Be wary of Autohaus AZ

Long rant - Cliff Notes - You may not get what you pay for and their customer service is the worst I've ever encountered. I ordered a genuine Porsche coolant tank ($483 including tax) from AutohausAZ. They sent me an aftermarket tank instead. Their website suggests filling out a customer service request form online rather than calling them. Good luck even finding their phone number, which apparently they man for just a few hours Monday thru Friday. I filled out their online form four times before anyone ever acknowledged my inquiries. They emailed me a label to return the tank and I dropped it off at FedEx.. Two weeks later still no acknowledgement of any kind from AutohausAZ despite getting a delivery notice from FedEx. I again filled out their online "Customer Service" form and again got no response after multiple attempts. Today I finally got through on the phone and the rather condescending agent told me that the tank I received was a Genuine Porsche tank. It definitely wasn't a Porsche tank - no mention of Porsche on any packaging, no Porsche part number found anywhere, and it came with a cheap black cap. As my local Porsche parts guy says "Everything is ala carte with Porsche". The customer service agent insists that it's Genuine Porsche but I must be confused because they have changed their manufacturing. That was it for me. I demanded a refund and he said it would take about a week to process. I told him I was going to file a complaint with PayPal and hung up. I guess that got to him because when I went into my PayPal account it had just been refunded. So now my car has been sitting for two weeks due to Autohaus' incompetence and I have to order the tank from somewhere else.

This is why I love FCP Euro so much. So easy to deal with. Same with Costco for tires. I just got home from Costco due to a tire blowout. They replaced the tire and credited me the prorated amount for the blown tire. So easy.

From my experience, I usually order from our sponsors of this site. I would try FCP, Pelican, or some of the other vendors listed in the vendor directory.

100% brother. October 2010 the expansion tank on my ‘03 E46 ZHP split coming out of Church. I had to flat bed the car home, and run to the dealer to pay dearly for an OEM tank. I got the split one from autohaus AZ. It was pretty cheap as I recall, but I did kind of wonder why it didn’t have any BMW roundels imprinted on it. I stopped buying parts from them.

I bought my LN Engineering sump guard from them. They had the lowest price and I received it right away. That was my only, and possibly last, purchase from them. I'll stick to Pelican from now on. I haven't ever ordered from FCP, but I've never heard any complaints. I might order from them sometime.

I swear by FCP. My last order even had a hand written note on the receipt saying "Good luck with caliper rebuild. Happy to help if you have any questions." (or something to that effect)

Thanks for the PSA Bill, I have bought a few things from them as well, luckily haven't had to find out what their "After Sales Service" was like !!!

Seeing as people have mentioned Pelican, I've seen grumbles that they went down hill after ECS bought them, is that not accurate ?

I've always had great experience with ECS and FCP has been fantastic. Pelican is good to but they did screw up one order. Made it right though...

Never had a problem with pelican until today. Ordered a Rennline 4 piece pedal kit and only received the dead and gas pedal. The dead pedal in a sealed bag had a nick in it. Was not impressed by the rep on the phone that I would get what I ordered in a timely fashion. Will see. I usually order from FCP as they are so close and I can return used oil to them for a refund.

FCP is fantastic! Shipping is super quick, and they give you lots of options. And their lifetime warranty on parts is amazing. I just sent them back front and rear Ferodo Track Pads and Sebro front rotors. I sent them on a Monday, $600 was back in my account by Wednesday. I will likely get 3-4 sets of pads from this year for free. Oh, they take oil and brake fluid (SRF) back too. I'm pretty sure they must just be a money laundering operation, but I'll use it while it lasts.

Interesting thread. First, $483 seems crazy expensive for a coolant tank. Pelican has it listed for $155?? Second, I've owned a Porsche for 10 years and never heard of FCP. Guess I'll check them out next time I need parts. I generally order from Pelican or ECS, but there's a dealer in California I've found that has prices so good that even after paying for shipping to WI, they still beat everyone.

And there's more. I just received an email from AutohausAZ that they're charging me for the return shipping. They insist that they sent me a Genuine Porsche coolant tank, but it clearly is a lesser quality aftermarket tank. I even confirmed it with my local Porsche dealership's parts department. I would highly recommend that people to steer clear of this company. I submitted a review on Yelp and reported them to the Better Business Bureau.

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The Porsche price for an MK-I coolant tank is just under $700. Pelican has it for $637. MK-II tanks are much cheaper.

Thanks for the heads up wyo. I'll give them a wide berth. I generally stick to FCP as well but for what it's worth when I use Pelican as well they have been fine.

I usually buy my Porsche parts at Porsche Gaudin Las Vegas. They sell the Porsche coolant tank for $476.13 + no tax. They are very helpful over the phone and ship very quick . If you post a review, you'll get a $10 coupon for your next purchase over $50.00 No affiliation, just a satisfied customer

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Good to know about Gaudin. I use Sunset in Oregon and Sonnen in the Bay Area. Their prices for the tank are $492.70 and $488.56 respectively. (still outrageous though)

I’ve used Suncoast Porsche, Sunset Porsche, Gaudi Porsche, Pelican Parts, ECS Tuning, and Warehouse33. I’ve never had any issues with any of them.

The owner reached out to me after my Yelp review, wanting to know the difference between the OEM and the Genuine Porsche tank. First of all that is irrelevant - I ordered and paid for a Genuine Porsche tank but didn't get one. And the net-net is that the original tank lasted 18 years and 70,000 miles before I proactively (no issues) replaced it. The OEM tank failed catastrophically after three years and 7,000 miles.

Dealer usually does cost, or cost plus 10, so I go that route anytime I need something Genuine Porsche. Otherwise it's RM European. Have had nothing but great success with them. Weirdly, I've never had good luck with FCP.

I have purchased from Autohaus AZ several times and have never had a problem but never having a problem does mean that I have not dealt with their customer service. i also believe that “Genuine Porsche” is often overrated. I bought my 2000 in 2000 with 4,000 mile on it and within 2 years the “Genuine” reservoir failed at Lee’s than 15,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. Many if not most of the Genuine Porsche parts are not manufactured by Porsche but are purchased from OEMs and put in packaging with a Genuine Porsche label. A good example of this is Sachs clutch parts which are exactly the same that Porsche sells but are a fraction of the cost, I have used the many times. The worst example of this I have experienced was when I replaced the AC compressor on my car a few years ago. Porsche charges almost $1,800 for the Denso compressor in a box that says Genuine Porsche. I bought one from Rockauto which still list for $179 and it was the exact same Denso unit down to the model number, configuration, connection etc. Now that is a Genuine Porsche Tax!

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Bill, you did the right thing. I've read about this problem many times. I'm not completely sure why the problems seem to haunt this particular part, but apparently many substandard knock-offs floating around. I purchased my expansion tank directly from Porsche parts of Atlanta Perimeter ( https://www.porscheatlantaperimeterparts.com ) and it came inside a normal Porsche box with the part# sticker on the outside as you would find on other genuine parts. The genuine tank did NOT come with a cap nor the coolant level sensor which had to be purchased separately. Once the tank was installed correctly, it never gave me a problem.

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I mostly agree with you. I tend to buy Genuine Porsche parts when the "Porsche Tax" isn't crazy. With everything I've read over the years, and my limited personal experience, the coolant expansion tank isn't one of those things you can skimp on. My current failed tank was made in Germany and was said to be OEM. I've noticed that the OEM tanks have a yellowish cast to them while the Genuine Porsche tanks are stark white. There is likely a difference in material composition. And in this case, whether or not the OEM tank is just as good is irrelevant. I paid the premium for the Genuine Porsche part but received something else.

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Sounds like the "old bait and switch" to me then try to charge you for return shipping. Did they try to charge you a restocking fee...?

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I really don't think that's the case. I think they made an honest mistake but then that's where things went off the rails. Rather than make it right, they refused to acknowledge their mistake and want to make me the bad guy. Compound that with a complete lack of customer service and you have the situation we're in now - a back and forth verbal war on Yelp with the owner. It's kind of fun at this point. I ordered a new tank from Porsche Livermore.

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I'm sure they know the difference between Genuine Porsche parts and the others, NOBODY gets a big discount on Genuine Porsche parts. The only way to get Genuine Porsche parts for less than cost is to buy out a old inventory of parts from a Dealership that is going bankrupt.. Some big parts stores do this and can sell Genuine Porsche Parts for less than cost... They knew what they were selling you, they just acting dumb....

I just received my OEM coolant tank for my 1999 from Sunset Porsche a lot less than $700 Rich

Out of curiosity - does the OEM tank perform any special functions, besides it's unique fitment and bleeder valve where it would not be able to be replaced by a fabricated Aluminum tank ? Something along the lines of :

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The OEM tanks have not lasted very long. That's why people shell out crazy money for the Genuine Porsche tanks. My current failed tank isOEM.

I guess there are far greater profits to be made in repeat sales from selling these tanks vs somebody inventing an aluminum or some space-age creation that would finally resolve this issue completely.....somebody did come up with better radiators, Skip's glorious UAOS ( which I am looking forward to installing ), Aluminum URO AOS heater hose connector, LN Engineering's offerings and a host of other parts. Over the last year, I have purchased various hoses along with the tank itself, and out of curiosity have wondered why somebody hasn't come up with replacement silicone hose kits and braided smaller hose kits to replace those ( spit ) cracked plastic hoses and other fittings. I have seen various hoses for BMWs and a lot of offerings for rice rods and Detroit irons, granted some are from China but nonetheless, given that a lot of water-cooled Porsches are still being driven despite being over twenty years old, it would seem to me that despite nose bleed prices for a plastic tank that self destructs......silicone hoses sets that were better designed would also sell well. IMHO. Interesting that nobody has attempted to 3D print a better tank.....

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Jeez and I was irked when my Genuine Porsche clear side markers turned out to be just Hella parts in a Porsche box. Glad I paid double for that sweet, sweet bit of cardboard.

I’ve bought from Autohaus AZ a lot, mostly BMW and Mazda parts, generally good prices and never had an issue with returns. My “OEM” coolant tank lasted only a couple of thousand miles, the Porsche part cost more than $450-ish. There are now car parts made by companies actually called “Genuine” and “OEM”. OEM means original equipment manufacturer, it doesn’t always mean the same part as sold by the dealer. I think Autohaus AZ explains that on their web site.

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My point was that I bought the expensive ($439) "Genuine Porsche" tank from Autohaus AZ but they sent me the cheap non-Porsche one and then wouldn't admit it. Having already gone through this install just a few years ago, I'm not anxious to repeat the process every few thousand miles. This is one of the few cases where paying for the Porsche name on the box is worth it.