Unimpressed with Porsche

Hi everyone, I just need to have a rant about Porsche so please bare with me [ ]. I've owned my 1999 C2 about 5 months now, and the car itself has exceeded expectations. In early Jan someone went up the back of me resulting in damage to the bumper and rear light. After everything had been cleared with the other party's insurance, Porsche picked up the car 4 weeks ago, claiming it would take 1 week to do. After 5 days, I contacted them to ask when the car would be ready, and was told that they are really busy and it would be another week. I was slightly miffed by this, but didn't kick up much of a fuss. Then, as the second week drew to a close, I received a call from Porsche saying that the exhaust had been damaged in the collision and they needed to order a new one from Germany, and this would take another week! By now my patience were wearing thin, but I thought if I was gonna get a new exhaust out of it, then I could tolerate it. By now, the car had been with them for 3 weeks. When the car had gone in, i'd asked them if they could do a full inspection on the car as the collision might have done more damage than thought. 3.5 weeks after they had first received the car, they phoned me to say they had completed the inspection and there were a number of problems, not related to the accident, so it would have to come out of my pocket. Main issues were new front pads and discs (which were completely worn), a/c needed to be re-gassed and some minor leaks, but the bill for this additional work was £1000. Since I bought the car, i've done less than 2k miles in gentle London traffic. Before I bought it, the OPC in Birmingham did a major service on it. At the time, I spoke to them specifically about the condition of the brakes, and was told by them they were fine. If they were fine then, I dont see how they could be shot to hell now with less than 2k miles of gentle driving! Also, I have to question why they didn't pick up the other faults when the OPC in London has. If these issues had been brought to my attention back then, I surely would not have paid the price I did for the car. I am now taking Porsche head office to task of these issues, but I dont expect any joy out of them. If I do get anywhere, i'll keep you guys posted. Rant over [ ]

[ ] Hmmm quite a sorry tale you tell. In view of the second rate service the London OPC has given you are you 100% confident in there mechanical findings and has the Brommie OPC had an opportunity to comment on the current issues....Good luck ..Robert

I've been driving Porsches for 20years and continue to be unimpressed with the dealers level of service. I always double check the work thats been carried out since getting a car back with directional tyres fitted the wrong way round! Also got a car back from service with a mysterious dent which wasn't there before. I now question everything and get them to show me on the car before and after a job. As for the cars themselves I continue to be impressed with the over engineering of the older cars but reserve judgement on the newer ones. Zish, make a BIG fuss, COMPLAIN, wave the 97 point check at customer service, tell them your posting on the club web site and that they need to get their act together. They can talk the talk but in my experience they need crutches to walk the walk! All the best Mike.

i used to work for an opc body shop . Trust me when i say these people (not all of them) are f**k wits who do'nt care as long as on friday they get there £200 a week. Firstly the damage to the exhaust shuld of been picked up on the damage inspection by the body shop. And if not at this stage at least when the fitter took off the rear bumper as they sit just under it . But thats not his problem you see he just does whats on the job card like i said f**k wits with no care or pride in there work or the product which is Porsche. personaly after two weeks i would of had to thrown three f**ks into them cause that is not good enough!!!!!! Thats my winge over with kind regards Jamie [ ]

Mike An interesting comment - which bits do you feel the present range are perhaps suspect in? Nigel

I have to say, being a newcomer to the world of Porsches, I have been very unimpressed with a certain OPC's attitude to customer service. I bought an approved used 996tt a few months ago, my dream car since I was 12. 3 days after taking delivery of it the front nearside wheel fell off while I was driving along! On closer inspection, all wheelnuts on all wheels were loose (including the locking wheelnuts). The OPC tried the whole fob-off thing - "Sir, someone must have tried to steal your wheels . . . the wheelnuts were definately tight when you picked up the car . . . we have the inspection report to prove it, etc etc . . . " I had to take them to the small claims court to get a resolution, as there was nearly £2,000 worth of damage done to the car. I got PCGB involved, which didn't get me anywhere. Finally, after 3 months and countless letters / phonecalls / much stress I eventually recieved a cheque in settlement. They really need to wake up and realise that they cannot keep on creating disgruntled customers. This whole matter could have been sorted out very quickly and easily, but it was unnecesserily dragged out. SHAME ON THEM!

You're not the only one unimpressed by Porsche service. My car went into an OPC for a routine service + MOT last Wednesday. It was supposed to take 1 day but it looks as if I wont see it until Tuesday next week so thats 6 working days for a bloody service!. The brake disc thing is a well known garage scam, not just Porsche. They play on your safety fears by telling you the brake discs are worn or scored. Its easy money. The OPC have already tried it on with me but I took the precaution of checking the discs and pads before it went in to the garage and there's plenty of life left in mine. I would advise you check yours before authorising the work

On the oil usage issue, im sure the handbook says that they can use up to 1.5ltr per 1000K

I shan't bore everyone with my lengthy tale about the OPC Silverstone; read here instead... http://www.porsche-1.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=6449 and this is after we've bought cars from them, and had them all serviced there. We won't be wasting any more money on them David

Find a good independent. There are plenty around. Not only will it save you ££££, they'll almost certainly do a better job and it won't significantly effect the value of the car, particularly a pre-facelift 996.

Hi, Do what I always do with new cars, get them serviced at the OPC and let them advise you on things that need doing but all extra work if I can't do it, is done at a specialist. This gernally means I get much better customer service, access to the car during the work and always a cheaper option. But I do have the all important dealer stamped service book. Stu