Strange 997S Handling Characteristics...
10-25-2005, 12:14 AM
#46
Banned
Hey, congratulations on finally get the car you paid for! ... Glad it was a night-and-day difference for you! ... I'd make your buddy pay for the part since he, no doubt, sold you the car as being free of defects. Have you asked him about it yet?
10-25-2005, 12:28 AM
#47
Rennlist Member
I wouldn't make my buddy pay for it. I'd just inform him. If he offers to pay for it, I'd counter offer to split the cost because I failed to get a PPI on the car. If he doesn't offer to pay for it voluntarily, I'd just drop it and never mention it again. Would you risk a friendship over that amount of money?
The problem is corrected and you are a happy driver. Just drive, she said.
The problem is corrected and you are a happy driver. Just drive, she said.
10-25-2005, 01:30 AM
#48
Banned
That was said tongue-in-cheek. Of course I didn't mean he should make him pay for it. I'm sure he bought the car at a significant discount from his buddy. So when he said he was going to ask him to find out if he nailed a curb or something I'm sure he wasn't intending to approach him in anger. If it were me, I would just mention that the replaced part significantly improved the performance after asking him what the hell he hit that caused that toe link to bend like that. And if he offered to pay for it, I wouldn't even split the cost. I'd say, "Nah, don't worry about it. Just bring beer next time you come over," knowing that I probably saved more than the cost of the repair buying the car from him.
10-25-2005, 01:08 PM
#49
Well the service manager told me usually the toe link gets bent when the car is towed improperly. So naturally I sent my buddy (who sold me the car) an email last night, asking if he had ever had the car towed. If so, I told him, the towing company owes him (us!) some money for the damage. By the time I got the part replaced, and payed for the 4 wheel alignment, it cost me nearly $900!
He told me the car had never been towed. So I'm still not really sure how it got bent.
Upon hearing how improved the car is with this now fixed, my buddy now wants to buy it back from me!!!! It was one of the reasons he actually didn't like the car -- because he thought it always handled a bit strange, especially compared to the 996 TT cab and 996 C4 cab that he owned in the past.
Compensation is a non-issue, as he sold me the car at a fantastic price. Since it was a launch car, sticker was a hair under $100k, and he sold it to me with around 4k miles for upper $70's. So even including the $900 for the new toe link and alignment, it's all good!
BTW, I asked the service manager if the toe link could have been bent when the car was tied down to the autohauler, when delivered from the factory. He didn't think so, because he said the guys hauling new Porsches are trained specifically to AVOID creating such problem. Obviously I was trying to get them to cover this cost, but it didn't seem like he was going to have ANY of that...
Oh well, worth a try!
He told me the car had never been towed. So I'm still not really sure how it got bent.
Upon hearing how improved the car is with this now fixed, my buddy now wants to buy it back from me!!!! It was one of the reasons he actually didn't like the car -- because he thought it always handled a bit strange, especially compared to the 996 TT cab and 996 C4 cab that he owned in the past.
Compensation is a non-issue, as he sold me the car at a fantastic price. Since it was a launch car, sticker was a hair under $100k, and he sold it to me with around 4k miles for upper $70's. So even including the $900 for the new toe link and alignment, it's all good!
BTW, I asked the service manager if the toe link could have been bent when the car was tied down to the autohauler, when delivered from the factory. He didn't think so, because he said the guys hauling new Porsches are trained specifically to AVOID creating such problem. Obviously I was trying to get them to cover this cost, but it didn't seem like he was going to have ANY of that...
Oh well, worth a try!
10-25-2005, 01:20 PM
#50
Banned
Originally Posted by eilig
Upon hearing how improved the car is with this now fixed, my buddy now wants to buy it back from me!!!! It was one of the reasons he actually didn't like the car -- because he thought it always handled a bit strange, especially compared to the 996 TT cab and 996 C4 cab that he owned in the past.
10-25-2005, 06:36 PM
#51
I would agree. The car was originally delivered to Brumos Porsche in Florida. I don't have any relationship with them, and of course I'm now dealing with my Chicagoland dealer (The Exchange). If I were dealing with Brumos, I think I'd have a stronger case for some kind of compensation...
It does sound like it's been this way from the beginning. Although, thinking further, my buddy has some of those auto "stackers" in his garage so he can lift one car and park another underneath it. I wonder if there's any way he could have bent the toe link while navigating his way around the stacker. That's about the only other thing I can think of...
It does sound like it's been this way from the beginning. Although, thinking further, my buddy has some of those auto "stackers" in his garage so he can lift one car and park another underneath it. I wonder if there's any way he could have bent the toe link while navigating his way around the stacker. That's about the only other thing I can think of...
10-25-2005, 08:56 PM
#53
Banned
Gee, I didn't think this thread had gotten annoying to anyone. Apparently it did. I thought it was just an interesting conversation we were having, trying to get to the root of an elementary problem as a detective might, in a very civil manner. I certainly didn't think it was annoying to anyone. And if it is, you can always change the channel instead of trying to censor the discussion.
10-25-2005, 11:49 PM
#54
Banned
Originally Posted by eilig
... Although, thinking further, my buddy has some of those auto "stackers" in his garage so he can lift one car and park another underneath it. I wonder if there's any way he could have bent the toe link while navigating his way around the stacker. That's about the only other thing I can think of...
10-26-2005, 01:36 AM
#55
Basically the stacker has a big platform with side rails that you back the car onto. So I suppose it's possible he may have grazed the side of the rear tire against the side rail when he was backing onto the platform. But I don't know if that would be enough to bend the toe link. It sounds more like the toe link needs an impact from underneath (i.e. while towing), versus a "grazing" side impact on the rear wheel, to do the damage (?) I guess maybe crawling under the car and seeing exactly how that piece is positioned might answer whether or not a side grazing could bend that sucker. Anyway, here's a photo of the stacker, with the platform already in full raised position, obviously with nothing parked on it:
Last edited by eilig; 07-04-2014 at 04:01 PM.
10-26-2005, 02:02 AM
#56
Banned
Interesting.
Yeah I agree with you. I don't think it would have been from that. To bend a suspension component like that it would have taken some serious impact, not a slight grazing in slow motion. ... Hmmm, the mystery continues.
At any rate, it sounds like it happened before he took delivery since the car handled that way for him from the beginning, and was a reason why he sold it to you at a huge discount.
Have you let him drive it yet so he can see the difference a little part like that makes in the handling? He may then want to get another 997 .... at a much higher price of course.
Yeah I agree with you. I don't think it would have been from that. To bend a suspension component like that it would have taken some serious impact, not a slight grazing in slow motion. ... Hmmm, the mystery continues.
At any rate, it sounds like it happened before he took delivery since the car handled that way for him from the beginning, and was a reason why he sold it to you at a huge discount.
Have you let him drive it yet so he can see the difference a little part like that makes in the handling? He may then want to get another 997 .... at a much higher price of course.
10-26-2005, 02:13 AM
#57
That's a good thought. I definitely will have to let him drive it so he can feel what his car SHOULD have been like. I'm amazed how different it feels.
Actually his Carrera GT arrived last week, so I think he's good to go for now in the Porsche department. This weekend we find out how it compares to the Enzo, but that's a different thread.
But I'm pretty sure I do see a C4S X51 Cab in his future! (sans bent toe link!)
Now, if I can only twist his arm to eventually make me the same deal on the Carrera GT as he did with the 997! Hmm, carbon fiber suspension components... those probably don't bend, so it's doubtful I'll get that lucky next time around!
Actually his Carrera GT arrived last week, so I think he's good to go for now in the Porsche department. This weekend we find out how it compares to the Enzo, but that's a different thread.
But I'm pretty sure I do see a C4S X51 Cab in his future! (sans bent toe link!)
Now, if I can only twist his arm to eventually make me the same deal on the Carrera GT as he did with the 997! Hmm, carbon fiber suspension components... those probably don't bend, so it's doubtful I'll get that lucky next time around!
