utkinpol

i think it will become a norm and a sad reality that all modern hi-tech cars like 991, GT-R, R8, etc. will be reasonably safe to own ONLY during primary warranty period. And as it goes off warranty it is probably better to give this car away and get a newer generation of the same car that will have full factory warranty again.

Porsche CPO was a very nice exception from this generic rule, so let`s hope it will remain this way.

alexb76

Sorry, so you mean they will replace a WHOLE transmission if a tempreture sensor goes out?

It it hard to believe, unless that temp sensor is inside the transmission, somewhere that's not easily servicable, so the labour cost of it would outweigh the replacement of a whole transmission... just in general looks like these sorts of transmissions, while fantastic, might be very costly to repair/diagnose after warranty period!

I wonder what transmission they will put into GT3?! That's the car that most likely would require more transmission service than others when tracked. Although, I am not entirely sure if Porsche cares about maintenance as much.

utkinpol

the way i understood it - ALL new DFI engines and ALL new trannies, PDK or 6sp are glued now or some other who knows what 'advanced' method is used to make them BUT it is simply not possible anymore to take them apart, dealers cannot do anything on those motors that requires to split the case or extract PDK guts out. so it goes back to the factory.

it totally contradicts 'manual' approach to old gt1 block engines that was partially supported with M96/M97 generation engines.
unless right now i have not heard of anybody opening up new DFI motors. may be it was already done and not a big deal, but i would LOVE to hear from somebody who actually got it done or saw with his own eyes. all projects i have heard about yet were about replacing old engines with new DFI ones but no one messed with DFI internals yet, imho.

alexb76

Thanks, good to know.

I sure LOVE to be able to just drop a GT3 engine/transmission in a Carrera body (with rear seats, other comfort), and be done with it!

ufischer

I can confirm what utkinpol said. The tech told me it was probably a minor issue but they were not allowed to crack open the PDK per PCNA instructions.

For what it is worth, the labor for replacing the PDK and all the troubleshooting was 9.9 hours. Although there were no prices in the invoice, I did see a core return item. I am not sure if the $10-$13K mentioned in previous posts includes credit for the core but I presume it does. I have heard elsewhere that a new PDK costs much more than $13K.

Anyways, car is driving great now and it didn't cost me a penny (ahough I had to drive a Jetta for a week) so I am happy.

alexb76

BTW, based on this, if you got a GTS, would you do 6-speed or PDK?

Ecloebl

I have had five Porsches, but based on this, I am out of the Porsche market. I can live with a new Lexus.

utkinpol

i like manuals, so it would be 6sp. with 5 bolt wheels.

cairo94507

Exactly why when I bought my 993 new I also bought the 7 year 100K mile warranty. Have since sold that right before the 7 years arrived. Now talking with the wife about a '10 997S coupe and it will have to have the extended warranty too. Not that I expect the car to fail, she is a very conservative driver, but just because I will sleep better knowing it is covered.

Alan C.

I'm on my second PDK and I'd do it again. I contacted Suncoast once about a PDK replacement and if I remember correctly the price was under $10k for an exchange on a refurbished unit.

My guess is down the road the replacement rate for PDKs will be no greater than engines for money shifts.

Mdrums is paving the way on reliability for the PDK. I don't know of anyone that pushes one harder or longer.

Mike in CA

Life is too short to worry about which transmission to buy because of a concern it might fail. Buy what floats your boat and go from there, IMO. If replacement cost for worn or failed parts after warranty is a major concern a modern Porsche is probably not the car to buy in the first place, and don't even think about something like a Ferrari or other full-on exotic. For what they are, Porsches are actually pretty darn reliable.

ufischer

It would make sense to me that while the first PDKs are still under warranty, Porsche would rather replace the entire unit than let the techs open them. It actually shows that Porsche is more concerned about the customer experience than the average car company.

Think about it, it would have cost Porsche a heck of a lot less to let the techs try to troubleshoot and fix my tranny. Instead, they swapped the whole thing out and made sure the whole thing went smoothly for me. I'm happy, dealer is happy, but Porsche is out a whole lot of dough. Hard for me to complaint.

On the other hand, by the time the first generation PDK is out of warranty, Porsche is going to know enough about common failures that the techs will be allowed to work on them. Again, this makes perfect sense to me and makes me want to stay loyal to Porsche.

boolala

These prices are a bargain compared to what you would pay for a Ferrari. The old single clutch F1 gearbox (on the 430 e.g) is 20 K and the F1 hydraulic actuator is 13 K. Have no idea what the new(er) dual clutch gearbox is on the 458. Ricambi America says to "call" for the price on this. I would imagine it should say "call, but make sure you're sitting down first."

alexb76

Car's double the price, while transmission is 50% more? maybe a good deal?

alexb76

I don't think so actually. I think the cost of PDK *to Porsche* must be on-par, or less than the billing they will get from a Porsche dealer for diagnosing a PDK transmission, repairing it, and putting it back together while not knowing if it would fail again... plus the downtime of the car.

I am 100% sure some MBA calculated the cost/benefit of each, and determined it's cheaper/more efficient to just drop in a new tranny... sending the old tranny back to be rebuilt and given to another customer whose transmission fails, and so on.

After warranty, they don't give a damn, as it's not a cost to them. It's between *you* and the dealer.