Warranty Work - Courtesy Car - Page 3 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Hi all, Just curious to know if your vehicle has been to an OPC for warranty work have you been put in a similar vehicle? Had loss of oil pressure (!?) on my 981 now at an OPC and I'm in an Enterprise 320d though Porsche Assistance (AA). I have been advised the car will be in there at least and week and we recovered it in last Thursday. Would you have expected the OPC to put you in one of their vehicles by now? I don't mind the car I'm in but I am missing mine a lot now.

mc_blue said: Hi all, Just curious to know if your vehicle has been to an OPC for warranty work have you been put in a similar vehicle? Had loss of oil pressure (!?) on my 981 now at an OPC and I'm in an Enterprise 320d though Porsche Assistance (AA). I have been advised the car will be in there at least and week and we recovered it in last Thursday. Would you have expected the OPC to put you in one of their vehicles by now? I don't mind the car I'm in but I am missing mine a lot now. Look at my thread currently trending.... not quite warranty work, but in essence the same thing. I have a Ford Fiesta until Friday, then I have a Porsche loan car after I demanded one. I would do the same if its more than a 5 day job. Being fair within a couple of days they in my view should at least provide another one from somewhere in the local fleet.

Currently also in a 320D from Enterprise after mine was recovered with a gearbox problem, moving into my second week and starting to think I would like something a bit more in keeping with my 981 than I currently have. Will be having a chat with the OPC as with a new gearbox coming from Germany along with removal and refit I don't suppose it is going to be a very quick turnaround. After less than 5 weeks of having the S it is not the introduction to Porsche ownership I was hoping for.

So it sounds like you guys are in a similar boat - missing my car a lot now.

Know that feeling well, first period of several continuous days of lovely dry roads and sunshine since getting the Cayman and I'm in a BMW diesel In 22 years of TVR ownership I saw them go off on a low loader twice, in less than 2 years of AM and Porsche ownership I have already equaled that total.

Porsche assist will nearly always put you in an 'Executive' rental. OPC's Porsche courtesy cars usually get booked out a couple of weeks ahead, so they are unlikely to have one if you are recovered and just turn up on the back of a trailer. If they didn't put you in a rental you'd probably get a car from the backup courtesy fleet, often a VW Golf diesel or similar. I've had this where I have been able to make it to the OPC but they have advised leaving the car with them. The rental is probably the slightly better option there.

My 981 was one of the first to have the brake bush problem (lucky me), and I was put in an Enterprise 320d. Once they told me there was no due date as the part was on back order from Germany I enquired as to the fairness of me being in a 320d when I'd only been in my 981 for 3 months. The OPC told me to take it up with Porsche UK Customer service, who duly told me, and I quote "it's not like we have a fleet of Porsche's available". One quick email to the MD later and I was being invited back to Hatfield by the centre principal to be put in a Cayman S. That would've been fine, except I got a call on the Monday morning from Enterprise (I'd dropped the car off to Porsche on Friday evening) saying that as I'd damaged their car they were charging me £200!! Now I'm so careful with my cars (as I'm sure many of us are that drive nice cars but aren't rich) that I knew 100% that I hadn't done it, and it must've happened over the weekend. When I explained that to Enterprise they said that Porsche had refused to sign for the damage. To say I was angry is an understatement. Anyway, cue another call to the dealer principal (who I now had on speed dial thanks to the other problems they were having with my 981), and he promised to refund the money and lo and behold also had a 911 Carrera S to lend me for the remainder of the time my car was out of action (a month in total!). Moral of the story - stamp your feet (politely but assertively) until they do the right thing!! Good luck

What a nice day, my 7mile drive home from work in the country lanes was truly amazing in my little loan Fiesta eco boost.

Call me dumb, but in a situation like this why can't they just let you have a 2nd hander on the forecout?

SkinnyPete said: Call me dumb, but in a situation like this why can't they just let you have a 2nd hander on the forecourt? Road tax ?

I've taken my 987 Cayman S to my OPC (Leeds) three times and have had three 981s as courtesy cars. A manual Cayman and then two PDK Boxster S'. They said they'd only not put me in a Porsche if I was under 21 due to insurance reasons.

SkinnyPete said: Call me dumb, but in a situation like this why can't they just let you have a 2nd hander on the forecout? Most likely because the Porsche approved used cars will have been prepped for sale, meaning the inspection and over-rev checks, etc, and sometimes a respray of the front bumper to remove stone chips. Handing them out as courtesy cars will result in them needing prep again, which they obviously won't want to do. Some OPCs will give out sales demonstrators during the week, but will nearly always want them back before the weekend when they are more likely to be used for test drives.

My car is still there nearly two weeks later and no real update?

anonymous said: [redacted] yes

mc_blue said: My car is still there nearly two weeks later and no real update? While I understand you aren't happy about having the 320D I would be more pi**ed off at not having any news on the state of your car. Why can't they tell you what is happening? Gearbox issue on mine took the OPC it was recovered to 3 days to check and follow the diagnosis flow charts from Porsche. When they couldn't work out the problem Porsche instructed them to remove the gearbox for return to Germany and had a new gearbox out to the OPC a week later.

mc_blue said: My car is still there nearly two weeks later and no real update? I've been there and feel your pain. My advice would be to politely become a gentle thorn on their side, and escalate up the chain if necessary.

They've referred it to "technical" in Germany. The car has done 12000 miles and just turned a year old on 16/03/15. The engine and 'box have been taken out.

mc_blue said: Hi all, Just curious to know if your vehicle has been to an OPC for warranty work have you been put in a similar vehicle? Had loss of oil pressure (!?) on my 981 now at an OPC and I'm in an Enterprise 320d though Porsche Assistance (AA). I have been advised the car will be in there at least and week and we recovered it in last Thursday. Would you have expected the OPC to put you in one of their vehicles by now? I don't mind the car I'm in but I am missing mine a lot now. I'm currently in a loan Hybrid Lexus, I feel very Alan Partidge and environmentally aware. But yes it's pretty normal to get a 'premium' rental - Merc E, BMW 3, etc. Though on occasion I've had Caymans and Boxsters if they were available, I think it's probably a bit 'luck of the draw' and I suspect you're a bit more likely to get one if you're a big spender, though that could just be me being cynical.

mc_blue said: They've referred it to "technical" in Germany. The car has done 12000 miles and just turned a year old on 16/03/15. The engine and 'box have been taken out. Oh dear. They're still making their cars out of chocolate and hope then.

ilduce said: mc_blue said: They've referred it to "technical" in Germany. The car has done 12000 miles and just turned a year old on 16/03/15. The engine and 'box have been taken out. Oh dear. They're still making their cars out of chocolate and hope then. Slightly unfair, no matter who makes an engine there is always the chance of a failure. With all those components it only needs an imperfection in one piece of raw material to cause it to wear or fail prematurely.

J12KJR said: ilduce said: mc_blue said: They've referred it to "technical" in Germany. The car has done 12000 miles and just turned a year old on 16/03/15. The engine and 'box have been taken out. Oh dear. They're still making their cars out of chocolate and hope then. Slightly unfair, no matter who makes an engine there is always the chance of a failure. With all those components it only needs an imperfection in one piece of raw material to cause it to wear or fail prematurely. Yes but there were engine/box problems with the 996, 986, 987 and now 991. It's not as if the things were pumping out incredible BHP- some hatchbacks have the same BHP these days. If you're not getting a bulletproof engine for all of that money, what exactly are you paying for? Maybe Porsche buying shares in Lindt wasn't such a good idea after all.

Don't remember reading loads of posts about engine failures on the 981's so to suggest that this failure means components are from Lindt just seems a bit odd.

J12KJR said: Don't remember reading loads of posts about engine failures on the 981's so to suggest that this failure means components are from Lindt just seems a bit odd. Maybe it's because most of them are still new enough to be under warranty so people aren't going to bit'ch as much. No answer to my question of "what are you paying for", though.

ilduce said: J12KJR said: Don't remember reading loads of posts about engine failures on the 981's so to suggest that this failure means components are from Lindt just seems a bit odd. Maybe it's because most of them are still new enough to be under warranty so people aren't going to bit'ch as much. No answer to my question of "what are you paying for", though. So you really think that because something happens under warranty people on here or other motoring forums aren't going to b h about it. You are paying for the same as any other vehicle, design development manufacture etc and as with any other manufacturer Porsche charge what the market will pay for its products. If you don't rate the product, don't like it or don't want to pay their prices don't buy it.

J12KJR said: ilduce said: J12KJR said: Don't remember reading loads of posts about engine failures on the 981's so to suggest that this failure means components are from Lindt just seems a bit odd. Maybe it's because most of them are still new enough to be under warranty so people aren't going to bit'ch as much. No answer to my question of "what are you paying for", though. So you really think that because something happens under warranty people on here or other motoring forums aren't going to b h about it. You are paying for the same as any other vehicle, design development manufacture etc and as with any other manufacturer Porsche charge what the market will pay for its products. If you don't rate the product, don't like it or don't want to pay their prices don't buy it. Something breaks. OPC kisses your ar'se and fixes it quickly. I doubt most people would bother to mention it: Just one of those things- all better now. As for the product- There's the rub. I believed what I was told about the product- hewn from granite, reliable, quality engineering. I paid the massive price and I bought it. It wasn't any of those things. It made my TVR T350 look solid and cheap to run.

ilduce said: Something breaks. OPC kisses your ar'se and fixes it quickly. I doubt most people would bother to mention it: Just one of those things- all better now. As for the product- There's the rub. I believed what I was told about the product- hewn from granite, reliable, quality engineering. I paid the massive price and I bought it. It wasn't any of those things. It made my TVR T350 look solid and cheap to run. Well I have had 7 TVRs from an S2 through to a Sagaris and whilst I thought they were great the build quality was never anything to write home about and lets not start on the premature wearing of the lobes on the cams of the V8's or to borrow your phrase the Lindt finger followers on the speed sixes. They were built to a price with varying panel sizes from one side of the car to another. As for the OPC kisses your ar'se and fixes it quickly thats probably why this thread is running because having had his car fixed quickly the OP thought he would now have a moan NOT.Every manufacturer has there problems and a percentage of any vehicle is going to fail unless you over engineer it to such a degree that the cost would probably stop most of us buying them and if we did the company would go bust because we wouldn't need to replace them. According to many that is supposed to be the reason that Mercedes lowered their build quality because their cars were lasting too long and they weren't making the profit. Are Porsches perfect no but if you were to believe the scare mongerers on here we would never buy one in the same way no one would buy a speed six TVR because the engine will self destruct and leave you with a £6K to £12K bill, oh hang on a minute my 4 speed sixes never did. Sorry your experience with Porsche hasn't lived up to expectations but you can find people who will say the same of Audi, Nissan, etc. Sometimes we are lucky and sometimes we aren't.

J12KJR said: After less than 5 weeks of having the S it is not the introduction to Porsche ownership I was hoping for. Kev, That F-Type box still remains unticked

S6 ROR said: Kev, That F-Type box still remains unticked Nigel if you are at the Camb's meet tomorrow you can work on Lisa, I think that maybe I am loosing my touch

J12KJR said: ilduce said: Something breaks. OPC kisses your ar'se and fixes it quickly. I doubt most people would bother to mention it: Just one of those things- all better now. As for the product- There's the rub. I believed what I was told about the product- hewn from granite, reliable, quality engineering. I paid the massive price and I bought it. It wasn't any of those things. It made my TVR T350 look solid and cheap to run. Well I have had 7 TVRs from an S2 through to a Sagaris and whilst I thought they were great the build quality was never anything to write home about and lets not start on the premature wearing of the lobes on the cams of the V8's or to borrow your phrase the Lindt finger followers on the speed sixes. They were built to a price with varying panel sizes from one side of the car to another. As for the OPC kisses your ar'se and fixes it quickly thats probably why this thread is running because having had his car fixed quickly the OP thought he would now have a moan NOT.Every manufacturer has there problems and a percentage of any vehicle is going to fail unless you over engineer it to such a degree that the cost would probably stop most of us buying them and if we did the company would go bust because we wouldn't need to replace them. According to many that is supposed to be the reason that Mercedes lowered their build quality because their cars were lasting too long and they weren't making the profit. Are Porsches perfect no but if you were to believe the scare mongerers on here we would never buy one in the same way no one would buy a speed six TVR because the engine will self destruct and leave you with a £6K to £12K bill, oh hang on a minute my 4 speed sixes never did. Sorry your experience with Porsche hasn't lived up to expectations but you can find people who will say the same of Audi, Nissan, etc. Sometimes we are lucky and sometimes we aren't. Putting aside the bigbang engine faults and the zero explanation from the OPC of why they happened, I was massively pi55ed off at how many things just "wore out", and at such low mileage (just normal commuting)- stuff that you never change in 100k miles on normal cars- and were then obv not covered by the warranty or any sort of goodwill payment. Anyway- F Type next time. A red one. Brmmm!

ilduce said: Putting aside the bigbang engine faults and the zero explanation from the OPC of why they happened, I was massively pi55ed off at how many things just "wore out", and at such low mileage (just normal commuting)- stuff that you never change in 100k miles on normal cars- and were then obv not covered by the warranty or any sort of goodwill payment. Anyway- F Type next time. A red one. Brmmm! What bits failed? Italian Racing Red does look good

J12KJR said: ilduce said: Putting aside the bigbang engine faults and the zero explanation from the OPC of why they happened, I was massively pi55ed off at how many things just "wore out", and at such low mileage (just normal commuting)- stuff that you never change in 100k miles on normal cars- and were then obv not covered by the warranty or any sort of goodwill payment. Anyway- F Type next time. A red one. Brmmm! What bits failed? Italian Racing Red does look good Track rods. Coffin arms. Calipers. Rear support arms. Shocks.

ilduce said: Track rods. Coffin arms. Calipers. Rear support arms. Shocks. Yes not all parts you would expect to replace but over say a 5 to 10 year and 50,000 mile ownership period things are going to wear and break or at least they have on the TVR's, BMW's, Fords, VWs, Nissans, Seats etc that I have had. I hope you have better luck with your F Type but I very much doubt it.

J12KJR said: ilduce said: Track rods. Coffin arms. Calipers. Rear support arms. Shocks. Yes not all parts you would expect to replace but over say a 5 to 10 year and 50,000 mile ownership period things are going to wear and break or at least they have on the TVR's, BMW's, Fords, VWs, Nissans, Seats etc that I have had. I hope you have better luck with your F Type but I very much doubt it. I run all my cars to about 50k and never had stuff like that just wear out. Shocks went at 40k the rest followed over the next 10k but the frightening thing was that the OPC was quite used to changing certain parts at such a low mileage/age. "They all do that sir"

The shocks on my last Tuscan and the Sag were replaced at around 30,000. Replaced the Tuscan ones with Nitrons and they recommended having them serviced every 18,000 so potentially considered more of a service item than they are on the average hatchback. Be interesting to see how servicing etc goes on the Cayman, I may well be feeling the same way as you over the coming years.

Just an update - oil pump failed and engine seized is being replaced. I haven't been impressed with the service from start to finish. Firstly, the service department asks me questions about the manner in which I have been driving the vehicle, the speed I was doing when it failed and how much oil was in it. As it doesn't have a dipstick I check it on the dash and it was on four out of five bars if I recall correctly. I was informed that the oil temp reached 220 degrees (unit not specified but assume they meant degrees Celsius!) which I said was improbable. How would it be possible to get such a high oil temp without the thing being on fire? When it cut out I just lost oil pressure and that was it, no bangs, no leaks and no excessive heat. I popped in a couple of times for a face to face update and saw the salesman who sold me the vehicle. He made disparaging remarks about how I had allegedly been driving my car (the brakes overheated - in fact the brake pads on the rear are low and need replacement, I have ordered the parts to fit myself as I repair cars for a living). This salesman knows a group of my friends and has also been referring to how I have been ragging the car - possibly to try and defend the product and brand in some way. The service department rung me a couple of times to simply state the case had been referred to Technical in Germany but that the engine and 'box had been removed. Now surely, once and engine is removed one can ascertain that it has seized and the likely fault. It feels as though they were trying to apportion blame on me - I have bought a performance vehicle and it was sold to me on that proviso. I was given no specific instructions about how I was to drive the car so it seems ridiculous to me that I should be questioned about how I drive my car. On my first test drive where I was rather cautious and gingerly in my driving style I was advised to put my foot down and see what the car could do. Again, it just seems contradictory.

When I contacted the OPC that sold me my car to say there was a problem with the gearbox after a bit of spirited driving I was told you should be able to take it on a track all day long without worry, while I appreciate that the brakes probably wouldn't like that scenario overall the car is built to accelerate well and do high speeds. On the road you shouldn't be even beginning to touch the available performance and if things start to go wrong then the multiple warning systems should flag it up before it becomes a problem. From my experience 3 weeks ago and again today there are a barrage of warnings available for the car to fire at you. Have now seen my car on more recovery vehicles in 8 weeks than I saw the TVRs on in 20 plus years.

Yes exactly, I cannot believe I was being questioned if I'm honest with you. It's a performance car, it's failed, fix it as quickly as possible please.

mc_blue said: Just an update - oil pump failed and engine seized is being replaced. I haven't been impressed with the service from start to finish. Firstly, the service department asks me questions about the manner in which I have been driving the vehicle, the speed I was doing when it failed and how much oil was in it. As it doesn't have a dipstick I check it on the dash and it was on four out of five bars if I recall correctly. I was informed that the oil temp reached 220 degrees (unit not specified but assume they meant degrees Celsius!) which I said was improbable. How would it be possible to get such a high oil temp without the thing being on fire? When it cut out I just lost oil pressure and that was it, no bangs, no leaks and no excessive heat. I popped in a couple of times for a face to face update and saw the salesman who sold me the vehicle. He made disparaging remarks about how I had allegedly been driving my car (the brakes overheated - in fact the brake pads on the rear are low and need replacement, I have ordered the parts to fit myself as I repair cars for a living). This salesman knows a group of my friends and has also been referring to how I have been ragging the car - possibly to try and defend the product and brand in some way. The service department rung me a couple of times to simply state the case had been referred to Technical in Germany but that the engine and 'box had been removed. Now surely, once and engine is removed one can ascertain that it has seized and the likely fault. It feels as though they were trying to apportion blame on me - I have bought a performance vehicle and it was sold to me on that proviso. I was given no specific instructions about how I was to drive the car so it seems ridiculous to me that I should be questioned about how I drive my car. On my first test drive where I was rather cautious and gingerly in my driving style I was advised to put my foot down and see what the car could do. Again, it just seems contradictory. Long thread but may be worth reading. I was cruising at high speed in 6th gear and they reckoned I over revved the car i.e. bum shift - jokers http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=129...

OPC is scum shocker. Good luck OP.

anonymous said: [redacted] Hi yes I do appreciate that however there's a manner in which you deal with people. Making disparaging remarks about how I've allegedly driven my vehicle is not acceptable. The latest, the brake pads are low on the back and the wear sensor is on. I am aware of this and have actually ordered the parts from another local OPC. I was provided with a quotation of £600 for rear discs and pads (I would rather do them myself, I'm in the trade). When I stated this I was advised that the dealership would be unwilling to test drive the vehicle as it was unsafe! The whole situation is getting more comical by the day.

Just out of interest are you still in the 320d or have they put you in something better yet?

Hi gents, I've complained to Porsche GB so now I've been put in a Boxster S (nice car but came dirty inside). Not dealing directly with the OPC anymore.

mc_blue said: Hi gents, I've complained to Porsche GB so now I've been put in a Boxster S (nice car but came dirty inside). Not dealing directly with the OPC anymore. Good move. Let's hope you get decent service (and updates!) from now on.

So finally got my car back and still a fault on the suspension. As requested, I have outlined my concerns with David Mulqueeny at GB and got this as a reponse: David Mulqueeny said: I am sorry to read that you are still experiencing issues with your vehicle. As the importer, Porsche Cars Great Britain are unable to facilitate either diagnosis or repair. This would need to be done through a Porsche Centre. In regards to additional information requested, my previous email of 30.07.2015 (attached) provided detail of the parts replaced. Should you require further detail you will need to liaise directly with Porsche Centre X who will be able to assist and also respond to the concerns you have raised. The email he sent does not even include part numbers and he has totally washed his hands of all responsibility. Being without my car for two months and still having an issue, it coming back with a coolant fault and loose spoiler and apparently I have to go to the retailer as they are merely an importer of cars! Has anyone successfully made a compensation claim from this bunch of idiots or am I just wasting my time?

mc_blue said: The email he sent does not even include part numbers and he has totally washed his hands of all responsibility. Being without my car for two months and still having an issue, it coming back with a coolant fault and loose spoiler and apparently I have to go to the retailer as they are merely an importer of cars! Has anyone successfully made a compensation claim from this bunch of idiots or am I just wasting my time? What were they doing to your car for a whole 9 months?

Sorry not clear - it has been off the road two months in total, I have been sending emails back and fourth with GB since then and they either ignore them or just send dismissive emails back.

Not sure what I WAS going to get when my car goes in for a small fix (heater fan), but salesman range me up after I had arranged date and asked what I'd like. So I'm getting one of the 991.2 cars for the day. Bit of result I thought.