Poor experience with Dealer in Baltimore

Hey Guys, I brought my car in to the dealer yesterday to have loud rattle, and a drop in power in higher RPM range investigated. I get a call a few hours later and the service manager tells me that the tech thinks the rattle is a loose O2 sensor and because I have an aftermarket exhaust system he will not hook up to the ECU diagnostic system and evaluate any codes??? I was then told that I would have to remove the Borla catback and reinstall the original exhaust before he would even look at it . What is up with this? I was under the impression that an aftermarket catback did not create service or warranty issues. Aren't there dealers installing aftermarket systems on customer cars? In fact the only thing that I've heard might create problems is an ECU reprogram/ reflash. I'm thinking about contacting PCNA to get something in writing to find out what exactly is allowed as far as modifications go. The tech refused to talk to me on the phone and the would not leave the garage area late yesterday to talk either when I went to pick up the car... I have almost 20000 miles and am getting ready for the associated service but I'm not sure I even want to go back to these guys. Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

This is a new one for me. BMW and Chevy dealers normally don't blink an eye at catback systems. Here's some good information and suggestions from the SEMA site: SEMA SAN - SEMA ACTION NETWORK You might also give Borla a call and explain your situation. They might agree to help you convince the dealer that they are being unreasonable. If there are other Porsche dealers in your area you might just want to try a different one.

Its one thing to tell you they wont guarantee their work on your catback system, or even say the codes woudl be wrong....but to not talk to you on the phone or face to face when you show up. WTF....thats just plain stupidity and arrogance.

Did you install the exhaust? If you had another shop install it, you might have them check it out to see if they can help. I agree with blueone that you might want to see if another dealer in the area might be more reasonable. Their attitude seems to be excessively passive-aggressive, if they won't even look enough to see whether the exhaust is the source of the problem or not. If this is the dealership where you bought the car, I would consider writing a letter to the Service Mgr (not the service advisor) and copy the General Mgr as well, expressing your displeasure with their lack of service to a customer. Good luck . . .

The dealer in Cockeysville has sponsored PCA events in the past, as has the dealer in Annapolis. The one in Owings Mills has not, at least to my knowledge. So that leaves them as the logical possibility for this ridiculous attitude. Is this the one?

Thanks for the input guys, The catback was installed by another shop. The dealer is in Cockeysville, the car was purchased out of state. My intentions were to have these guys do all of my scheduled maintenance but I can only see more problems coming. Other mods I have done are the SRP, H&R lowering springs, and wider wheels ( mods with lots of foreseeable excuses to not properly service my car?). I may have to go to the dealer in Owings mills, but i haven't heard good things about them either. I would really like to get PCNA's stand on mods as I'm sure they must have some policy in writing that one could use in situations like this. I'm pretty pissed right now because I feel like I am going to have to reverse everything just to get my service log stamped..

I would try another dealership before reversing all the mods.

I am thinking about going to a local guy who's a great mechanic and ASE certified. I guess I would give him the 20000 mile "check list" from my owners/ maintenance manual and have him just do it and stamp the book. Does anyone know if this is allowable without voiding the warranty? I still want to contact PCNA and let them know what my experience was and find out if they have specific allowances in writing for aftermarket mods that do not affect servicing or the warranty. Thanks for everyone's input so far!

Ugh - yeah. Beverly Hills Porsche have the same attitude to mods. When I came in to get my rear wing disabled, I asked if they could check out my trunk clunk. So after driving on some relativly smooth roads around the service center he told me that i dont have a trunk clunk and told me of another guy that came in with that "story". They made him take a walk when they saw he has PSS9's installed - refused to look any further.

It is absolutely allowable to have independent shops perform the service. You can also do it yourself. As you can read in the link I posted, there are very specific laws about this in the US. Since Porsche does not provide the service at no cost (like, say, BMW) they cannot force you to use their dealerships, or even their branded or specified parts and fluids, so long as you use equivalents. On the other hand, I don't know the exact wording of the dealerships franchise agreement with Porsche, and they may be fully within their agreement to refuse to service vehicles which are not stock.

These will help you understand your options. You still need to deal with the dealer dynamics issue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson-Moss_Warranty_Act http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.shtm

These will help you understand your options. You still need to deal with the dealer dynamics issue. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A Businessperson's Guide to Federal Warranty Law

Nice Courtney, thanks for the links.

Skip this dealer. Though what Brad said makes alot of sense (unfortunately). You should never have to deal with this kind of attitude. Go to the service shop, find the guys you spoke to,and give them an shot of Succinylcholine. That should take care of their attitudes!!

Echoboy, I would like to reply to your last remark but for legal/ professional reasons I really can't and seeing how this is the internet and all... Well, let's just say I think you might work in an E.R. (you know, combative patients with gunshot wounds, etc..), I would never do such a thing but you obviously have associated my log on name with my profession. Thanks for the comment.