Does Porsche NA care about dealership experience?
 

I recently bought a car from a dealership and my experience has been nothing less than horrible. Sleazy, awful communication, misleading communication, unmotivated employees. In short, not what you imagine when buying a Porsche.

If I complain to Porsche NA are they going to care?

My local dealership, Porsche Littleton is INCREDIBLE. The service is non pareil, everyone at every step cares about your experience. This place, not so much, I mean not at all - it's not as if Porsche is a high volume dealership. I don't expect a Chevrolet experience here (And having purchased a car from a Chevy dealership about 20 years ago, my experience there was 10x better than this has been).

To be clear, I'm not looking for any money off, or anything for free.

Thoughts?

It's a franchise so I do not think Porsche will care unless there are many complaints about the same dealer.

I also have been surprised by the lack of service and experience offered to me buying my Cayenne GTS Coupe. I leased two VW's for my kids and I'm coming out of a Jaguar F-Pace S lease and both dealers couldn't do enough for me. From the SA to the SM, both places blew away what I've experienced with Porsche. Then again, maybe I was expecting something special from Porsche, when I'm just buying a car and they are just car salesmen.

In general.....Once Porsche sells the car to the dealer, they pass all complaints to them since they no longer have title to the car......their customer service is not the best versus other car manufacturers, but they are good marketers and profiteers - that is their focus in the end to make money for VW.........could take a lesson from Lexus/Toyota or even KIA on customer service.......

Have owned a Porsche for 23 years..........have had serious issues with my 996 and Porsche Corporate could have cared less.......I was super persistent and worked it out with the dealer, but it was like a good bandaid....sold the car right after they fixed it enough to run......3 month saga though which did not need to happen if handled correctly.......

Porsche seems to handle things once they get to the lawsuit stage and that reduces their liability overall, i.e. IMS bearing issue took 10 years to resolve with class action lawsuit.......991.1 well heeled GT3 owners visiting corporate with a complaint meeting and securing a 10 year warranty on engine issue, which sounds good, but then what when it breaks?

My wife had a horrible experience at a local dealer we live near 6 of them, she called and complained to porsche of north america and said she was selling her cayenne and was never going back after the way she was treated. My wife did sell her Porsche and bought a Audi but I kept mine. 1 month later I went back and the service manager was gone. I asked my service advisor and he indicated in a few words or less my wife's complaint had impact on the decision.

sounds like a dealer telling another mistruth….Porsche can’t tell dealer to fire employees….employee even might have left on their own…..convenient way to get you back in the fold….

Agreed

I think Porsche NA cares but there is not a lot they can do. I would complain to them in case others have had problems too. Back before the recent problems BMW had a hold back system where the
dealer got 5 or 6% back on every new BMW they sold. This was the profit center on new cars. The percentage they got back was based on volume and customer satisfaction surveys. You could hurt
the dealer with the survey so they tried very hard to make you happy. I've bought a lot of cars from Fields Auto Group and they have treated me extremely well. They recently bought Brumos Porsche
in Jacksonville Florida.

This dealer was recently fined $10 million by the FTC for their racist and illegal practices, so it's possible Porsche may be pulling from them anyway. As soon as my business is done I intend to create a huge stink, but as it is now they currently have my second key and I don't want that getting lost in the mail.

I complained about my purchase experience and PCNA did nothing but refer me back to the dealer. The standards of customer service, responsiveness, courtesy at Mazda, Lexus, BMW, and Ferrari dealers are *much* higher than what I've experienced lately with Porsche. It's like going from a well managed restaurant to some random Popeyes. It's really sad, and does not fit the luxury brand that Porsche still aims to be. I can't think of a luxury brand in fashion or electronics or musical instruments, or anything, where the standards are this low. I just bought a German high end piano and the experience was flawless and the salesperson shared with me that the brand *requires* them to meet certain standards and will contact me to ensure that the purchase and delivery were perfect. And that they did.

I think it's right that PCNA doesn't really manage their dealer network or hold them accountable in any way like that. PCNA seem to be run by the big megadealers, rather than the other way around. You can see that in how they manage allocations also.

They're lucky they make great cars, which is what brings some of us back. But that's a fragile thing. In the future if Audi and Porsche are basically selling the same cars, there is zero chance I would subject myself to a Porsche dealer of all things.

agree 1000% ax a 22 year owner of 5 Porsches……next car I buy will not be a Porsche

Sounds a lot like the Rolex authorized dealers nowadays.

When they have something that everyone wants, and their products sell themselves with a long line of customers waiting, they don't even have to try and customer service goes away. There is no more incentive to differentiate themselves from other dealers or other brands, or offer amazing service. Yet we keep coming back and we feed the beast

From what I've seen, Porsche definitely cares about the service department ratings you give them. From what I hear there are serious issues if they don't receive 9 or higher ratings on those.

Regarding overall experience, PCNA doesn't seem to care much. We've had an IMS bearing go out. Dealer helped out a bit, but PCNA couldn't have cared less. As mentioned, 991.1 GT3 owners had to work very hard to get extended engine warranty. PDK's going out while not common, doesn't typically show PCNA helping. Only recently have transfer cases had an extended warranty put on them for the Cayenne's and Macan's.

I must say though, I have not had a better experience when compared with BMW, Lexus or Audi over the years. They all seem to provide subpar service nowadays. Maybe since everyone is just leasing these cars and there's more on the road than ever, they have let standards go down. My standards are unfortunately set pretty low. Funny how now if I can get just decent communication and service, it almost feels as if someone is going above and beyond.

Stories like this make me think it is past time to undo the crony capitalist laws in many states that prohibit retail sales by car makers. Right now, dealers have too much protection from competition, and from the desired policies of the manufacturers. Since prestige brands are all about experience and branding, as well as ownership satisfaction, I expect that Porsche global and Porsche North America would prefer to dump bad dealers.

Someone mentioned Rolex! Yup! Recently i picked up well, several watches, and all had better service than ANY Rolex boutique I've visited in years!!!

As far as Porsche level of service is concerned? I guess the best thing I can offer is that i'm moving on, just as i have with watches. there are many great options. PCNA does't care nor do they listen. My last 1-800-PORSCHE GO SCREW YERSELF call i made made me want to go get a personalized plate something along the lines of, "PORSHSUX". The dealers just put the $100k over sticker addendums on the cars and disappear into the back room. If you beg them they may sell you that one for waaaaaay toooo much. God forbid you should save 60% on service by going elswhere, you'll be shunned and never offered another car again. Thy really have no idea that enthusiasts kept them afloat in 1990!!! Now all they want to do is chase Instagram pics. Hey Porsche, ya made your wealth at LeMans, not cars and douchebags.

i'm looking for a MERCEDES AMG GTC which is a beast on track and carries lots more panache than a 911. These things look good, feel good, have a good rep, and a whole lot less attitude. They are so much more rare and special and well-built than the 911 too!

My wife is fine with MERCEDES as well. She said the most comfortable seat she ever had was in the Mercedes. I made her get a Macan, and now that we are a two car porsche family, she's on her second, and i'm on my 12th, they seem to care even less!!! she likes any number of offerings over there.

I will never call PCNA again for assistance! The last time the guy said to me."What do you want ME to do about it?" What the what?!?!?!?!?

Porsche prefers to terminate bad dealers but risky in their view so they stay put. Concerns are sales and lawsuits from dealers who probably have a cure clause in their contracts with Porsche…making it near impossible to terminate a dealer…..usually manufacturers have their more dedicated delete buy out the poor ones often subsidizing the acquisition….