When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
PPI Nightmare - San Antonio TX. (Would appreciate input)
**Would appreciate comments/input**
Wow what an unprofessional sh:tshow on 2007 997 C4S PPI I had performed at shop in San Antonio TX. - **I will name the shop if refund is not given by tomorrow. I gave shop until tomorrow to credit owner of 997's visa card
Service Mgr quotes $500 for PPI & Bore Scope Insp thru Spark Plug Holes.
I explain as part of PPI I need DME Over-Rev report and Cam Deviation numbers. - We also discussed the Bore Scope Inspection (BSI) & needing 3 clear focussed photos of each cylinder. (Discussed at great length the need to see cylinder walls for evidence of Scoring)
Serv Mgr explains he is leaving for a few days on trip &Tech at shop is totally in the loop and can provide everything requested. He is also available via phone if there are any questions/issues.
Seller brings 997 to shop Wednesday - About an hour later I get email from shop they do not have proper tool to do the Over-Rev report and the cost of PPI is $1230 not $500?
I email back and request COLD Leakdown to replace the Over Rev report and they agree to the change to a Leakdown at the $1230 price.
Thursday afternoon I get PPI/Bore Scope photos & Leakdown test results - They did a basic review of the car with photos of a parking light bulb out and a bunch of photos of undersides/etc
My issue was that none of the Bore Scope photos showed any of the cylinder walls - Photos showed out of focussed/crappy photos of the tops of the cylinders. Tech noted "Carbon Buildup on top of cylinders" - **I ask what 997 Cylinder does not have carbon buildup on top of cylinder??
Leakdown test had weird % number at 50% and 45%?? At that % the engine wouldn't run. I sent PPI results to friend who owns shop on East Coast and ex-Porsche racer. He couldn't believe how bad the inspection was and could not figure out what the Leakdown % numbers were
.PERFORMED LEAK DOWN TEST. CYLINDER 1= 60 PSI [ 50%] CYLINDER 2= 60 PSI [ 50%] CYLINDER 3= 60 PSI [45%] CYLINDER 4= 60 PSI [ 45%] CYLINDER 5= 60 PSI [ 45%] CYLINDER 6= 60 PSI [ 45%]
I tried calling shop to explain the issues and their phones were not working.
Thursday later in the day I contacted/got thru to the Service Manager by phone who was on his trip and received my text messages explaining the issues with the PPI results - He called me up and apologized and then explained the Tech who does the Bore Scope Inspections doesn't work at shop anymore?? He goes on to explain the Tech who did the Inspection wasn't experienced at doing the Bore Scope Insp. and again apologized for the poor quality photos
.......I again reminded him I needed cylinder wall photos not photos of the top of cylinders. Again he apologized and he said he could review everything on Monday or I could take the car to another shop for a proper inspection.
I thought about it and texted him back an hour later and told him I appreciate his offer of me taking the car somewhere else to get the proper inspection performed. I also told him I'd have the owner pick up the car tomorrow morning (which was this morning)
Owner went to pick up car this morning and woman at front desk running the shop would not release the car unless the $1230 bill was paid. I explained via email (because shops phones weren't working) that the service mgr said I could take the car to another shop to get a proper PPI performed.---->I was never told I would have to pay for the shotty work performed which was unsable.
....Owner of car called me and I asked him to please put the woman at front desk on phone. On speaker phone I explained my discussion with serv mgr but she insisted bill needed to be paid in full - I refused and then she asked if I would pay a partial payment? I said no.
I told owner to keep car at shop until service mgr got back to office Monday. I didn't hear back from owner of car until an hour later. He explained he paid $600 to get the car released.
I texted service mgr again a few times this afternoon with no response. I then tried to call him later this afternoon and his phone number is disconnected.
I called owner of car and told him I am going to fight this and try to get a refund on his credit card. I'm not sure how I will be able to do this since owner paid the $600 on the bill but I am going to try to speak to an attorney in San Antonio tomorrow.
Amazing the Service Managers phone number is now disconnected?? And not returning any texts that I sent today. What an unprofessional shop with lousy customer service.
What a mess
Here are some of the unusable Bore Scope photos - All photos are terrible - Its obvious this shop is clueless regarding use of Bore Scope tool and a complete waste of time:
Last edited by groovzilla; 09-16-2024 at 06:36 PM.
Interesting point. I disagree and believe owner of car should have at least waited 2 days until Service Manager got back from his trip and to the shop.
The fact that he received the 1st part of PPI which has value and will contribute to the selling of his car is an important part of the equation.
Every shop I have ever dealt with over past 38 years on a PPI has NEVER given results of PPI to the seller of the car. It is a large No-No.
Unless of course the seller pays for the PPI.
Put yourself in the seller's shoes..... Would you want to leave your pride and joy at a sketchy shop while there is potential bad blood from the PPI that went sideways? I certainly would not.
I'd want my car back in my own garage so I could show it to other potential buyers, not being held hostage and out of my sight and control.
Again, my point of view, it is a "but for" situation. Your PPI request set the sh%t wagon rolling, so your responsibility to rectify things. Just explaining where I'm coming from. No reply necessary.
Wow!! Ya, that's a whole lotta ridiculous right there!!
I just heard Jake Raby say it in a video somebody posted here the other night....and I've said it here and on the Samba myself many times in the last few years....and that is this........Ever since Covid (and probably started before but Covid definitely tipped the kettle)......QUALITY OF ALMOST EVERYTHING.........Goods.....Services.....Personnel.............HAS ABSOLUTELY GONE DOWN THE SH!TTER!!!
Yes, I'd definitely hammer that shop relentlessly. I can understand a mistake, but NOT returning your messages...(TEXTS EVEN!!!)....That is ridiculous! I literally just went thru this with a company who makes machine coolants on the east coast and it's like legitimate businesses are being run for LEISURE not for REAL!! Something is VERY amiss in the business/service world since Covid!
I'd have probably backed out at the $1230 price tag....(especially from $500 quoted). That's some BS right there but that's only cuz I'm cheap.
And odd how they could.....then couldn't....but then did after all....do the borescope. (even though they flopped that one hard)
And if you have the means to an attorney at the ready, I'd do it. At least enough to get their attention. Again.....it's not the mistakes they made at first that bother me so much.....it's the total disregard for you & the owner as customers which are ABSOLUTELY inexcusable!!!
Wow that sounds like a real mess !
Who was going to pay for the PPI ? If it wasn't the seller then he basically got held to ransome so he could get his car back . Either way neither of you got what you needed from what seems to be very non-professionally run workshop. I think that there is no point playing "nice" in the belief that they will suddenly exhibit some ethical behaviour- I agree , name & shame if you need to !
Wow!! Ya, that's a whole lotta ridiculous right there!!
I'd have probably backed out at the $1230 price tag....(especially from $500 quoted). That's some BS right there but that's only cuz I'm cheap.
This right there. No you're not cheap. I've never heard of a $1,230 PPI. Much less one that was initially quoted at $500. I have to think this is not a Porsche dealership but some shady independent. I know the dealerships can be ourageosly priced on some jobs but I've had PPI's done by Porsche dealerships and can't recall ever paying more than $500. I remember one that was only $350.
I would have paid the money rather than having the owner do it so I could dispute the payment with my credit card company since it was my PPI. He's the one that's going to need to fight with his card company now. What a crappy service shop!
I think your situation is going to get even worse as I believe 2 or 3 of those photos also show scoring in the cylinders. Should really be confirmed by better pics, but I don't like what I see in these.
These look like scraped off metal pieces sitting on top of the cylinder
This bright area with vertical lines is likely scoring
How does a shop that works on Porsches not have the 'tools' to pull the overrev report? My $250 enthusiast model Durametric does that. Honestly, you should have run away at that statement alone.
First things first, I would have the owner contest the charges with his CC company. They didn't perform what was charged for and held the car hostage until paid
2nd, every PPI I have had done, I gave the shop my CC info and paid for it. I, as a owner would never agree to cover the cost for a buyer. This may be the case where he reluctantly paid to get his car back but still.
3rd, $1200 is a preposterously high amount and they should be named and shamed for that alone. Add to that the behavior of the manager, the tech, and the receptionist, there's something really wrong here. What kind of shop doesn't have working phones? Who has their cell phone shut off due to a disgruntled customer? To say there's red flags here is an understatement. Nobody received what was paid for.
What kind of place is this, are they billed as a Porsche or other high end European car garage?
And lastly and most importantly, I would forego the 997.1's and move up to a manual 997.2
Bore-scoping is strongly discouraged on those.
Last edited by Prairiedawg; 09-14-2024 at 08:41 AM.
And lastly and most importantly, I would forego the 997.1's and move up to a manual 997.2
All the borescoring boogieman / endless PPI / special oils / monitoring stuff ad nauseaum is not worth it. Pay slightly more and get the much more robust 997.2 car.
All the borescoring boogieman / endless PPI / special oils / monitoring stuff ad nauseaum is not worth it. Pay slightly more and get the much more robust 997.2 car.
First things first, I would have the owner contest the charges with his CC company. They didn't perform what was charged for and held the car hostage until paid
2nd, every PPI I have had done, I gave the shop my CC info and paid for it. I, as a owner would never agree to cover the cost for a buyer. This may be the case where he reluctantly paid to get his car back but still.
3rd, $1200 is a preposterously high amount and they should be named and shamed for that alone. Add to that the behavior of the manager, the tech, and the receptionist, there's something really wrong here. What kind of shop doesn't have working phones? Who has their cell phone shut off due to a disgruntled customer? To say there's red flags here is an understatement. Nobody received what was paid for.
What kind of place is this, are they billed as a Porsche or other high end European car garage?
And lastly and most importantly, I would forego the 997.1's and move up to a manual 997.2
Bore-scoping is strongly discouraged on those.
- I was the person that was going to pay for the PPI. I explained to both the owner of the car & the shop that I wanted to keep car at shop(for small fee) IF PPI results were satisfactory and I would have car shippoed from shop. All was agreed to. I explain this because it would have been no problem for the car to be left at shop until service mgr returned from his trip on Monday.
-The seller/owner was too nervous leaving car at shop and took it upon himself to pay the $600 Ransome to get his car released even though I explained all the unprofessional results and customer service & I begged him to leave car at shop until service manager returned from his trip on Monday. An hour later he texts me that he paid the $600 to have car released. -I also forgot to mention I received this email from the shop after emailing/explaining via email (Because their fvking phones weren't working) that the service manager told me I could have the car picked up by owner and taken to a different shop for proper PPI. I am still holding off from divulging name of shop until later this morning
My email to shop:
Marissa,
Please contact Robert and have him contact me.
There seems to be a disconnect between you and Robert.
Robert apologized for the unusable results and suggested I take the car somewhere else for proper inspection. I agreed to have the car picked up and taken somewhere else for proper inspection.
How can you possibly request payment for an inspection I cannot use and not done properly??
Please have Robert contact me asap - I have texted and called him 2x
WC
Email from shop:Marissa Munoz From:marissa@XXXXXXXautomotive.com To:wc
Fri, Sep 13 at 8:32 AM Please do not contact this email
**In summary I am giving this hack/unprofessional/criminal shop until 12:00noon Seattle time to make this right and refund owners $600. If not I'm going ***** out and try and get the owners $600 refunded.
Last edited by groovzilla; 09-14-2024 at 11:18 AM.
I would have paid the money rather than having the owner do it so I could dispute the payment with my credit card company since it was my PPI. He's the one that's going to need to fight with his card company now. What a crappy service shop!
I think your situation is going to get even worse as I believe 2 or 3 of those photos also show scoring in the cylinders. Should really be confirmed by better pics, but I don't like what I see in these. These look like scraped off metal pieces sitting on top of the cylinder This bright area with vertical lines is likely scoring as is this area
Petza appreciate your keen eye. For now unless I get proper Bore Scope photos to inspect this deal is dead.
To be totally upfront I feel somewhat responsible for the cost to the owner. I basically got him into this mess. I tried convincing him to leave the car at the shop but I can understand his being worried.
Like I said it is a real mess and seller is upset with me as well. I have always believed in being upfront and honest when dealing with either buying or selling a car.
This situation has never happened to me and reason I asked opinions on the matter.
**Ontop of all this I realize now that the shops phones were most likely working fine and the shop was hanging up on me.
My calls went thru to shop and someone kept picking up but the the phone would go dead silent.
*When the owner of the car called me from the shop on his cellphone and put me on speakerphone to speak with woman in charge at desk, she claimed the phones were not working
....I am quite certain the woman running shop is full of sh:t especially considering the service manager had disconnected phone number AFTER this mess began.
Still no communication from sales manager.
Last edited by groovzilla; 09-14-2024 at 11:22 AM.
First things first, I would have the owner contest the charges with his CC company. They didn't perform what was charged for and held the car hostage until paid
2nd, every PPI I have had done, I gave the shop my CC info and paid for it. I, as a owner would never agree to cover the cost for a buyer. This may be the case where he reluctantly paid to get his car back but still.
3rd, $1200 is a preposterously high amount and they should be named and shamed for that alone. Add to that the behavior of the manager, the tech, and the receptionist, there's something really wrong here. What kind of shop doesn't have working phones? Who has their cell phone shut off due to a disgruntled customer? To say there's red flags here is an understatement. Nobody received what was paid for.
What kind of place is this, are they billed as a Porsche or other high end European car garage? And lastly and most importantly, I would forego the 997.1's and move up to a manual 997.2
Bore-scoping is strongly discouraged on those.
09-13-2024 | 11:52 PM
PPI Nightmare - San Antonio TX. (Would appreciate input)
