Newbie Questions
01-20-2007, 03:14 PM
#16
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1) when the car is stone cold there is a "clatter" after start up. After about 30 seconds the car begins to settle into normal idle and the noise dissipates. I have to assume this is from the Motronic adjusting the choke settings and is probably related to emissions requirements on start-up.
2) no " flat spot" but the engine does become more lively around 3800 as the Vario cam does its thing.
3) never had clutch chatter
4) you should check if the wheel is bent. One good pothole hit by the previous owner could have been the reason the tire has already been replaced. It could be slightly out of round - sometimes they can be balanced out - sometimes they can't. Make sure you check the inside edge of the wheel as well. If it is out, alloy repair places can fix it for under $200 and it's as good as new. I had a shimmy in my wife's 330i at 60 mph and it turned out that the wheel was slightly bent on the inside edge. $150 later it is good as new and no vibration. There should not be any vibration through the steering wheel at speed.
2) no " flat spot" but the engine does become more lively around 3800 as the Vario cam does its thing.
3) never had clutch chatter
4) you should check if the wheel is bent. One good pothole hit by the previous owner could have been the reason the tire has already been replaced. It could be slightly out of round - sometimes they can be balanced out - sometimes they can't. Make sure you check the inside edge of the wheel as well. If it is out, alloy repair places can fix it for under $200 and it's as good as new. I had a shimmy in my wife's 330i at 60 mph and it turned out that the wheel was slightly bent on the inside edge. $150 later it is good as new and no vibration. There should not be any vibration through the steering wheel at speed.
02-01-2007, 01:46 AM
#17
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What has happened.....(soap opera long)
So, items 1,2,3 have been dismissed, thank you forum members!!!, but as for item 4.... 
Bought and drove the car off the lot at 5PM Dec 24th (Xmas eve) from the Porsche authorized dealership in Woodland Hills, Calif (look it up). Paid approx. $4-5k more (+ true 8.25% sales tax) than internet/private party to get Certified Pre-Owned inspected, warranty, extended warranty.
Took it back to dealership Dec 26th Noon (day after Xmas day) with steering vibration complaint, air vent broken, tear in floor mat. Floor mats not covered under CPO, air vent in stock. Waited for almost 3 hours (heaven forbid, you don't have an appointment, let me squeeze you in to our (visually not-very-busy) service area), they replace air vent and balanced tires off-car, gave it back to me without tech or service advisor taking it for a drive. Within 10 minutes, noticed steering wheel vibration was not fixed, but I had to go back to work. Figured I bought as-is, so I would have to buy new tires, alignment, whatever, like the floor mats. Several days later I get a letter from the dealership's on-staff PR person about providing excellent service (the previous name on the dealership had a bad reputation), if there is ever a problem, blah, blah.
Too busy to aggravate about steering vibration and putting a lot of mileage on my beater anyway (2006 CRV), eventually on Sun 1/21 afternoon on the way home from the office (wife was out of town so do I play golf or ? NO, I sneak off to WORK) stop by for a few minutes and speak to a salesman at the dealership's other location (Ferrari) about possible car later this year (last year was good enough to get the Porsche, this year may be better), he starts to tell me about their outstanding service dept., I tell him about the vibration, it not being fixed and feeling the bum's rush to get out from the service dept. He says no way, it's CPO, gives me his card, says to contact them.
I get new website-ordered floor mats as a gift from my COO on Mon 1/22 AM.
So I email my story to the dealership PR person Mon 1/22 PM and she arranged for me to bring the car in 7AM Weds 1/24 to meet her and the guy who did the CPO (they aren't there until 7:15, I'm in commercial construction so my typical day starts on-site 6AM so I am late already), told them I didn't examine the car so closely as to notice that 3 tires (2 rears and 1 front) had N1 logo, other front did not, since it was CPO warrantied. Also, I had since measured the tread difference between the 2 front tires, and it was 8-9/32nds for front non-N1 vs 4-5/32nds for the N1.
Midday Weds 1/24, she calls to say the tires were fine on the CPO inspection they had done themselves in-house, and while they had the car at their dealership for over 2 months until I bought it, they have no records of changing the tire. So, I told her I spent almost $80k including sales tax etc. on a used car and she was saying that I replaced a $350 tire between Xmas eve and before noon on the day after Xmas and I was trying to stick them with it, to think about what she was saying. She says the CPO manager even remembers talking to me about the tires not being right.
At the time of this phone call, I was just dropping off my largest customer (Macy*s) from going to lunch, in my dealership loaner (Toyota Matrix), and I had another call from my office coming in, so I had to hang up on her, to say goodbye to my customer and take my office call. I wanted to call her right back to apologize, but this dealership blocks their phone #!!! Imagine blocking your phone number from your customers!!!
I was in a position to drive by the dealership right then and went up to the CPO manager. I said, taxi-driver style, do you know me, do I look familiar, does my voice sound familiar, and it turns out he had mistaken me for someone else. I insisted he call the PR person to say he was mistaken, but of course, she wasn't answering his phone call. He said what do I want, I said 2 new front N1 tires so the treads match and my steering vibration goes away, he offered to replace 1 front tire and I should pay for the other. I thought for a moment (called my wife for her guiding-light advice) and countered with 2 new tires and a written letter of apology for accusing me of lying and wasting my time because their CPO inspection wasn't thorough (like most, I work for a living and my time has value, and I don't make $ while I am talking to, traveling to and from, and sitting at the car dealership).
Late Wed 1/24, the salesperson and PR person called and GRUDGINGLY (oh, gee, we want to make it right and we are going the extra mile and doing more than we should but we want to make you happy, blah, blah) agreed to replace the 2 front tires.
Thurs 1/25 10AM the service advisor calls, so what are we doing with car? I tell him you are doing 2 new tires, I think, and he says OH, have to order them, will take a day or so. Call Fri 1/26 PM to see if car is ready, he is off for the day, another service advisor says he knows nothing about it, but if they had to order tires it is several days, so why don't you call back next week (no effort to check).
Separately, I am frantic Thurs and Fri because I have cannot find my main set of keys (house, work, other cars, etc.), and I have NEVER lost my keys or wallet (I am 52). Retrace all my steps to business appointments, restaurants, etc. and call them all, they don't have the key chain. One last ditch effort, go to dealership on Sun 1/28 and go to my car in their closed service area and they are sitting on passenger seat next to work ticket/ID # tag.
Later that Sunday night, I e-mail the service advisor to please remind the service tech to check for bent/out of round wheels when they are removing and remounting the front tires, since it is pretty simple to do at that time.
Service advisor calls me 11am Mon 1/29, the wheel with the non-N1 tire is bent and he has to send it out to be straightened, could take a couple of days.
Today, Weds 1/30 2pm service advisor calls, car is ready. So, car has been at dealership from Weds AM to following Weds PM to replace 2 tires and straighten 1 wheel. Ask him if anyone drove it after the work was done, he says tech did and it is OK. Go get car, thank everyone (for wasting my time, giving me so much grief I didn't want to drive/enjoy my car, being accused of lying because they didn't properly do the CPO to begin with), look at the fornt tires to make sure they are correct, and notice significant fresh scratches in the paint finish of one of the wheels!!! Check it out for a few seconds, service advisor walks up asks what's wrong, point it out to him, it's obvious the scratches are fresh, so he arranges for a wheel repair guy to come to me soon. The oblivious PR person walks up right afterwards, apologizes for the inconviences but everything is great now and they went the extra mile for me, so I think why bother, and leave....
Funny thing, I have come across 2 other Porsches (one at car wash, other at car guy get-together Sunday morning at Starbucks), total strangers with the dealership license frame, and asked them what they thought (1 had bought about 7 months ago, the other 12 months) both of them said they were going to a different dealership for their next in-warranty services....
Bought and drove the car off the lot at 5PM Dec 24th (Xmas eve) from the Porsche authorized dealership in Woodland Hills, Calif (look it up). Paid approx. $4-5k more (+ true 8.25% sales tax) than internet/private party to get Certified Pre-Owned inspected, warranty, extended warranty.
Took it back to dealership Dec 26th Noon (day after Xmas day) with steering vibration complaint, air vent broken, tear in floor mat. Floor mats not covered under CPO, air vent in stock. Waited for almost 3 hours (heaven forbid, you don't have an appointment, let me squeeze you in to our (visually not-very-busy) service area), they replace air vent and balanced tires off-car, gave it back to me without tech or service advisor taking it for a drive. Within 10 minutes, noticed steering wheel vibration was not fixed, but I had to go back to work. Figured I bought as-is, so I would have to buy new tires, alignment, whatever, like the floor mats. Several days later I get a letter from the dealership's on-staff PR person about providing excellent service (the previous name on the dealership had a bad reputation), if there is ever a problem, blah, blah.
Too busy to aggravate about steering vibration and putting a lot of mileage on my beater anyway (2006 CRV), eventually on Sun 1/21 afternoon on the way home from the office (wife was out of town so do I play golf or ? NO, I sneak off to WORK) stop by for a few minutes and speak to a salesman at the dealership's other location (Ferrari) about possible car later this year (last year was good enough to get the Porsche, this year may be better), he starts to tell me about their outstanding service dept., I tell him about the vibration, it not being fixed and feeling the bum's rush to get out from the service dept. He says no way, it's CPO, gives me his card, says to contact them.
I get new website-ordered floor mats as a gift from my COO on Mon 1/22 AM.
So I email my story to the dealership PR person Mon 1/22 PM and she arranged for me to bring the car in 7AM Weds 1/24 to meet her and the guy who did the CPO (they aren't there until 7:15, I'm in commercial construction so my typical day starts on-site 6AM so I am late already), told them I didn't examine the car so closely as to notice that 3 tires (2 rears and 1 front) had N1 logo, other front did not, since it was CPO warrantied. Also, I had since measured the tread difference between the 2 front tires, and it was 8-9/32nds for front non-N1 vs 4-5/32nds for the N1.
Midday Weds 1/24, she calls to say the tires were fine on the CPO inspection they had done themselves in-house, and while they had the car at their dealership for over 2 months until I bought it, they have no records of changing the tire. So, I told her I spent almost $80k including sales tax etc. on a used car and she was saying that I replaced a $350 tire between Xmas eve and before noon on the day after Xmas and I was trying to stick them with it, to think about what she was saying. She says the CPO manager even remembers talking to me about the tires not being right.
At the time of this phone call, I was just dropping off my largest customer (Macy*s) from going to lunch, in my dealership loaner (Toyota Matrix), and I had another call from my office coming in, so I had to hang up on her, to say goodbye to my customer and take my office call. I wanted to call her right back to apologize, but this dealership blocks their phone #!!! Imagine blocking your phone number from your customers!!!
I was in a position to drive by the dealership right then and went up to the CPO manager. I said, taxi-driver style, do you know me, do I look familiar, does my voice sound familiar, and it turns out he had mistaken me for someone else. I insisted he call the PR person to say he was mistaken, but of course, she wasn't answering his phone call. He said what do I want, I said 2 new front N1 tires so the treads match and my steering vibration goes away, he offered to replace 1 front tire and I should pay for the other. I thought for a moment (called my wife for her guiding-light advice) and countered with 2 new tires and a written letter of apology for accusing me of lying and wasting my time because their CPO inspection wasn't thorough (like most, I work for a living and my time has value, and I don't make $ while I am talking to, traveling to and from, and sitting at the car dealership).
Late Wed 1/24, the salesperson and PR person called and GRUDGINGLY (oh, gee, we want to make it right and we are going the extra mile and doing more than we should but we want to make you happy, blah, blah) agreed to replace the 2 front tires.
Thurs 1/25 10AM the service advisor calls, so what are we doing with car? I tell him you are doing 2 new tires, I think, and he says OH, have to order them, will take a day or so. Call Fri 1/26 PM to see if car is ready, he is off for the day, another service advisor says he knows nothing about it, but if they had to order tires it is several days, so why don't you call back next week (no effort to check).
Separately, I am frantic Thurs and Fri because I have cannot find my main set of keys (house, work, other cars, etc.), and I have NEVER lost my keys or wallet (I am 52). Retrace all my steps to business appointments, restaurants, etc. and call them all, they don't have the key chain. One last ditch effort, go to dealership on Sun 1/28 and go to my car in their closed service area and they are sitting on passenger seat next to work ticket/ID # tag.
Later that Sunday night, I e-mail the service advisor to please remind the service tech to check for bent/out of round wheels when they are removing and remounting the front tires, since it is pretty simple to do at that time.
Service advisor calls me 11am Mon 1/29, the wheel with the non-N1 tire is bent and he has to send it out to be straightened, could take a couple of days.
Today, Weds 1/30 2pm service advisor calls, car is ready. So, car has been at dealership from Weds AM to following Weds PM to replace 2 tires and straighten 1 wheel. Ask him if anyone drove it after the work was done, he says tech did and it is OK. Go get car, thank everyone (for wasting my time, giving me so much grief I didn't want to drive/enjoy my car, being accused of lying because they didn't properly do the CPO to begin with), look at the fornt tires to make sure they are correct, and notice significant fresh scratches in the paint finish of one of the wheels!!! Check it out for a few seconds, service advisor walks up asks what's wrong, point it out to him, it's obvious the scratches are fresh, so he arranges for a wheel repair guy to come to me soon. The oblivious PR person walks up right afterwards, apologizes for the inconviences but everything is great now and they went the extra mile for me, so I think why bother, and leave....
Funny thing, I have come across 2 other Porsches (one at car wash, other at car guy get-together Sunday morning at Starbucks), total strangers with the dealership license frame, and asked them what they thought (1 had bought about 7 months ago, the other 12 months) both of them said they were going to a different dealership for their next in-warranty services....
02-01-2007, 02:16 AM
#18
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Oh, one more thing....So I ask the service advisor since they replaced the front 2 tires, did they do an alignment? He said no need....I searched the forum and have made an appt. with Darrin at West End Alignment.
02-01-2007, 02:22 AM
#19
Keista -- Thanks for sharing your story. Sorry to hear of such difficulties and disappointment with your new/CPO Porsche experience. Sounds like good advice from the forum regarding the bent wheel. I hope all is good with your car from here on out.
02-01-2007, 02:26 AM
#20
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Wow, what a story... Sound like a dealership alright... A word of advice, Rusnak in Pasadena maybe another one to avoid if possible. They try to help, but very generic...My first gripe about noise from the front bottom was rebutted w/ changes in the ash tray. As it turn out, couple of thousand miles later, it was a loose sway bar do hicky....There where couple other comments making me look like an idiot asking about it. Overall, a mid 3 on the scale of 1-5.
Hoped everything is fine now? I would have them give you a new rim. I just can't see how a warped rim can be set back to true shape. Especially cast Alumn...Am sure there are plenty of delears story out there. Love to here them...
Hoped everything is fine now? I would have them give you a new rim. I just can't see how a warped rim can be set back to true shape. Especially cast Alumn...Am sure there are plenty of delears story out there. Love to here them...
02-01-2007, 02:48 AM
#21
Poseur
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Welcome to Rennlist! I'm glad to see that you finally got things going, but what a rude introduction to the marque. If you get the time feel free to come up to the Camarillo Airport Cafe the first Saturday of the month (at 9 am) for the local Santa Barbara Region of the PCA,--Porsche Club of America,--breakfast meeting. You'll find plenty of others who can help you with your questions, as well as sponsoing some fun runs throughout that region of California! We often have 50 cars at these breakfasts!
02-13-2007, 11:03 PM
#22
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So I still have the vibrations, although less....WheelEnhancement guys say straightening wheel doesn't work for Porsche, need to replace, should be under CPO and I say after all this, I will pay for the replacement wheel so I never have to go to that 'stealership' again....
02-13-2007, 11:11 PM
#23
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Before you plunk some changes for a new set of wheels. Try to get a loaner set of rims to see if it's the rims that cause the vibrations. Hate to see the vibrations is from some where else associated w/ the rims than the rims itself...
02-14-2007, 01:08 AM
#25
Race Director
+1 on the loaner wheel. Wheel Enhancement has lobster takeoffs should you need one. Supply exceeds demand so it shouldn't be too much $$$ or you can put on a nice set of aftermarket wheels. 
02-14-2007, 02:26 AM
#26
Poseur
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Originally Posted by Keista
OH BTW, I went to PCA SB meeting, there were 69 cars and I joined.....
It was good to meet you. Look forward to seeing you on a future driving trip!
02-14-2007, 10:05 AM
#27
Intermediate
Issue # 1: well , not really an issue. When starting cold, the car has a different mapping for the engine in order to warm up the catalytic converter ASAP...cause your car polutes most when it is cold. In other words, it is absolutely normal.
Nick, FL.
Nick, FL.
