MJPereira

Over a month ago my PCM died on me and my radio was rendered useless after one month of driving around my p-car. I went to the dealer to get this fixed about 4 weeks ago and they said the whole unit needed to be replaced and that they had to order the part from Germany. They originally said it would be there in about 5 days. After 7 Days I called and they said it would be about another 7 days and then 9 days after that I called back again and they still have no ETA on when the part will come in. Does this sound normal? Is it that hard to get a part from Germany? I'm getting really frustrated with having no radio in the car considering my 1.5 to 2 hour commute to work each way. Thank God the car is certified so this is costing me nothing but my sanity.

If you don't think this is reasonable, what course of action would you recommend? Should I write to the dealership's owner? Do I write to Porsche Germany myself? I can't take this much longer.

Should I expect anything from the dealer for the inconvenience? I big into customer service having worked in various aspects of the customer service industry. Although I feel the dealership is not 100% responsible for the delay, I don't feel I should suffer alone.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

MJPereira

UPDATE: Just got a call back from the dealer and they said the part will definitely be in by Tuesday at 11am. Should I expect anything for the long wait time? Next tuesday will be the 5-6 week since I first got in touch with them.

Dariof

Your car to be fixed.

MJPereira

Thanks, should have seen that one coming.

Dariof

I've waited for every fix on my P-Car. Never 5-6 weeks (that's way too much), but for several days up to a couple of weeks anyway.

agdamis

Question - How did it die?

Last night I got an error message on the PCM and the "MAIN SCREEN" was visible, but nothing else worked. Then I shut off and restarted the car and it seemed to be ok. Is it about to die?

MJPereira

Here is how it started for me. Note, I only drive my car on the weekends. Twice the PCM switched stations on me without me doing anything. About a week apart. Then a couple of days later the radio froze and powered down and then back up and continued to function. The next day it did the same thing except it powered down and then never came back. It would go to the original PCM screen with the Porsche Lettering and Emblem. The radio could not be manually operated or shut off. It just kept constantly powering up and down the whole time while in operation. The dealer eventually turned it off internally so that it would stop that annoying repetition.

It sounds like yours is about to do the same.

lig

Huh? You only commute 1.5hrs a day on weekends?

chops

The man is a hard worker...no rest for the weary.

Ucube

Well then, technically you've only suffered without the radio for 10-12 days during those 5-6 weeks (you didn't use the car during weekdays anyway).

BobbyB

I had something very similar yesterday. My main screen said Amplifier error navigation not available. I could switch to the single CD and the main screen would show what track number should have been playing but no sound. When I tried the Nav system (map etc) nothing. After about 15 min of sitting there thinking -"another trip to the dealer", I started the car and Bam, everything was working-I've got my fingers crossed

rvklein

My PCM is flaky that way sometimes. I just figured it was the Denison

Edgy01

As these cars become more and more custom-ordered with varying interior colors, etc., it's impossible for PCNA here in the states to stockpile the variety of parts that it will take to have back up parts. Unfortunately, this is apparently not being well addressed by PAG or PCNA. Ultimately, this is impact sales, when owners report similar difficulties. That's a bit of the price we pay for something really unique. I suspect a radio failure on a Ford F150 could be fixed within 2-3 days, max. If it's something critical to the functioning of the car they should ensure that the logistics line is shorter. For convenience and aesthetic items, a little longer is understood, but it's still exasperating.

ltc

The PCM (and CDR) is a standard item across the PAG lineup, by design requirement....so is the audio amplifier FWIW.

The likely cause here is the obsolete status of the PCM 2.x platform, now that PCM3.x is released for production.
Becker has stopped manufacturing them, so inventory levels are not as easy to manage for an inproduction item.

MJPereira

Should have noted that I drive the car to work on Fridays which is an 1.5 hours commute each way in addition to my casual weekend driving.


I guess the consensus is that most would wait over the month for a part that is pretty common on most cars. My opinion is that even if they sent it via u-boat from Germany it should have gotten here sooner. Oh well.