911SLOW

This is unreasonable(sic), if all work was done by the dealer (and that, by definition, means that all repairs were made following Porsche guidelines), then the car's warranty remains active without any exclusions..

Don't settle for anything else.

axhoaxho

Did your dealer or a third-party body shop do the fender-bender repair? Seems whoever did the work also didn't do it 100% right, hence caused the fire.

Ask your dealer/PCNA to document the fact it was not covered under warranty because of the fender-bender repair, and try to go after the repair shop for the coverage. Usually the shop would have insurance to handle cases like this, and hopefully you can have them be responsible for the repair bill.

Regards,

ADias

Where are you located? Was this a very hot day?

24Chromium

+1

That is, assuming you had the car repaired by a shop other than a Porsche dealer.

Carrera GT

I think you're too kind. There is a clear cut opposition between Porsche (corporate) and the Porsche (retail dealer) in this case -- either Porsche declares the previous work invalid or the dealer doing the headlight repair accepts the cost of a subsequent failure. There's no third option where you take the cost.

If "Porsche" (whatever that means) thinks they can deny an engine seal here or an electrical fire there, then they're no better than Toyota. At least Toyota has recognized their product failures and tried to solve problems.

BBMGT3

Thanks a lot for everyone's comments

@911SLOW, I have no idea what avenues to pursue. I am in the UAE and there are no enforcement or regulatory bodies for me to turn to.

@AXHOAXHO, You are correct, Porsche said that they are indemnified of all responsibility because it is a "local error" by the dealer or whatever. So I would need to go after the workshop. See above for why I can't! Nobody carries insurance for this sort of thing because it is nigh on impossible to raise any kind of suit.

@ Adias, ambient temp was 25C. Lovely day. Was driving normally from home to office, stopped at track to register for DE. Soon as I parked the car, it lit up - see OP

@ Carrera GT, I agree, I am being too kind. Porsche has effectively declared the previous work invalid, despite the fact that it was done with genuine, new parts and so on. The shop is saying "well, since Porsche won't cover it, we can't cover it". Outside of Porsche or the dealer, I have nowhere to file a complaint. Well, thats not entirely correct - I can file a civil case with the courts... let me just say that I would have better luck winning the lottery.

My only recourse is to vent on Rennlist!

911rox

Bmardini, sorry to hear about your predicament... Both Porsche and the workshop are being most unreasonable here... If you have an alternative dealership to do the repair in a week or so, i would do as follows:

I'd park the car outside the workshop/dealership with a nice huge sign and explanatory notes on windows explaining that their incompetence with a previous repair caused the car to go up and now the dealer nor manufacturer are man enough to step in and right there wrong... Hand out some informative flyers to potential customers for added effect! I bet the bad publicity will be worth more than a couple thousand dollars to them.

If they don't come good after a week of bad publicity, take it elsewhere and get it fixed. Don't reward there incompetence with your hard earned money! You shouldn't have to spend thousands in the courts to right their wrong. Good luck in any case. I hope they sort it out for you...

aussie jimmy

this is the australian way. not sure if it works in uae? hahaha

911rox

Well, the poor guy has tried nice and reasonable... Now its time for 'shock and awe'... lol

Carrera GT

It sounds like the independent shop used factory parts, but something went wrong -- there's no information in what I've read here to lay the blame at the feet of the shop or the dealer or Porsche for a product fault.

Assuming the independent shop is not going to warrant their own work or believes their work is somehow certainly unrelated to the damage -- and let them prove this -- then they're of no further use. And they should be publicized for their misdeeds.

For US$2K, the law has no bearing, so it's up to Porsche.

I'd start by getting the car fixed at a dealership and impress upon them that "this is not over." The first part of their work should be to categorically define the root cause of the fire.

While the car is in for repair, escalate the situation by written letter and phone calls to the dealer principal. The subject has to be short and sweet, one paragraph of description, one sentence calling for action. Make no concessions to their previous attempts to rationalize how some word like "local" has any significance. In calling the dealer principal to action, make it clear that you have already identified the country/region people to escalate the issue every step of the way to Germany.

A local Porsche owner's club or local forum site will usually have the information to make it quick and easy to contact each person/role at each echelon to escalate through the ranks of the region and back to the factory.

In the USA, there's organizations that have some influence over automotive repair ("bureau of automotive repair") to impose various penalties and there's government organizations designed to monitor businesses in general ("better business bureau.") In both cases, the dealership runs afoul of their franchise contract if they start showing up on BAR or BBB records -- especially when there's property damage and a clear paper trail.

911SLOW

From my understanding I think that the repairs were made at the official Porsche local dealer, not in an independent shop. ?

Carrera GT

I see. My skimming speed reading skills are out of focus.
Anyway, that would make it a cleanly defined dispute between the dealer and the regional service inspector ... someone signed off on the work in the previous repair and they either cover subsequent warranty work or explain why they're rejecting this case.

911SLOW

He will tell us for sure next time.

But from previous posts the dealer(s) there are not performing adequately..
In one car the messed with the struts another went out with 49! psi cold rear tire pressure..

Classic story, they build their business at their customers' expense..

One schooled master mechanic from a rapid seminar in Germany a quick inspection from the head office that the workshop fulfills the P standards in the grey paint of the walls and then total chaos.

Works in all small countries and new markets..

BBMGT3

Its a combination of things

No competition (exclusive agencies), so monopolies
No customer protection agencies (BBB, etc)
No legal recourse, or no culture thereof. Some may say the US is overly litigious, but it sure as hell protects customers.

@ Carrera GT: You're right, Porsche had to make a call on this one, because its clear that the installation was faulty... maybe. It is not possible to conclusively say what caused the fire - the dealer and Porsche confirmed this (because the fire destroyed the evidence!). But, because the previous repair had involved the forward harness being replaced that was their "AHA, pin it on the workshop/client" moment. And like I said, I can understand why. If a car catches fire in the EU/US for the same reason, and a suit is filed, and it emerges that Porsche has accepted responsibility in the past but didn't do a recall or any sort of action etc they would be done for. Far better to say "local error" or installation or whatever and wash their hands of it.

@ 911SLOW: I sent my car in for a once-over once prior to a track day. Its a nice little package they sell; before and after, top up fluids, change brake fluid, check brakes, pads, and so on. Car came out with 39 psi cold on ONE of the rears, and the brakes lasted all of 30 minutes before I hit the sensor. You'd think they would have wanted to sell me pads, right? Usually at the dealer they have a handful of extremely competent people and an army of not-so-competent people who are then expected, as a "team" to handle THOUSANDS of cars. Workshop is great; should easily be able to handle maybe 1,000 cars a month for various services, but not 5 times that. I once threatened the foreman - german fellow - that I would complain directly to Porsche (about something or other, back in my C2S days) and he BEGGED me to do it. "Please, complain, tell them how terrible it is here, we need help". Didn't expect that reaction...

911SLOW

Indeed, Germans have an excellent sense of humor.. : )