clean the car (not a daily, sits in the garage most of the time). Everything is going good until I get to the wheels when I notice my caliper has paint peeling from brake fluid. It’s the worst on the left rear but there is still some damage on all the other calipers except for the right rear.
Called the dealership but of course no answer so I left a message. We’ll see if I get a call back.
Meanwhile, I’m interested to hear in some other horror stories from taking it to the “professionals”.
Oh, man! That's a total bummer. I would not take no for an answer, and demand that the dealer who did the work provide a complete repair (re-paint with warranty) or replace the calipers. Think of it this way, if the dealership damaged the fender while moving the car, they would be liable to repair it - same goes with this damage.
I hear ya. All they had to do was spritz those areas with water and catch/wipe with clean rag. Or, even better, get properly fitting drain hose that they removed carefully with a clean rag covering it.
I hope they help out. Refinishing calipers is in the $100s. Plus the downtime.
That sucks, but on the plus side at least there is evidence they actually flushed them as you'd never know otherwise (sorry, being a smart@$$). Has anyone routinely monitored the brake fluid moisture percentage to see if the two year flush is actually required? True Porsche recommends it but they seem to recommend lots of expensive maintenance without much justification (e.g. replacing spark plugs every four years).
Like you I do my own work and just completed a DIY lowering with Eibachs. I also did a home alignment using the string method and a homemade camber gauge and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I tore down the setup and put it back together to remeasure to check repeatability. Camber and toe both repeated within 0.03 deg which has to be close to shop precision.
That sucks, but on the plus side at least there is evidence they actually flushed them as you'd never know otherwise (sorry, being a smart@$$). Has anyone routinely monitored the brake fluid moisture percentage to see if the two year flush is actually required? True Porsche recommends it but they seem to recommend lots of expensive maintenance without much justification (e.g. replacing spark plugs every four years).
When I was driving 20 to 25K miles per year with a combination of commute and spirited driving I found a 1% gain in moisture per year at the master cylinder. That's living in the San Francisco Bay Area and its year round climate.
Boiling point vs moisture content graphs are available.
Due to an intimate moment with my table saw I went a full four years without a problem. So I can vouch for 0 to 4% on a constant rise over a four year period.
I picked up a vacuum bleeder for the F250 and the GLA45 (the Motive bleeder works but the vacuum is easier) and won't go past two years moving forward.
Sloppy careless work. The dealer probably relegates oil changes and brake flushes to the new guys - which is where all of the turnover is.
Obviously if you were satisfied with mediocre Kia quality work you would have purchased a Kia instead of a Porsche. I would absolutely demand that they rectify this.
It’s pretty sad. I figured I’d save my time and let them do it...never again. I even have all the tools to do it properly at home. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
It’s pretty sad. I figured I’d save my time and let them do it...never again. I even have all the tools to do it properly at home. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
If it was me, I would not let this go.
Porsche has made a calculated investment decision to pursue "Porsche Classic" because they want a piece of the used / vintage Porsche accessories, parts, and service business. They absolutely want you to take your Porsche to a Porsche dealership for service - it's not just incidental / incremental business to them. I would notify Porsche of North America and let them know exactly what happened. With photos. I would tell them exactly what you conveyed here that you decided to take it to the dealer even though you have all of the tools and skills to do the job yourself. Maybe I'm naive, but I think there's a good chance that they would initiate some remedial action to satisfy you.
Sorry to see this. I know this won't help you now, but in the future or for others, I've made it a habit to clean my calipers after a fluid change. I ask my indy in wipe the calipers with a wet microfiber after a fluid change. In my case I've noticed they get it about 80%, enough that I'm comfortable driving back home.
At home I immediately soak the calipers with P21S total auto wash, or a quick detailer and wipe them down. If there's enough time, I'll wash them instead with car wash soap. This might seem a bit overkill but I like to think this has helped my 08's calipers look fairly fresh over the 9 years I've owned it.
Good luck with the repair, and keeping calm while explaining the situation while accepting a resolution goes a long way. Let us know how things go! 👍
Went to the local dealership to get an alignment done and since I was coming up on two years since my last brake flush asked how much. They gave me a quote, which I thought was reasonable so I got the brakes flush along with the alignment. I get the car back and all seems well.
Skip ahead about a month and I’ve finally found time to clean the car (not a daily, sits in the garage most of the time). Everything is going good until I get to the wheels when I notice my caliper has paint peeling from brake fluid. It’s the worst on the left rear but there is still some damage on all the other calipers except for the right rear.
Called the dealership but of course no answer so I left a message. We’ll see if I get a call back.
Meanwhile, I’m interested to hear in some other horror stories from taking it to the “professionals”.
Terrible. Especially assuming they're genuine PCCB calipers. I don't think what I have qualify as a horror stories but just other examples of what can happen when as you say you take the car to the professionals. My car ran perfect but was coming up on 60,000 miles where a service of the PDK is required. I suppose you could skip it at your own peril but I always serviced my cars on schedule so I brought it in.
No problems the day I picked up the car after it was done but the next day the emergency transmission run light came on and the transmission went into limp mode. Was close enough to my house where I limped home. Flatbed back to the dealer where they fixed whatever they screwed up when servicing the PDK. Never got a good explanation of what went wrong but clearly some oversight on their part or they wouldn't have been able to fix it given how restrictive work on the PDK is.
Another one that comes to mind was a new water pump installed on my -09 C4S. Next day I noticed a small amount of coolant on the garage floor. Drove it back to the dealer, got a loaner and picked up my car the next day. Again, no explanation of what went wrong with the pump replacement. I'd file it away as sloppy work plain and simple. Would be nice if they just took a few more minutes and got the job done right in the first place.
Total bummer. Luckily, I've never had any wheel or brake work on my PCCB equipped cars that had to be done at the dealer. I worry about them cutting corners and dropping a wheel on the rotor and chipping it. Based on what you see here with their lack of attention to detail, if give all your rotors a good inspection to make sure you don't have bigger things to complain about from this service.
Horror stories, how about this Cayenne O2 sensor replacement where they wrapped the O2 sensor wire around my steering shaft.
Had another one where they routed a coolant hose to the wrong side of a belt and 10 miles down the road the belt wore through the hose and dumped all the coolant.
I'm done with incompetence. Haven't had any work done anywhere other than in my own garage since.
2008 997.1 C2S Cab 66,000 miles. Feeling lucky! Since I've owned my car, I have had my brake fluid changed once by the dealer, and a couple times by my independent. I've never had this problem, but you can be sure I'll keep a close eye on it! At the indy, I know the person who does all the work on my car, and I know his pride of workmanship. He also rebuilt my scored engine which is up to 21,000 miles of untroubled, high-revving fun so far. I think independents in general may be organized a little differently by assigning all the work for a given car to one person (at least mine does). I do pay special attention to the caliper bleeder areas when I wash my car, but I have not previously gone out of my way to wash my car after it was serviced.
I think everyone is a little jealous of Petza914's cars, his shop, his experience, and his knowledge. I know they must be hard-earned and well-deserved. I also think most of us fully appreciate the explanations, tips, suggestions, and experiences he shares with all, allowing us to all benefit personally, too, and to be better stewards of our own cars. Many thanks!
06-19-2020, 07:07 PM
And this is why I do my own work!
