atr911

1- Scarlett has a coolant leak coming from the front right side of the engine at the head (Cylinder 6). Head is off and has had a very slight warp machined out. Hopefully she's gtg now. Upside is that I got to see the internals of the engine. Cooooooooool!

2- Whoever the idiot at Porsche is that decided to send the 918RSR back to Germany without letting the public see it deserves beating. All that publicity and they don't even have the decency to make it clearly known that it won't be there for the public show?!? I drove 900 KM (550 mi for you guys) primarily to see that damn car.

3- Broke down on the way back from detroit (complete dead miss on one cylinder) at 11:00 on Sunday night. GAH!

4- The same idiot that is responsible for sending the 918 RSR back obviously runs Porsche Roadside "Assistance" because they thought it would be a good idea to suggest they tow it 200KM (120 mi ) in the WRONG DIRECTION because it was 50mi closer than the city I lived in. Again, let me reiterate, in the WRONR DIRECTION. Basically this meant that if I wanted to work that week, I'd have to rent a car and drive the 2.5 hours home the next day then drive 5 hours to pick the car up when it was done, then drive 5 hours home with the car again. Nevermind how I would return a rental. At the time the only alternate option was to pay cash for the tow ($$$$$$$$$) and hope Porsche would reimburse me for a portion. THANK YOU TO THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THE TORONTO PORSCHE DEALER, PFAFF, FOR GETTING THE CAR TOWED HOME FOR ME!!

Sigh. <rant over>

KeninBlaine

It must suck being you
That tow thing is really ridiculous. Did you offer to pay the 50 mile tow difference?

stevepow

Sorry to hear about all that - what a drag.

I had the same problem with RA last year - they are dead set on towing to the closest dealer - even if in the wrong direction. They'll take care of the car, but you are on your own for the most part.

I get that they can't promise to tow you home - who knows how far that could be, but they really need to amend the policy to "closest dealer in the direction of travel".

And yes, I found my only allies were the Porsche dealerships that I called for help.

atr911

Yeah, when I offered to pay the 50mile difference they just ask you to pay for the complete tow and then get reimbursed for a set amount based on what they'd have paid to the shortest distance. Their rate is ridiculous though and to qualify you have to pay their rates. Silly system especially when there are only 8 dealers across the entire country.

ADias

In the US, AAA towing may be the way to go.

gstahl

Have folks used AAA instead when porsche was available. We have the 200 mile AAA and I wonder who is the best first call?

Thanks.

geoff

atr911

Haha. Funny you mention it.

The driver recommended we use CAA (my companion had a membership) to bring the car down a few exits and then we could call Porsche back to get it towed the rest ofthe way.

We were in the middle of doing this when Porsche called back to inform us that they'd talked to the dealer and made an exception to have the car brought to Ottawa (my local dealer).

stevepow

Wow.....

raspritz

So, you need to know how Porsche Roadside Assistance works. When you call, you are talking to a person working at a clearinghouse that contracts from Porsche of America, and so for your call is wearing the hat of Porsche Roadside Assistance but otherwise has nothing to do with Porsche. The person to whom you are speaking is sitting there with a list of 'approved' local towing agencies. It is unclear what 'approved' means, as these agencies have NOT been vetted for competence; in a much worse incident than yours the moron that finally came out in the middle of the night with basically a U-Haul trailer realized his agency didn't own a flatbed needed to transport a 4WD vehicle. I called my Porsche agency the next day, who called the towing agency they use, who came and got the car. I also complained to Porsche of America, who contacted the "Porsche Roadside Assistance" national office, who contacted me and ultimately sent me a large check to make up for my inconvenience (that is putting it mildly).

KeninBlaine

I'm curious: does the "putting it mildly" refer to your level of "inconvenience" or the size of the "large" check?

cbzzoom

What are the details on these if you care to share?

Alan C.

I keep my AAA Plus just for cases like this. Years ago I broke down at a track and had the car towed as far as I could with AAA. The guy towed the car to a point that was close to the limit and we stopped and I bought lunch for the two of us. During lunch he wrote up the AAA bill. He then towed me the rest of the way home and I paid cash for that portion which was reimbursed by my insurance. All I was out was an extra lunch which was offset by several good towing stories along the way.

tpenta

I drove to the San Diego Auto Show to see the Cayman R and Porsche wasn't even there...

-T