Coolant Hose Connection Failures And The Possibility Of A Class Action Suit
#16
It's a really good idea to sue a manufacturer over issues like this if you ever hope to buy a GT car from them in the future. Porsche loves this stuff. Everyone who wants to join the class please post your full name to the list. JBO
#17
But, porsche has treated me very fairly in the past, that they have fixed my cars out of warranty and even given me so much else. In one car, they have shoulder more than 3k. I dont sue people, I ask nicely.
There is difference between a porsche dealer and PCNA, PCNA value customers.
If anyone plans to sue PCNA, this endeavour is not your route. I wont be part of it.
#18
Rennlist Member
Does porsche know this is an issue: YES
Does porsche claim there is no safety issue: YES
Did porsche claim to fix it: YES
Did they fix it: NO
Did the NHTSA rule this isn't a safety issue a few years back: YES
Does this suck: YES
Does this issue affect 996, 997.1, 997.2 GT3/GT2/Turbo cars: YES
Will it kill you on the street: probably not
Will it kill you on the race track: possibly along with others if you dump coolant in the wrong spot. i'll never forget the slow speed spins of about 8 cars at streets of willow when a 997.1 dumped coolant in the skidpad area of the track (a 180 turn to front straight). It couldn't have dumped it in a BETTER place. no cars hit, no damage done. but, that dumped in the wrong place is a disaster waiting to happen. and it has.
Should you fix it: YES
I've seen a 997.2 blow at the track a few times. I've seen 996, and 997 blow too. Usually the same pipe under the alternator.
Does porsche claim there is no safety issue: YES
Did porsche claim to fix it: YES
Did they fix it: NO
Did the NHTSA rule this isn't a safety issue a few years back: YES
Does this suck: YES
Does this issue affect 996, 997.1, 997.2 GT3/GT2/Turbo cars: YES
Will it kill you on the street: probably not
Will it kill you on the race track: possibly along with others if you dump coolant in the wrong spot. i'll never forget the slow speed spins of about 8 cars at streets of willow when a 997.1 dumped coolant in the skidpad area of the track (a 180 turn to front straight). It couldn't have dumped it in a BETTER place. no cars hit, no damage done. but, that dumped in the wrong place is a disaster waiting to happen. and it has.
Should you fix it: YES
I've seen a 997.2 blow at the track a few times. I've seen 996, and 997 blow too. Usually the same pipe under the alternator.
#19
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: The Tundra, aka Upstate NY
Posts: 31
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Having now read the link provided earlier [to the 2013 nineteen page thread that was started by "Gofishracing" in the 996 GT3 section], as the OP of this thread I have now had the questions I asked, answered...and the post "Spyerx" wrote right before this one, succinctly summarizes everything very well indeed...despite "Gofishracing" 's repeated pleas in the aforementioned thread of 2013, it would seem that only 10 people or thereabouts, actually took the time to file a formal complaint with the NHTSA...this despite the fact that countless [meaning well more than 10] 996 owners chimed in on that thread alone, to say that their vehicles had experienced coolant hose connection failures...usually on the track but in some cases the street too...that more than anything is likely why this matter never gained enough traction to one way or another compel Porsche to address the matter of the failing coolant hose connections...simply stated, collectively far too few people took the time to file a FORMAL COMPLAINT with the NHTSA...meanwhile PCNA repeatedly continued to claim ad nauseam and just as they continue to do so today, that there never was any coolant hose connection problem at all...this in spite of the fact per someone in said thread, that they were routinely fixing the problem under warranty on all cars brought into their dealerships, whose CPO had not expired...they also told the NHTSA that the problem had been fixed by 2007 and for all vehicles sold after that year...obviously we all know that is simply horse sh-t.
An attorney at a law firm that specialized in "defective vehicle parts and safety defects" called the "Gibbs Law Firm", even posted in that 2013 thread, to ask that everyone whose car had experienced coolant hose connection failures, to contact them...unfortunately, whatever they did with that list and whether or not they actually did anything beyond collecting names, I could not say as I believe it was one of the many links in that thread that I was unable to retrieve 5 years later, along with several from the NHTSA - and no doubt one or more of the latter's pertained to why they were closing "the file". A couple of other points that came up in the aforementioned thread were :
- allegedly Porsche [and at least one Porsche owner who was apparently a very good DIY and explains in detail what he did in the thread] had figured out how to fix the problem without having to remove the engine.
- depending upon the state, the statue of limitation insofar as Porsche's responsibility to fix the problem [had the NHTSA compelled them to do so] was 4-6 years from the date the vehicle was purchased by the original owner.
- there was also some reference in the thread that it had been determined in 20013 [by who it was not clear but I would have to assume it was NHTSA] that an estimated 10,000 vehicles were affected by the problem of coolant hose failures...yet for some reason, the fact that Porsche was never held responsible to address the problem in all those vehicles and at their expense, as I think we would all agree, is F'ed Up indeed!
- finally the last thing I read of note in that long thread, was that by some point PCNA had repaired the problem on 353 vehicles out of an estimated 25K that were thought to have coolant hose connections that could fail [obviously, for whatever reason the 25K figure does not jibe with the earlier referenced 10K vehicles] and when the estimated number of independent garages that corrected the problem were factored in, it was thought that possibly 5% of Porsche vehicles had already sustained coolant hose connection failures by 2013.
Needless to say, at least I now understand why earlier in this thread posters wrote "here we go again"... and ..."it seems to me we took a stab at this years ago and were unsuccessful, so what's changed and why bother?".
An attorney at a law firm that specialized in "defective vehicle parts and safety defects" called the "Gibbs Law Firm", even posted in that 2013 thread, to ask that everyone whose car had experienced coolant hose connection failures, to contact them...unfortunately, whatever they did with that list and whether or not they actually did anything beyond collecting names, I could not say as I believe it was one of the many links in that thread that I was unable to retrieve 5 years later, along with several from the NHTSA - and no doubt one or more of the latter's pertained to why they were closing "the file". A couple of other points that came up in the aforementioned thread were :
- allegedly Porsche [and at least one Porsche owner who was apparently a very good DIY and explains in detail what he did in the thread] had figured out how to fix the problem without having to remove the engine.
- depending upon the state, the statue of limitation insofar as Porsche's responsibility to fix the problem [had the NHTSA compelled them to do so] was 4-6 years from the date the vehicle was purchased by the original owner.
- there was also some reference in the thread that it had been determined in 20013 [by who it was not clear but I would have to assume it was NHTSA] that an estimated 10,000 vehicles were affected by the problem of coolant hose failures...yet for some reason, the fact that Porsche was never held responsible to address the problem in all those vehicles and at their expense, as I think we would all agree, is F'ed Up indeed!
- finally the last thing I read of note in that long thread, was that by some point PCNA had repaired the problem on 353 vehicles out of an estimated 25K that were thought to have coolant hose connections that could fail [obviously, for whatever reason the 25K figure does not jibe with the earlier referenced 10K vehicles] and when the estimated number of independent garages that corrected the problem were factored in, it was thought that possibly 5% of Porsche vehicles had already sustained coolant hose connection failures by 2013.
Needless to say, at least I now understand why earlier in this thread posters wrote "here we go again"... and ..."it seems to me we took a stab at this years ago and were unsuccessful, so what's changed and why bother?".
Last edited by BDCGT3; 11-12-2018 at 02:11 AM. Reason: error
#20
I don't really care to be a part of it, but that's not the reason that would slow me down. They've shown that they don't really care about consumers with all of the recent games around GT buying, why should consumers show them any benefit of the doubt?
#22
Instructor
Will it kill you on the race track: possibly along with others if you dump coolant in the wrong spot. i'll never forget the slow speed spins of about 8 cars at streets of willow when a 997.1 dumped coolant in the skidpad area of the track (a 180 turn to front straight). It couldn't have dumped it in a BETTER place. no cars hit, no damage done. but, that dumped in the wrong place is a disaster waiting to happen. and it has.r.
LOL - or anywhere on that track.
Mine blew on the highway at 25K miles before I ever took it to the track. But Porsche has treated me well - they've fixed a several things not covered under warranty for free - maybe just karmic balancing.
#23
Lots of poor historians in this thread. Forget going back to failing thermal reactors causing cylinder heads to warp in the first impact bumper 911s. Forget the plug fouling issues in the 1967 911s. A similar law suit posture appeared with "failing" PCCBs on 2002 GT2s. It didn't help that the first ROW cars were delivered with iron rotors. Forget the threat to sue Porsche over the clutch in the CGT. People are dying everywhere. Run for your lives. 964 dual mass flywheel failures. IMS seal failures. I'm with the group that has been treated very well by Porsche. Lots of items replaced or repaired out of warranty. It seems as if there are lots of recentists on the board. I'm with the minority. I think the idea of a class action suit here is just plain silly. Unless of course you never want to buy another GT Porsche again. I'd like to start a list of GT folks who don't want to join a class action suit so there is no question where we stand. Argh. JBO
#24
Burning Brakes
Let's face it.........it going to cost money to own a Porsche.
Let's balance out JBO's comments and hear from all of you who have/owned a "perfect" Porsche that never had any deign/operational issues....... pedal cars and bicycles not included.
Let's balance out JBO's comments and hear from all of you who have/owned a "perfect" Porsche that never had any deign/operational issues....... pedal cars and bicycles not included.
#25
Nordschleife Master
#26
Drifting
Lots of poor historians in this thread. Forget going back to failing thermal reactors causing cylinder heads to warp in the first impact bumper 911s. Forget the plug fouling issues in the 1967 911s. A similar law suit posture appeared with "failing" PCCBs on 2002 GT2s. It didn't help that the first ROW cars were delivered with iron rotors. Forget the threat to sue Porsche over the clutch in the CGT. People are dying everywhere. Run for your lives. 964 dual mass flywheel failures. IMS seal failures. I'm with the group that has been treated very well by Porsche. Lots of items replaced or repaired out of warranty. It seems as if there are lots of recentists on the board. I'm with the minority. I think the idea of a class action suit here is just plain silly. Unless of course you never want to buy another GT Porsche again. I'd like to start a list of GT folks who don't want to join a class action suit so there is no question where we stand. Argh. JBO
Last edited by Mr. Adair; 11-20-2018 at 06:05 PM.
#27
Conspiracy theory?! I like that one. I've challenged Porsche every time one of my cars has suffered a catastrophic failure. And Porsche has been awesome to deal with and I've never had an issue. I've owned over 50 Porsches and there is at least one member here that has seen most of them. I had one of nineteen PTS CGTs before the majority of talk on the 991 board is what PTS color to get the Tequipment key holder painted. Every major 911 model has had at least one major flaw. I've always been treated kindly and graciously by Porsche but maybe I should just sue them every time something happens. Sounds like a really "smart" strategy. I missed the 2014 GT3 because I didn't want one and frankly don't care. Porsche does follow these boards. So you should add your name to the class action list. That being said it doesn't appear you buy a whole lot of Porsche product so it probably won't raise eyebrows. I just can't believe there aren't more folks who think a class action lawsuit over this bummer issue is the right approach. Especially since Porsche used similar adhesive on GT4 Clubsport MRs and there are documented failures on track. My guess is you will spend lots more than $4K and you won't be buying a Porsche anytime soon. But that's OK because yours is the greatest Porsche ever. Correct? Josh
#28
Rennlist Member
Nope. Light came on the dash, saw smoke in my rear view, immediately pulled over at a gas station and called a tow truck. The only thing that was toasted was my skin in 100 degree sunlight while I waited 3 hours for the tow truck to come.
It is what it is. $10k later (LWFW, clutch + other work), the car is fully sorted and should be headache-free for many years (and miles to come). Cost of doing business. Not the end of the world.
Or turn 8 (at speed). I don't have the ***** for Big Willow (which probably explains why my lap times are comically slow)
It is what it is. $10k later (LWFW, clutch + other work), the car is fully sorted and should be headache-free for many years (and miles to come). Cost of doing business. Not the end of the world.
Or turn 8 (at speed). I don't have the ***** for Big Willow (which probably explains why my lap times are comically slow)
#29
Rennlist Member