986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

cb531 · 02-10-2004, 05:05 PM

i'm new to the forum and was curious as to feedback regarding my recent dealership experience:

about a week ago, i brought my '99 Boxster w/ approx 65k miles in to the dealer because the "Check Engine" light had recently come on. they had the car for a couple days before they could even get to the repair, but they assured me it was a simple fix (faulty oxygen sensor, i believe). they called at the end of the week to let me know that the repair had been made. however, they told me that, as they were reversing the car after washing it, the car had died. they told me that it was likely a problem with the battery and that it might require a new battery to fix it.

on monday i received different news. the dealer called stating that it was not a problem with the battery, but instead my car had experienced a "catastrophic engine failure." i asked what that meant and they stated that they couldn't be certain as to the exact cause of the failure, but that the engine had seized and could not be repaired. they also stated that a porsche rep happened to be at the dealer at the time. as a goodwill gesture, the porsche rep offered to supply a new engine (costing approx. $6k) free-of-charge despite the fact that my car was off warranty. however, my dealer said that labor was expected to run approx $2,800 and was my responsibility.

to make a long story short, we've had several conversations since then and they refuse to give me more than a 20% break on the labor charge. it's a messy situation, but here are the issues as i see them:

1) they can't give me any information as to what actually went wrong with the engine. all they can say is that it seized as they were backing up at a speed of 3 to 5 mph. for those of you w/ more knowledge as to engine failures, is a failure under these circumstances even within the realm of possibility for a well-maintained engine??

2) since we'll never know exactly what happened while the car was at the dealership, who has responsibility for the car while it's there? the dealer tells me they have absolutely no responsibility and that the failure would have happened regardless of whether the car was in their possession. in my view, the dealer/porsche are already acknowledging responsibility by stepping up to replace the engine. if they truly had no responsibility, they would have told me i needed to pay for the entire cost of a new engine + labor.

anyway, sorry for the long-winded rant and maybe i should be happy with their offer to replace the engine free of charge. i'd appreciate any feedback you all might have.

thanks.

02-10-2004, 05:05 PM	#1
cb531 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 1	"catastrophic engine failure" (long) i'm new to the forum and was curious as to feedback regarding my recent dealership experience: about a week ago, i brought my '99 Boxster w/ approx 65k miles in to the dealer because the "Check Engine" light had recently come on. they had the car for a couple days before they could even get to the repair, but they assured me it was a simple fix (faulty oxygen sensor, i believe). they called at the end of the week to let me know that the repair had been made. however, they told me that, as they were reversing the car after washing it, the car had died. they told me that it was likely a problem with the battery and that it might require a new battery to fix it. on monday i received different news. the dealer called stating that it was not a problem with the battery, but instead my car had experienced a "catastrophic engine failure." i asked what that meant and they stated that they couldn't be certain as to the exact cause of the failure, but that the engine had seized and could not be repaired. they also stated that a porsche rep happened to be at the dealer at the time. as a goodwill gesture, the porsche rep offered to supply a new engine (costing approx. $6k) free-of-charge despite the fact that my car was off warranty. however, my dealer said that labor was expected to run approx $2,800 and was my responsibility. to make a long story short, we've had several conversations since then and they refuse to give me more than a 20% break on the labor charge. it's a messy situation, but here are the issues as i see them: 1) they can't give me any information as to what actually went wrong with the engine. all they can say is that it seized as they were backing up at a speed of 3 to 5 mph. for those of you w/ more knowledge as to engine failures, is a failure under these circumstances even within the realm of possibility for a well-maintained engine?? 2) since we'll never know exactly what happened while the car was at the dealership, who has responsibility for the car while it's there? the dealer tells me they have absolutely no responsibility and that the failure would have happened regardless of whether the car was in their possession. in my view, the dealer/porsche are already acknowledging responsibility by stepping up to replace the engine. if they truly had no responsibility, they would have told me i needed to pay for the entire cost of a new engine + labor. anyway, sorry for the long-winded rant and maybe i should be happy with their offer to replace the engine free of charge. i'd appreciate any feedback you all might have. thanks.