[mp3000]

Back to the original topic – I’ve had an excellent CPO experience with my 2014 Boxster.

My purchase was similar to yours: 1-owner car with low miles (3k at 1-year old) purchased sight-unseen (other than pictures) from the Porsche dealer in Sacramento and shipped cross-country.

My warranty experience has been excellent. The car did arrive with the GPS function and nav not working in the PCM, which the selling dealer must have known, but my local dealer (Bethesda Porsche) replaced the PCM (a $2000 part) under warranty with no hassle, after a week of debugging. Years later they also replaced a warped door panel and a cracked a/c condenser under warranty with no hassle. (For the record those are the only problems I’ve had with the car for 8 years).

On the battery topic – I never lock my car in the garage, and I can leave it for a week or two and it starts right up with no issues whatsoever. I replaced the battery proactively after about six years with a $200 Bosch battery of the correct spec from Rock Auto.

Once you get your issues fully sorted you’ll have a great car you’ll enjoy for a long time.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

Great that the warranty experience has been excellent for you. That is the comfort factor in ownership for at least the 2 years covered. Hopefully all the bugs present themselves and get worked out before expiration.

Once I get my parasitic battery draw corrected, I will be happy, and look forward to enjoying the car. Been a buzz kill that my car will be in the shop for at least two weeks before I expect this to be corrected. I have not driven the car except taking it to the dealer 2 times now. Last time they told me a bad battery may be the cause. I ruled that out, and this time the shop foreman finally acknowledged that they have detected the same current draw problem I already diagnosed. Hoping they will also conclude that the issue killed my original battery, and cover a new original equipment battery replacement. I may be able to return the Costco one if they do that.

Interesting that your experience seems to support at least anecdotally my suspicion that some dealers that have a car has a problem that might be costly to fix, but is still a deliverable, lets it get passed along to the next owner and Porsche to resolve.

Wonder if a dealer has any accountability to pay for repairs themselves if a car comes back immediately upon delivery with a failure they should have detected prior to sale. If they did it might help these kinds of issues from happening.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

My car is at local dealer service department second time (and hopefully the final time) to rectify the issue I identified since day one delivery of my car (excessive current draw when car is off and dead battery). Told dealer this when dropping it off. 1st time it was there for almost a week and ended up with a potentially weak battery diagnosis. They suggested a new battery which would not be covered under CPO. Replaced battery myself and reset battery codes and saved ~$500. battery still dying.

Got another appointment for Mar 3rd. Car still at dealership going on 7 days now. Got a call yesterday that they just diagnosed car with an excessive current draw but have not dug deeper into the source yet.

So, my CPO, that I have not even driven since receiving it, has now spent 2 weeks in the service dept with them just getting to the same conclusion that I told them when I first brought it in. Is it normal to have reservations with Porsche service, but car does not even get into shop for diagnosis for extended periods? I have other luxury German cars and do not experience this in their service departments. I drop car off and get a call later that day with an update. Unless parts need to be special ordered, I take it back home within a day or two. This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the restaurant "has no problem making reservations, they just have problems keeping them".

 

[gedwin]

Haha, I believe that was the car rental reservation from Seinfeld, but point made.

I could go on all day with Porsche CPO stories from my experience, but I won't. Hope it gets straightened out for you soon, and you can start enjoying the car.

 

[Mike_in OH]

A few questions:
--Not sure if noted earlier, but was this a 1 owner car?
--Any service history on the car involving electrical work?
Reason I ask, is that a a 7 y/o car with with less than 8K suggests this car isn't being driven much at all and the next question is why?
I know some people like to keep these as garage queens but the lack of driving could also be an indication that there were earlier problems.
Also, the dealer threw a lot of money at the car --40K serv. with less than 8k on the clock and free shipping? Makes me wonder why...
Replacing a battery under the CPO with a non-porsche spec battery?And not doing the cabin filters? Yikes...

In summary, it sounds like the dealer did minimal work on the car to claim CPO status--which influenced your purchase price --and likely was shipped to you with an existing parasitic battery drain issue. I say that because it's hard to imagine the drain issue was not noticed at the selling dealer. Likewise, if this was an easy fix, you'd have had the problem resolved by now by your servicing dealer.

The good news is that it does have a CPO warranty and that PCNA will likely stand behind it. It's just a shame that the new owner would have to jump through these hoops to get the car fully operational.
Best of luck with it.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

To clarify, car had 2 owners. Each kept car about 3-4 years. Appeared to be a “snowbird” car as mostly serviced in NY, but titled in Florida. I attribute that ownership model to the low mileage. I personally have had sports cars as secondary vehicles that were only driven in summer, and only put on 1500 miles or less a year, so I can understand how that can happen living in NY with second residence in Florida.

Service record’s available from local servicing dealer did not indicate recurring electrical issues being addressed, and Carfax was clean as well.

Regarding the 40k service, battery and shipping, This was a negotiated deal. When I was considering 2 possible cars on dealers site, I asked because of the mileage and age, if 40k service was getting done as part of cpo. Cpo states all services due within 6 months are supposed to be completed. Was not sure if applied here or not. I was concerned mostly about the spark plugs as heard it was recommended that they get changed out based on mileage or age to prevent possible seizing in the heads due to exposure (I know many out there think that concept is just a money grab). As far as the tires go I asked if they were getting changed due to age as well as tires have an expiration date. If they were original, they likely would need replacement based on age. I did not ask about battery at that time (more on that later).

Sales rep told me that the cpo certification would include new tires and 40k service. Shipping was my responsibility. I agreed and wired money. The next day sales rep told me there was a mistake made. No tires would be changed and no 40k service. Those services were for the other 1 yr older slightly less expensive but otherwise similar boxster they had on the lot. I asked if I could just purchase that one, but it was already sold. They offered to unwind the deal and refund my money. I escalated it to the GM and told them their mistake is not my problem, and that they should honor the agreement as was fully paid, just not delivered yet. He agreed to do the 40k service, but because the tires were actually only one year old they would not replace them. He offered to pick up the shipping as good will. I was very pleased how they stepped up to make it right and had the car delivered. So, I did not think it was likely this was a dealer throwing a lot of money to move a problem car they were stuck with. It was only on the lot a few days when I made my deal and I had to escalate to GM to get it done.

Regarding the battery. When I received the car it was showing low battery warning, run car a while. I ran car and message went away. Next day it was back and I heard a repeated clicking of relays that started when car turned off and went to sleep. It went on forever when car was turned off. I emailed the service dept at selling dealer and they told me battery was replaced during cop, and since I can’t come back in to check it there to go locally. He said if battery was bad it would be replaced under warranty. Also said they could look into the clicking relays. I checked the battery out and noticed it was dated Dec 21, so was not new and was incorrect amp and cca rating. Was actually a VW/Audi replacement battery. Also since cabin filters are right next to battery, I noticed they were not replaced either. Were dusty and obviously not new. I have the service invoice that show all 40k services were completed. Emailed service again and they said must have been oversight and they sent me new ones. They told me to take up battery issue with local dealer but they were only willing to sell me new one and advised to reach out to selling dealer for reimbursement. Crickets there. So either seller missed the current draw issues since car did not spend much time in their possession, or they just left it up to me and Cpo coverage to take care of it instead of them having to pay more service expenses and deal with it before shipping. All of this should eventually get resolved without me having to pay, other than possibly being on the hook for the battery, but a really bad customer experience.

I May write Porsche, for some reimbursement, but not sure how much they will do. I have all the documentation for these claims so maybe have something actionable here.

 

[Mike_in OH]

Thanks for the detailed response.
As big a PITA as the situation seems right now, a low mileage, pristine 981 is probably the best model of the car to get.
It combines style, comfort and performance in one package at a reasonable price for what you get. There are few cars that I've seen get around a racetrack as well as this one and still be docile enough for sunday cruise.
We've had ours for 10 years and it never ceasing to put a smile on my face while going through the gears.
Best of luck with it and keep us apprised of how you fair getting the battery issue resolved.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

Update: This is actually a copy from my parasitic battery posting, but WAY more relevant here in my CPO, Good, Bad and Ugly posting. This has gone beyond Ugly though.

The servicing dealer addressing my parasitic drain battery issue just confirmed they detected the current draw I identified (not the cause, but that it actually exists, so not news to me). They suspect it may be a module under passenger seat. The only reason they are starting with that theory is that I just found out that the car was in their service dept for a blocked a/c drain that had leaked into the passenger carpet about 2 months before car was sold to the Porsche dealer that I bought it from (who CPO certified everything as functioning fine). The servicing dealer suspects it could be source of problem, but not certain and need to rule it out by pulling the seat and inspecting the wiring and testing module under there. That is fine, but the problem is they want to charge ME for the labor time to do this (5-7 hours). They justified it being my responsibility instead of CPO coverage because they claimed the previous owner had not done a recommended scheduled maintenance in last 12 months that would have included flushing the a/c drain, and that they had charged the previous customer for the carpet replacement for that reason. Ergo, since the original leak problem and carpet replacement would not be covered by warranty and customer paid back then, neither should any other subsequent issues that may be related to it. I might note though that the car was out of factory warranty at that time, so obviously would be an out-of-pocket expense for the previous owner.

I checked the carfax and autocheck reports and there is a regular history of visits to this dealer for oil changes, "recommended service maintenance" and many other normal replacement items serviced during those visits. Dealer claims that just oil changes were done, not the additional inspections that they said need to be done every year regardless of miles.

Carfax and Autocheck seem to indicate that regular maintenance was reported as done, but dealer says otherwise. If that is so, I don't know how anyone can rely on those reports as useful at all beyond mileage, transfer histories and title status. I can understand how stuff can be missing from those reports if a dealer does not report, but not how stuff can be reported there, but not present in dealer's records, as the dealer is the source of the data.

I feel that is all moot though because the car was sold to me 2 months after that carpet repair as a CPO. All repairs and maintenance should have been made prior to delivering the CPO vehicle to me, and if they missed something and delivered it to me with an existing problem, it should not be my problem now because of this loopy logic of a skipped service predating my purchase.

So, email sent to GM of selling dealer explaining all of this and detailing the sloppy pre-delivery 40k service performed as well as the poor CPO inspection provided. They had to have detected some issue with the car in the 2 weeks it took them to make it ready for me and either did a cursory inspection, were incompetent or left it unrepaired with hopes PCNA (or me) would foot the bill. Regardless, I let them know they need to step up and be responsible for any expenses in getting car sorted to CPO standards or repurchase the car, including all my incurred costs (tax, battery, etc). Will have to see how it plays out before my next steps with PCNA. Selling dealer to their credit promptly replied to me and are looking into a resolution, but for now, car is sitting at dealer awaiting a final disposition from me on how to proceed next.

I have bought many CPO cars from Mercedes and Audi and all were perfect ownership experiences, not so much here. Porsche CPO sales literature states “Your dream Porsche will give you plenty of driving pleasure. With the Porsche Approved (CPO) Vehicle, you will experience yet another good feeling. The feeling of security. And the reassuring certainty to have made the right decision”. Not really feeling that right now. I really like this car, but this one dragging on issue is a major buzzkill (other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the show?).

 

[deilenberger]

Sheeze.. this is making CPO seem worthless (are you listening PC-North America? This IS getting exposure..)

You seem to be stuck between 2 sleazy dealers. The selling dealer who did not do the CPO qualification correctly, and the dealer you're now using who is trying to push what should be covered by CPO off on you, due to a claim that the former owner - at THIER FRIGGIN' DEALERSHIP - neglected service.

I seem to remember the selling dealer gave you a refund of $2,000 at one point? I wonder if they thought that should exonerate them in honoring the CPO warranty (which costs them around $2,000 with Porsche Cars NA.)?

What to do? I'd be all over PC-NA at this point. It shouldn't be up to the customer to try to resolve CPO responsibility. And again - I'd suggest written letters, one to the customer relations department with a copy also sent to the President of Porsche Cars North America (he likely won't read it, but someone with some clout will..)

Points to make with PC-NA:

- This is being discussed on a national forum with over 65,000 members.. and it doesn't reflect well on Porsche CPO, so the use of CPO as a sales tool is likely to become ineffective.

- Where in the terms of the CPO contract with you does it state Porsche won't cover failures due to neglect on the part of a former owner? And do they REALLY want it known that's the policy?

- Based on their advertising and your perceived expectation of excellence, you were coaxed to buy a used Porsche from a Porsche dealer due to the availability of the CPO warranty. Your disappointment in your treatment is profound.

DO NOT tell them you'll never buy another Porsche. Any warranty is looked at as a sales tool. It's also billed toward advertising. If sales are slow, warranties get better in the hope of getting customers in to buy something (KIA, Hyundai - 10-year warranty, that got them a foot into the US marketplace. I expect to see it disappear once they really gain some market share in the US.) Telling them you'll never buy another Porsche leaves them little incentive to try to make you happy. DO express how surprised you are at receiving the treatment you've been receiving.

In the majority of cases - Porsche will repay a dealership for almost anything they offer to cover for the customer under CPO. The exception to that is when a dealership is being watched by the national organization because of excessive warranty claims (sometimes entirely bogus claims meant just to milk money from the mothership.) If the dealer is under watch you can be certain they'll be stingy with warranty coverage. That's undoubtedly why some dealerships will warranty warping door cards, and crazing headlights under CPO while others deny it. Just the fear of being put under watch probably promotes that sort of behavior.

Next steps - if contacting PC-NA doesn't work.. you want to brighten the spotlight on the issue..

• Post about it in any Porsche-related forum you can find.
• Post it on Porsche's Facebook page (Porsche - is the international page, it will get seen in Germany. They undoubtedly moderate posts to their page, but your's will be seen and likely passed on to management).

Good luck, I'm sure you'll let us know how this gets resolved.

 

[Platinum5150]

Wow....just wow.

Sorry I don't really have anything to add other than good luck with this disaster.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

I am truly disappointed. Instead of CPO giving me reassurance and security, it has caused me almost 3 months of constant aggravation. I was only originally concerned about how long it might take to fix the problem. I did not think for a minute that the servicing dealer would decline to cover repairs under cpo, and my concerns would need to shift to not getting stuck for a huge bill. I have faith that this will get addressed when more sane minds revisit my purchase experience, but unfortunately it now requires a lot more tree shaking to get what I should be entitled to.

I think I might just collect the car and go to another dealer that might be more interested in earning me as a long term customer and finding a way to yes, instead of pissing me off and alienating me.

Regarding the discount you mentioned, had nothing to do with the cpo status. Dealer actually paid shipping in lieu of new tires, and it was an accommodation made by GM because new tires were promised by salesman and that turned out being incorrect, but they did not inform me until after I wired money for the car.

 

[Mike_in OH]

This is complete BS.
The selling dealer tried to sneak one by you but the problem difficult to fix and a new battery won't do it.

You did the right thing by kicking back to the selling dealer for resolution--this is their baby. You paid them for a CPO quality car and they didn't give you one.

My suggestion would be to give them a short window of time to develop a plan that will resolve the problem without cost to you. If that doesn't happen, it's time to bring in the cavalry--PCNA--to make you whole and they should know how you feel about this mess.

Now, about your servicing dealer:

"The servicing dealer addressing my parasitic drain battery issue just confirmed they detected the current draw I identified (not the cause, but that it actually exists, so not news to me). They suspect it may be a module under passenger seat. The only reason they are starting with that theory is that I just found out that the car was in their service dept for a blocked a/c drain that had leaked into the passenger carpet about 2 months before car was sold to the Porsche dealer that I bought it from (who CPO certified everything as functioning fine). The servicing dealer suspects it could be source of problem, but not certain and need to rule it out by pulling the seat and inspecting the wiring and testing module under there. That is fine, but the problem is they want to charge ME for the labor time to do this (5-7 hours). They justified it being my responsibility instead of CPO coverage because they claimed the previous owner had not done a recommended scheduled maintenance in last 12 months that would have included flushing the a/c drain, and that they had charged the previous customer for the carpet replacement for that reason. Ergo, since the original leak problem and carpet replacement would not be covered by warranty and customer paid back then, neither should any other subsequent issues that may be related to it. I might note though that the car was out of factory warranty at that time, so obviously would be an out-of-pocket expense for the previous owner."

So, your servicing dealer had a history with this car prior to your purchase, and it sounds like they peddled to the dealer you bought it from, likely with the issue that dealing you're with now. No wonder they had an idea where to start looking.

This doesn't good from any angle---hope you get this resolved soon and at no further cost to you.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

Interesting perspective I had not thought of, and I do not know if my car was traded in at my local servicing dealer and then sold it to a dealer in Florida then coincidentally bought by me in NY and ends up getting serviced at same dealer again, or if just was a snowbirds trade-in in Florida. Lots of snowbirds here that have a place in NY and Florida. Car was registered in Florida so likely a NY owner that spent time in both states so likely car could be serviced in NY and be used in Florida too. Actually could make sense though, as it’s winter up here, and might be more likely to sell this car quickly in a warm climate rather than possibly sitting on it until spring in NY. With online purchases so common now, don’t know how much where car is currently at that matters anymore. Food for thought though.

 

[csrpenfab]

All this CPO nonsense kind of makes me glad I went the CarMax route for my 2015 Boxster S. Within their 90-day warranty, the car needed a new battery and plugs/coil packs. CarMax said they don't work on Porsche's, so they'd pay to have it fixed at my dealer. $3000 later, they had paid for a new OEM battery, and plugs/packs.

I also added their 5 year warranty with a $500 deductible just in case something big goes wrong. It was about $2,000 to add that warranty and it gives me peace of mind just in case. Again, that warranty would pay for repairs at the dealer.

 

[deilenberger]

Several of the above posts were made in the thread 981 Parasitic Battery Drain - Troubleshooting done - Who... - which is now closed. I copied the posts made since there were basically identical posts here and there from @SecondTimeAround. I would like to keep this discussion, basically on the value of CPO - on topic in this thread.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

Update... I went to another Porsche dealership for a second opinion on how I was getting treated, where I met a particularly forthright and informative individual. He said that he is familiar with the kind of problems I was having electrically, as well as understanding why the non-seller but servicing dealer might not want to invest the labor time to fix it. He said the issue is correctable, however it can be a very labor-intensive process, with some trial-and-error replacement of potentially expensive modules necessary, and it can tie up a technician for quite a while. Not something a service manager really wants to have happen in a busy shop, especially if PCNA for some reason declines to cover the full amount of the labor time invested, which I suspect could potentially happen. He suggested getting the selling dealer involved and present them the option to own the repair (as opposed to leaving it up to the servicing dealer to collect from PCNA) or agree to repurchase the vehicle since it was delivered to me with this issue.

That is exactly what I had already done, and I am cautiously optimistic at this point in time because the selling dealer's service manager already contacted the servicing dealer's service manager and authorized them to take all the necessary steps to diagnose the cause of the problem. Then added "we then will work together to resolve the matter as quickly and efficiently as possible". I am reading between the lines in that last sentence, but it may mean if the cost of the repair is determined to be more than the costs associated with a repurchase, then maybe a repurchase might be the best option for them. Don't know for sure, but we will have to wait and see. At least some momentum now.

 

[deilenberger]

Sounds better. A repurchase still leaves them with a car with a "history" (sold and then quickly resold back to the dealer) which devalues the car. If they take it to a dealer auction - they lose money to begin with at the auction for fees - and they are supposed to reveal any known flaws in the car, which will obviously keep the bidding down on it.

Right now the best thing they can do is get the current dealer to fix it. And instead of lengthy diagnostics, if it was me, I'd tell the servicing dealer to replace the module first, after checking that there isn't damage at the connector.

If you look at Electrical Components for 2015 Porsche Boxster | GetPorscheSilverSpringParts None of the modules is horribly priced (surprisingly) and simply replacing it eliminates hours of troubleshooting time probably.

I'm hoping that's the outcome. Good luck!

 

[schwinn]

Yeesh, sorry you're dealing with this issue on a CPO car. I don't have much more to contribute that hasn't been said by others. It does (continue) to sour me on CPOs and dealer warranties, in general... I never trusted them, and situations like this make me even more upset.

Like another user said, he was happy to get his car from CarMax for this reason. I, too, was happy to get mine from Carvana (yes, THAT Carvana, which did good by me thankfully). Their included warranty covered over $6k in repairs on my car, and all was performed by a well regarded Porsche indy in my area. I know others have had issues with Carvana, but I can't be happier with their process honestly. (In my reading, the issues most face are with titles and registrations, which would be awful indeed, and I had issues with reg as well, but I worked through it - and the car/warranty was really easy). Anyway, enough on that...

Good luck on the issue here. I agree with your direction on the matter, and thank you for posting the story here so that we can all see! If things get ugly, I wouldn't hesitate to see if a strongly worded letter on a lawyer letterhead could help. But you certainly don't want to pull out that card yet...

Good luck and let us know how things progress!

 

[Mike_in OH]

Jus

Sheeze.. this is making CPO seem worthless (are you listening PC-North America? This IS getting exposure..)

You seem to be stuck between 2 sleazy dealers. The selling dealer who did not do the CPO qualification correctly, and the dealer you're now using who is trying to push what should be covered by CPO off on you, due to a claim that the former owner - at THIER FRIGGIN' DEALERSHIP - neglected service.

I seem to remember the selling dealer gave you a refund of $2,000 at one point? I wonder if they thought that should exonerate them in honoring the CPO warranty (which costs them around $2,000 with Porsche Cars NA.)?

What to do? I'd be all over PC-NA at this point. It shouldn't be up to the customer to try to resolve CPO responsibility. And again - I'd suggest written letters, one to the customer relations department with a copy also sent to the President of Porsche Cars North America (he likely won't read it, but someone with some clout will..)

Points to make with PC-NA:

- This is being discussed on a national forum with over 65,000 members.. and it doesn't reflect well on Porsche CPO, so the use of CPO as a sales tool is likely to become ineffective.

- Where in the terms of the CPO contract with you does it state Porsche won't cover failures due to neglect on the part of a former owner? And do they REALLY want it known that's the policy?

- Based on their advertising and your perceived expectation of excellence, you were coaxed to buy a used Porsche from a Porsche dealer due to the availability of the CPO warranty. Your disappointment in your treatment is profound.

DO NOT tell them you'll never buy another Porsche. Any warranty is looked at as a sales tool. It's also billed toward advertising. If sales are slow, warranties get better in the hope of getting customers in to buy something (KIA, Hyundai - 10-year warranty, that got them a foot into the US marketplace. I expect to see it disappear once they really gain some market share in the US.) Telling them you'll never buy another Porsche leaves them little incentive to try to make you happy. DO express how surprised you are at receiving the treatment you've been receiving.

In the majority of cases - Porsche will repay a dealership for almost anything they offer to cover for the customer under CPO. The exception to that is when a dealership is being watched by the national organization because of excessive warranty claims (sometimes entirely bogus claims meant just to milk money from the mothership.) If the dealer is under watch you can be certain they'll be stingy with warranty coverage. That's undoubtedly why some dealerships will warranty warping door cards, and crazing headlights under CPO while others deny it. Just the fear of being put under watch probably promotes that sort of behavior.

Next steps - if contacting PC-NA doesn't work.. you want to brighten the spotlight on the issue..

• Post about it in any Porsche-related forum you can find.
• Post it on Porsche's Facebook page (Porsche - is the international page, it will get seen in Germany. They undoubtedly moderate posts to their page, but your's will be seen and likely passed on to management).

Good luck, I'm sure you'll let us know how this gets resolved.

I just read your response--great post, properly framing what's going on here.

What bothers me most about it is that two different dealers, in different states, are messing with the new owner by trying to make the all important buck. Makes you wonder about the state of Porsche dealerships as a whole.
I hope PCNA realizes that it's good name and that of the Porsche Marque is on the line here.The CPO warranty is one of the things that gives buyers--new and old--peace of mind when they decide to make the decision to buy a used Porsche. They assume they'll have the Porsche company standing behind them if something goes bad during the CPO warranty period.
If the owner can't count on that assumption being true, why spend all that money and roll the dice? You'd likely be better off buying from a private owner and paying for a PPI from a mechanic you trust and be dollars ahead, because you won't be spending the extra $ on a car for a warranty which may not be honored.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

My experience so far has been a pattern of immediately identified problems on day of delivery that should never have made it out of selling dealership, but did, followed by a lack of any dealership desire to consider the customer warranty experience of a new customer. Just the bottom line.

In my work experience I had to deal with executive escalations that almost always ended up with my company taking care of the customer in the end. The question I always used to ask subordinates that were stonewalling a customer with a problem was if this complaint makes it to senior leadership, do you think they will concur with your decision to bust a customer’s chops. If the answer was “no”, just take care of the customer and bite the financial bullet that you ultimately will end up doing anyhow. At least you will have a customer that might be willing to say “someone screwed up, but they made it right” instead of “someone screwed up and I had to waste my time going to the mats fighting for what I should of been entitled to”. My rule in judging a business is not how they treat you when thing go well, it’s how they treat you when they do not. Porsche dealership experience so far is not favorable from that perspective.

This nightmare started with a bad delivery, compounded at servicing dealership by a mis-diagnosis of a bad battery, compounded by a refusal to honor a factory warranty due to a decision that my problem was caused by lack of one scheduled service by the previous owner.


Went to another Porsche dealer to just get their opinion, and they did not even want to take the car in, and suggested getting selling dealer to either pay dealer where car currently was at for repairs or repurchase the car.

So, I just realized that I had purchased a car that in the medical field is equivalent to a patient called a “G.O.M.E.R.” (Get out of my emergency room) referring to a problem patient with complicated or incurable conditions.

My car appears to be that patient. Has a problem that nobody seems to want to tackle because can take a lot of labor to resolve perfectly, and that dealer might potentially not get fully reimbursed for it. Again, bottom line concerns.

Nobody in my Porsche circle of experience has really considered the customer’s perspective here. I did not ask for this, and I did not do a PPI because I was assured the added expense associated with buying a CPO would cover any issues other than normal wear any tear that occurs under my ownership.

I paid for this car in January, and still do not have a usable vehicle in my possession. For now, selling dealer has stepped up and assumed some responsibility in resolving the issue with the servicing dealer by covering any expenses in the diagnosis. If cannot get fully fixed, we have to revisit “plan b” which is repurchase and full reimbursement of all my outlays.

So still waiting to see what happens, but probably will be going on 4 months before I might have a usable car in my garage again or my money back.