I noticed over the weekend that my ignition switch was feeling alternately really loose and really stubborn, and that it was starting to become difficult to remove the key from the ignition sometimes. I had lubricated the ignition cylinder with graphite once last year, but it appeared that I was still going to need a new ignition switch. Bummer.
Then I started to notice some other problems:
- My A/C button appeared not to be functioning. (The little snowflake would not light on the display.)
- The blower for the vents would not work while the car was running, no matter where the fan setting was set.
- And the seat heaters suddenly stopped working.
Other than that, the car was running perfectly. Weird. My car suddenly just hates me.
I called the local Porsche dealer yesterday and explained the symptoms, and he said it was all likely related to the faulty ignition switch. I took the car in today, and they replaced the ignition switch/steering lock assembly, and now everything works fine. Not going to pretend that I understand how a bad mechanical switch can make the blower not work, even though the car still starts, but I'm glad it's fixed.
And the happy ending? With this repair, the extended warranty I bought when I purchased the car from CarMax has now more than paid for itself. (Price of the 5-year, 100,000-mile warranty:
$2,089.00. (The car had 40,000 miles on it when I bought it in October 2008.) Repairs paid for to date by MaxCare:
$2,199.40. And I still have over 2 years and 42,500 miles to go before the extended warranty runs out. Woo hoo!
)