OK, for all you mechanical guys out there (I am not). I tried to order red seat belts in my Seal Grey, black interior Cayman S. As you all know, they were not accepted by Porsche for a November or December build. I talked to my dealer, Braman in WPB, about swapping red for black when my car arrives. I was told this would be extremely expensive, about $1800 to $2000 because after swapping there is significant safety testing because of the seat belt issue, safety, etc. I do not know, but I am skeptical that it should cost this much. Can anyone help with this issue? I am also going to check with my Michigan dealer, but it will be easier to have done in Florida when the car arrives before I take delivery.
I think your dealer is full of it.
I don't know how the colored seat belts will come when ordered outside of the car, but they shouldn't be that big of a deal to retro. They will either come as a replacement unit with the whole mechanism or will come as just the belt material with buckle on the end that will need to be placed on the existing mechanism. If they come as a whole unit (which I kind of doubt) it will be an easy swap. If not, you may need to get with someone that has a little experience with how the mechanism works.......its not as easy as it looks as I have dealt with them before. Nothing hard mind you, just some care and attention to detail is needed to have a successful working belt system.
I would imagine there might be some liability issues also. If you replace the belts yourself or have a 3rd party do it and they fail to restrain you in case of an accident.......you would open up a big can of worms.
You might want to get with the top service guy at the dealer and talk with him........and even the parts guy to see how the belts come in. This will shed some light on the subject......and what needs to be done.
Thanks Atlas_Croc. I suspected as much. It may be the liability thing the dealership is concerned about on the swap and that is why the cost is so high. I will check with the service department and parts guy and let you guys know the answer.
According to my dealer since I couldn't order it new they will get it later through parts and swap for me for the same price I could have ordered itnew, they said it wasn't any big deal. I could ask over in service too if you'd like.
I asked my dealer about a swap, similar to what you describe K-Man-S, but refused to do it saying it was to costly. Braman can be difficult to deal with, that is why I suggested my Michigan dealer. If it is not to much trouble, just ask next time if it is as big a deal as I have been led to believe. If not, I will check around for someone else to do it.
Same thing came up for my November build (White Cayman/Black full leather interior). Your dealer isn't correct. My dealer in Colorado will be swapping them out for $0. It's not a difficult swap, but I would have the dealer do it. I'm also having them install the Short Shift Kit afterwards too. You are probably (like most of us) paying MSRP and roughly $70K or so? It's not right that they wouldn't make this work for you.
My advice. Push harder.
