My car has a PDK, and like PJorgen I'm reading this thread today with a rising level of concern. Sandwedge, did the dealer provide any detail as to how the PDK is toast? Electronics within the PDK **** the bed? Something mechanical internal to the PDK fail? Hope your warranty comes through for you.

 

Please, keep us posted. I haven't heard much about PDKs going bad. Good luck

 

I think he meant 14k mi on his car, but I can't see why it wouldn't be under warranty.

 

Wow PDK toast. I did buy extended warranty. Keep us updated.

 

Same as last time minus $14K

 

Good Luck! Very sorry to hear this and I hope it works out for you. Thank God for your extended warranty!

Tom

 

So here's the latest. Stopped in at Suncoast today and the exact cause of the failure is undetermined at this point but the lead tech (very, very sharp guy) said that replacement rather than repair is almost certain. Mostly because there are only 4 external parts they are allowed to replace on the PDK. Everything else is sealed internally and that's off limits for all except Porsche techs in Germany. An adjuster representing my warranty company will visit tomorrow. The consensus among the techs I spoke with is that he/she will probably at least try for some kind of repair before signing off on the $14,000 replacement. All agreed that would be a waste of time and money but if that's the decision then that's what it is. I have a brand new Audi A4 loaner so all is good on my end except that I'm bored.

To those of you driving around in a PDK car without warranty, this may be helpful to know. I don't track this car, nor do I use the launch feature. It's a daily driver that sees a mix of city and freeway driving. All said, the car has lived a comfortable life over 35,500 miles and this failure came without any warning at all. FWIW.....I typically start out in auto mode when the engine is cold and then stay in manual 90% of the time once everything is warmed up. Lastly, I was told a number of times that failures like this are very rare but we already knew that. They obviously happen though and you can't help but thinking PDK failure is the .2 version of IMS failure on the .1 cars. Rare but costly.

I'll post more details as I get them.

 

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. What's concerning is their tact in basically saying, "forget trying to repair it, just rip and replace".

 

Yikes. The only thing this story is missing is a large oil/fluid spill forming around the car, like a crime scene chalk outline. I remember the pic of "that guy" with the IMS failure on the highway. Just enough incline on pavement to get a lurid fluid leak with a cell phone camera…

Oh well, at this point you will prob. get a new PDK and the happiness that your warranty has paid for itself.

My indie guy says the trend to replace rather than repair is the way it is today.

I'm somewhat surprised, I completely believe the car's history, and thought that PDKs experienced very few issues.

Thanks for the info.

Now, how does one PPI a PDK?

 

Problem is that they can't repair in the US. They have to crate the whole thing and then ship it to Germany by what I'm sure is not air freight. Add up the cost of that and the time. Probably close to a 4-month affair before it's all said and done. I'm told there are some 40 replacement PDK units in storage in Atlanta at any given time which makes you wonder how rare these failures really are.


You don't. It's like a safe.

Thanks Tom. Every indication so far is that it will be covered. Now....there's no soft spot in my heart for insurance companies but I don't think some goodwill from Porsche would be an unreasonable request here given the circumstances. Not my place to ask unless I get stuck with the bill but a total failure of a $14,000 transmission after 35,500 miles in a car with no abuse history seems like something they should be eager to address from a PR standpoint.

 

wow,

why am I not amazed to discover a pdk is not in my future.

op,

best wishes for quick resolution.

 

So, let me get this straight ... Walmart sells car batteries?

 

What is the pdk?

 

This is not just a PDK thing but most modern transmissions are put together under extreme pressures and cannot be serviced except by the manufacturer. A P dealer cannot work on a 997 manual trans either.

 

Sandwedge, sorry to hear about the pdk trouble. Hopefully its a rare occurence. I'm still thinking of a pdk down the road.

Good you'll have a fresh pdk.

You think the water pump failure impacted the pdk?