Warranty problems, please give me some advice

I'm running into some major warranty problems with the '02 Boxster I bought on June 10 of that year. The four year warranty should last until June 10 of next year, 2006, right? Wrong.

When I was recently up at the dealership the service rep said my warranty expired in January 2006.

I've spoken with the General Manager (GM) of the dealership who says that Porsche has January in its computers and after he brought this problem to their attention they refuse to change the date.

My service rep hypothesized that my car had "its ticket punched" in January to make it a demo car, thus starting the warranty period, but that it simply never got driven, that's why it had 45 miles only when I first test drove it.

The dealership GM has made comforting noises about "making me whole" but I for one am upset. I know it is a technical triviality to change the date on Porsche's computers, so I conclude the GM has deduced it was the dealership's fault - maybe the "demo car" hypothesis above.

The GM has said he can offer to make good on the "warranty" through June 10. Or that he'll absorb the cost through then of an extended warranty. Last Tuesday morning he said he'd look into extended warranty options and get back with me, and now it is Thursday night with no word. Does he think I'll just go away if I don't call him back??

I was planning to keep the car but wasn't planning to decide on forking out for an extended warranty until April. But if I were I would be wanting the extended warranty to START on June 10 - but a "factory" warranty cannot start then, I'm told by the dealership that it has to be agreed on one month BEFORE the end of the official warranty period - which is now Janurary 2006!

I'm feeling majorly screwed here. Even if I sign up for an extended warranty, say, for 3 years, that would mean expiry in Janurary of 2009 and not June 10 of 2009 like it was suppose to. And I have an expensive repair PLANNED for say, March 2009, if you get my drift.

I am going to call USAA, who does my insurance and financed the car originally (it is paid off now though) to see what they think, or maybe they do extended warranty things, too.

But I wanted to relate this tale of woe to all the experts who read this newsgroup and ask you what you think of the situation, and what you think I should do, or DEMAND, at this point? Should and how would I call Porsche itself myself to get satisfaction??

I realize Life isn't always perfect but this is just wrong.

Please post, or if you email remove the 'nospam' in the email address.

Reply to
Dan Stephenson
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Dan: This kind of thing can be worked out. It is NOT impossible to get those dates changed, as I had somewhat of a similar problem some years ago. I would require:

  1. That Porsche Cars North America agree to change the "in service" date. It is likely that the proper contact by the dealership GM to PCNA can get this done. Sure...it's a hassle, and they don't want to get involved...but it can be done. At the same time, you can separately contact Peter Schwarzenbauer, President and CEO of PCNA, tell him your story...in writing, and copy the GM at the dealership. Be professional and ask for only what you should have received in the first place. This may well get it done.

  1. The dealership gives you in writing a letter, signed by an officer of the corporation that they are aware of the error, and that they will pay for any warranty eligible repair thru 6/10/06. This would also apply if you were traveling and required service elsewhere.

  2. An alternative is that the dealership sells you a solid extended warranty, at their net cost, less the % of time they owe you...and pay any difference if required to extend it thru June 10 of the last year of the warranty.

I think you can get #1 accomplished. In my experience with Porsche...beginning in 1971 when they were imported by VW...I've persisted...and always gotten what I wanted. Quiet persistence and the "promise" that the folks in question would never be rid of me if they didn't acquiesce generally prevailed.

Good luck....

Reply to
Weekend Guru

THANKS for the reply

The GM already tells me he did this. So I will followup and be specific: did you contact PCNA. I feel at this point it is trivial for the GM to "give up" and claim he tried. Hmm. But at least I can have the confidence that at least anecdotally (you) it is possible, so that at least is reason to ask him to try again.

Unless I can find it easily otherwise, I'll also ask the GM how I can contact Schwarzenbauer, that way he'll know it too. I just hope I can get all this done "in time" before the "have to get the exteneded warranty one month before the end of the warranty" date arrives.

I'll also look into independent extended warranties. What do you-all think of those?

The GM's offered that verbally. And then I might get the independent warranty past that.

This last part is where I'm interested.

What do you (all of you out there) think of dealerships' extended warranties, that is, are they just middlemen to a third party, or is that third party Porsche itself?

Whew well I'll sure give it a go. I do love my car. It's my baby.

Thanks again, Dan

Reply to
Dan Stephenson

A follow-up.

The dealership GM says that PCNA won't change the service date because the fault was the dealership's: they told PCNA to start the clock in January instead of June 10 of 2002. So me writing a letter wouldn't help, so says the GM. Sigh.

So the GM offered to cover my current warranty through June 10 2006 to fulfill the normal duration. He said he'd write me a letter saying I would be covered through then. I replied that I needed the letter to spell out all the details of my original warranty, e.g. oil and tires are not covered, steering rack and power steering pumps are covered. Etc. He said he'd be out all next week and could he do it the following Monday. I suggested it wasn't complicated to trascribe those details so he said he'd try to get to it before he left, otherwise it would have to wait to the second Monday from today.

Getting the factory extended warranty was a non-starter: USD$4,000.

I intend to keep my baby forever, so I guess now it is time to think about extended warranties beyond June 10 2006. What do the assembled Wise of this ng suggest along these lines?

Please post, or email but remove the 'nospam', thanks > I'm running into some major warranty problems with the '02 Boxster I

Reply to
Dan Stephenson

I think you need to have an attorney give them a call.

Reply to
Stan

To the Weekend Guru, who has no email address:

I had the '02 Boxser bought in June but with a warranty that started in January. You suggested 1) contacting PCNA, 2) getting a letter from the dealership honoring the original warranty, and 3) getting an extended warranty.

Here's an update.

As for 1) the dealship says they were the ones in error and so PCNA doesn't feel it's their responsibility to do anything. So says the General Manager of the dealership.

But as for 2), the GM sent me a letter honoring the warranty. Is the GM enough of an "officer of the company" to you? Anyay, this is the letter, sounds OK to you?

"Any item that would have normally been covered under our Porsche factor warranty on VIN#_____ 2002 Porsche Boxster. Will be covered

100% by during the period of January 2, 2006 to June 16, 2006, or 50,000 miles which ever occurs first. This agreement is only valid for this vehicle and original owner at ."

Does this sound sufficient to you? It does not actually have a transcription of the details of the "Porsche factor warranty", which I asked it to have.

To Stan: do you still think I ought to talk to an attorney?

As for 3), an extended warranty, they're like $4,000 from the dealership so I think I'll look elsewhere. Any suggestions? I just found this site, which looks informative.

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Thanks, please post, or of via email remove the nospam.

Reply to
Dan Stephenson

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