hlee1169

I have to call Porsche to get the car towed to the dealer because the engine would not start. I just have the HPFP replaced at 18K miles, and now at 21K, it failed again. This would be the 4th time the HPFP is replaced. Does this quality as a lemon under the lemon law?

Macster

It might. You'll have to read up on the lemon laws in CA.

Start here:

http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/general/lemon.php

Sincerely,

Macster.

jakes dad

I've had fuel pump replaced two weeks ago (5800 miles) and the oxygen sensors one week ago... I suspect after driving for a few hundred miles that I might need the pump replaced again? It seems to be listless and somewhat non-responsive again.
The car is a 2009 911S and as much of a pain it is getting these things repaired and replaced now I can only imagine what it would be like if I was paying for the parts, service and inconvenience...

1169- When was the first pump replaced? I mean the mileage intervals between replacements...
Any other parts replaced under warranty?

Domer911

I am sorry, my dealership replaced my perfectly functioning HPFP at 1000 miles. Had I known I could have given it to you!

kosmo

I would certainly call PNA and have them extend the warranty. Thats the least they can do.

autopc

Every State has different lemon laws. In WI the car company gets 3 times in one year to repair the same problem if the car is under warranty. They do not get a forth chance. They have to buy back the car minus miles driven. They also have to pay for extra after market work to your car like custom wheels, tint, clear bra.

Read Macster's link.

Tcc1999

We successfully sued Audi under the CA Lemon Law in 2008. Our basis for standing was that the car (A4) was in the shop for over 21 days over a specific period. (And Audi had no idea if their fix would actually work - the problem, if I recall, was the DFI engine causing a massive amount of carbon build-up on the cylinder head.) You can file the lawsuit yourself but we chose to use a law firm that specialized in Lemon Law cases in CA. Be prepared for PCNA to possibly do anything to minimize their exposure (unless you have a "significant" PDK failure which I hear they roll over on pretty quickly). For example, Audi made a number of silly *** claims designed, it seemed, just to prolong the process. They even claimed the gas we were using was bad or 87 octane (at which point our attorney produced two years of Chevron receipts showing 91 octane use). In the end, Audi settled and the attorney took something like $8k. Was it worth it? My wife's an attorney and she neither had the desire or skill set to navigate product liability claims and it would probably have cost her that much and more in lost time to deal w/ it herself. Sure, you can do it yourself but be prepared for a long, drawn out process. At the end of the day, CA is a very friendly place in applying their version of the Lemon Law.

Good Luck.

jakes dad

That reminds me that I never got the service order that was supposed to be sent to me... I'll give them a call tomorrow and make sure I get a copy of the pump and sensor replacements... This will be the second time I didn't get the service/warranty work record at the time of service... Not sure it's a mistake at this point...

alexb76

I guess the main question is, IF the same carbon buildup will cause issues in DFI engine in Porsche?!

hlee1169

The first wast at 4K, second at 12K, third 18K, and now the 4th.
First time they also replaced the PDK controller module, later just the HPFP. I was told that the first two were first gen designs, so they wore out fast. However, my last one was supposed to be second gen design, but it failed more spectacularly (i.e. can't even start the engine).

Tcc1999

That's the question. I talked to a number of Techs off the record and they all seemed to say that every now and then an A4 (N.A. 3.2) would come in with this problem. There was no pattern to it and sometimes they were able to fix it and sometimes they weren't. (The indication of a problem in our car was a CEL warning for a misfire.) In the end, the techs told me that it was something that Audi had neither a clue about what caused it or how to appropriately solve
the problem. Could be that's why there is no longer an A4 3.2 offered by Audi (in fact, I'm not sure that they offer the 3.2 on any of their models).

function12

Make sure you read your lemon law book that should have came with the car. Some states will require a 4th attemp but you have to notify them in writing that this is the forth attemp and if the problem is not fixed then you with pursue the lemon law process. When and if you do go that route you need to make sure you make it about SAFETY otherwise it might get dropped.

utkinpol

there are plenty of DFI cars out there since 2009 and it does not seem that anybody complained about carbon build-ups. we have heard here about oil consumption issues on early dfi cars but it seems in 2010 and 2011 no one complained about that anymore. go figure.

SpeedBump

Yep, went through the process with Ford in Maryland. It took forever and my thought was they were trying to wait us out. We just parked the car and bought a replacement vehicle. Ford settled with us at court the morning of the court case. They really did not want to buy the car back and paid us to keep the car, it was enough money to cover every cent we paid including the insurance and taxes and we then sold the car to Carmax for a large profit. Our attorney fees were 0 since part of the settlement was Ford paying him.

autopc

I have some experience. I had 3 buy backs, 2 foreign and one domestic brand. I can't talk much about my cases. You will have to sign confidentiality agreements if they agree to a buy back. You need to start a log. Get every service order. Make notes for every service appointment, count the actual number of days you were without your car. Every car company has different procedures on how they deal with customer satisfaction and buy-backs. It also depends on how your service manager presents your case to the Factory Rep. Your service manager should speak to the Porsche Rep on your behalf first. I saw you were in the CA area so I assumed you should be looking into CA lemon law. This might not be true. Which State did you actually purchase the car from? You need to review the lemon law for the State you purchased the car from. Also not all States are consumer friendly. Some States allow you to sue for damages and legal fees others do not. Car companies try to play hard ball before settling in States where you cannot sue for legal fees and damages. I think CO and IL were the worst and WI was one of the best States for consumer rights. Hopefully the State you purchased your car from is a better one.

There are also a few good websites for lemon law. I did not use a attorney for any of my buy-backs. You just have to use the correct language.

I am wondering about Direct Injection in general? I know of other brands that have bad DI fuel pumps that cause problems. Severe carbon build up soaks up fuel and then the no-start? I do mean severe build up also, as in 1/4" thick carbon.

Good Luck