You all are going to love this.....C4S transmission saga continued

Just got off the phone with the GM from my dealership (nice guy). Porsche told him that 4 C4S's in the USA have had my same transmission problem. Apparently 1 and 2nd gears shear off....like glass. So when my dealer called Germany for my new tranny to be shipped *POOF* there were none. Apparently Porsche was checking them all out. Porsche searched and found a C4 Cab in Dallas (6 hours from me) and my dealer sent a flatbed truck to pick it up, for the transmission transplant. Estimated my car back in my hands Wednesday. Now the kicker, Porsche is shipping 16 new transmissions to the USA "should this problem happen again, there are transmissions on hand". This is all from the GM who got the info from somebody at Porsche. **All you 2002 C4S owners probably need your transmissions checked. What if yours was built next to mine on the same "run". It's a time bomb. C4 owners...maybe, also. Porsche is scared enough to ship 12 more trannies than known problems. Sucks I had to be the guinea pig, but if I can save somebody else the problem....some good can come of it. FYI, I'm taking my repaired car back, with the GM aware I will demand a new car if this one has any more troubles. thanks, urb

urb- you are a patient man. i would still advise you to demand a porsche loaner in the interim--it's the least they can do.also consider demanding at least 2 car payments and a warranty extension. finally--what do you think we should ask be checked on our c4s transmissions? so far it appears that early failure has been the rule. any thoughts? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

I know nothing of auto mechanics. I would have no idea what to ask be checked. I'm just giving you all what I know and what my gut tells me. Maybe somebody here knows who to ask at Porsche, find out the "lot number" or "run number" of my early June build car. See if they have the same internals as mine did. Or somebody who works at a dealer can check out things that are "confidential".

Interesting development. One thing you may want to consider is to have the C4 Cab tranny be ONLY a temporary tranny, just to get your car back earlier. When the re-inspected set of NEW tranny's are available, one of the 16, have one of them replace the "temporary" transplanted C4 Cab tranny. The only acceptable alternative to this is to wait for one of the 16 trannies to arrive, but they have to get you into a Porsche loaner while waiting. I don't care if they have to rent it, give you full use of one of their used cars, or give you the GM's car!! As for my car and having it inspected, it's already undergone "Field Testing". If the 1st and 2nd gears are glass, they would have shattered to a million pieces by now. But, I thank you for posting the above, Urbanski. Good luck!!!

I hope this mess gets straighten out before they start producing the 2003's.

02 C4 & C4S tranny's are the same. I thought C4S had turbo drivetrain sans motor of course... <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

I blame this on the Cayenne. <img src="graemlins/icon107.gif" border="0" alt="[icon107]" />

Hi, tooh delivery on 6/20/02 of a Lapis Blue/ Gray and the exact same problem at 21 miles. Midwest rep says Porsche is telling him 30 to 45 days before trannies are available because it is just in time manufacturing. Build exactly what you need and no extras. What's the real skinny?

don't know about texas but in connecticut if the car is out of service for a cumulative total of thirty days you can apply to have the car classified as a lemon, even if this is due to parts not being available.

[quote]Originally posted by Lucas: <strong>Hi, tooh delivery on 6/20/02 of a Lapis Blue/ Gray and the exact same problem at 21 miles. Midwest rep says Porsche is telling him 30 to 45 days before trannies are available because it is just in time manufacturing. Build exactly what you need and no extras. What's the real skinny?</strong><hr></blockquote>Real skinny is what I posted, I know no more. Sorry to hear you have the same problem. Are you going to let yours be repaired, or are you going to ask for a new '03 model?? Can your dealer find a C4 nearby they can transplant the tranny from, like mine?? Gets you back in the car sooner than waiting for a new tranny....

Do you think the C4 cab. Trannie will be reliable? Did the GM say when the new trannies would get in country 30-45 days or sooner? Also anyone got any opions on midnight blue metalic compared to Lapis blue, because I may have to substitute. Of course I won't take delivery until it's been driven 50 miles.

I just placed a shortcut to the Florida Lemon Law on my desktop for future reference if needed.

[quote]Originally posted by ohsixx: <strong>I just placed a shortcut to the Florida Lemon Law on my desktop for future reference if needed. </strong><hr></blockquote> From what I've heard, we won't have to go that far with Porsche. They want our return business so badly they will sacrifice and give us whatever we want now, to make us happy. I don't forsee lawyers/big battles if I choose to return the car.

Urbanski, in reading your past posts, I see that you posted your message regarding your tranny problem on 6/10. When did you take delivery of your C4S? Do you know when it was approximately built? I ask because I should be receiving my C4S any day now (this week, most likely). Also, if, before delivery, I ask the dealership to check out my tranny, is it something that can be diagnosed beforehand? In other words, can they do anything about it? Or is it, to your understanding, a problem that manifests only when it actually manifests? Thanks in advance for any insight you can give me. Yours is a cautionary tale, and I hope things turn out well for you!

RETURN THE CAR!!! If you want to stay with Porsche, buy a new one.

Hey Urbanski, Hope you read my post to one of your earlier threads regarding my C4S troubles. I took delivery June 13th in Canada. Wonder if these came across together?

[quote]Originally posted by urbanski: <strong> From what I've heard, we won't have to go that far with Porsche. They want our return business so badly they will sacrifice and give us whatever we want now, to make us happy. I don't forsee lawyers/big battles if I choose to return the car.</strong><hr></blockquote>That sounds like wishful thinking; nothing wrong with dreaming. The lemon laws are designed to settle disputes without lawyers. However, the dealer is giving 4 chances to fix the SAME problem. Additionally, in Florida, you may for a failure like yours, undo the deal within the FIRST week. Obviously that time has passed for you, -- and Texas laws might differ. Here are the LEMON LAWS by STATE: <a href="http://cartalk.cars.com/Tools/lemon-states.pl" target="_blank">http://cartalk.cars.com/Tools/lemon-states.pl</a>

[quote]Originally posted by Barrett the Cat: [QB]Urbanski, in reading your past posts, I see that you posted your message regarding your tranny problem on 6/10. When did you take delivery of your C4S? Do you know when it was approximately built? ... Also, if, before delivery, I ask the dealership to check out my tranny, is it something that can be diagnosed beforehand? In other words, can they do anything about it? Or is it, to your understanding, a problem that manifests only when it actually manifests? QB]<hr></blockquote> I took delivery that same day, 6/10. It was built the first week of May, done on about the 8th or thereabouts. I don't know exactly what to ask you dealer to check...surely the dealer can talk to Porsche and see if you transmission serial number matches the bad batch or not. Or have your dealer call mine, [phone removed] and ask if the lot is the same! Then you can stress test yours when you pick it up...rail on it in 1 and 2nd gears NEAR the dealer, so if it fails you're not 30 miles away like I was. Canada Ron, you got the proverbial shaft from your dealer! At least mine is paying my first payment, then going back to Porsche for more. Your delivery was 3 days after mine, I'm almost certian yours is one of the 4 known C4S's with the lemon trannies. May build C4S owners beware!!

The fails reported here are at something like 21, 30, 70 miles or so. I wonder how many C4S's have left the factory test driver stranded? I know they test drive them for some distance on the local Zuffenhausen roads...having witnessed that myself (WooHoo!) this April. Really nothing of any help to add here, but I bet the factory has seen the failure too. regards Jon with a plebeian 968 in comparison to a new C4S

'02 C4S @ 3500 mi with no problems....knock on wood

'02 C4S @ 2300 mi with no problems....knock on wood

'02 C4S, January build (after the holidays ), 5200 miles, solid. Of course, now I've jinxed it, and I expect it to self-desruct this afternoon.

7050 mi--feb build--perfect! (gulp-now i'm screwed!) <img src="graemlins/oops.gif" border="0" alt="[oops]" />