996 with 30k Kilometers on Fire in Saudi Arabia, Thanks Porsche

Hi All This is what happens when your porsche gets on fire for no reason and The Porsche Dealership has no answer. What your about to see is our friend Adel 911 porsche (Type 996), 40 minutes after he parked his car at his work place the car got on fire for no reason. SAMACO had an expert team from porsche mid east to look in to it and after one month they told him sorry we don't know what happened to your car and we don't have any record to show that you car has been maintained at SAMACO. After presenting the maintenance record they told him ohhhhh may be when we changed our old computer system to the new one porsche on line in 2004 we dropped your car record( a company like that does not have Data migration process can you believe that) does that mean all their customers before 2004 don't exist? woooowww They gave an estimate of sr 100,000 to repair the car Here you can see the maintenance record every 5000km it goes to the dealer Thanks Porsche!!!!

2 questions: 1. Why isnt there a loom going to the headlight switch, I see bare contact points on the headlight switch, where did the loom and plug go? 2. Why is the radio hanging out, it was not affected by the fire?

Looks like what ever started it was around the relay support bracket. I wonder if the car had some after-market work on it like another alarm or an audio upgrade. From the photo, it looks like the fuse panel is intact. There isn't anything else in that general area, and if it did start in the relay support bracket, that would explain why it spread up into the trunk cowl. There is just a plastic gasket in the hole that routes the front harness out of the passenger compartment. too bad. Does your friend have his car insured?

why is the fuel pump/ sender look like it was sittin g under the hood during the fire?

Hi, I have read some of 996s got fire at no reason. Does insurance company pay for a replacement or repair? Jim

Red flags went off when you see the ignition switch and radio out AND the car on fire -i.e., so it doesn't look like they took those out after the fact

So how much is sr 100,000 in US Dollars? I would guess that a car with that much damage is probably not a write-off, but close to it. Sorry for your friend. But I have to agree, it does seem odd that the radio is hanging out like that. If there was any aftermarket electrical work done on the car, I'd surely look at that first as the likely culprit. Michael

A fire for "no reason"? Do they spontaneously combust? There's absolutely a reason and from the ignition and radio out I would say it's a hack wiring job.

You guys are a bunch of tools. Doesn't the OP state that the car has left with the Dealer and Porsche people for 1 month while they tried to figure out what happened? Did it occur to anyone that they pulled things out trying to troubleshoot? Flame away.

the fuel pump looks like it was sitting in the trunk when the fire happend

I can guarantee, I'll never buy a car from SAMACO.......

CSI folks.

Not a flame but rather an observation. NOBODY in this thread attacked the OP but rather tried to conclude what happened since the OP thinks it just caught fire for no reason.......Yet you feel the need to call everybody in this thread a tool? Just keeps re-affirming why I don't spend much time here anymore. Absolutely nothing but bickering, bitching, and hiding behind keyboards around here lately. To find the real help you really need to look for it amongst all this crap. Sad b/c this doesn't seem like something you would say Paul.

Yes an admittedly strongly worded post prior to getting enough caffeine. Still it is not likely that anyone here is going to forensically diagnose the cause of the fire from a bunch of pics. My point was that everyone is jumping to conclusions about the possible cause which is not what the OP asked at all. The OP seems to be sharing frustration at the dealer and porsche and their lack of stepping up. But in the case of a car fire the normal recourse is your insurance company not the dealer and manufacturer. That is for the Ins company to deal with. .....Unless you lack insurance to begin with.

I figured as much. Now go grab a Red Bull and get back to being the real Paul

Khaled -- Do you know if this picture was taken at Adel 911's work just after the fire or is this after it sat at SAMACO for a month?

Blake, My friend if very meticulous on his car and belongings. No after market work was done on the car whatsoever, and it was purchased as is from SAMACO. On that nasty morning, he went to work, parked the car, went up to his office and an hour later security came knocking on his door informing him that they just had to extinguish his car. It was a horror show as the parking basement is packed with Ferraris, Astons and other Porches and high end cars that could have caught fire if this was not caught quickly. The car was transported to SAMACO immediately after the fire. The pics were taken after their technicians went through It is a wiring harness issue no questions about that... the sad part is that they are trying to avoid dealing with it. 100,000 Riyals is about US$30,000... the funny thing is that Adel was about to exchange his BMW 760iL with an Audi A8, but after the nice treatment from SAMACO (who are also the agents for Audi and VW), he decided he was fed up and went straight to Lexus and drove off in a new LS460 ... !!! what a shame.

So did he buy the car new back in about 1999-2000? From the looks of the car it is a 99-01 Model 996. Just curious since you state he bought the car "as is". If that is the case then there is absolutely NO WAY you can make the statement that there is no aftermarket (or otherwise) work whatsoever that has been done on the car to cause this. To be honest, this is the first I have ever heard of a wiring harness fire in a 996. Sucks for your fried. Not sure what the market is like for cars where he lives but that is a $30K USD car in the US anyway so $30K in damage isn't worth fixing but rather keep the car as a parts car and buy something else. As for your friend buying a Lexus instead I have a feeling it isn't going to affect the other dealership whatsoever. Anyway, best of luck to your friend. Keep us posted.

Since the car is at least 7 years old, what did your friend expect the dealership to do, fix it for free? I would hope not. They really don't have any liability in this case, unless it can be proven that they did something to the car that caused it to catch fire. Porsche is most certainly not going to provide a warranty on a car this old. Unfortunately bad things happen to machines and it is no ones fault, they just happen. (some say it is god's will.) I would hope that your friend has comprehensive automobile insurance on his Porsche. This would cover his loss due to fire. If he does not, then he is what is called "self-insured".

I honestly believe that sometimes it's just guys who are trying to put their conclusions into the fray without deliberately trying to be negative or mean spirited. I've seen a number of posts here where the meaning and intent of the author was not as was interpreted, and after the author explained himself, the flames died down. The point I found most salient here was the reference to the fact that it didn't happen for no reason...obviously. I also believe that many, if not most of the electrical problems are a result of aftermarket doo-dads and incorrectly wiriing in or rewiring the devices. I see nothing wrong with the guys trying to do a little detective work with best guess scenarios. We all would like to be the one who came up with the correct assessment, or the conclusion that everyone seemed to agree with...as long as they don't become mean spirited or vindictive....after all, it's really a guessing game using the pictures as the only available "evidence". One guess is as good as another. I "guess" that's it for me.........Chuck