WTF

So my ignition switch broke in my car and I took it to the dealership to be fixed. I dropped it off and everything was fine except I could no longer turn it on. The dealership calls me the next day and said that they swapped the switch but their was a problem. The switch shorted the odometer and now it reads 599999 miles from 41k. They tried to reset it but could not link with the computer. The dealer said its the switches fault and not theirs at all. They want me to buy a new cluster but they do not even know if it will work? Please help!

Wow! WTF is right!! What happened to your original ignition switch? Did it electrically or mechanically go bad? Did the switch "feel" like normal, but wouldn't start the car? Or did it "feel" weird AND wouldn't start the car? Did the ignition dashboard lights turn on and the starter wouldn't operate? Or, no lights at all in the dash? I know mechanically these switches can go bad. On my car, you had to "play" with it sometimes, but eventually it would "catch". Electrically it was fine. I would think that if yours mechanically failed, something must've gotten shorted during the install of the new unit??

first off - shoot, that sucks! but on the bright side you could have the highest mile 996 in history Not to make light of it the ignition switch is a known fault item and cause "strange" issues, but I have not heard of this one.. I think this is a Loren Question and you can find him on Renntech (the membership there is priceless!) post year and model car - BTW there "was" a cluster on CL in Seattle for about $125 recently... do a search, maybe I can help

that's why I'd rather screw it myself, nothing more frustrating than your experience ... I hope it get solved with a new cluster. I just don't understand how it got shorted.

I think at an absolute minimum they should get the cluster for you at cost and do the labor for free.

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Why should the OP have to pay for a cluster???

The switch would not go back to tdc so I could not even get the key in. The dealership said that the wires may have shorted together? The whole conversation kinda went downhill when the tech thought it was funny and laughed, which was followed by my going ballistic on him. I feel like it was partially there fault but then again, I dont know if I could prove it. I feel so shafted. On another note, I coaxed them into telling me the number of IMS failures that they have seen per 1200 vehicles. Care to guess?

As far as the mileage goes that is the exact highest it will go. So I win

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IMS Failures..... 15 (my guess) but for those 15 people, what a biatch !!

Sell your story to Excellence that you made this many miles in a 996 without an overhaul........j/k

Ivangene: The actual number he gave me was 9 and he said not all of those were catatrophic. I am not sure if he was honest or not about it. He did say that most of the time they see them they have under 30k miles or they had sat for a long time and then were driven long distances. Tippy: I thought about that, or at least tell excellence that I think I might have been screwed.

What happens when you drive it a mile?

I would like to add that the service manager has stayed on top of it trying to help me get the problem fixed. The dealership wants me to pay full price and labor though FML

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You cannot tease us like this.....

Chsu74: The mileage stays at 599,999

Roadsession: the answer you are looking for is just above your post. On another note: The dealership did not take down my mileage when they recieved the car so they are telling me if they cannot pull the mileage when they fix it, I will have uncertain mileage reports

I think they can pull car mileage from the ECU to match. Read it somewhere on this forum. Personally, they see that you are a young kid and are trying to take advantage of you.

I was thinking the same thing. I feel like they are trying to take advantage of me. I am going to try to fight this the best I can. The two biggest attorneys in the area are family friends and they already told me they would step in should I need help.

The first place to go is to ask to get the area rep involved in solving the problem. If that doesn't work out then you can start thinking about getting more aggressive.

did they give you an itemized bill on parts and labor? was it a total ignition replacement or just the switch? how much was the charge?

first thing demand that THEY make the repair right. second thing a call to customer relations pcna.

The bill for the switch was like $480.00 and they said the cluster would cost $2300 plus labor.

The dealership said they do not have any responsibility for all of this...

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OH is that all - I would call DC auto or other salvage co (I had a good experience with DC and their website is awesome!!)

We need a dealership name for this muck up....

I would do everything in my power to contact every POrsche supervisor from here to Germany. Making you pay for their screw up is BS!!

The dealership is saying that it is possible it shorted overnight and that it is not their fault. The dealership is Porsche of Hilton Head at new river automall.

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So its "possible" but uncertain. When you handed over your keys, that dealership took responsibility of your car. They need to make it right. Someone here should be able to help you contact PCNA and speak to the right person.

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That's a pretty weak excuse for making you foot the bill on this. Give the Porsche rep a chance to make this right, then proceed quickly to getting your lawyer involved. Every day this goes on makes it harder for you to set it right. This isn't their first rodeo and they know how to play this game. BTW, I don't think all dealerships are bad, but this sounds, from your description, like you are being taken for a ride for their mistake. Good luck!

They said they could not get the key in the ignition and it was not their protocol to check to ecu before switching the ignition switch. This on its own sounds fishy to me. If I was a mechanic and a car was having errors I would scan the ecu before I started tearing stuff down.

Get your car towed out of there ASAP! Get it to some independent who can document the issue and depending on what they find then you can take legal action. BTW, I replaced my switch for $12, like lots of guys on this forum

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Agreed. The dealer, maybe not, but Porsche, hell yes! If Porsche would take care of their problems like, for example, Lexus does, they'd have a lot more owner satisfaction and return customers. Porsche's 996 iginition switches wear out too frickin fast. Period. Why didn't they have an involuntary recall in the first place? Sorry, just venting. My next car may have to be the Audi R8... Porsche pisses me off more and more.

Wow, nothing like a good 'stealer'-bashing thread to get folks all riled, eh? Have the dealer disconnect the battery, short the pos & neg cables together, then reconnect and recheck everything; odds are, your inst cluster will be fixed. As far as reading faults prior to repair, the ignition must be on for the PIWIS tester to function. Since the car was delivered for service with a failed ignition switch... EB, if you replaced the $12 rotary switch by itself you're due for another failure; that part has been updated to a one-piece steering lock/ign switch assy. Much more durable. Best of luck!

I have the car now. It drives fine minus the mileage problem. I was visiting my parents from Tampa and had no other means of transportation.

How is this senario any different from if they had your car in for service and the tech backed you car into a pole? I know they are not considering it an accident but the car was in their possesion at the time of the incident. Really does sound like a dealer insurance claim to me. Of course they are going to fight tooth and nail to keep from filing a claim because we all know what happens when you do.

So whats the verdict? let the dealer try to fix it? Who should I go to?

^ Call Porsche Cars North America and ask to speak to a rep about a problem you are having with a dealership that you just had an experience with. Go from there..

I am going to let this guy follow up today like he said he would. If I do not like the answer I will speak with PCNA and will see what I can do. I will be sure to keep you guys updated.

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Did you try this as a fix ohdavey?

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This happened to me once when my switch failed. I saved the fix somebody gave me (don't remember who) and this fixed my problem. "Try this. Disconnect the negative cable with the key in the ignition. Turn key to position 1 and then turn key to off position. Then hook up negative cable."

See what happens when you go to the dealer....

Wow, such a horror story..to think from a dealer SHAME on them!

sounds like a crappy situation...please try the two fixes that have been recommended it may save you a huge headache and just work.

Thanks for the input everyone! So if I understand this correctly I should just turn the key the first turn and disconnect the negative cable, then turn it back and reconnect it? The dealer said they tried to reset it like 4-5 times. Is this what they are talking about? Is there a possibility of adverse affects due to this?

Did you have the exact problem I had?

no I didn't but maybe somebody on here did.

Ok today after work I plan on trying the battery disconnect deal mentioned earlier. Is there any possibility of problems being caused by this?

what year car? might need radio code.....

Its a 99 and I have the radio code in my manual.

you should be fine

So did the odometer reset back to the correct mileage?

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Call them now. A simple letter from your attorney works wonders in this sort of situation.

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What happened...did it work?

Sorry I have not gotten back yet. I tried to disconnect the battery with the key in the ingition trick and it did not work. The dealership is supposed to call me back today.

Ok so the service manager called me back and said they do not think they can pull the mileage for a new odo? Is it just me or does mileage being stored in the cluster seem like a load of S#%t? I called PCNA and formed a case with them last night.