Any Porsche exec's listening?

[2001saxster]

I know you guys must be on these forums and Since PCNA won't return my calls I guess this is my best option for getting in touch with you. My story, in a nutshell, is this...2001 Boxster S purchased 5 months ago from an authorized Porsche dealer, had always been dealer maintained prior to me purchasing it, I got the 60,000 mile service done right on schedule at another authorized dealer, 1 month later the engine is blown (coolant mixing with oil). The authorized mechanic at the dealer even admitted that the problem was a result of a manufacturing flaw. The way I see it is this...I am 27 years old, I'll be pruchasing a lot more cars in my life. PCNA can go either of two directions. 1, give me a reasonable good will offering, or 2, outright deny any such an offering.

In scenerio 1 I walk away somewhat disappointed at my bad luck, but overall pleased that a repuatble company stood behind their product. I continue to get my car dealer serviced and strongly consider said company for my future car buying needs. I see this as a win win scenerio.

In scenerio 2 I get an outright denial. The way I see this is that Porsche finds it absolutely acceptable for their engines to fail at 60,000 miles (even when properly maintained to their own specifications). My reaction to this possibilty is "Why give Porsche any more of my money?". So what do I do? Have my car trucked from the dealer to an independant garage to be fitted with a used engine. I lose and Porsche loses any further revenue from me. Furthermore, I become a Porsche basher for life.

My question to any Porsche exec that may be listening is this...Is it really in your company's best interest to ignore my problem? If this sort of engine failure is as rare as you would have everyone believe then wouldn't it be best to stand behind your product? The way I see it, replacing my engine would be a relatively minor "cost of business" write off for Porsche which would result in my continued patronage. On the other hand, lack of any type of negotiation by Porsche would result in me becoming an anti-Porsche spokesperson for life. I will freely admit that math was never my best subject in school, but I am pretty sure that if you study the numbers you would find that if I am able to convince just one person not to buy a new Porsche that the amount of lost revenue for PCNA would be far greater than that of an engine replacement.

Well, if you guys are listening I'd love to hear your reactions either through this foroum or through private correspondance. Just let me know if you want my email address, or look up my car...It is at Concours motors in Milwaukee. Hopefully it is the only blown box there at the moment.

[renzop]

Its a shame that your engine blew. I feel for you and I know that in your shoes I would be upset and would feel that Porsche should step up.

I would wager that you went to the dealer service dept with a blown engine on a 7 year old car and they told you that its out of warranty and there is nothing they can do for you other than to have you pay for a new motor or rebuild.

That sounds reasonable to me. Then, I would wager that you asked them if Porsche would stand behind their product and they said its out of warranty, sorry. I recommend you start your discussions with PCNA customer service by calling them 1-800-PORSCHE. It will probably take a long time to get to a human and then a longer time to get someone who will say anything meaningful.

But that's what you will have to go though. Remember, they don't legally owe you anything. Should you have an expectation that a 7 year old used car should run more than 60K miles? I don't know. I think I would.

But I would also know that when I buy a used car I take some inherent risks. I have no idea how the car was treated, whether it has its original engine, whether it was in an accident, whether it sat underwater for 6 months. I just wouldn't know and Carfax and dealer service records can't tell all. Given all that, I would never expect Porsche to buck up.

Just my opinion,
Alan

2001saxster, have you tried contacting any of these people?



Heather Foye- Customer Commitment Specialist
C. James- Regional After Sales Manager- PCNA
J. Blunk- Regional Manager- PCNA
L. McGraw- Porsche Senior Customer Commitment Specialist
980 Hammond Drive
Suite 1000
Atlanta, GA 30328
770-290-3500
Fax- 770-290-3700

[Brucelee]

To my knowledge, we have never had a Porsche executive visit our forum. In many ways, that tells you loads about the company and how it feels about you.

If you car was out of warranty and the engine went at say 15K miles, the response would be the same.

Lets face it, this engine has issues and the company clearly does not care to fix or deal with them.

IMO.

[SoCalKen]

it's been a number of years so I can't remember who I dealt with or who I called but I had an out of waranty issue (cracked exhaust manifold), Porsche paid half. I will spread the good word on their behalf.
Ken

Originally Posted by Brucelee

To my knowledge, we have never had a Porsche executive visit our forum. In many ways, that tells you loads about the company and how it feels about you.

If you car was out of warranty and the engine went at say 15K miles, the response would be the same.

Lets face it, this engine has issues and the company clearly does not care to fix or deal with them.

IMO.

Originally Posted by Brucelee

To my knowledge, we have never had a Porsche executive visit our forum. In many ways, that tells you loads about the company and how it feels about you.

If you car was out of warranty and the engine went at say 15K miles, the response would be the same.

Lets face it, this engine has issues and the company clearly does not care to fix or deal with them.

IMO.

Rich, I would remind you that good-will negotiations between Porsche and the car's owner are confidential, documents are signed to such. So, you may, or may not be privy to all of the information and mutually successful settlements and customers.

[Lil bastard]

I dunno, personally, I don't think trying to let Porsche off the hook for poor engine design by intimating that they may be coming to the owners rescue in a confidential manner holds much water - arguement-wise.

It's probably more fair to say that they simply turn a deaf ear, especially to 2nd and 3rd owners when they are fully aware of the shortcomings of this engine series. And, I'd speculate that their 'support' is much more readily available to 911 owners than the economy model Boxster owners.

If any other car manufacturer tried to continue selling a poor design, they wouldn't last 3 years, let alone 12. But Porsche seems to be able to borrow on their past reputation to keep finding new suckers out there. I think that says more about us than them.

It'll be interesting to see how they change in what I expect to be a crash in Cayenne sales (the only product sales which have been continually growing) in light of the current (and not soon to end) crisis in fuel costs. Maybe they'll actually have to address the needed changes in engine design if they want to produce anything more than volkswagens in the future.

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

Rich, I would remind you that good-will negotiations between Porsche and the car's owner are confidential, documents are signed to such. So, you may, or may not be privy to all of the information and mutually successful settlements and customers.

You may be right. On the other hand, it seems to me that if the company has as many issues as it seems to with the engines imploding, some more radical solution may be appropriate, say along the lines of extending the warranty period such as Lexus did when it had a sludging issue on its six cylinder engines.

Just a thought. You know, I hold the car makers to a pretty high standard, esp on $60K dollar cars.