986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - How many Porsche owners experience "Customer no-service" at their dealership?

bamaboxster · 01-17-2005, 10:17 AM

I wanted to take a minute to ask a few of you about your experiences at you local Porsche dealership.

The question, "How many Porsche owners experience customer no-service at their local dealership?" This question applies to people who are new to Porsche and bought one new or used, and the same for long term Porsche owners.

As I have posted in the past, I bought my first brand new Porsche in June 2004.

To make a long story short, I traded in my beautiful 2004 Boxster after 5 1/2 months of ownership and 8440 miles. The car itself was amazing which was the best part of the ownership experience.

What killed the remainder of my ownership experience was sub-standard customer service my local dealership, Tom Williams Porsche in Birmingham, AL. I live 10 miles from the dealership, but had to take my car 180 east to Jim Ellis Porsche of Atlanta to have a flat tire replaced the first week of ownership. This was the first of a few trips to Atlanta to have little things done to the car, i.e. adjustments, oil change and ordering simple accessories.

Buying a new $50K car from a dealer that close to my home only to take it 2 1/2 hours away to Atlanta for everything it needed was rediculous and unnecessary.

I received a postcard from Tom Williams Porsche last week, inviting current and previous Porsche owners down to drive the new 987. My fiancee and I went down to check it out. We were in the showroom for 25 minutes and no one spoke to us. Annoyed and about to leave, I asked the receptionist if I could see the Dave, the General Manager. She informed me that he was no longer with the dealership and the new manager was out of the building at the time. I explained to her that I was invited by their postcard to come down and was not approached or acknowledged. Once she grabbed one of the 3 available salesman, I expressed how poorly I have been treated in the past and again that day. I also informed him that I traded my 04 Boxster after 5 months of ownership, listing the problems I had with the dealership and their customer no-service. After a 20 minute conversation, he finally let us drive the new 987 and 987S.

Upon returning after driving both models, I told the salesman the 987S is an amazing car and its what a Boxster should be. My fiancee piped up about how we loved the car, but slammed him on how we were treated that day and in the past. I told him I would not buy a new $62k Boxster from Tom Williams Porsche and be treated poorly again. This raised a few eyebrows on the potential customers standing around that day. I hope some of them would still buy a Porsche, but not from that dealership.

I am seriously considering a 997S. I am very hesitant about buying an $85K new 911 Carerra S only to take it 2 1/2 hrs way each way to Atlanta, GA or Montgomery, AL for anything it may need. That is way too much effort for a car of this caliber. I would expect taking a car like a Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus, Lamborghini or a Carrera GT to Atlanta due to the rarity of these cars, but not a Porsche Boxster or 911. On occasion, I'm in Atlanta for business or pleasure. I just hate driving to Atlanta and not have my Porsche for the the time I'm out there, because its at Jim Ellis for service. I should be able to have it serviced here locally in Birmingham and enjoy it on my business and pleasure trips to Atlanta.

This is why I'm asking the question about overall experiences at other Porsche dealerships across the country. I would love to buy another Porsche (#4), because I am a Porsche enthusiast.

For a new $42,000 to $440,000 Porsche, I should be treated as well as I have at Infiniti, Jeep, Saturn, Honda, VW, Toyota (mom's Camry LE) and yes, Hyundai (fiancee's Santa Fe). Out of all of the cars currently in my family and the may different dealers we visit to have our cars serviced, the Porsche was the only aggravation I had. That is why I traded my Boxster in for my second Infiniti G35.
The Boxster, all by itself, was not enough to override the remaining negative ownership experience.

Looking for stories good and bad, especially from new Porsche owners.

Dave,

Birmingham, AL

01-17-2005, 10:17 AM	#1
bamaboxster Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Birmingham, AL (Crestwood) Posts: 83	How many Porsche owners experience "Customer no-service" at their dealership? I wanted to take a minute to ask a few of you about your experiences at you local Porsche dealership. The question, "How many Porsche owners experience customer no-service at their local dealership?" This question applies to people who are new to Porsche and bought one new or used, and the same for long term Porsche owners. As I have posted in the past, I bought my first brand new Porsche in June 2004. To make a long story short, I traded in my beautiful 2004 Boxster after 5 1/2 months of ownership and 8440 miles. The car itself was amazing which was the best part of the ownership experience. What killed the remainder of my ownership experience was sub-standard customer service my local dealership, Tom Williams Porsche in Birmingham, AL. I live 10 miles from the dealership, but had to take my car 180 east to Jim Ellis Porsche of Atlanta to have a flat tire replaced the first week of ownership. This was the first of a few trips to Atlanta to have little things done to the car, i.e. adjustments, oil change and ordering simple accessories. Buying a new $50K car from a dealer that close to my home only to take it 2 1/2 hours away to Atlanta for everything it needed was rediculous and unnecessary. I received a postcard from Tom Williams Porsche last week, inviting current and previous Porsche owners down to drive the new 987. My fiancee and I went down to check it out. We were in the showroom for 25 minutes and no one spoke to us. Annoyed and about to leave, I asked the receptionist if I could see the Dave, the General Manager. She informed me that he was no longer with the dealership and the new manager was out of the building at the time. I explained to her that I was invited by their postcard to come down and was not approached or acknowledged. Once she grabbed one of the 3 available salesman, I expressed how poorly I have been treated in the past and again that day. I also informed him that I traded my 04 Boxster after 5 months of ownership, listing the problems I had with the dealership and their customer no-service. After a 20 minute conversation, he finally let us drive the new 987 and 987S. Upon returning after driving both models, I told the salesman the 987S is an amazing car and its what a Boxster should be. My fiancee piped up about how we loved the car, but slammed him on how we were treated that day and in the past. I told him I would not buy a new $62k Boxster from Tom Williams Porsche and be treated poorly again. This raised a few eyebrows on the potential customers standing around that day. I hope some of them would still buy a Porsche, but not from that dealership. I am seriously considering a 997S. I am very hesitant about buying an $85K new 911 Carerra S only to take it 2 1/2 hrs way each way to Atlanta, GA or Montgomery, AL for anything it may need. That is way too much effort for a car of this caliber. I would expect taking a car like a Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus, Lamborghini or a Carrera GT to Atlanta due to the rarity of these cars, but not a Porsche Boxster or 911. On occasion, I'm in Atlanta for business or pleasure. I just hate driving to Atlanta and not have my Porsche for the the time I'm out there, because its at Jim Ellis for service. I should be able to have it serviced here locally in Birmingham and enjoy it on my business and pleasure trips to Atlanta. This is why I'm asking the question about overall experiences at other Porsche dealerships across the country. I would love to buy another Porsche (#4), because I am a Porsche enthusiast. For a new $42,000 to $440,000 Porsche, I should be treated as well as I have at Infiniti, Jeep, Saturn, Honda, VW, Toyota (mom's Camry LE) and yes, Hyundai (fiancee's Santa Fe). Out of all of the cars currently in my family and the may different dealers we visit to have our cars serviced, the Porsche was the only aggravation I had. That is why I traded my Boxster in for my second Infiniti G35. The Boxster, all by itself, was not enough to override the remaining negative ownership experience. Looking for stories good and bad, especially from new Porsche owners. Dave, Birmingham, AL