June 22, 2011
I went to Rector Porsche in Burlingame, California. I talked to the service manager told them the intermediate shaft bearing went out and the engine is dead on my 2003 Boxster at 74,000 miles. He asked, “How do you know that the intermediate shaft went out?” I told him the car was making a strange sound and I took it to an independent shop. The mechanic observed a lot of metal in the oil, showing that the engine was ruined. He listened to the engine with a stethoscope and determined that the sound he was hearing was the intermediate shaft bearing going out. Then I said to the service manager, “What should I do? I understand a new engine is quite expensive.” He wrote a number down on a Post-it note and handed it to me. He said, “I’ve heard good things from customers about this company.” He gave me the name and phone number of an auto dismantler.
http://www.ladismantler.com/
I called the auto dismantler. He told me to take pictures of the car and email them to him. He would give me a price for which he would buy the car. He said the typical range was between $1,000 and $5,000 depending on the number of options the car had.
In summary:
• When discussing my options with the service manager, I was never encouraged to invest money in the car and was given a clear indication that the car wasn’t worth fixing and should be junked.
Porsche does not stand behind the quality of its products, although it claims to be a maker of high-end, high-quality vehicles. I had planned to keep my car for many more years. I would never have purchased it if I had known the engine contained a ticking time bomb that is essentially, a defect. This is a $40,000 car that is built to expire at 70,000 miles and become an instant candidate for the junkyard. The dealership itself acknowledged this fact. On one visit, I asked the service manager and another service employee at what point they would advise I sell the car. They both said 70,000 miles. My engine blew up at 74,000 miles.
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