Not to be alarmist...

My dealer has just informed us that we need the replace the front shock absorbers on the GT3. The car only has around 3k kms on the clock.

I'm extremely careful with the car, and it has never hit any pot holes, cats eyes, or experienced any kind of impact that would conceivably damage shock absorbers on a "normal" car, such as a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. Much less a GT Porsche.

I can only imagine that it was some kind of defect from the factory.

I noticed that there would be a "klonking" sound from the front suspension, when driving over roads that were not glass smooth. You'd hear it at low speed. I immediately thought it may be a shock absorber issue, as I've experienced this sort of thing before with my Evo.

Only one shock needed replacing. But the dealer is doing both under warranty. Well, props to them for that!

Still, needless to say, I'm terribly disappointed in the car.

 

Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,
In the midnight and the snow!
Christ save us all from a death like this,
On the reef of Norman's Woe!

'er don't you think your reaction is a little extreme, Norman?

You are getting both front shock absorbers replaced, FOC, sounds OK to me.

R+C

 

Alot of track time and the dealer will pay for the failure=a pretty good deal...

 

as I said, props to Porsche for replacing under warranty.

that's not the point now is it?

Porsches are supposed to be the everyday sports cars with build quality and durability that other cars can't match.

they come with a correspondingly dear price tag.

and the GT3 is supposed to be the ultimate Porsche, built specifically with the track in mind.

... and a shock absorber fails after 3k kms? tell me honestly you wouldn't be disappointed? REGARDLESS how good the manufacturer support was?

i've had three Mitsubishi Evos that have had more (and harder) mileage that never experienced that kind of failure**



** the shocks that I had on the evos that failed were racing only coil-overs that were unsuitable for road use, but I used them for the street.

 

Some facts of life about car ownership.

All manufacturers buy components from third party suppliers.
'Expensive' cars go wrong just as frequently as inexpensive cars.
Exotic cars have problems all the time

Get ready to bend rims, scrape the bottom of the car, replace brake pads and disks, and they are all going to be expensive. And probably not as robust as in your Evo, which benefits from a knowledge of technology used in WRC.

Don't get too uptight about cost, one reason Porsche is successful is that they are comparatively cheap, compared to Ferrari.

Sometimes the third party components fail, they could be on a Porsche or an Opel, its luck of the draw.

R+C

 

Some parts may be deffective to no fault of Porsche...

 

The other thing to consider is how easy it is to have Porsche repair your car. When I had my Ford GT, I had to drive 50 miles just to have the oil changed because none of the local (and there are 5) Ford dealers could even get the car up on a lift. I've never worried about service being done right at the Porsche dealership.

 

Minor faults can occur on any car.

The GT3 is a specialist sports car, with numerous bespoke parts, and made in relatively small numbers. Being a Porsche we expect engineering excellence and, in the main, that's what we get. But, nothing's perfect.

I travelled by Swiss Rail last month and the train arrived at Visp 7 minutes late!

 

The truth is that most defective parts will fail early which is what makes the warrantee so useful.

 

They are bilstein shocks, which have a pretty track record in terms of durability. So you got one bad strut, not a big deal. I've had Konis on other cars suffer infant mortality, and simply warrantied them.

No biggie. These machines are just that: machines. Stuff breaks.

I wouldn't be disappointed, just mildly irritated that I have to drop the car off for service and be w/o for a week or two.