I'll spare you the lengthy details, but suffice it to say that I am one of the early Cayenne followers, put in a deposit in June 2002, ordered an S in January 2003, was told that "something went wrong with my order" 15 days AFTER it was supposed to be delivered, went ahead and bought an alternate from the same dealer (Manhattan Motorcars) in any case, paid MRSP, and had PSM/ABS/Navigation failure within 2 weeks of delivery. Now I have to deal with their service center's carefree attitude, who, don't seem to know what they are doing, or when they are likely to do it. And to top it all, after promising me a Boxster as a loaner, they ask me to settle for a Chevy Malibu as a stand-in for "a couple of days" once I show up to drop off my truck at the service center. And get this, the service rep. tells me not to make a big deal of it, because I'm not the first customer with a problem.

Do all Porsche service centers have a "take-it-or-leave-it-this-is-life-at-porsche" attitude or did I just stuck with the worst of the lot?

Comments please!!

 

You got a bad dealer. Talk to the GM and then go elsewhere. I bought a used car from Hendrick Porsche that was 12 years old when I got it, everytime that I have been there for service they have a Boxster for me to drive and the people are very nice.

 

For what its worth we have four dealers in our area (Washington DC) that I'm aware of. Two are pretty highly thought of. One is greedy, large and offers mediocre service and the one closest to me has gone from very, very good to pretty darn bad.

People (or should I say the management that allows one to attract and retain the best people) make all the difference- the closest dealership was purchased by Sonic Automotive who obviously went on a cost cutting mission. The chief mechanic is now a chief mechanic for another highly reputable sports car manufacturer; the best service manager I ever knew was essentially fired after years of service, most of the other good people I knew left and their attitude is now almost exactly as you describe. It really is a shame.

I will add that the two "good" Porsche dealerships in our area also sell and service BMWs- and that service quality at the BMW dealership that was also purchased by SONIC also slipped- but nowhere near as much as Porsche/Audi one.

I currently own both BMW and Porsche and owned Audis for many years- IMO BMW is far more committed to providing quality service than either Audi or Porsche. Maybe some of that commitment just rubs off at those dealerships that are shared by Porsche? Or maybe they just have better local management?

I don't really know. But there is an old adage- a good dealer can make a bad car good and a bad dealer can make a good car terrible.

 

Sonic is based here in the same city that I live in, and I can say this they cut cost where ever they can. They go in buy a dealership then sell it to a leasing company to help their finances seem better. They basicaly lease everything possible, down to the desk tops and software running them.

 

Mmodi, sorry to hear about your problem.

Was that the dealer's service rep who made that flip/insulting comment or the district/regional service rep from Porsche? If it was the former, I would take it up the chain to the latter.

However, you raise two problematic service issues that I've been harping on/forecasting for quite a while with respect to Porsche's readiness to execute after it reaches its sales goals for the Cayenne:

1. The service culture at Porsche dealerships has to change across the board. George is right in that there are some isolated dealerships that are praiseworthy: they value their customers, have good interpersonal skills, and know the relationship between treating a customer well and getting future business. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. Brand arrogance is one thing, and that's mostly tolerable on the sales end of the equation in many forms. However, service arrogance is simply intolerable and typically negatively impacts the owner's quality of life with delays and half-truths. The SUV/daily driver folks who might be tempted to migrate to Porsche from Lexus, e.g., will not stand for poor service after having experienced coddling from Lexus dealerships.

2. Most Porsche dealerships are ill-equipped to deal with the loaner issue. There are two related problems here: kind and number of loaners. Does the dealership have an appropriate kind/quality of loaner to give to customers whose Cayenne's will be out of commission for a week or more (due to service capacity/schedule delays or a complex problem)? If I'm turning in a luxury SUV, that perhaps I need for its family-size room, then as much as I might enjoy a Boxster, that Boxster is not going to cut it to fill my needs. The only solution is for the DEALERSHIP to rent an SUV replacement, but not many dealerships go that distance. They'd rather rent a MALIBU! for you instead.

Throwing hundreds of millions dollars out to build stand-alone dealerships and extra service bays won't necessarily improve the service experience at Porsche if the culture doesn't change.

Hope your crisis doesn't last long.

 

and this is where Porsche will FAIL with Cayenne owners . Who for the most part are new to the brand. SUV owners generally use their trucks everyday and will not suffer bad service.Unlike sports car owners use usually have another car for daily transportation...I suggest that you sell your pepper and buy a Lexus SUV. That way you will get good service and a reliable truck....Vote with your $$$$$

 

RobertG,

Funny, I don't recall getting decent service with my Lexus. I had a RX300 when they first came out and the local dealership (Los Angeles area) didn't even offer loaners. You were expected to wait or take a shuttle. These experiences, while unfortunate, are hardly unique to the Porsche marque.

 

Anyone know who or how to escalate this issue to Porsche's attention?

 

well have you recieved your Offical Porsche service call yet? they havea company that calls you and asks you to rate your Porsche service experience.....I'd ask them after you answer their questions.

 

Jim, if the problems you relate from your experience with a Lexus dealership were Mmodi's only problems, you might have a point. But he's complaining about a lot more than that. I find it appalling.

 

I took delivery 3 weeks ago and have not received any call from Porsche yet. What is the typical timeframe for this call?

BTW, there are some more gory details like not receiving my PCM disc in time (and having missed a weekend trip) because Navitech (they handle navigation for Porsche) would not bear the extra $10 to overnight it to me. Don't want to bore everyone with my painful experience, but I must say that I would have expected better from Hyundai.

 

To be fair, I must clarify that the service rep. who made the casual remark about my situation not being unique was referring more to the lack of a loaner available rather than anything else it may have appeared from my original post.

Of course, my point to him was that he confirmed I would get a loaner when they failed to fix the problem the first time around (did I not mention that I have had to drop my truck off multiple times and the job is still not done!!) and that I made the trip today specifically because he confirmed that he we WILL have a Boxster loaner for me. Somehow, I don't think he quite understood that it was a customer satisfaction/expectation issue rather than the fact that he was offering me a Chevy Malibu rental free of cost!!

 

MModi:

Don't waste your time calling Porsche -- they will only anger you further as their attitudes are worse than your dealer's. I own both a 996 and a Cayenne and sadly would not buy another Porsche after having a horrendous experience with PCNA. If Porsche NA doesn't change their attitude we can't expect their dealers to be any different. My opinion is that the Cayenne will provide an initial sales boost for Porsche but prove to be a public relations nightmare as customers expectations of a $60K+ SUV are very different than those of a unique and hard to match sports car.

 

Porsche dealerships are no different than any other business. Whether a car dealership, a fastfood restaurant, a retail store, or a doctor's office. It's the way the employees are treated that generate good customer service. Well-treated employees (and I'm not just talking about salary) will go a long way towards satisfying customers. It's an attitude that must start with top management and thus will naturally trickle down to all employees. But if top management does not respect the employees, then how can the employees respect the customers?

mmodi:
If you're not satisfied, voice your concerns to the service manager or take it up with your sales rep. Mistakes happen. If they are willing to genuinely try to resolve the issue then they can create a desire for repeat business on your part. If they don't want to listen, then spend your hard-earned money elsewhere.

 

All great advise... thanks ton. I did speak to the service rep. and after 2 minutes of hearing me, he quickly suggested that he will ask the service manager to call me. That was 12 hours ago... somehow I won't be surprised if no one calls me for a while.

I think in this case, I'm just dealing with a shabby organization (BTW, they also sell Ferrari, Rolls, Lambhorgini, etc. so I think they're quite used to dictating terms) who's calling may be near.

I guess I'll just to invest in building a relationship with another dealer in the area, even if they happen to be 22 miles away.