Looking for some advice. My rear tire gets a flat and dealer installs a new tire for me. While in service, I am notified my 2016 has a service campaign of the coolant so I inform them to proceed.

My vehicle has front and rear dash cams and when I have the car delivered to me, I notice the following:

1. 30 driven miles

2. Front and rear dash cams both disconnected

3. Brakes are squeaking.

I reached out to my service advisor and he states the miles are from driving the car to ensure no air in the coolant lines. He did say that the dash cams being disconnected are unacceptable and they will investigate. I requested a call from the service manager and still nothing.

What do you guys think of my situation?

 

More likely they disconnected the cams because they don't like to be spied on in the shop.

30 miles seems like a lot though.

 

Hey buddy sorry to hear that. Hopefully and likely it's no big deal but definitely a little bit of grey. Call me tomorrow if you want I can call my guys there to see if I can find anything out.

 

Of course they did, I've seen techs do it multiple times (I don't work at a dealership, but have a lot of dealership friends).

And they wanted no evidence.

This is why I hate taking my car to a dealer.

 

Ask the dealer to do a courtesy DME readout in your presence to see if there were any overrevs on the date and time they had your car and go from there...if he is a good dealer he will be as curious as you are

 

Had my Porsches in for a number of times to have the coolant refilled and the techs never road test the car. The vacuum lift system is very good at refilling the car's cooling system with no air pockets.

The car got taken for a joy ride.

Never had a problem with my Porsches -- well maybe -- but I had a real problem with my 2006 Pontiac GTO being hotrodded when in for work, so much so that I ended up trading it in for a new 2008 Cayman S.

I have written about this before and won't repeat it here.

In your case I think you need to push for getting the DME read out. And speak to the GM about your concerns. I'd even mention you will be writing to the PCNA and the factory about this. Enough reports and PCNA/factory could yank the dealer's right to sell new Porsches. Rare but it happens.

One time I had a tech come to me after I had my Turbo in for service. Said he had it out for a "road test" and encountered another car and an "emergency" situation and had to step on the gas and wow did the car run.

This raised a red flag with me. I spoke to the SM about this and now my car is only serviced by the most senior Porsche tech who I trust to not abuse my cars.

Your dealer needs to enact and *enforce* a strict policy regarding who can take a car out and under what circumstances. Mention this to the dealer. Mention that you will recommend this in the letter you are going to write to PCNA/the factory.

 

Was it Porsche of Huntington? They took my car on a joyride and their tech posted it on instagram(I still have the video). They also damaged my old car...

 

The test drive is normal, but 30 miles seems kind of much to be honest. The campaign was most likely for the coolant level sensor in the reservoir, which is a common thing. After replacing it, they'll need to drive the car to make sure the coolant level is being reported accurately. Could be that they had a problem and had to do more than one test drive cycle.

The dash cam thing is a bit of a grey area. At our shop we normally turn them off for a couple of reasons. First, if we're working on the car with the ignition on but the engine not started, it could cause a drain on the battery. Examples would be when we're flashing the car, installing a radar/laser system, or installing a rear camera. But we actually make a point of making sure they're back on and working if we test drive the car. Another reason is that the techs prefer not to be recorded while they're working, which I understand. It's sort of like if the owner of the car was standing over your shoulder while you work on the car, it makes them uncomfortable. They also don't know where that video will end up...youtube, facebook, etc, without their permission. I'm not sure what dealer policies are on that sort of thing.

 

Thanks All! I will ask for the DME, but my car has a Giac tune, Is there anything to be worried about here?

At the same time, Dealer wants to know what he should do for me to make me happy?

 

Get the DME first, then you can let the dealer know what is needed to make you happy. I'm mad just reading this!!!!

 

You wrote that Porsche has in the past revoked a dealers franchise. I have a hard time believing that. Can you share an instance?

 

Sorry, I was not clear. I have no specific instances of any dealer losing its dealer franchise. However, in talking with dealer employees I've heard of this happening. Even so I've never heard of a Porsche dealer losing its franchise.

A dealer closing is an extreme action. I would expect if there's a way to effect a change without going to this extreme. And maybe there is. I have over the years noticed a number of car dealers, including Porsche dealers changing hands which could (I say "could") in a few cases be a way of effecting a change in the dealer's behavior while avoiding the stigma/bad press of closing a dealer down outright.

Also, if the market can support a dealership Porsche I think would be loathe to miss out on that potential business.

Regardless a formal complaint especially one that highlights unacceptable misbehavior at a dealer weighs against the dealer.

And I know Porsche keeps an eye -- so to speak -- on its dealers. Porsche dealers get visited by upper management to be sure. Over the years while at Porsche dealers I've run into higher management personal. Often I get introduced to these people -- having a high mileage Porsche is a door opener -- and these people are invariably interested in my dealer experiences since I, pardon the expression, get "around". I tell them the good dealer experiences and the bad experiences.

Anyhow, if one can't take his car to any Porsche dealer without any fear of the car being abused then the car is useless to him.

(That is one reason why I sold/traded in my GTO. And it is why since then I've spent almost $120,000 on car purchases and who knows how much on service and not one thin dime was spent at a GM dealer. I was thinking about buying a new Corvette, too, until I had problems with my GTO. So instead of my owning more than 1 GM product I'm on my 3rd Porsche and contemplating another Porsche purchase, which would be my 4th Porsche. What I like to point is while I need a car I don't need Brand This or That. I need a brand of car with a good dealer network that can help me take good car of my car to maximize my enjoyment of the car and maximize its service life which helps keep me a repeat customer *and* spreading the word of my good experiences.)

PCNA also has another concern: The car gets thrashed and if something breaks chances are very high this will be reported as a "warranty" issue and PCNA pays for this. Also, not to be dismissed is the bad vibes the customer gets when informed his car has a "warranty" problem.

Or worse, the car is out of warranty, as was the case with my GTO, and if the car had come back from the tech's abusive test drive with a bad clutch or some other problem (blown engine?) it would have been all on me.

 

i know a dealer who had his franchise revoked, or at least that's the story. It's no relation to OP's problems though.
Porsche of New Orleans when it was under Tom Benson's ownership, the guy that owns the New Orleans Saints, and a Mercedes Dealer. That dealership sucked, but it wasn't service related.
Ray Brandt, a car sales giant in that city took a franchise and named it the same name I think. They've done well with it.

 

30 miles?? Try 4 or 5 miles to understand what's going on-that's about all you need.